Mockingbird Hill Cottage

MHC – 15 Years

February 17, 2023 at 8:38 am by Claudia

Well, here we are. It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been 15 years since I wrote my first post on this blog I decided to name Mockingbird Hill Cottage. 15 years! That’s longer than I’ve held any job. I suppose this is a job of sorts…just not as well paying as any of my other jobs and that includes my job in an office where I had the most dismal paycheck ever. It was still more than this blog ‘pays’ me.

But that’s the point – I don’t write this blog for any sort of monetary gain. That’s never been my goal. It’s purely for the pleasure of sharing.

My goal when I contemplated writing a blog was to share a sort of visual journal with as-yet-unknown people out there in the blogosphere. I was fascinated by the blogs I was seeing which were a whole new way of communicating. And for me, someone who never really succeeded at journaling, the combination of writing (which I loved) and photography was a perfect fit.

In those days, I just hoped that someone would follow me! I followed lots of other blogs, they followed me back, and I was off and running. But it was very early days in the blogging world. Crude, by today’s standards. But I sometimes miss those days. It was a wonderful time of discovery.

Now, less and less people blog. But some of us are still hanging in there. I love Instagram and use it every day, but it will never take the place of a blog post. Never. You simply cannot get into the depth of writing that you can in a blog.

I venture to say that few of the people who were blogging way-back-when still blog. Those that do, generally don’t blog every day. Maybe a couple of times a week, once a week, once a month, and for some – once every 6 months or so. I blog every day with rare exceptions; when I’m working long hours on a show or when I’ve been in mourning for my mother, my father, my dogs. Then I needed to take some time away from the blog. I like the routine of blogging every morning. I think it focuses my mind for the day ahead. And heaven knows, it’s been cathartic and beautiful and painful. As it should be.

It’s been so rewarding.

The community that has emerged from the comments on the blog is the BEST part of all of this. We reach out to each other, we offer help, support, prayers, laughter – whatever is needed. I’m so proud of it and it’s not something I fashioned. It just happened.

Thanks for being there for me through losses and triumphs and all the days in-between. In-between is where life is truly lived, don’t you think? Thanks for indulging my passions for collecting, nature, animals, books, decorating, my pets, gardening, dolls (who knew?) and my husband. Thanks for everything you have given me over these 15 years. Every day I feel your support. You are my friends. We haven’t met in person but we have met. We know each other and care for each other.

Without you, I’d just be writing and sending posts out into the ether. That would be okay, but, as a longtime performer: it’s sure nice to have an audience.

Thank you for being here. You mean more to me than I can say.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Happy Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine

July 30, 2020 at 9:57 am by Claudia

Two things: First, some of you might have tried to get on the blog between about 3 pm and 7 pm. It was down because the server was down. Sorry for that. It’s the second time that’s happened in two weeks. It is ultimately frustrating because you can’t come here, I can’t answer comments, and there’s always a loss of ad income (which is happening to every blog and website during this period of lockdown.)

Second: Look at my boxwood! I truly thought it had come down with box blight. There were dead leaves everywhere and they looked exactly like the photos of boxwood after box blight. My original suspicion was that the dead growth was due to the late freeze we had in May. But then I started to worry about blight. I cut out most of the dead growth, pruned the bushes, and was sure we’d have to remove them at some point – because that’s what you have to do with blight. And now, after a month or so, there’s new growth everywhere and they’re looking healthy again. Hurrah!

The four boxwoods were the very first thing we planted here. We moved in at the end of August and there was nothing we could do about planting anything in the big bed or anywhere else on the property until the next spring. But I managed to dig out a bed in front of the porch and we bought 4 tiny little boxwoods and planted them.

See? That’s all we had. Those itsy bitsy bushes are now huge, nearly 15 years later. Don and I were chatting on the porch this morning, remembering that there was nothing but a couple of hostas in the bed to the right of the boxwoods and some sedum in the big garden bed. Nothing else. I planted everything else; the three garden beds on the far side of the house, the bed in front of the house, everything in the bed by the porch and the big garden bed, and the chicken wire fence garden and the memorial garden. Don was telling me that I should be proud of my work, my creativity, in creating all these gardens, and you know what? I am.

Especially when we are so homebound right now. This little oasis has made a huge difference in our daily lives. I cannot tell you how much I love our home and our property. The addition of Don’s work on the paths in the woods and the work done in the Secret Garden has made an enormous difference, as well. I dreamed for decades – literally, decades – of a little cottage in the country with gardens everywhere and it finally came true. But not until I was in my fifties. I’m here to tell you it can happen.

Just grateful for what we have today as we know so many are unable to pay rent or mortgages, are out of work, don’t have enough money to put food on the table, have run out of unemployment. We have to fight for them. Because the GOP has shown, by and large, that it won’t.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Twelve

February 17, 2020 at 10:52 am by Claudia

The river that is just across the street from the cottage. I took this picture because Don had ventured out for a ‘short walk’ and when, an hour and a half later, he still hadn’t returned, I got a bit concerned. He was going to visit the river and then take a short walk. The river is a steep drop from our neighbor’s property, so I went there first to see if I could find him.

No dice.

Then I debated whether I should get in the car and look for him. While I was debating – and I was only concerned because he didn’t have his phone with him and he could have fallen – I walked around our property and took this picture:

Winter milkweed.

Finally, I grabbed the car keys and pulled out of the driveway. I ventured about 500 feet down the road and there he was, walking stick in hand, headed back to the house.

New rule: Take your cell phone with you.

He lost track of the time. I’ve taken to calling him Huckleberry Finn. Or should it be Tom Sawyer?

Speaking of the cottage, and picture taking, and Don, and adventures, today is the 12th anniversary of this blog. I hit publish on this date in 2008. Who knew I would still be going all these years later? I’ve been writing this blog for more years than I’ve worked at any job, whether it was that stint in an office in Detroit (7 years) or grad school (3 years), or another office job while I was applying for teaching positions (2 years) or various temp office jobs, or teaching at Boston University (5 years) or teaching at the University of San Diego/Old Globe MFA program/coaching at the Old Globe (8 years). I’ve been freelancing for the past 19 years, but that involves a long, long list of all sorts of jobs.

I haven’t been writing daily for all 12 years, but I’ve been doing it for at least 7, maybe 8, years. I’m proud of this blog, which began as an experiment and still is in a way, though I’ve settled in rather nicely.

I won’t belabor this anniversary by writing too much as I’ve written about it in the past. But I do want to thank you for being there, for visiting this little corner of the Internet. If you weren’t there, I’d just be writing for myself and that’s nearly as much fun as chatting with you.

Sending all sorts of love on this February 17th.

Happy Monday.

MHC – 15 Years

Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine

Twelve

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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