5 – 8 inches? More? It’s looking like Thursday night and Friday are going to test us. They’re no longer saying the word ‘ice’ but the amount of snow predicted is growing – rather alarmingly.
And the box of egg cups that Country Living has sent back via UPS is supposed to arrive on Friday.
Oh boy.
By the way, I heard more bird song later in the day yesterday and I saw a Carolina Wren near the bird bath and then he flew back up into the trailer – again. I’m trying to remember what happened last year. I seem to remember that the male will show the female at least three different possibilities and then she’ll choose the one she likes best. So…even though I’m seeing them check it out, it doesn’t mean they’ll nest there. And, of course, it’s a long time between the end of February and April. I can’t get my hopes up. Sob.
No sign of them today.
The new puzzle is tricky, but I like a challenge.
Don has to go to the eye doctor today for his shot. He’s insisting on driving himself. I keep offering to drive him, but for some reason, he wants to do it himself today. Okay!
Yesterday’s photo. Looks like Zoe’s hair got caught on her eyelashes! Heavens, she has a beautiful face.
Thank you for all your wonderful comments about Don’s YouTube channel. I read each and every one of them to him and he was so pleased! He thanks you.
He’s pretty darned talented.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
So much snow. Stay safe. I’ll be checking out Don’s YT today. Rainy and sad today. Just the weather and missing family. Tomorrow is another day. Hugs!
I’m so over the weather and I try to stay positive, but it isn’t easy.
Hang in there, Linda.
Stay safe.
I must read back a day and find out about Don’s youtube channel! I love looking at someone’s blog and finding things that are part of my world, too — like your low, round table in the living room — similar to the low, round one in mine. My dad and uncle cut down a taller table back when I was about 12 and it has been part of my parents’ home, then the cottage, then my own home ever since! And the books — but that’s always another story. Your living room looks warm and welcoming — huddle up there in the snow and I hope it’s not as bad as predicted!
Our friend Rob sold that to us when we lived in San Diego – I think I paid $60. He had cut it down and refinished for a client who decided he didn’t want it. We love it. Though, when we first moved out here, we didn’t have room for it in the teeniest cottage we’ve lived in, so it was in storage for 4 years.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Just checked in on what is going on in Mockingbird hill cottage…. It reassures me for some reason. This has and continues to be a strange and upsetting world. I was wishing for some sun and springlike weather, but it is gloomy today. Maybe a hot steamy shower, cup of coffee and some music might help. I applaud you both for what seems to me great inner resourcefulness and physical stamina. Stay well.
Some days, we don’t have either resourcefulness or stamina. But we try!
Thanks, Maria.
Stay safe.
I was JUST looking at weather across the nation and it looks like yours really starts to deteriorate tonight, SO cold for your next days and maybe a lot of snow Friday.
Here where I am in SoCalif, we didn’t get the rain, just the ever-lov’in (constant) wind except that we ARE colder and for us this morning at 6:30am PST to have so much frost was rather a surprise; I’m glad my husband went out at 11pm last night to cover a new fruit tree we have planted up on the hillside.
Is good you can get appointments/errands out of the way today and I can see how you’d be worrying about the egg cups but those delivery people are incredible; at least you don’t have to worry about the egg cups sitting at the post office to be picked up, since you won’t want to be out in this weather any more than I bet the UPS driver does, except that he might be more conditioned to all kinds of bad driving weather and he does have a big ‘ol truck!
Just stay safe … and warm!!!
Can’t believe I’m saying this; is the exact opposite of everything we set out to do about new pet ownership after losing our precious dog quite recently, but there’s another dog in need at a shelter, so he’s ours as of this weekend; not quite age 3 (when I’d have preferred a senior-aged dog so that we weren’t looking at another 10-yr commitment due to our age [although everybody tells me, “Vicki, glass half full; be optimistic; be positive! {I’m very cautious about these things!}]); Aussie Shep mix, sort of overall coloring of cafe au lait/white; about 37 lbs which is a more manageable weight for us, as in my husband to lift him when need be.
My mostly-retired husband wanted something to occupy his attention and get past his grief of the other dog; well, he’ll be busy with this new one because although the new dog is the sweetest thing and not yet suffering from kennel fatigue (although we’re at least fourth owner; we know a little bit about his background; none of the circumstances are the fault of the dear dog), he is very active and athletic. He’s a jumper, loves to catch a frisbee, so it’s a good thing we’re fully fenced in, with 6-8ft permanent-tall, strong fencing (and a large rear yard). For himself, my husband also wants the exercise; so, it’s a match. (My husband is tall and lean but also pre-diabetic [runs in the family] so a lot of exercise is critical for him; it helps with the blood sugar.)
