Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Day Two Hundred Fifty-Three

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We take a break in our regularly scheduled posts because it’s my birthday today. Hello to little Claudia, waltzing around her childhood living room with her baby carriage. I had the strangest feeling looking at this photo this morning. I found myself wanting to kiss that little girl on the cheeks. I could almost feel that velvety skin that children have. I wanted to hug her and tell her that she is loved.

I’ve never had that kind of reaction before. It was very powerful.

I trust Don has some nice little things planned today, though it won’t be all that different from other birthdays. We usually spend our respective birthdays together and that’s more than enough. I’m glad he’s here with me – that’s all I need. He (all by his lonesome) finished off the shed clearing yesterday! Tomorrow, we’ll clean the floor.

Thanks for being here today and always.

As I said on IG, my request on my birthday is for everyone to wear a mask and stay at home on Thanksgiving. I’ve had several former students contract COVID. The latest is Kate – who was in a sort of bubble with her best friend. Unfortunately, her friend was diagnosed with COVID and now Kate has tested positive. She’s a single parent. Bubbles are not completely trustworthy. They simply aren’t. I’ve heard of too many people who were around only the people in their self-proclaimed bubble, yet came down with the coronavirus.

Be scrupulous. Be careful. We’ll all survive having Thanksgiving without our extended families. And isn’t that what’s important right now?

(I know I’m preaching to the choir, here.)

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Comments

  1. Happy birthday to baby and grown up Claudia. Both of whom deserve a big hug and comforting words. Your photo made me miss the simple cotton dresses my mom and aunts used to sew for us. Lots of little lace, gingham, and sashes. I fantasize that if I’d had a daughter, I’d make all her clothes for as long as she’d allow it. May your day be full of love.

    • Hi Nora+Mills: I had to laugh at the end of your next to last sentence…”as long as she’d allow it”… my Mom sewed all my clothes until, as she told me, I got too picky. Coincidentally, I was getting more confident about my sewing my own clothes. Since she also sewed for my brothers and herself, one less helped her sewing pile stay a bit shorter. The pattern continued for me and my daughters, sewing for both until one learned how to sew.

  3. Happy Birthday, Claudia! Best wishes for a year filled with good health, happy adventures, great reading, and lots of love! Sweet photo!

  4. Lovely cute picture…lovely young woman…Happy Birthday and many more…Prayers prayers…I am thankful for you. I have one question? Has the world gone mad? I am reading blogs-families gathering…traveling…one loved one in hospital with Covid; the spouse out and about after being diagnosed…but symptom free now…goodness heavens…I have no words…I am isolating of course…had some tests this week and waiting results…stressful going into a medical facility but necessary…no doc offices so far-all Facetime…let’s pray for the vaccine soon…see our families…and go on with our lives…in the meantime, do something for yourself today…

  5. Happy Birthday to the sweet little girl still inside of you! Enjoy it with your Don. We do and will continue to mask up and will stay home without married children and grands this Thanksgiving. Newlywed daughter and SIN had plans to visit our son in SF but have cancelled. I’m glad of it. I know people are “sick of it” but I’d rather that than “sick with it”. My best friend has it and never had a elevated temp. I’m having rather awful sideeffects (I think) from regular flu vaccine. If not better tomorrow, may go for C test. Take care.

  8. Happy birthday, Claudia! And congrats on tackling that storage shed – you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment every time you look at it! We have no choice but self-isolate for Thanksgiving – our county has issued $1000 fines for every violation if anyone is found in your home other than your own household members. So if any of our children and/or grandchildren (even though they have been at home just like us) it’s a $1000 fine PER household – meaning Thanksgiving could conceivably be a $5000 dinner if my family were all here. Obviously, they won’t be – we’ll Zoom instead and pray for safer days ahead. Blessings on your special day.

    • Happy Birthday Claudia! I so wish that the world would grant you and us your birthday wish, but unfortunately, so many are travelling and doing so proudly! The next few weeks will only bring more misery to an already overburdened health care system!

