Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for life

A Strange Day

June 14, 2013 at 8:36 am by Claudia

impatiens

Was it a full moon yesterday? Was it the incessant rain? I don’t know, but it was a strange day. We were trapped in the house all day with sheets of rain coming down. I worked on two more acts of Much Ado (only one more to go) and then there was the weird spam thing that happened to one of my readers. Thanks to those of you who responded to my previous post, which asked if any of you had received a Comment Reply email from this blog with some offensive spam on it. I trust you know that I would never send that kind of thing. When the reader wrote me about it, I went into panic mode and tried to figure out what the problem was. I’m pretty sure now that the site is secure and I’ve also added another level of security.

Why is my initial response to this kind of thing always “I’ll just stop blogging?” That only lasts a minute or two and then I move on.

I deleted the plugin that allows me to notify you if I respond to your comments. This will be problematic, as I respond to most comments on a daily basis and now that box you used to check that enables an email to be sent to you if I reply won’t be there. I’ll look for a better plugin but, in the meantime, you’ll just have to check back to see the replies. So sorry.

I like responding to comments, darn it! I like the conversation we have. So if you have time in your busy days to check back, I would love that. I tend to think, since no one else has written me complaining of a spammy reply being sent to them, that this might have been limited to that one response….hopefully. Meanwhile, I’ll keep investigating.

Ah, the internet. Wonderful and, at the same time, a pain in the tush. I’d use another word and do on a daily basis, but I try to maintain a certain level of decorum here. Ahem.

hydrangeas

Right now, the entire property looks water logged, as if it was dunked under water for several days. And, it sort of was. I have no idea what’s blooming or attempting to bloom or bent over from the force of the rain. I’ll have to make a little tour of the grounds and investigate. Better put on my muck boots.

We watched an Austin Powers movie last night (we also watched it last week) and laughed ourselves silly. Yay for laughter. I needed it. Don, who is so patient when I go into blog worry mode, needed it. Laughter is the best medicine, for sure. It pulls me out of my head and into the present. Thank goodness.

I’ll leave you with a glimpse of Scout’s white eyelashes. And the freckles on her nose.

scouteyelashes

Pretty, pretty girl.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: life 40 Comments

Important

June 13, 2013 at 3:58 pm by Claudia

Hi everyone,

Sheila emailed me today to say she was getting offensive spam from my blog – through the comment email address. I also got this same spam today. Can you let me know if you received this? I’m trying to track down the source of it. I apologize if you have received it. For the time being, I’m going to approve all comments that come through the blog.

To clarify, I have a spam plugin on this blog that takes care of spam sent to this blog, this is spam sent to people who have commented on my blog – it looks like a legitimate reply to a comment that is coming from me.

It may have been sent to those of you who check the comment reply box on the comment page.

Not sure whether the blog has been hacked or my email account has been hacked. I’ve deleted Comment Reply.

 

Filed Under: life 14 Comments

Wednesday at the Cottage

June 12, 2013 at 8:33 am by Claudia

What’s happening around the house on a Wednesday:

wed-clematis

The clematis is unfurling its blooms.

wed-moth

A beautiful moth stops for a rest.

wed-shakespeare

Time for research.

wed-shakespearetable

I’ve taken over the kitchen table.

wed-spirea

The spirea is blooming.

wed-yarrow

As is the yarrow.

wed-catalpa

Second week of June? Like clockwork, the catalpa is full of gorgeous, fragrant blooms.

wed-catalpaclose

But it’s been so windy, that many have fallen. Stop, wind.

And stop, rain, please. We’ve had long, torrential downpours for the past several days. The little leak in our bedroom has reared its ugly head again. I think it has to do with the chimney flashing, which has been replaced before and will have to be replaced again. Today is sunny, very breezy and I can see that some of my daylilies have bloomed.

I’m immersed in Shakespeare in preparation for my meeting with the director in NYC, which will take place next Monday. The table is covered in books and papers.Whenever I cover that table with something – be it my dollhouse project or reference books and legal pads, Don always says how much he likes it. I’ve noticed he very much likes to see creativity in process and what I might see as clutter, he finds stimulating and artistic.

Love that man.

By the way, for those of you interested in downloading selections from Don’s new album, Out Beyond the Breakers, we have the all clear from Paypal now. Everything is in order. If you’re interested, click on this link to Don’s website and then click on Store. You can download the entire album or single songs.

I normally wouldn’t have mentioned all of this again, but we did have a technical snafu, so I want to give you the latest news.

Don’s really good. His word and music are soul-stirring. As is his voice.

There. That’s all I will say. Except…thanks.

Now I plan to finish my coffee, go outside to see what is blooming, sneeze for the millionth time (my allergies are so bad this year!) finish my current Deborah Crombie novel, work on Act 2 of Much Ado About Nothing, and buy some more allergy medicine.

What do you plan to do today?

Happy Wednesday.

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Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden, life, Shakespeare 39 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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