Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for mom

Flowers, Working in the Garden, Remembering Mom

April 24, 2024 at 8:49 am by Claudia

Some flowering quince for you today. That particular bush has more flowers on it this year than I’ve ever seen. It’s quite beautiful (but thorny.) I took photos of the lilac buds and a robin’s egg I found on the driveway, but it was so breezy yesterday that everything was moving, so nothing was in focus.

I found the robin’s egg in the middle of the driveway. It had been dropped and you could see the yoke inside. I suppose some bird stole it. It made me sad.

Also found in the course of raking out the area where the weeping willow used to be: the long missing cap to the gas tank on our lawnmower. We looked and looked for it at the time it went missing and couldn’t find it.  So now we have a replacement should we ever lose the current cap that we had to buy two years ago.

We’ve been working a lot outside, I started cleaning out the area where the weeping willow once stood and, much to my surprise, Don jumped in and really did a great job of getting rid of much of the stump and digging out brambles. I got distracted by our neighbor across the street who came over to say hello after the long winter. Right before that, our next door neighbor drove down his driveway and we said hello to him. It’s always this way – everyone sort of retreats for the winter and then we reemerge in the spring. It was great catching up with Laura. We are so lucky to have them for neighbors.

I’ve been raking out more of the garden beds, trimming brambles/wild roses (which grow alarmingly quickly,) yanking little intruders in the big garden bed. I do a little every day. On Monday, we did too much, and then I did even more yesterday, so today is for rest.

We had below freezing temperatures overnight and will tonight, as well. Then, it looks like we’ll stay on the warmer side. I have yet to do anything on the porch – the only summery thing I’ve done is to add the cushion to the glider. No potted flowers or hanging plants yet and I’m thankful there aren’t or I would have been hauling them inside last night.

Today is the 10th anniversary of my mom’s passing. Ten years. How can that be? I miss her so much.

Love you, Mom.

Stay safe.

Filed Under: garden, mom 18 Comments

Puzzle, Egg Cups, and Rain

March 8, 2024 at 8:35 am by Claudia

The finished puzzle. I particularly loved this one. And so did Don as he has always loved this form of artistry. He purchased a couple of framed woodblock prints not long after we met. We still have them. This was a Cavallini puzzle. They are always quite beautiful and come in a cylinder, rather than a box. All of the pieces are contained in a cloth bag. I’ve done a few in the past. I just glanced at the other Cavallini puzzles available on Amazon and I think I’m going to have to do another one. By the way, these woodblocks are the artistry of Kawase Hasui.

Sunny today – rare, lately! We’ve had – what else is new? – a LOT of rain. And we’re due for more Saturday and Sunday. It did turn sunny in the afternoon yesterday and it’s lovely right now. But it’s hard for me to imagine the ground drying out. Ever.

More egg cups:

A series of Japanese egg cups: on the left, a dog, then a little boy dressed as a cowboy, another little boy with a scarf around his neck and a blue cap, and on the right, a little boy and his dog. I have them displayed in adjoining cubbies. They should be able to chat with each other, don’t you think? All of them are vintage.

I realize that when I say vintage I am often using 2000 as my guide to count backwards. Isn’t that strange? We’re more than twenty years beyond  2000! Just like I think the nineties were about 15 years ago. Ummm….no.

Wooden people egg cups in this photo.

On the left, an egg cup from Italy, made by Sevi. They made a series of these egg cups and they all came with a knit cap to keep the egg warm. They’re still accessible on eBay, but sometimes the knit cap is missing. I believe this one was a gift from a reader, but darned if I can remember who. (Too many names of students, actors, directors, childhood friends, fellow grad school students and readers to remember!) I love this little girl.

On the right, another wooden egg cup made in Japan. A sailor. I have a feeling he had some sort of hat, as well, but it was long gone when Don came upon it in a local antique shop. Ahem… Scout  came upon it, because it was a gift from her.

Remember our talk about visits from beyond? Last Friday, I had two from my mom: one while I was sitting in my chair – the distinct smell of Oil of Olay, and another later in the day when I was driving home from my errands.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Filed Under: egg cups, jigsaw puzzles, mom 22 Comments

Missing Mom

February 7, 2024 at 9:20 am by Claudia

Shot from inside Don’s car as we drove to the library for our walk.

It’s been cold, but sunny. In fact, the sun is deceiving! You think it’s going to be warmer than it is. I noticed some green shoots emerging from the ground when we were walking around the library. It’s too early for spring, but the bulbs underground seem to think it isn’t.

I’ve been thinking about my mom and missing her. I always miss her, but I think working on the Shirley Temple doll has brought her to the forefront of my mind. When I was growing up, we watched old movies together and she knew all about the actors and directors. She was an encyclopedia of movie lore. When Don and I are watching an old movie and I provide the name of an actor or director or some obscure bit of information on the film, Don will often ask “How do you know  that??” I often respond that “I just know it,” but when I really think about it, I realize I know about it because of my mom. The same thing occurs with a lot of  music, especially songs of the  30s, 40s, and 50s. I know an awful lot about the popular music of those decades.

As with all of our parents, mom grew up in a time where there were movies and radio. That’s it. You went to the movie theater to see a movie. You listened to shows on the radio. There was no streaming, no television, none of that. So movies were everything.

I miss chatting with her about that. Even in her later years, I would often call her to ask her about something or other, knowing she would most likely know the answer. A few weeks ago, Don and I turned on TCM and ended up watching the last half of the movie version of the Broadway musical “Bells are Ringing.” (Side note: it was not a very good adaptation.) But, that movie was one I frequently watched with my mom and it starred the late, great Judy Holliday. I remember Mom telling me that Judy died tragically young and that every time she heard Judy sing “The Party’s Over” she would cry. The sadness of the song coupled with the fact that Judy died from breast cancer at the age of 43 would make mom weep. And, all these years later, it does the same thing to me. I cannot hear that song without tearing up. What an enormous loss. That leads my thought to my brother’s death at 44. And round and round I go. Of course, when mom told me about Holliday, she had no idea she would lose her son one day at nearly the same age.

After seeing the movie, I pulled out the original Broadway cast recording, and I’ve been listening to it off and on. It’s all about a woman who works for an answering service, so it isn’t performed nowadays as much as it deserves. And if it is, it must take place in the same period in which it was written. It has a score by Betty Comden and Adolph Greene, who performed with Judy in a comedy group called The Revuers when they were young, sometimes accompanied by Leonard Bernstein. A gift for their old pal. Her leading man was Sydney Chaplin, the son of Charlie Chaplin, who was also the original Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl.

But I digress. I miss those chats with mom. I miss talking to my dad, as well. I know this feeling is universal: I wish I could pick up the phone and call my parents. I sometimes – for a brief millisecond – think “Oh, I’ll just call mom and ask her.” For one moment, I step out of the time construct and forget she is no longer here.

Don and I have been having conversations off and on about questions we wish we had asked our parents. If only we could go back in time and ask them. And why didn’t  we think to ask them??

I wish, I wish, I wish.

Some thoughts for today.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

Filed Under: Dad, mom 44 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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