Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

You are here: Home / Archives for reading

On the Docket

at by

1-6 b&wdesk

A study in black and white.

Because this is what I’ve been working on for the past few days. And what I’ll be working on today.

This, and making lists of what I need to buy and/or pack for the trip to Hartford. I will be in the hotel I’ve stayed in before for the first week, then I’ll move to the apartments. Annoying, having to move, but it’s happened before. Productions overlap and there is one in Tech right now. It will open at the end of next week and then those apartments being used by the designers and director will be vacated and free for the rest of us.

I’m awaiting a few deliveries that I’m hoping will get here before I have to leave. First, a new set of sheets for our California King mattress because our current fitted sheet suddenly ripped; there was quite a large tear in the fabric, which grows daily. To say I was annoyed was putting it mildly. So I had to order new sheets and Cal Kings aren’t easy to find. I also had to order a new hose for the vacuum cleaner. Since I’m the one who puts most things of this sort together, it would be better if it arrived before Monday. And a refill for my Filofax (must have)….and two more books by Susan Hill. I’ve read the first four in the (so far) eight book series. I’ll write a bit more about Susan Hill and this, to me, incredible series on the book blog this week. I’m well and truly hooked.

In the meantime, I downloaded two Jane Casey mysteries on my Kindle. I read her most recent book and reviewed it, but it’s a series centering around DC Maeve Kerrigan, so I thought I would go back and read the books in order, starting in on them while I’m awaiting the Susan Hills. Casey’s books are very good, indeed.

Did I mention that Hartford’s main library is fabulous? That’s a definite perk that I will take advantage of while I’m there.

Today: Act Four. And Scout watching, because Don has to go into the city today to get new headshots taken.

And gosh, has it been cold around here! One extreme to the other – unseasonably warm temps and then, suddenly, below zero wind chills. Today, it promises to be a bit warmer.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Today is Saturday. Yesterday Wasn’t Saturday. I’m All Mixed Up.

at by

1-2 sunsetspectacular

I know there was a sunset photo on yesterday’s post, but I couldn’t help myself.

This happened last night. ‘Spectacular’ comes to mind.

And all I have to do is open the kitchen door and pop my head outside. Snap.

1-2 bookandscout

I’m in the middle of my 4th mystery by Susan Hill. (I’ve ordered the next two and am crossing my fingers they arrive by the time I have to leave for Hartford.) Note the interesting mix of patterns here. The rug, in red, green and gray and the quilt that Scoutie uses when she’s in the ‘tunnel’ – red, black, green, blue, orange.

No one has ever accused me of not liking a mix of patterns.

That girl you see in the picture? Stay tuned…she has a big birthday coming up on Monday.

1-2 don'sdesk

The other side of our shared space. That desk is actually half of a dining room table. I bought it when I first moved to San Diego. The style is Renaissance Revival and I love it. It’s been our desk for years. It’s flanked by our necessary, but not very attractive, file cabinets, the copier, the modem and router and our phone.

Big Boy was found at a yard sale. It’s Don’s, but we both have memories of dining at that establishment. In his neck of the woods it was Bob’s Big Boy. In mine, it was just Big Boy. The gorgeous old black and white photo of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans was a find from Heidi’s shop and I grabbed it for Don. (Don met Roy Rogers once and got his autograph…which he eventually lost.) The desk chair is an old one from IKEA that I hastily recovered because it was black and covered in Scout’s dog hair. Don’t look too closely.

The wall between the windows is still in progress. Right now we have an old bedside table there holding a lamp. We’d like to hang a great print on the wall and find a vintage love seat.

I spent several hours yesterday going through old files and shredding bills by hand. For some inexplicable reason, our fairly new shredder is not working. More hand-shredding today, along with the beginning of my work on Romeo and Juliet.

Can I just say that I don’t want to go away to Hartford in the winter time? Or be away from Scoutie when she’s so frail? (Or Don, but he will be fine.) I’ve now worked in Hartford for several weeks at a time at least 6 or 7 times. I’ve seen everything there is to see. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to blog about. None.

Obviously I’m grateful for the work and I love working with Darko. But, man! I do not want to go.

Happy Saturday (Yes, I’ve finally figured out what day it is. Yesterday, I thought it was Saturday all day long.)

ClaudiaSignature140X93

A Wee Tree

at by

I drove around yesterday looking for a strand of clear lights on a white cord. (First time I’ve driven since the ankle injury!) No lights anywhere. No little inexpensive pre-lit trees, either. I definitely want low-key this year, but I found myself balking at the possibility of no tree lights.

So I came home to my $20 Michael’s pre-lit tree and proceeded to pry off every one of the lights, which had been clamped to the branches in a rather intricate pattern. The clamps were sort of like the plastic closures that come on a loaf of bread and they were very hard to remove.

Two hours and a couple of broken fingernails later, I had finished. In the meantime, Don went out to the shed and brought the Christmas light bin inside and I found one unused strand of lights. I hadn’t planned on opening any bins this year, but we had no choice. Lights were strung on the tree, some little ornaments I had upstairs were hung, and then to fill it out, I added some faux berries that were in the light bin.

12-20 tree

And we’re done.

Just enough for us this year.

And it’s fairly well protected where it is, so Scout won’t fall into it – another reason we didn’t want a real tree this year.

I’m close to finishing my book and I’m in a little bit of a panic because I don’t have another book by Susan Hill ready and waiting. And I’m so into this series that I don’t want to start something else. If all else fails I can get it on the Kindle, though I’d prefer a real book I can hold in my hands. But I’ve got a plan. Tomorrow I have to go into the city in the evening to watch a performance – something I have been involved with off and on. I’m going to go in early, take the subway to the stop closest to The Mysterious Bookshop and I’m going to spend an hour or so in that lovely shop, where I know they will have Susan Hill’s books on the shelf.

I’m going to treat myself to the next three in the series. Hey, if I have to haul myself into the city this close to Christmas, I should have some sort of reward, don’t you think?

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

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