What can I do but just go with this, see my husband’s sadness lifted; but I need a lovey back in the house, too; I guess we’d never have lasted very long, despite our now-vanished resolve, without a dog since at least my husband has never not had one in something like 37 continuous years. Wish us luck.
(There’s an agreement, part of the adoption process, if something happened to our ‘situation’ where it was impossible for us to care for him, the rescue group will ALWAYS take the dog back, for life [there’d be a back-up plan for him in other words; this is a well-established group/facility; quite large in scale]; in fact, his chip will be their contact-info ahead of ours. So I feel better to have a safety net for him. They have too many older dogs who age out and live with the shelter to the end, but these people do an amazing job of keeping the dogs as contented and healthy as possible, working with all kinds of resources like veterinarians, volunteers, professional trainers, etc.)
You have a big heart–lucky doggy! Our Aussie mix was an awesome dog, so sweet and silky soft and a great companion. Congrats on your newest family member.
Thanks, Roxie; ‘they’ do say that an Aussie makes a great companion dog. I might be asking you a question or two down the way, since I know nothing of the breed; I still want to do a DNA test on him but the shelter people hands-down say he’s mostly an Aussie. And, true, he has the softest fur/hair; a beautiful red merle in there somewhere.
I know he’ll be a shedder (double coat), but so was the dog we’ve recently lost. A vet we once had, said of a shedding breed, “There’s even dog hair in the ice cubes! Hair on the ceiling of the room!” Yep.
We also know that the Aussie is a herding breed, but we’re somewhat used to that because we once had a border collie mix, and she was always trying to nudge us in herding mode. Those throwback genes.
Yep, definitely a herder. Winston was. And Scout – a purebred border collie – definitely Was!
xoxo
Hi Vicki,
I worked as a veterinary technician for 12 years. We saw a lot of Aussies because a breeder was one of our clients. Two words….shedding and EXERCISE! These dogs need as much exercise as you can give them or they will be destructive. That may be why he has not worked out with other people. We also had a Border Collie that would roundup my 2 kids all the time! They are though very loving dogs with their owners. We are on our third Golden Retriever and I can attest to the fact of shedding! We find dog hair everywhere and give people who visit us a sticky roller to clean their clothes off! Enjoy your new member of the family!
Thanks, Deb; I’ve been trying to thoroughly educate myself on the breed; I definitely had always heard that an Aussie is mega-active so of course I had some red flags. (I initially said to my husband, “NO.WAY.”)
With him being so white, I’m a little worried if down the road, the dog has vision issues (which seems to run with the paler-color Aussies). But, you know, I worry about EVERYthing about anything. Thing is, too, he’s not purebred; he’s a mix. He might be hardier (more robust). My experience with purebreds hasn’t been good; all my cocker spaniels (I’ve had four) and a beagle we had were purebred and they had so many genetic issues; it likely was the product of being bred incorrectly (ya think[??!!]; the ‘backyard’ breeders who are indiscriminate; negligible; just in it for the money). Which is also probably why these dogs wound up in shelters as a lot of new dog ‘owners’ just don’t want to deal with problems. I mean, it’s understandable, like when it’s a family, they have kids, they don’t have time, the dogs can rack up a lot of expense with their medical or even behavioral problems.
We’ve even discussed, my husband and I (which he calls, with me, the yeah-we-are-going-to-be-hit-by-a-meteor-when-we-walk-out-of-the-house-tomorrow morning [since I try to explore all sides of a ‘thing’ but am a bit OTT; I can always find a way to NOT do something if I let my fears get the best of me]), like what I’d do if he had to travel or was in some way ‘out of commission’ for a period of time, since I’m the physically weaker of us (I have to be careful when walking a dog due to some leg/hip instability and just overall physical endurance at my age and state of health; I have to be careful with falling), when it would be my part of the responsibility to exercise the dog in his absence, since the dog needs exercise every single day (so we have some ideas on that; tweaking a plan).
One lady who’d tried to foster this dog was age 80 and she definitely couldn’t handle him; her doctor said, “You’d do better with a chihuahua.” (My husband and I are a lot younger than 80.) The dog is young and healthy; he has a lot of vigor. Our property backs up in part to a completely fenced-in schoolyard and, when the gate is open, as long as there’s not a ballgame going on, my husband might be able to run the dog in that huge grass space if we ever get to a point where we can be sure he’d behave and not run off (like thru that open gate); I see other people doing it sometimes; of course we always have a poop bag on hand for the excursion.
Also, if you walk four times around our housing tract, it’s a mile circle. We’re pulling out the stops, trying to think of how we can vary the dog’s and my husband’s daily exercise! They’ll be a team.
