Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for winter

Here it Comes

December 1, 2019 at 10:59 am by Claudia

Favorite person in the world and his guitar.

Major crush.

Well friends, we’re sitting here watching the beginning of this massive snowstorm that last about 48 hours. Latest predictions for our area: 6 to 12 inches. The tricky part of all of this is a changeover to sleet during the middle of the storm and then back to snow on Monday. We’re having some sleet as I write this.

Don got out the snow blower and started it up yesterday. It’s now on our porch (where we can plug it in if we need to charge it) covered by a tarp. I finished moving various plant pots, including our vintage French and English pots to the porch. All of the furniture from the Secret Garden and the Funky Patio is now on the porch. I also gathered up some low profile garden fencing and it’s on the porch. I covered the former kitchen island with its winter tarp. Of course, the porch gets snow, especially if it’s blowing in from southwest to northeast, but everything is more protected than if I left it in place.

This morning we moved our cars to allow more space for snow blowing, Don went downstairs via the outside entrance and checked the level of heating oil.

And that’s all we can do.

Now, we wait it out and decide whether to shovel halfway through the storm.

It’s a monster of a storm and not the gentle welcome to winter I had been imagining!

It may be a good day to work on the dollhouse. We’ll see.

For those of you in the path of this storm, stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: snow, storm, winter 34 Comments

Anticipating a Big One

November 30, 2019 at 10:43 am by Claudia

Still life from yesterday. There is often a guitar on this sofa. That circular thing in the sound hole is actually a humidifier. At this time of year, with the heat on, guitars can dry out and that’s not a good thing.

Nothing all that exciting to report. We hauled porch furniture to the storage facility yesterday. I took the opportunity to look in my old trunk (retrieved last year from my friend’s basement back in Detroit) and I pulled out a lot of old pictures, etc., which I’m going to go through this weekend. Lots  and lots of pics of young Claudia’s theatrical exploits. Should be interesting.

The big news here is the soon-to-be-with-us major snowstorm that is arriving on Sunday and will be active through Monday. Predictions vary wildly, but I believe I can say with relative certainty that this will be a biggie. At the very least, 8 inches, more likely a whole lot more.

We’re dreading it, of course.

Why can’t our first snowfall be picturesque and gentle? Perhaps a few inches and nothing more?

Nope. We’re getting walloped.

Weather (dot) com has the most alarming prediction. Weather (dot) gov is a bit more cautious. But our favorite is a local site, hudsonvalleyweather (dot) com, which goes into great detail and is also quite cautious about jumping to conclusions until all the data is in. These guys are great. So far, they’re holding off on Monday predictions. Monday, I gather, is the wildcard.

In the meantime, we need to do some grocery shopping and charge the snow blower.

This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the winter although my fantasy is that December is very snowy and then the rest of the winter is mild.

I can have my fantasy, right?

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: snow, storm, winter 26 Comments

Clearing

February 22, 2019 at 8:58 am by Claudia

On their last legs. Nevertheless, so beautiful.

Yesterday was spent chopping ice, hacking away at the un-shoveled parking area at the top of our driveway – I could only manage half of it. We were completely wiped out afterwards. We have a two day window in which to tackle this; the temps are in the forties, snow is melting a bit, so if we’re going to get things back to normal now is the time.

We’re both still under the weather, but what can you do?

Since I feel like I’ve been held captive in the cottage for a month, I have to get out of here today or I will lose my mind. Truly. So it will be back out there this morning to get rid of the remaining snow and put some salt down so I can make my escape.

I’ve heard nothing but raves about Andrew McCabe’s new book, so I’m going to buy it. Especially since the dictator-wannabe in the Oval Office fired him 48 hours before his pension was going to kick in out of sheer cruelty. The more sales the better for Mr. McCabe, and a nice thumb-your-nose at the Orange Man.

What else? It was warm enough yesterday to open a window and I did. I wanted to air the cottage out after all the coughs and sneezes and the smell of Vicks.

That’s it for today, simply because there isn’t anything else to chat with you about and I have to get moving on the shoveling.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Filed Under: flowers, snow, winter 18 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.

Thanks for stopping by.

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