  9. Adorable picture. Happy Birthday to the little girl that lives inside of you still! Hope you have a wonderful day with Don. Set the world aside, and enjoy! ;)

  12. Happy Birthday, Claudia! I hope today has a few happy surprises in store for you. Wishing you the very best. Mindy

  15. Happy Birthday Claudia! Hope your special day is filled with lots of love, fun and laughter. Have a great one!

  17. happy birthday, claudia!

    i hope you will spend this extra-special day just as you want, that your wish comes true and this day will be the start of a much better year ahead for you, don and the whole world.

    thanks for sharing that adorable photo of you … fun to see. your use of the word “waltzing” made me laugh. and so sweet, too, your love for yourself.

    you are loved and appreciated!

    kathy in iowa

  19. Happy birthday to you! With many more to go.
    Wishing you a very nice day with your husband.
    We are wearing our masks outside our home since 11th March. That is for nearly 9 months now. So your wish has been granted,
    We both are the “ village idiots” since March. Why are you wearing a mask???
    (We live in the beautiful village of Bergen North of Holland).
    On a “top day” we counted 15 people wearing a mask outside. Normally only 2. Up to now wearing a mask outside, is to my amazement, not compulsary in the Netherlands. Advisable only in shops and library etc. Perhaps we have to wear one in December, but the matter is still under discussion. Our government talks too much!! Nothing gets done. There is a great adversary to wearing masks. I do not know why. Hopefully things will change soon.

  20. Dear Claudia
    As every year I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday!Have a nice day ,relax and enjoy the company of your loving husband.Go on taking care of yourselves as usual and I suppose this year more happy than years before ,hoping to have a better future for your country having gotten rid of a real “monster´´.So just celebrate for everything!
    xoxo Alicia Buenos Aires !

  24. Happy Birthday Claudia. May your Special Day be full of love, laughter, delicious food
    and a present or three. Enjoy!

  26. Happy Birthday, Claudia! I just love that photo. I had a “doll buggy” very much like yours, back in the day.

  28. Happy birthday, Claudia! What a sweetheart Don I saw (but you know that) to finish cleaning out the shed! Have a wonderful day.

  29. Happy Birthday, Claudia! I’m sure that Don will spoil you rotten today. Loved looking at the little girl you…what a sweetheart. Enjoy your special day!

  30. Happy Birthday Claudia, Your birthday gift is a little delayed this year. It will arrive in two months. It will not be wrapped but I know you will be delighted with it. A new kind and caring President ❤️ I hope you don’t mind if we all enjoy your gift. Stay well and joyful

  34. Happy. Birthday Claudia! It is also my dad’s 89th birthday today and I cannot see him or my mother in Canada. So grateful he is still here just wish we could all be together. Enjoy your day and make it a memorable day!
    dq

  35. Happy Birthday! Mine was 7 days ago, the same day as Prince Charles and I mention him only because I am now officially old enough to forget my birthday but seeing his noted reminds me it’s mine, too. So in the future when the papers don’t note his I will remember mine by yours!

    I had that same jumper and hey, those are the drapes from my house! Prolly my dolly carriage, too.

    : )

  36. Happy Birthday Claudia! The older I get the more nostalgic I become looking at my childhood photos. Yours is adorable, enjoy your day!

  39. Very happy birthday !!!! Your face is still the same but your hair looks lighter now, LOL!! Seeing our young selves is a real trip !! stay safe, healthy. Best wishes

  40. Wishing you a wonderful birthday Claudia! I will be wearing a mask like I always do when out or around anyone. Mom and I will have Thanksgiving alone and only a distanced mask wearing visit with Sara and Family. Staying safe is most important this holiday season so we can enjoy many more together. Hugs!

  42. Happy Birthday Claudia! Enjoy your special day just the way you want.
    You are just 3 days older than me! I think I am glad I don’t have a picture to remind me of what my life was like at that age, although I do know I was far better off than many around the world and for that alone I am grateful!
    Happy Birthday!
    Take care…
    Kelly

  43. Happy birthday, Claudia and little Claudia!! We all need to love ourselves now and especially as little girls.

  48. Happy Birthday, Claudia! I hope it was a wonderful one!! Being with Don, I am sure it was…

    Of course we are wearing our masks, but rarely go anywhere at all. Thanksgiving will just be us. Same as Easter was. {Remember that? When we were told it was a matter of weeks and it would all be behind us.?}We will zoom. Our DIL said she is glad the little one won’t be able to remember this Thanksgiving, but the rest of us will, for sure. Summer spoiled us by being able to see her and spend more time with her. We will do what we must do to get through it and keep everyone safe. There is so much pain and sadness right now, we really must dig deeply and find that for which we are grateful. Jan 20,2021 comes to mind.

  49. Happiest birthday wishes dearest Claudia! You were a darling little girl…and a darling, grown up girl now! Isn’t it a funny thing to suddenly feel protective toward yourself as a child? It has happened to me as well. I look upon my old photos and find myself sending love and good wishes back in time to the little girl I once was. I have even “spoiled” that little girl who still resides in my heart with toys she always wanted and have replaced long ago loved barbies.

    Of course we will not be having family for Thanksgiving this year. I feel most sorry for my mother in law about it. We will drop off Thanksgiving dinner for her so she wont miss out on all of the goodies, but it certainly isn’t the same when you have to eat alone.

