Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Day Three Hundred Twenty-Nine

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My name is Claudia and I’m addicted to jigsaw puzzles.

But only in the winter.

Once again, I neglected Stella and my dollhouse, summoned by the call of the jigsaw puzzle sitting on the kitchen table. See – it’s right there. Not up the stairs, not outside. There. In the kitchen. Calling to me.

I finished this puzzle yesterday. It was one of several sent to me last year by a reader of the blog. In the end, there were two pieces missing. But no big deal. I’m having fun and I’m very grateful for the gift of these puzzles. I have since done the same thing. I passed on some of my completed puzzles to Rick and Doug.

I immediately took the puzzle apart and started a new one. The newest consists of covers from bedtime stories. When I was a kid, as you know, we didn’t have a lot of money, so I didn’t have many children’s books of my own. I got them from the library and the bookmobile. We had a few of my mom’s childhood books and I believe I had copies of The Cat in the Hat  and If I Ran the Circus  by Dr. Seuss which were given to me as gifts, neither of which I was especially fond of. I found the Cat in the Hat obnoxious, to be honest. But two of my favorites are in this new grid  – Madeleine  and Eloise. I think I’m going to order my very own copies of them. I should have them, don’t you think? It’s been great fun seeing the covers in this grid. I love the illustrations found in children’s books.

Don is on his way to the store to pick up our groceries. It’s snowing a bit at the moment, very pretty flakes coming down. It’s supposed to hit the low forties today, so I’m thinking this snow might turn to rain. Next week: very cold temperatures and single digits at night. February is quickly becoming a pain in the tush.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Eight

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Didn’t get to Stella yesterday, as I fell down the jigsaw puzzle hole.

I’ll take a better picture when I’m done. These grids consisting of book covers come together fairly quickly and they’re fun. In this case, the plus is learning about new-to-me titles and a reminder that I have The Phantom Tollbooth  in my TBR pile and I should get on it.

After I finish Winter Solstice, of course, which I allowed myself to read first thing this morning with a cup of hot coffee. That’s what I used to do every day, before personal computers and smart phones and social media. I’d make a cup of coffee, sit down in my favorite chair, and read for an hour or two. I’m starting to go back to that. I do my best reading in the morning before the rest of the day and its chores and responsibilities kicks in.

We made up another grocery list and Don will pick up the order tomorrow. Exciting, right?

Today is beautifully sunny, the first sunny day since the storm rolled in on Monday. We are going to enjoy it while we can because tomorrow brings rain and some snow. Sunlight reflecting off masses of white snow is like no other light. Even now, at 10 in the morning, the house is filled with light.

As the sun came up this morning.

I’m really staying away from the news, taking a brief amount of time to check in sometime during the afternoon. That’s it. I need peace. Don needs peace. Which brings to mind what I love about jigsaw puzzles – if I’m feeling at all anxious, I can sit down with the puzzle, lose myself in it, and the anxiety is gone. A blessing.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Six

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I’d say 20 – 24 inches.

It never stopped. It snowed constantly during the day and all night long. It’s still snowing. This was one of the more massive storms I’ve seen. And we’re getting more snow on Sunday.

Don just went outside to start up the snow blower. I’m encouraging him to take breaks. We don’t have to be anywhere.

I shot this through the front window this morning:

I’m calling it Ghost Furniture.

It got windy in the evening and throughout the night, so there’s lots of drifting.

February promises to be…interesting.

While that was going on, I fixed my wallpaper mistakes by adding this:

Since I have beams and supports downstairs, I figured I could get away with this in the bathroom. It is a very old English Cottage, after all. In the future, I will NOT wallpaper these sloped walls. I should have stuck to what I did in the bedroom but I couldn’t make up my mind what color to paint the wall, so I went with this.

Now for the floors and then the windows and trim.

A word about Hal Holbrook who passed away on January 23rd. His death was just announced today.

I knew Hal and I was blessed to have known him. When I first moved to San Diego to teach in the MFA program at the Old Globe/University of San Diego, Hal was performing in King Lear, as, of course, Lear. He was brilliant. His daughter, Eve, was a second year student in the acting program, so I became her teacher. Because Hal had a connection to the Globe and to the MFA program, he would visit Eve from time to time. That first fall, he came to watch a dress rehearsal of a show we were doing in the MFA program. I walked into the performance space and there was Hal, sitting in the last row. It was just Hal and me in that room and it was the first time I met him. We got to chatting. Hal was the rare person who was focused completely on whoever he was talking to. I felt that throughout our entire conversation. He wanted to know all about me, where was I from, what was my background, did I like San Diego, everything. We spoke about King Lear and he mentioned he’d like to try that role again when he was 80. We talked about Eve. We talked about Mark Twain.

He was enormously talented, but he was even more kind and compassionate and good. A few months later, we went to see him in Mark Twain Tonight  and met with him backstage. I will never forget that performance, nor his graciousness to all of us. I saw him several times during that first school year. Every meeting was a blessing.

Don had a similar experience during the summer before I met him. Don was performing in Morning’s at Seven (the show I saw him in before I met him) and Hal came backstage to Don’s dressing room, grabbed his hands and told him how great he was in the role. Again, focusing entirely on Don. Don has said he’ll never forget that experience.

Rest in Peace, dear Hal. Thank you.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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