Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Friday Free Associating

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I hung on to my porch plants for dear life this year. Countless cold evenings found me dragging them all indoors for the night. One by one, the impatiens are fading but I have 2 pots that are still blooming. The hanging plants lasted until yesterday when I forgot to bring them in for the night. Actually, I most likely forgot on purpose as the realization that it was almost December hit me. It ain’t going to get warmer, Claudia (I said to myself.)

I have this problem. I can’t let anything die if there is a way of saving it. Bug, spider, potted plant – you name it. I am Chief Rescuer here at the cottage. But this year, more than any other year, I hung onto those plants for dear life. It gets harder and harder for me to leave summer behind and move into the dark days of winter and besides, I love my potted plants. I guess this means porch life is officially suspended until spring. Sob.

Colder weather means more indoor life. More nesting. More scarf making. I don’t mind telling you, I have been on a roll with the scarves. Lots and lots of crocheting. I’m trying to add more stock to the Etsy shop for your Christmas-present-buying-pleasure. Speaking of Christmas:

Do you see that volume of George Bernard Shaw at the top of the photo? Pygmalion and Three Other Plays? Don is going to be playing Alfred Doolittle in a production of Pygmalion out at our old stomping grounds, The Old Globe. He leaves in December. Before Christmas. We’ll celebrate early, of course,  but this will be the first time we haven’t been together at Christmas since the year we met (when I went home to Michigan to visit my parents and coped with knowing looks exchanged by my mother and father when I would leave the room for yet another long phone call with that mysterious ‘Don.’)

It will be strange. And bittersweet.

And for those of you have been kind enough to check in, Scoutie is back to her old self again. We’re so thankful. She’s feisty, naggy, funny, and full of herself. The antibiotics are doing their magic and my girl with the poodle-like front legs is once more the Princess of Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Don has a friend who has a Border Collie who is 18. Scout will be 14 in January. So, you see, I plan on another 4+ years.

I am totally in love with my girl. And I miss my Riley. Christmas won’t seem right without him.

It promises to be a very different holiday season this year.

If you check in on my blog roll, don’t panic, it’s still here. It’s now on the navigation bar at the top of the page under “Blog Love.”

I’ll be back at 8:00 EST for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday,

Grateful Thanks & Bits of the Birthday

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Before I ramble on about my birthday, let me take a moment to say how much I love all of you.

Truly.

I don’t know if anyone who is not part of this amazing world of blogging and bloggers would understand just how much love and compassion and support we give to each other. I’ve been a part of it for going on 5 years and, yet, I am still knocked for a loop when I share something that is personal and sometimes fearful and you all come through for me. With prayers, with support, with love, with everything that is good about us – you, my friends, are there for me. Your prayers for Scout helped her. I know that. I believe in that. So many of you kept checking back to see how she was doing, to see whether I had posted an update. Many of you sent me private emails expressing your concern about her.

I’ve shared with you the stress and worries that plague our family. You always have an encouraging word. You always hold us in your thoughts.

Words are inadequate but I do thank you sincerely. I am blessed by your friendship, by having you in my life.

Thank you, dear friends.

Okay, a little birthday stuff. Though we were immersed in worry about our girl, Don took me out to lunch. I expressed a desire to eat at a favorite restaurant that serves this amazing dish called Lentil Cakes. Believe me, they are scrumptious. So we drove south quite a ways to this charming town on the Hudson River.

The restaurant was closed.

What? Apparently it is always closed on Wednesdays. Feeling somewhat down anyway, I thought: It figures. Nothing is going well. Let’s just go home. But Don suggested we walk a few blocks and we discovered another restaurant – new to us, filled with sunlight and happy people and we decided to eat there. Great food, wonderful staff. After lunch, I was surprised by this:

Two lovely ladies brought it to the table and started singing Happy Birthday. Don joined in. And suddenly, everyone in the restaurant joined in. I mean, everyone! With smiles and laughter, they all sang to me. It was so lovely. I joined in the applause at the end of the song, for I was applauding their sweetness and generosity. It made my day.

You might remember that my birthday present came early this year – 2 months early – when I discovered a Singer Featherweight in a little shop. We decided that would be my big birthday present and, so, Mabel joined the family. But Don thought he had to give me a little something.

Hello! I won’t be returning these. (Actually, I rarely return anything. I never want to hurt anyone’s feelings.)

I specifically asked for this one. I couldn’t justify buying the new Lee Child in hardcover. But I figured it would be totally justified as a birthday present. Right?

And this magnet for our refrigerator:

Answer: Decades younger. This has always been one of my favorite quotes and it reminds me that age is a state of mind.

And at the risk of posting yet another photo of myself, here I am eating my unbelievably sinful piece of cake:

I normally shy away from posting a lot of ‘me’ photos and as I look back over the past week’s posts, yikes! There are a lot of them. I promise to back off on them as of today. Enough already.

With my new vow in mind, let me share this with you:

Miss Scout had her legs shaved for her IV’s. She rather looks like a poodle, don’t you think? The techs put that animal print bandage on her when they took out the last IV and, though they told me I could take it off when we got her home, I’ve left it there. Such adorableness.

After an exhausted morning yesterday, she is perking up and I’m definitely seeing signs of my feisty girl. This morning she greeted me with some playful pounces as I came down the stairs.

Grateful. Thankful.

New scarf in the shop!

I really love this one.

I will be back at 8:00 EST for A Favorite Thing. I don’t know how many of you will want to link on this holiday weekend, but everyone is welcome.

Happy Friday.

Thanksgiving

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We got the word yesterday around 6:00 pm that we could bring Scout home. Her fever was down and she’d been given fluids and antibiotics. Her chest X-ray was clear. Her bloodwork was fine except for some elevated levels in the liver, most likely due to Lyme disease. Her heart looks good. She has a very bad case of Lyme but it hasn’t affected her kidneys, which is a relief.  She was feisty as ever last night when we brought her home, and we were so grateful that she was back when she belonged, with her family.

She’s a bit more subdued this morning and may be running a slight fever, but that’s the way it is with an infection. She’s a fighter and so are we. Seeing her sweet face was the best birthday present ever.

Our local animal hospital is filled with the most wonderful caregivers – loving and caring, compassionate and kind. I am grateful they are here in my little town, available any time we need them. As you can imagine, our bill is shockingly high, but we are grateful that we can make payments. Another plus of living in a small town where everyone is your neighbor.

We’re rather tired but managed to stop at the store yesterday and buy the makings of a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner. And we will have our little celebration here at the cottage, grateful for the kindness of doctors, techs and nurses, grateful that our little girl is home with us, grateful that I have been given the gift of 60 years here on earth, grateful for all of you. Thank you for all of your kind messages and prayers for Scout. I know they made a difference. Thank you for all the birthday greetings; they warmed my heart.

I’ll share more about my birthday tomorrow. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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