Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Fourteen Years

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Well, wouldn’t you know it? It’s the 14th anniversary of my first blog post.

I certainly never entertained the idea that I would be blogging 14 years later, but this little blog has become a daily ritual and I’m so grateful for it.

Journaling never clicked with me, but this new-fangled “web log” that combined photos and text? That fit me perfectly. Ever the performer, I clearly had to have an audience. And what a wonderful audience I’ve had – the best friends a girl could have. Truly.

Thank you for being there, for stopping in each day. Some of you are newer readers, a few of you have been with me since the very beginning. I don’t take any of that for granted, believe me.

You’ve been there with me through the loss of my father-in-law, my mother and father, and my two babies, Riley and Scout. You’ve comforted me when I was feeling low, made me laugh just when I needed it, commiserated with me on the state of the world, most importantly, shared your lives with me and this wonderful group of readers. Thank you.

Thanks to Don who encouraged me from the very first time I said there was a thing called a blog and maybe I should start one. He truly is the best partner in life. Always encouraging me, always patient when some technical thing goes wrong and I’m stressed, even occasionally writing posts. I love him with all my heart.

What a joy it has been! I’ll keep going until the day comes when I just know it’s time to stop. But don’t worry, that time is far, far off.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings about my collections, my garden, my cottage, my work, my travels, my dogs, the books I read – my life here in a little town in the Hudson Valley.

Much love to you.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Comments

  1. Congratulations on 14 years. I’m so blessed to have met you through your blog and over the years have come to know you and Don. Our friendship has blessed me and we would never have met except through the magic of blogging. Keep on writing and sharing, it makes my day.
    Hugs!!

  2. I have said it before and I will say it again, I am so glad I discovered your blog. I have learned so much from you . The exposure to the workings of the theater ( Don, included in this) . Getting through the txxxp years. Exposure to books, collections too many to name.
    Thank you for sharing yourself!
    Take Care,
    Kaye
    Park City, UT

    • Oh, thank you, Kaye. It’s been my pleasure and the fact that anyone wants to read this blog is the icing on the cake.

      Thanks for being here.

      Stay safe.

  3. All I can say is bless you. You have been a connection to normalcy that has been sorely needed especially these past 5 years. I love all you share and appreciate your honest approach to life. I’m looking forward to many more years of your adventures and thanks for taking us along. 😊

  4. Congrats on 14 years!! I love to read your blog, to read about your interests and your adventures.

    Marion

  5. Congratulations on another milestone! You and your blog have held a special place in my heart and in my day for many a year now. Thank you and here’s to many more.
    Love,
    Shanna

  6. Congratulations on 14 years!
    Thank you for sharing your life, your thoughts and interests with us.
    Take care

  7. Congratulations to you! I wish I had discovered your blog much sooner. Yours is one of two I read daily. I love to see what might be going on with you before I get busy.
    Best wishes and have a lovely day!

  8. Dear Claudia, Congratulations and thank you for your blog. I look forward to reading it every, day. It’s always interesting. You have a beautiful life. (-:

  9. Congratulations, Claudia. Not sure how long I’ve been with you, but when I started reading your blog was something I shared with my Aunt Rizzi. You were one of her favorites!

    • Thank you, Karen. I loved your aunt – she was such a lovely person and I miss her.

      I’m very glad you’re here.

      Stay safe.

  11. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your life, travels and adventures with all of us. Reading your blog starts my day.

  12. Congratulations! I look forward to reading your blog every day! It’s brought a lot of joy into my life. Thank you, Claudia. Much love to you and to Don. xoxo

    • If I can bring joy into someone’s life, it’s all worth it.

      Thanks so much, April.

      Stay safe.

  15. Congrats on 14 years on your blog; I love reading you every day!! All the best to you and Don.

  16. Congratulations on 14 years! I’m relatively new here, and you and I are very different – I have no interest in dolls, or dollhouses, or painting for myself. (Not a creative – I was a science teacher). However, I do love seeing what you’re doing with all of that, and our taste in books is very similar. Thank you for doing what you do,
    acm

  17. You are a miracle of permanence, a rock in the surf and a constant inspiration. Nothing more to add, congratulations and keep going.
    Thank You, Claudia
    Stay safe.
    Helga

  18. Claudia, I’ve been reading your blog for at least 10 years, because I know I read it when my husband was alive. It’s been calming to read your posts and the subsequent comments from so many names I now recognize. Your blog really has established a micro-community where we all feel safe in sharing, uplifted by each others’ triumphs, and empathy when things just aren’t going right. Thanks for posts of the past, today’s post, and posts of the future!

    • I love this community that came about because I started to answer comments on the blog and it grew from there. It’s so precious to me.

      Thank you for being here, Wendy.

      Stay safe.

  19. Putting up with your ramblings??? I LOVE your ramblings. More often than not your blog makes my day! Congrats on 14 years. Your friend you’ve never met, Chris

  20. Happy Blog Anniversary! I’m so glad I discovered you — I can’t even remember how but it doesn’t matter. It’s one of my must-visits! Celebrate!

