Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1026 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The Proliferation of Picks

May 16, 2016 at 9:22 am by Claudia

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Still life: Roseville, McCoy, Mah Jongg tiles, a shell found on the beach in Florida, a mini Eiffel Tower, and guitar picks.

Don rarely uses a pick. He’s told me so. Repeatedly.

This raises a question: Why, then, are there picks everywhere in the cottage? They seem to expand, grow, clone themselves. Are they multiplying overnight? Do they have parties when we are blissfully sleeping in our bed, unaware of the activity happening directly below us?

Are the picks, like some mutant strain, going to take over the house?

I wonder.

It gives one pause.

Windy and cold all day yesterday. Windy again today. When, oh when, will I finally be able to pot the flats of impatiens that are now living on my living room floor because the temperature went down to 36 degrees last night? When will I be able to walk around outside without the wind kicking even more pollen than usual into my eyes?

I did manage to get the morning glory and zinnia seeds planted on Saturday.

That my friends, is it. That, and we finished Season Two of Grace and Frankie. And now we’re sad that it’s over until whenever Season Three is released. I’m going to write about that show and why it’s so amazing and rare sometime later in the week. I want to get my thoughts together.

In the meantime, I’ve written a review of The Travelers by Chris Pavone. It’s on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. Excellent, excellent, excellent! Stop by and read about it.

Happy Monday.

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On a Windy Sunday

May 15, 2016 at 8:36 am by Claudia

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The spirea bush that is down by the road is blooming. Big, fluffy tufts of white. I have always assumed this is a bridal veil spirea, but I could be wrong. I sure love it – it’s one of the early spring delights around here.

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So pretty, so delicate. Today, that bush is being blown every which way as a cold front comes through here. The temperatures have dropped but will start to climb back up tomorrow.

I caught Henry investigating the top of the garden bed. I opened the front door and said “Hey, no garden for you.” He took off like a shot. I actually didn’t need to say a word; just opening the door is enough to send him back to his lair.

It’s so windy today that my parents’ wind chimes are constantly making beautiful sounds. Hi Mom and Dad.

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These are the albums that dear Linda sent my way. Don loves all of these artists, so they are perfect for the TSP.

Coincidentally, some albums I ordered arrived yesterday.

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Also in this particular group that arrived in yesterday’s mail? The exact same albums that Linda sent to me! Great minds think alike. They are from the Etsy shop, Petals and Brims. Again – all albums Don would love to have, including Earth Wind & Fire, though I must confess that they are a particular favorite of mine. I’m the big Earth Wind & Fire fan around here.

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We’re slowly getting there.

We watched one of our favorite movies last night, The Awful Truth. It’s a very funny screwball comedy starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, and Ralph Bellamy (who Don worked with many years later on LA Law.) We actually own a copy of the movie, but it’s somehow more fun to watch when it just pops up on TCM. Brilliant.

You know, Don had a recurring role as attorney Russell Spitzer on LA Law and we figured out that the episode with Ralph Bellamy aired in 1988. I remember seeing it when it first aired. It’s a very touching story about Bellamy, a legendary lawyer who, it turns out, is losing his mental faculties. Russell Spitzer (Don) was defending Bellamy’s character. They had a lot of time to talk and Bellamy told great stories about his days in Hollywood.

Anyway, in 1988, I saw Don on that episode. Little did I know I would meet him six years later!

Amazing, how these things happen.

Happy Sunday.

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Trash, Books & Minis

May 14, 2016 at 9:01 am by Claudia

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I know a good trash can is a necessity in a kitchen – in ours, we need one that is really secure, since various critters fly inside our house during the summer months. We had one for years that was made by OXO and it was great; except for the lid, which had structural flaws in its design. Eventually, no matter how careful we were, the plastic portions would disintegrate and it wouldn’t work. OXO was very helpful, sending us replacement lids throughout the years. We must have had at least 6 different lids. But the flaw actually got worse, and the latest replacement fell apart in less than two months.

So we bit the bullet yesterday and bought a new one. Not the most exciting thing to buy, but a necessity. We rewarded ourselves by going out to breakfast and stopping at the bookstore.

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I picked up Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty – a memoir by Diane Keaton (I am a huge fan) and then I got a discount copy of The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. I read her newest novel, Broken Monsters, a few months ago and really liked it.

I also ran into Michael’s to get some plastic storage bins for my minis – right now, they’re all over the place.

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And I found this mini table – I like the color and the lines.

Then we came home. Driving up and down a busy highway full of stores and strip malls isn’t really our cup of tea. We were relieved when we got back to our little cottage.

All this running around meant I didn’t get the seeds planted in the Chicken Wire Fence Garden, so I’ll do that this morning. And by the time we got back home, I realized that I had to pick my health plan before the end of the day, so that became a priority.

But there was a little package waiting for me in our mailbox. It was from my pal, Linda.

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Oooh! The egg cup on the left is Harlequin by Homer Laughlin (in my favorite color) and the egg coddler is a lovely one from Royal Worcester. Thank you, Linda! We both collect egg cups, by the way, so we are definitely enablers.

She also sent along three mini record albums for the TSP, but I am unable to get a good shot of them this morning. I’ll remedy that later in the day.

We might get more rain later in the day, so I’m going to attend to gardening and potting later this morning.

Happy Saturday.

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The Proliferation of Picks

On a Windy Sunday

Trash, Books & Minis

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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