Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for Riley

I Forgot the Forget-Me-Nots

August 26, 2016 at 10:52 am by Claudia

It’s Friday, I slept in (thank goodness) and I’m now awake enough to write this post. Or I think I am.

First of all, for those of you who missed my misidentification, the flowers that are blooming in the Memorial Garden are Forget-Me-Nots, not Four O’Clocks. (Smacks herself upside the head.) And it would make sense that flowers in a memorial garden are Forget-Me-Nots, would it not?

But apparently I forgot.

8-26 forgetmenots

Here they are. Five petals, not four (the earlier photo seemed to show four petals.) Forget-Me-Nots are such sweet flowers.

As to the beloved ones that we will never forget, we did this yesterday:

8-26 onthewall3

Forgive the picture – it was early in the day and the lighting wasn’t the best, so there’s a lot of ‘noise’ in the picture. Again – we love all our windows, but they’re pouring tons of light on this wall. And I don’t have the patience to tinker and tinker and tinker until I get it right. We’ll leave that to the decorating blogs.

When Winston’s portrait arrives, we’ll add it above the thermostat and alarm box. We’re thinking we’ll have to move the Maxfield Parrish. It clearly doesn’t belong in this group. But where, oh where, will I put it? It’s my first Maxfield Parrish and it deserves a place of honor!

8-26 onthewall2

I think the canvas of Riley and Scout will take its place. At least, that’s what we’re thinking at the moment.

From the Maxfield Parrish hanging above the turntable to a gallery of our beloved babies. All thanks to Shanna. (I think I’ll be thanking you forever, Shanna!)

Today is supposed to be a humid one – yuck – so I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. What I should  be doing is gathering all my tax info and making a list of my deductions; we always file an extension. That, my friends, is a job I detest, but it has to be done. Then, as is always the case, I will have to spend a fair amount of time nagging Don to get his done.

And so it goes.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, garden, Riley, Scout 26 Comments

A Canvas and a Frame

August 25, 2016 at 9:25 am by Claudia

A tad sleep deprived.

Don has been having trouble sleeping. So I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes I have to leave the cushy comfort of our bed and sleep on the sofa in the den. Which is not so cushy.

So I’m dealing with the usual irritated eyes and slightly-on-edge feeling I get when I’m really, really tired.

This, too, shall pass.

8-25 rudbeckia

The rudbeckia is still going strong throughout the garden. That splash of bright yellow goes a long way when you’re dealing with an end-of-August garden. So cheery!

I ordered a canvas of my favorite photo of Riley and Scout and it arrived yesterday:

8-25 rileyandscout

I’m so pleased with the way it turned out. (It’s actually much more striking than this photo would indicate.) When Don came in the door and saw it, he got pretty emotional. As did I. We’re not sure yet where we’re going to hang it, but we’ll figure it out.

As Don said, they’re communicating in a way that only they can communicate. It’s private.

And Mr. Riley got framed.

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We might wait to hang this until we get the watercolor of Winston. Then we’ll figure it all out.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see these portraits on our living room wall (which is now becoming a sort of second gallery wall, in addition to the one by the stairs.) We feel like our kids are back home with us. It helps to ease the pain and sense of loss that we’ve been feeling. Shanna, you have blessed us. Thank you.

I’m such a goon! Those blue flowers in the Memorial Garden are Forget-me-nots, not Four o’clocks!

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: dogs, Don, Riley, Scout 24 Comments

Portraits

August 23, 2016 at 10:17 am by Claudia

Simply this:

8-23 Rileywatercolor

When this arrived in the mail yesterday, we were both home. We stood together, opened the box, pulled this out, and gasped. Then I cried. Then we found ourselves touching it, almost as if we could pet Riley and have him come back to life. We miss him so.

Isn’t this incredible? Shanna has captured the beauty of our boy. Those ears that I loved to stroke. His beautiful coloring. And his incredibly soft and gentle brown eyes. I could lose myself in those eyes and often did.

Did you notice the bit of butterfly bush and the Eastern Swallowtail butterfly in the upper left hand corner? Heavenly.

8-23 Rileywatercolor2

We may not have human children, but we are  parents. We were/are the mother and father of our three beloved dogs and there’s not a day that goes by where we don’t mourn their loss. Riley, who was rescued from the streets of Paterson, NJ. Who had never had any love or socialization. Who was difficult and scared for a long time but so worth it. Who had heartworm, but survived when we caught it in time. Scoutie, who was rescued from the desert in California, with a tail that had been docked for some reason. Lively and loving from the moment we met her. Winston, who had been given up by his family because of allergies and who was scared and bewildered when we found him at the Humane Society in San Diego. Who was our first child.

As I sit here at my desk and write about them, I find myself crying once again. Rescuing – for us – is the only way to go. Giving a home and a second chance to a dog is rewarding beyond measure.

Shanna has been most generous in these gifts, these treasured portraits of our babies. But now I’m going to pay her: I’ve commissioned a portrait of our boy Winston, because even though we lost him about 14 years ago, before my blogging days and a fancy camera, I think I can find enough photos of him for Shanna to create his portrait, as well. Riley and Scout lived fairly long lives; Winston was taken from us at the age of eight, when we discovered he had a tumor on his heart. He was gone far too soon and I fell into a depression after we lost him. We had Scout, thank goodness, but oh how I mourned him. And I didn’t yet have the outlet of a blog where I could write about him.

All of these portraits will be on our living room wall.

I’m not sure where I will put this photograph, but I just had it enlarged. It used to be the wallpaper on my phone:

8-23 scoutiewithglasses

Scoutie wearing my glasses.

I’m off to Michael’s today to buy some frames.

Shanna, I can never, never thank you enough. I dreamed of finding someone to paint our children, and you were the answer to my prayer. Bless you.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: dogs, Riley, Scout, Winston 56 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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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.

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