    • Thank you, dear Jeanie!

      And then there’s our Michigan/Jerry connection! What a wonderfully small world!

      Stay safe.

  21. Congratulations on 14 years! I really enjoy reading your blog every day. I learn a lot from you. Keep going and many more years of blogging!

  22. Congratulations on the 14th anniversary of your blog! I don’t comment often, but I look forward to reading your blog every day and have done so for many years. Thank you for sharing your life with us and being the catalyst for creating this wonderful community. Your blog was a respite for me through the loss of my father and then my mother, and some other major life changes over the years. It is such a pleasure to visit here each afternoon and find a place of normalcy and calm in this upside down world we’re living in today.
    Blessings to you and Don!

    • Oh, thank you, Denise. If I was some sort of respite for you during your time of loss, well, nothing could be more meaningful.

      Thank you.

      Stay safe.

  23. Over time, I’ve withdrawn from a lot of blogs; yours is now the only one I usually read faithfully and feel safe leaving a comment due to your friendly, loving community of readers here. I value your blog so much, Claudia. Thank you for your cyber friendship; but it’s so much more than that, because you’re knowledgeable on so many things, it’s educational at MHC, we can indeed discuss timely issues. Wonderful, wonderful blog; wonderful, wonderful you and Don, too!

  24. I am relatively a new blog reader…couple years…I do. It like social media but the blogs…yours is one of the best ever ever…I feel as if I know much about you…I started reading this blog because of you talking about books…you o traduced me to L Penny…when I asked my friends at library in Indiana why I didn’t know her…they said they never mentioned her because they know I don’t like the language…I still don’t, but her books are so good…most of the blogs I read are about reading and travel…life…thank you for being such a kind individual…I appreciate the time you spend writing…I a, a journal writer…I started at sixteen…in 1992 got rid of them…a grand girl convinced me to go back and write again from age 16… I did..I have tons of journals and since retirement, write daily…I love journaling…I spend so much time teaching the grands and another student…puzzles…. Correspondence…walking six times a day…cross stitch and crochet…Bible Study…always doing something…I cook for myself daily and clean too much…the blogs are a welcome break…you are the most wonderful writer…I still do the little column after twenty years also…b

    • I’m so glad you’re here, Brenda! You are a big part of this community.

      Thank you.

      Stay safe.

  25. Congratulations! I’ve been reading your blog since almost the beginning without commenting. You are now the only blog I read every day. I’ve gotten chatty during Covid. :)
    Thank you so much for sharing your interests and your life. Big virtual hugs to my cyberfriend!
    I am positive that one day we will meet in person and know each other instantly.
    xo

  26. Happy blog anniversary! I appreciate your blog and have you to thank for introducing me to several great books.
    Thanks! Jen

  27. I think I have been with you for nearly all 14 years. 13 years for sure, as that was when I retired. It has been a wonderful journey learning about you and all of your collections, the interesting jobs you have had, meeting Don and his wonderful work, sharing the books you and your followers read, and knowing your dear fur babies. Beyond that is the wonderful community you have established on your blog. I feel like many of them are also “friends”. I worry a bit if someone is “missing” for several days if they are frequent commenters. The past 5 years I feel like you held us up and together through some very rocky waters. So, congratulations on your 14 years!! And here is to many more!! Take care.

    • Thank you so very much for your kind words, Chris. They mean the world to me.

      Thanks for being here.

      Stay safe.

  28. I’ve been with you since 2010….I got my first iPad that year. And I remember accidentally discovering you. You had left a comment on someone’s blog that was so interesting I just had to investigate. So happy I did.

    Congrats on 14 years! It’s been fun to get to know you and Don and your varied interests…and, I’ve learned so much about the theater along the way, too. You have a remarkable community here….and it’s been fun to follow along with everyone. Like Chris said….we worry when someone hasn’t commented for a bit. I don’t know how commonplace that is in the blogging world…but it tells me you’ve created a very caring community here at Mocking Bird Hill Cottage!

    Enjoy your evening! ;)

    • The community is so dear. We all care about each other and that’s something you can’t manufacture. It just is. So grateful for all of you.

      Thanks for being here, Donnamae.

      Stay safe.

  29. I’m so glad to have found your blog Claudia. I have no idea how many years I’ve been along for the ride but I’m so grateful you decided to go on this journey. Congratulations!

  30. Congratulations on 14 years of blogging. Incredible! I have a confession. I have been following you on Instagram for some time. I didn’t realize until I read your post today that you also had a blog. I may be a bit guilty of simply enjoying the little squares and not always reading the comments/posts. Yours is a square I love to see! I am grateful for a snow day today so I can start to go through your lovely blog and catch up on all that I have been missing! Thank you for the joyous little squares on Insta….

    • So glad you stopped by, Andrea! And thank you for following me on Instagram, too.

      Your presence is greatly appreciated.

      Stay safe.