We also go to the beach; a lot. We’re not far from the ocean. There’s a great walking beach where people take dogs and horses; really wide beach; safe; ranger-protected. Maybe the dog will like the beach where he could run and run, chase a ball. However, other dogs of ours have NOT liked the water.
Thanks for weighing in; I appreciate tips!
Vicki it sounds like you are very well informed pet owners. Your new dog will be very happy in your home. The only thing I could add is dogs love routine. The more they know what to expect, the more well behaved they will be. He might need a little work in that area. Wishing you all the best with your new pet!
Thank you. Dogs are definitely ‘creatures of habit’!
Wonderful news! Our first dog, Winston, was an Aussie mix. We loved him. Very smart, very affectionate! Congratulations, Vicki!
Stay safe.
You know, Claudia, coincidence: As I was writing, I’d been re-looking at your three dogs on the photos you have, to the right on the home page of the blog, and I was wondering that very thing!
Thank you so much for being happy for us. Be happy for the dog, who gets to live in a house and big yard now and not a pen at the kennel. I want to see him run ‘for miles’ and play and jump and feel joy. He has a sunny personality. Over two recent adoption periods, 18 people filled out online adoption papers but not one of them ever showed up for the meet & greets. He just doesn’t deserve that; it stops with us.
I was just thinking about this new dog’s colorway and I got it: He reminds me of a Palomino horse. He’s such a pretty cream color, at least for a good portion of him.
I have a lot of love to give to a pet. But the conflict of course for me, as I handle grief differently from my husband, is that I still miss my girl who hasn’t been gone all that long from us. If I allow myself to think of her, I still shed a lot of tears. What am I saying: The tears still spring frequently; doesn’t take much to set me off. She’s still, her spirit, in my current/present ‘realm’/surroundings. A new dog can’t replace her. I do not WANT her replaced, in my memory, in my very-recent memory; she is still and always will be a part of me. I don’t want to lose that; not yet anyway. It’s still ‘fresh’. But I will not and could not ever forget her anyway. She was my girl-baby-dog who was a huge, huge presence in my life for nearly 13 years. My therapy dog in a sense; got me through cancer; got me through the death of my mom. I miss this dog SO much; she was such an effortless pet; never gave us any trouble or problems. We can’t expect another dog to be like her. It wouldn’t be fair to a new dog. But we do have more love to give. And, so, we go forward from here. I can’t wait to hug our new boy.
When do you get him, Vicki?
Saturday. It could have been today, but we’re trying to coordinate it with my husband’s work days, so that we can have some continuous, uninterrupted time with the dog, at least three-four days with the both of us, not just one of us, at home. And my husband has to fix one small section of fence, to raise the height on one end. We are so darned cold, for us, hard freeze last night and it’s still only 40 degrees at 8am although the winds are starting up which will warm us, that he hopes to work on that later today which is about his only chance to do it.
I saw robins today, I saw a huge murmuration of starlings that kept going on and on right on our property, I saw the carolina wren. My hopes rise and then we get walloped with snow. Sigh.
It’s depressing.
Thanks, Vicki.
Stay safe.
I love that you can identify the birds in your environment. They’ll be okay; they know where/how to ‘weather over’. Hang on, Claudia. Spring is right around the corner. And it’s going to be SO beautiful, because you live on a beautiful property in a beautiful part of New York!
xoxo
Love Don’s singing. Now I have someplace to go to find “good music”. Stay safe. We are at 11 secrets with heavy sleet today and tomorrow! Ugh!
That was 11 degrees! Sorry.
xoxo
That’s wintry weather for Tulsa! Hang in there, Judy.
Stay safe.
Zoe looks a little concerned about the forecast too!
I’m turning on Don’s YouTube station to listen while I start cross-stitching since the light is good.
Lake effects snow overnight, some early mini-daffodils, blue skies today on the east side of the Sierra. Single digit temps to come. The air is crispy fresh and the birdsong in the sunshine is heartening. Springtime WILL come!
Hang in there.
It will. But this snow is not helping my mood, Roxie!
Stay safe.
My husband has spent the bulk of the morning scraping ice off the sidewalks….we live on a corner. And it’s too cold for traditional salt. I attempted to help, but the bitter cold chased me away after 30 minutes. I am tired of cold, ice, snow. However…since we are still in a drought, I relish every flake or ice pellet, no matter how difficult to clean up!!
I totally enjoyed Don’s car concerts…what fun! Hope the snow isn’t too much for you to bear. Enjoy your day! ;)
That damned ice. It’s so dangerous!
I’m over winter, Donnamae. I understand.
Stay safe.
Don, Daddy That Tuna Don’t Ride. What a hoot! I also took in your Shakespeare Covid reading. Those were some fine words!