    California went to level purple. There is a curfew between 10pm and 5am for non essential activities. There are food, toilet paper and paper towel shortages again. People are freaking out that they are not “free” to go out after 10 ( but not to worry, our Sheriff said they would not be enforcing anyway.) People want to know where to get disinfectant wipes, “here we go again” they are saying. Here we go AGAIN?? Nothing has changed, people!! They have had ALL flipping year to get organized and should have adjusted their lifestyle by now so that they weren’t leaving their homes for non essentials anyway.

    People are pointing fingers “well the governor doesn’t follow guidelines, why should we?” And to that I say, WHO CARES…use YOUR best judgement (are you going to follow him off a cliff if he jumps? Yeah, I didn’t think so.) No one should have to set guidelines for you. You should use common sense (based on science and facts) then do everything in your power to stop the spread of this virus regardless of “rules or guidelines.”

    Selfish idiots.

    There have been guidelines in place for some time now – wear a mask, keep 6ft apart and public dining outdoors. For me personally, these guidelines aren’t enough for me to feel safe. I do not want covid nor do I want to spread covid. However, people who do follow these guidelines often have a false sense of security. People wonder how they contracted covid…did they really think dining outdoors among a group of maskless people would keep a virus away? Did they think that random trip to Target while they were bored would be 100% safe since they wore a mask?

    This is a virus people. If it is in the air and you inhale it, you may contract it. Just because you follow a guideline does not guarantee you wont contract and spread covid, it just helps to slow the spread. STAY “safe at home” and away from people outside of your immediate family just for a few months! It is a sacrifice, yes, but we are adults, we C A N make sacrifices. And to those who say, “yeah, but what about the economy?” Most places do offer curbside service. There is delivery available for everything under the sun. Delivery may not be fool proof, but it will absolutely cut down on unnecessary exposure.

    Do I even bother to mention the entitled people I have seen parading around on social media? “My poor family, we had to cancel multiple vacations this year.” (Fortunately, they did squeeze in a cruise in early March even though a brand new, deadly virus was circulating!) So, in lieu of their summertime trip to wherever, they are traveling “locally”, staying in hotels, eating out and shopping (with a mask!) Again, I say, STAY HOME! Why must we travel during a pandemic? What part of essential and non essential do we not understand?

    And let’s not get started on the Trump cult that simply will not listen to facts, science, reason, math, truth or reality.

    SIGH – how is this real life??!!!

    Putting my blinders back on…The Christmas lights are going up this week (it’s a tradition to turn them on after Thanksgiving dinner!) We will put up the tree and decorate on Friday. I ordered some lovely wrapping paper last week while Christmas shopping online. Though we wont be able to gather with our extended family this year, we will at least all be ALIVE to gather joyfully next year, and for many years to come!!

    Netflix has been a welcome distraction, hasn’t it? I enjoy reading everyone’s recommendations. Have you seen Jingle Jangle? We really enjoyed it. The details are charming. Another show/series we have enjoyed that I haven’t heard anyone talking about is The Repair Shop. Let me know if you have seen it!

    Wow, that was quite a ramble! I hope you don’t mind too much. I don’t tend to complain out loud very often. You have created such a safe place to discuss current events, and for that I thank you. I appreciate your blog and each one of your loyal blog friends who leave interesting comments every day.

    We have much to look forward to, a promising vaccine on the horizon, a new administration (thank heavens!), and the possibility of life returning to (something resembling) normal in 2021!

    Let’s all do what we can to keep the virus from spreading and help Georgia elect Ossoff and Warnock in January. We can donate and get involved by volunteering our time through phone banks, text banks, handwritten postcards to voters. I hope everyone will help where they can!!

    Hugs (and stay safe!),
    Christy

  50. Oh, my gosh, what an adorable little girl! Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Claudia! Thanks for sharing a little of it with us.
    Caroline

  51. Happy Birthday. I don’t feel like going out, I don’t feel like celebrating anything, even Christmas is not on my calendar this year. I don’t want to interact with people.

    I have to go to school though, but find it most comforting to be with the young. How precious life is.

    All the best!

    Regula

  52. Happy Belated birthday Claudia!! Happy upcoming thanksgiving to you and Don! I am thankful for your posts every day!!!

  53. Happy belated Birthday! It was fun growing up with you and your family just down the street.

    I am guilty of seeing people in what I call my pod. So far so good. Yes, you are correct that one can still get sick.

    Best wishes for the next year.

  54. Happy Birthday to the darling girl who grew up to be a terrific woman. That photo is a price. Here’s to a glorious new year — happy, healthy, prosperous and filled with love.

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