Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for reading

Allowing More Time for Reading

September 9, 2019 at 10:10 am by Claudia

The mornings are definitely cooler nowadays. Our walks include wearing a hooded sweatshirt. It’s brisk out there!

On today’s walk, we kept hearing (and seeing) acorns drop to the ground, black walnuts falling from trees, bird skirmishes up in the branches, and squirrels running up and down the trunks.

Speaking of noticing things, when I mowed the back forty last week, I stood for a moment on the edge of our property that borders our neighbor’s property and looked at the trees that abut that huge grassy field I showed you the other day. I noticed – for the first time – that we have two catalpas there. I guess I had to be standing in just the right place to identify them, as it’s on a slight hill. That makes at least 6 catalpa trees on the property. Since they’re one of my favorite trees, this discovery made me happy.

It’s 9:53 am and I haven’t turned my phone on. This is part of my new attempt to not have it on, and therefore, tempting me, for most of the day. I want to read more and look at the phone (and my laptop) less. I read a post by a young woman who I follow on my other Instagram account, which is for books and reading. She may be only 29, but she is very wise. She also felt that her attention was too often being diverted to her phone and iPad/laptop. It all came to a head when the Wi-Fi in her apartment kept failing. She didn’t have it for about 3 weeks. During that time, she read far more than she had been and she liked it. Eventually, she made the decision to have no Wi-Fi.

Now, I can’t do that, because I write this blog and do other things that necessitate having Wi-Fi. But, I can severely limit my time online. I’ve written about this before and it can be a struggle for me. But both Don and I are of the same mind on this one. I’m going to work hard to turn my computer off after I write this post and check back in later in the day. Likewise, I’ll do my usual Instagram check-in and then turn the phone off. If there’s a phone call/message, I’ll know soon enough. And we still have a landline, so there’s that.

We’ll see how it goes.

I’m reading John Connolly’s latest, The Book of Bones, which is 694 pages long. Interestingly, I had just ordered 3 books from the library when I picked up this book to read. Those books are going to come in this week and I will still be immersed in this almost 700 page long book. A quality problem, but a problem, nonetheless. I couldn’t help it, the Connolly is what I was in the mood for.  I’m a bit less than a quarter of the way through it.

We’re off on our weekly visit to the grocery store.

Don had a good day at the Farmers Market. His photos are wonderful.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: autumn, books, life, reading, trees 24 Comments

On a Saturday Morning

August 31, 2019 at 10:12 am by Claudia

Another gorgeous morning. We just finished our second cup of coffee out on the porch. It’s a lazy morning here; for some reason it’s taking me a long time to wake up.

We have some deductions to finish up this morning. Yes, it’s taken us a bit longer than planned as last week became very busy with both of us working and me out of town as well. After that? Maybe some work outside, a run to the local hardware for 40 watt bulbs (we have a lot of vintage smallish lamps around here and I’ve decided they must have meetings in which they decide to ‘go out’ all at once.) Some reading, of course.

I’m reading The Girl Who Lived Twice  by David Lagercrantz, the writer who took over the Millennium series when Steig Larrson passed away. He does a pretty good job of it, I must say. It’s not easy writing in the style of someone else. Of course, the first three books by Larrson will always be the best, but I have enjoyed all of the books by Lagercrantz as well. This, by the way, is the last book in the series.

We had a lovely time at Rick and Doug’s last night. Doug’s daughter was visiting from Japan. Lots of great conversation, as well as laughter. And Rick made a vegetarian dinner for us. He’s a sweetie.

I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend. As per usual, we tend to lay low on these three-day weekends, although I’m sure Don will be taking pictures at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow.

Happy Saturday.

 

Filed Under: books, flowers, garden, reading 18 Comments

Fog and Books

August 18, 2019 at 9:05 am by Claudia

I love a foggy morning. After last night’s intense thunderstorm, we woke up to this view. Perfect: not so much that it’s dangerous to drive, but just enough for ‘atmosphere.’

We tag-team mowed the front lawn yesterday and it was so humid that we were dripping! It was one of those days where the temperature was not all that high, but the humidity was. So, we went outside thinking it would be cool and quickly realized it was unbelievably uncomfortable. But we did it. We also took a morning walk right before we mowed.

Couldn’t wait to get in the shower and turn on the air conditioning.

All of that left me feeling tired, so I didn’t do any work on deductions. But today is another story and I have to tackle that chore while Don is taking photos at the Farmers Market. Tomorrow, I have to take the car in for a yearly inspection. And on Wednesday, I fly off to Las Vegas. Don is working on Friday on a new show called Starling that will be on Apple’s new network.

Suddenly, we’re busy. Feast or famine. But it will all get back to normal next weekend.

Thanks for the great discussion about children’s literature. I loved all sorts of books – many of the titles elude me because we didn’t have many books that we actually owned, but instead, checked books out of the library/bookmobile. Since I had to return them within a week or so, I didn’t often have the option of reading them over and over. All I know is that I read a lot of books and the authors I most remember are Beverly Cleary and Laura Ingalls Wilder. My grandmother had a book of fairy tales that I would thumb through on visits to her house. My mom’s childhood books sat on a shelf in our bedroom; Jack and Jill,  Anne of Green Gables  and Anne of the Island, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Little Women. Later, when I could buy Scholastic Books through my school, I saved up my pennies (or Mom and Dad gave me the money) and all of a sudden, I had books of my very own! I still remember when those boxes of books arrived in our classroom and my teacher would make a big deal of the unboxing. Sometimes, I was lucky enough to be the student who got to pass out the books.

My dad wasn’t much of a reader, he tended to read the newspaper and magazines. But my mom was a voracious reader and she made sure I had a lot of books to read via weekly visits to the Bookmobile. (I wrote a post about the Bookmobile long ago on this blog – it was everything.) When I had my book blog, I dedicated it to her. I am enormously grateful that she passed on her love of reading to me.

There’s nothing better.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: books, reading 24 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • …
  • 79
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

The Dogs

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

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2025 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in