  31. Congratulations on 14 years, Claudia!
    I don’t remember now if I found you through Brenda at Cozy Little House or I found her through you. I just know my day would not be complete without reading your blog.
    My parents were antique collectors and they started an egg cup collection for me when I was young. I also have McCoy and Roseville pottery. I have loved Mary Engelbreit’s work for years and miss her magazine dearly. My dogs have been a huge part of my life. I think from what you once said your grandparents had a home near where I live here in Ontario.
    So I think we have a bit of a kindred spirit thing going on. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

    • I do believe we are kindred spirits, Colleen! My grandfather was from Owen Sound and my grandmother was born in Orillia.

      I’m so glad you’re here!

      Thank you and stay safe!

      • I was also born in Orillia. Did your grandmother stay there long? Did she live on a farm or in town? I can’t help but wonder if my parents or grandparents knew yours. Stranger things have happened *g*.

  33. 14 years, how can that have gone by so quickly??? I somehow stumbled upon it and have loved it ever since. I have shed tears and smiled along with you so many times over the years and when I mention something you have posted to my husband, I refer to as “my friend, Claudia”.
    Coming here each day brings me joy, no matter what is going on with you, me or the world. So Thank You! Please continue…
    And take care…

  34. Congratulations, Claudia, always a pleasant experience to read you everyday & the conversation of everyone. So glad I decided to drop in to see you here. You are a special mainstay who has kept me afloat through rocky times. Especially those bleak days of you-know-who. May we all be blessed with many more years of You, reporting Life from where you sit, day after day. And, of course, the treasured views shared with us.
    Je t’embrasse très fort.
    xoxo (deux bises)

    • Oh, thank you, Martha. Your words mean a great deal to me.

      And thank you for being here.

      Stay safe!

  35. Congratulations on 14 years! I look forward each day to your blog. I have popped in and out the whole time! I learned so much about Peet coffee, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, and your stove, Stella!
    You are a wonderful writer. Your blog is the only one I read now.

    • Bless you, Lottie. Thank you so much for your kind words.

      And thank you for being a part of this blog.

      Stay safe.

  36. Congratulations, Claudia! Your blog has been a delight to read all of these years. Sending my best wishes to you and Don~

  37. Congratulations to you on 14 years, wow!
    Most confess that I’m not so sure I knew what a blog was 14 years ago lol.
    It’s been so fun to discover how much we two and you two have in common. Perhaps one day we will meet, but until then, bravo and stay well!

  38. I missed this post yesterday, but I think I should be thanking you, rather than being the recipient of your thanks. Especially during the isolation of the recent years but also during the years immediately preceding Covid, your blogs remained my safe haven place where sanity and caring for the welfare of others prevailed. Congratulations to you, and to me and other readers, too, for discovering this spot in our chaotic social-media world.

    • Oh, thank you for your kind words, Linda. They mean so much to me.

      And thank you for being a part of this community.

      Stay safe.

  39. You’re the best! Here’s to many more years of creativity and community!

    Looks like your lambie has been celebrating a little too much? Oh well, anniversaries are worth the day after!

    • That’s the Lamb with the Party Hat – the symbol of my blog. I took that picture about 11 or 12 years ago, when I was working temporarily in San Diego.

      All of my lambs are celebrating Roxie!

      Thank you for your kind words and for being a part of this community.

      Stay safe.

  40. Oh Claudia , how appropriate you wrote this today. I consider myself one of your “newer” friends. I somehow got to your older posts this morning and spent a couple hours reading them. It was like reading a book! The strange coincidences continue. I also grew up with a laundry chute and the milkman living right across the street. Grew up in a suburb of Chicago, Morton Grove. The one thing that stood out was your time in San Diego. My older sister and her husband moved there and first rented an apt. on Park Ave., just a few blocks from the zoo. Then they bought their first house, a beautiful Craftsman, guess where, in Kensington! I couldn’t believe that when I read it! They were there in the early 80’s I’m guessing. They sold that house and then bought a new house with a majestic view of Lake Miramar in Scripps Ranch. My sister still says she misses her Kensington house, small but absolutely adorable! So I just want to say I am so happy I found this blog. I don’t even know how I first found it, but I am glad I did. It is like waking up to a friend every morning. One thing I did not find in your older posts was, how did you get the sign “Mockingbird Hill Cottage”? I wish I was out in the country with your adorable cottage. Happy 14!

    • I know that stretch of Park Avenue very well, and obviously I know Kensington very well!

      I had the sign painted by a fellow blogger many years ago – I can’t even remember who painted it. But it was a commission and I remember I was anxiously awaiting it and it arrived on my birthday.

      Thanks so much for being here, Deb!

      Stay safe.

      • I’m sorry to keep asking you. Did you make up the name Mockingbird Hill Cottage or did you get it from something else? OK I am done asking questions😂😂

        • I made it up. We live on a little hill, my last name is Hill, and To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite novel – plus, we have fond memories of a mockingbird who serenaded us every night when we lived in San Diego.

          xo

          • That is one of our favorite movies. My husband calls our daughter Scout. I am thinking that is why you named your dog that? Very good name you came up with for your home.

  41. What a lovely post. Thank you for brightening my day every day with your humor, insight and interesting stories. I am happy you are still enjoying your blog.

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