Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1083 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Flowers and Friends

December 11, 2015 at 7:59 am by Claudia

12-11 instagrammy picture of LR

This is another Instagram photo that I’d also like to share here in this space. Real Life, my friends. Lots of little rugs for Scout, Don’s guitar on the loveseat, Scout snoozing, air conditioner still in the window, assorted clutter on the kitchen table.

But I love the golden light. When the sun pours in the windows here, it’s truly lovely.

And look at this!

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The geranium plant that was hanging on the porch is still blooming! I brought it indoors and it’s gorgeous red blossoms are really adding some cheer around here.

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This is the time of year when I can no longer garden, when I can’t take a quick picture of whatever is blooming at the moment, so I hunker down and concentrate on the inside of the cottage. I start to nest in earnest; gathering, collecting, rearranging. I think we all do – at least those of us who live in wintery areas of the country.

But I haven’t done one bit of Christmas decorating yet. Not one. We’ve barely talked about presents. It’s the way it is this year.

Speaking of presents, Don has a great friend who is a fellow musician. His name is Fran. I also know Fran and he’s a great guy. Remember those donuts I love so much that are made fresh every day in our neighboring town? Well, Don and Fran often meet at the donut shop for coffee and donuts and talk. I benefit from these meetings because Don brings me a chocolate glazed donut. Heaven.

Anyway, yesterday Don came home with a donut and little bag and said that Fran had sent me something – something that was on his mantel that he thought I would like. (Don told me that Fran occasionally reads my blog, which surprised and delighted me.) Fran knows I love pottery, and this was what was wrapped up inside of that bag:

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This beautiful little piece of cobalt blue pottery. It looks like it might be a cruet of sorts. Isn’t it lovely? There’s no mark on the bottom. I love the graceful curves and the elegance of the design.

I was so taken by this wonderful surprise. Thank you, Fran, for thinking of me and sharing this little treasure. I will think of you every time I look at it.

Aren’t people wonderful?

Book Review of two books by M. J. Arlidge on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Friday.

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Thursday Thoughts: On Scout. (And a Pretty Piece of Pottery.)

December 10, 2015 at 9:17 am by Claudia

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I took this photo with my iPhone and posted it to Instagram yesterday. My little girl, just about to fall asleep. I really like it, so here it is for those of you who don’t do Instagram.

She sleeps a lot nowadays. She has good days and bad days and is very much like Riley was in that her limbs are unsteady and she falls a lot. We support her when she’s eating. We help her in and out of the house. She’s declining, but she’s still a strong minded girl who loves to eat and be near us, who on a good day will walk around the corral and sniff everything in her path, who loves to watch her dad cook dinner, and who can sometimes still clear the two steps from the den to the living room in one jump, so we will do what we did with Riley. We’ll love her and hold her and tell her we’re taking care of her and not to worry and that we’ll watch over her. She is our priority, plain and simple.

She doesn’t bark anymore. But interestingly, the other morning while we were still in bed, we heard her barking repeatedly for a minute or so. She was dreaming. That’s when she barks. We welcome the sound.

Every day, we are worrying about her, watching her, gauging the state of her health. We’re never far from her. She is our girl – our almost seventeen year old girl – and the fact that she is still with us is a miracle. So we treasure every moment with her.

She’s been with us almost as long as we have been married. She’s outlived her brothers. She’s lived on the West Coast. She’s lived on the East Coast. She’s traveled across the country in a Honda CR-V. She’s charmed absolutely everyone she has ever met. She is an angel.

You see, this is why I don’t write about her these days – except briefly. I’m crying. It’s always right below the surface of every moment. This knowledge that we will have to say goodbye in the not-so-distant future.

So let’s move on to something frivolous. A new piece of Roseville arrived yesterday.

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In the Magnolia pattern, a little window box. I fell in love with the color and the design. It’s about 3½ inches tall and 8 inches wide. This is, I think, the front.

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This is the back. But then again, maybe not….

Whatever way I’m looking at this piece, I love it. I had to gimp my way down to the mailbox yesterday to get it. Our postperson always toots her horn when she attaches a package to the mailbox, so I knew I had to get down there and get it.

Isn’t it pretty? Can’t you see it sitting on a windowsill in some home in the forties or fifties? Maybe planted with ivy or african violets or a succulent or two?

Yesterday’s scarf sold overnight. I’m working on a few orders at the moment, but I do have one other skein in shades of green that I will offer in the shop as soon as I can get to it.

Happy Thursday.

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At The Controls Of My Starship

December 9, 2015 at 9:55 am by Claudia

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on yesterday’s post. I read every comment (well, I always do) but this time, I found myself reading them more than once. It helps to know that others feel the same way, that the free-floating anxiety and worry and, in some cases, outrage that we feel is shared by others. We need to draw strength from each other. And we need to take action.

As I sit here, sprained ankle on a pillow on top of an ottoman, cup of coffee to my right, iPhone next to the coffee, Kindle next to the iPhone, camera just a bit beyond the Kindle, laptop on my lap, I laugh out loud at the image I have of my “Command Center.” Oh, and now we’ll add coffee cake to my left, because Don just brought in a piece for me.

Gone are the days of being laid up and only connected to the world via a landline and the television set.

I feel like I’m behind the controls on the Starship Enterprise.

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I’m sharing two more of my Roseville Pottery pieces with you today. (I have a couple more Roseville scores on their way to me in the mail.)

The green basket is in the Apple Blossom pattern. As you can see, I am sometimes quite willing to buy a damaged piece. The third curve from the left has been broken off and there is a hairline crack that travels downward from there. I saw this in a local antique shop, priced at $25.00. I hesitated because of the damage and Don said I should buy it anyway because “It’s been loved and used. Besides, cracks let the light in.” An homage to Leonard Cohen.

So I bought it, and I’m happy I did. It would be three times, maybe four times the price I paid if it was flawless. But it isn’t, so I adopted it and now it has a home at the cottage.

The smaller brown piece is in the Bushberry pattern. This is the very first piece of Roseville I ever purchased. I found it in San Diego. At the time, Roseville prices were through the roof, so this remained my one and only piece for several years. It was living in the kitchen china cabinet, but I just moved it to the den, where, when the other pieces arrive and I rearrange the den china cabinet, it will live with its Roseville brothers and sisters.

Or, it just might stay on this music cabinet. We’ll see.

There’s a new scarf in the shop.

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This is the Obsession Scarf in Pompidou. Gosh, it’s so hard to capture the colors. It makes me crazy. The link to the shop is here.

A couple of blog housekeeping items:

• For some reason the email version of my post went out very late in the day yesterday. It should go out between 11 am and 1 pm. I suppose it was a Feedburner glitch. I’ll do my best to keep an eye on that today.

• WordPress has just had an update and there’s a chance that my comment reply plugin might not work. Can you let me know if you receive my replies to your comments? If you aren’t – and you know I reply to every comment – I need to know that and find an alternative plugin.

Thank you!

Happy Wednesday.

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Flowers and Friends

Thursday Thoughts: On Scout. (And a Pretty Piece of Pottery.)

At The Controls Of My Starship

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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