Claudia, we have snow today too. Our flakes are big fat wet beauties that coat everything and then the sun comes out, melt….repeat. I’m sorry yours isn’t as fun. We did have a half hour of scary wind though. I’m taking a hot cup of tea and my book to the “sunroom” to catch the action. We have a dove couple testing out nest spots. Is it really almost that time! Wishing you and all in this storms way a safe few days ahead.
It’s become very windy here today. The temp is going to hit 60 and then plunge thirty degrees for tomorrow.
It really has been the most insane winter!
Stay safe and enjoy your doves (I love doves.)
Sorry about the weather…hope the puzzle comes together. Your husband is indeed accomplished. Music is important to me…was married to a singer…take care…hope the really bad weather misses you.
I don’t think it will, Brenda, but thank you.
Stay safe.
I’ve been thinking about my mom so much and wondering why; then it occurs to me that she died in February. I have a mental block of remembering dates of death. But she, too, was a singer; she once sang professionally when she was in her late teens and early 20s; church, weddings, girl singer in a band til World War II started and the ‘boys’ in the band went off to battle. I grew up with her singing in the house; she loved Broadway show tunes. I was listening to some of this stuff before I could form words to sing the songs myself as a tot: Carousel, Brigadoon, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Camelot, The King and I. I never realized in my youth that it was therapeutic to hear her singing in the background, playing her piano (excellent pianist; she played really difficult pieces I could never attempt); it would make her happy, and it made our days light to have the healing power of music in the house. Singing and the sound of music in her life after she had a stroke is also what brought my elderly mom back from the brink; she knew the music, she could sing to the music before she could learn to talk again, post-stroke.
An aside: I just re-watched the film, “The Piano” which is a Jane Campion movie featuring Harvey Keitel in my fave role of his, but also the talented Holly Hunter in such a marvelous part for which she got an Academy award. I was reviewing the details about it online and I had never realized/forgotten(?) that Holly Hunter is a pianist in ‘real life’ and she played those intricate solos in the movie HERSELF. Very impressive. It’s quite a movie. I’d momentarily forgotten how much I’d liked it at the time, when it first came out in the early 1990s.
xoxo
I’ve seen 3 robins this week…actually made cry…happy tears. Today I found some little tête-à-tête daffodils poking their little heads up. I covered them over with leaves to protect them from Friday’s snow. I live in Central Massachusetts so similar weather as you. Stay safe & stay warm!
We have a favorite place in a nearby coastal city that has a tall bluff in the foothills which looks out over the whole Pacific Ocean in the surroundings including the city below, and most everything on this bluff including a botanical garden was destroyed by Calif wildfire some four years ago. Point being, it’s been shut off so it could all grow again and recover. I saw it for the first time since about Fall 2017 this past week, and when I got up there, saw all the trees gone, but new trees planted in their place (little ones still) plus new beds of native plants and grasses; and, oh, that VIEW once again with so much sweeping vista and sky, I almost fell to my knees with emotion. I’m overly sentimental but this has been a special place to me for about 45 years, I’ve missed it, worried about it, so glad it has revived after so much destruction; I was just struck with so much gratitude; it was profound. That we can view all of nature and its wonders with happy tears, how lucky are we!
We had about 20 robins in the yard yesterday – stopping to eat. They were here for quite a while. I think they’re heading north.
Stay safe, Luanne.
Zoe is precious!
It was a glorious 69degrees here in Massachusetts today, and yes, we are expecting eight inches of snow on Friday. Crazy weather, but I spotted my first robin of spring and my daffodils are popping up. Hang in there; spring is right around the corner. :-)
We had robins in the yard – probably about 20 of them, so I assume they were stopping on their way northward. Also a huge murmuration of starlings!
Stay safe, Janice.
I love that humans can relate to how birds find their home. The husband finds the homes but the wife picks the one she wants! As it should be!! Well, we did not have snow, but we had a lot of rain and cold temps, and I loved every minute of it! I turned the fireplace on and unfortunately turned the TV on and had to listen about Russia. That changed my mood very fast. It is scary! I was reading you had a Border Collie….so did we. She was the best dog. Lived until she was 18. Now we have a Golden Retriever named Gracie. I don’t even want to think about losing her. Me working at the vet I saw many dogs passing over the Rainbow Bridge, but when it is ours, it is so different. Just heartbreaking. Well I don’t like to hear you are getting more snow. I have to think Spring around your cottage has to be awesome with all the flowers that pop up. They will be here before you know it. Keep looking for those birds!
Stay warm!
Our Scout lived until she was 17. I also worked with a vet for a few years.
Thanks, Deb.
Stay safe.