Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1103 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

She’s Strangely Competitive

September 15, 2015 at 9:05 am by Claudia

It was bound to happen.

Upon reading yesterday’s post, Caroline had a request. She wanted some ‘As Is’ photos of her house. Pronto.

No matter that I wasn’t feeling well, that I was constantly blowing my nose and sucking on lozenges. She would not be deterred. Finally, simply to put an end to constant chatter coming from Hummingbird Cottage, I got out the camera.

Here you go. Caroline’s house. As Is.

9-15 dh livingroom

9-15 dh ottoman

9-15 dh porch

9-15 dh bedroom

9-15 dh fireplace

9-15 dh studio

9-15 dh coffeetable

9-15 dh kitchen

9-15 dh parrish

Actually, Caroline and I had a couple of spats yesterday. I was under the weather, tired, and not very patient. She was in a strangely argumentative mood.

The first was over Maxfield Parrish. She said, and rightly, that she had her very own Maxfield Parrish print before I did. I agreed. However, I had to remind her that without my long-held love of Parrish’s work, she wouldn’t have known about him. I was the one who suggested Parrish to her. I told her all about his work as a painter and illustrator. Consequently, she grew to love his work. Since Caroline had more money in the bank than I did at the time, she bought the print and I hung it for her.

The second was over the watermark on my photos. She thought that it should read: Hummingbird Cottage. I explained that the watermark has less to do with the subject matter of the photos, i.e., her cottage, than with the blog itself. She pressed further. No, I said, the watermark has to do with the name of the blog (and the photographer), not the name of your house. And yes, the name of the blog is the same as the name of my house.

As you can imagine, this got Caroline thinking about creating her own blog. Have at it, I said. But when she realized how much work was involved in maintaining a blog, she backed off. She’s far too busy for that, she said.

Crisis averted.

• On another note, if you followed the wildly popular blog, Young House Love (they stopped blogging just about a year ago,) you might be interested in this podcast interview with them. I listened to it yesterday. It’s about an hour long, but if you have the time, I think you’ll enjoy it. Much is said about the quality of life, where blogging leaves off and real life begins, and the sometimes frustrating exercise of trying to please a demanding blog readership. They are admirable people.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

As Is: Late Summer Edition

September 14, 2015 at 8:20 am by Claudia

Every once in a while, I give myself permission to take a quick photo of the house ‘As Is.’ No straightening up, no ‘vignettes’ – just real life. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Don and I like cozy, relaxed, eclectic and vintage. We read a lot, so there are always books lying around. There’s usually a guitar somewhere – right now, there’s one in the living room and one in the den. It’s early around here and the lights are on.

9-14 living room

Practical is the watchword lately. You’ll notice lots of throw rugs that really don’t have any design theme whatsoever. They’re for Scout. They help her navigate. There’s a quilt on the floor in front of the loveseat – also for Scout. And you can just see the edge of a towel that’s on top of the oval rug. You guessed it – for Scout. Don’s Kindle, books, and glasses are on the coffee table.

Nothing exciting. Nothing new. I can’t see spending money on something we really don’t need – just to ‘change things up.’

I don’t decorate for fall, as you know. We are fortunate to live in the Northeast, where Fall will be on constant display in a very short time. Frankly, nothing I could do would be better than the designs of Mother Nature. And honestly, I have so little available surface area that it isn’t practical.

9-14 kitchen

It’s a dark and cloudy morning, so these aren’t great photos. But sometimes, to be perfectly honest, I don’t care!

More throw rugs for Scout. A piece of paper towel on the island (see? no editing.) Dishes in the drainer. Paint brushes used on the dollhouse in a piece of McCoy on the window sill. Cough medicine on the counter. My Peet’s French Roast (single cup drip method) awaiting the boiling water from the tea kettle.

I’ll spare you the den, where there are piles of used kleenexes, cough drops, and a makeshift bed (I came downstairs around 4 am because I was coughing too much and I didn’t want to keep disturbing Don’s sleep.) I don’t know if it is allergies or sinuses and, frankly, I never know. I do remember now that I wasn’t feeling all that great on Thursday when I was in the city. Lots of sneezing – I mean lots – and congestion. So I think this has been coming on for a few days.

There you go. As Is for Monday, September 14th.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

The Repercussions of Trying to Beat Out the Rain & Other Things

September 13, 2015 at 9:06 am by Claudia

Do you ever play a game with the rain? I do it sometimes when I’m mowing. Yesterday, the clouds got increasingly dark and heavy. I knew rain was in the forecast. I was mowing the front lawn (after having mowed the corral and the lilac side of the lawn) thinking, “I’ll just mow the longer part of the lawn before it rains, otherwise it will get too long and will be difficult to mow.”

Don had given me strict instructions not to do too much, but little raindrops started to fall – just a few, here and there, and I immediately wanted to see how far I could get before I had to give up and flee into the cottage.

I managed to finish it all. Huzzah!

But, then again, I did far more mowing than I should have, which led to an allergy attack last night and into the night and very little sleep.

Crap.

That’ll show me.

I definitely feel under the weather, but I hope it’s all gone by the end of the day.

9-13 daddylonglegs1

I keep seeing daddy longlegs on the hollyhocks. After several sightings over the course of the last month, I can’t believe it’s a coincidence.

I googled ‘daddy longlegs and hollyhocks’ and saw several photos which look a lot like mine, so obviously others are seeing them, too. But I could find no explanation as to why they seem to gravitate to these flowers.

9-13 daddylonglegs2

Two flowers, two daddy longlegs. (By the way, I wondered if daddy longlegs needed a dash somewhere in the spelling, but the dictionary gave me this configuration, so I’m going with it.)

Another ‘by the way’; I saw birds in the birdbath a day or so ago: three catbirds and a robin. The robin, as usual, merely by his size, drove the catbirds away. But they stayed nearby and as soon as Mr. Robin left, they were back at it. I was so happy to see some activity there!

Finished Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton, which is an easy read that can be done in a day. In fact, that’s what I did. I’ll be reviewing it this week on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Now, I’m starting The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz, the author chosen by the executors of the late Steig Larsson’s estate to continue the series. It’s had good reviews and I can’t wait to dive in.

The library is a wonderful resource. I reserved The Girl in the Spider’s Web and it didn’t take all that long for me to rise to the top of the queue. Another Huzzah!

9-13 morningglory

Yesterday’s morning glory.

Today is the last day to leave a comment on my book review. I’ll pick the winner tonight.

Okay. I’m off to cough some more and blow my nose and, hopefully, feel less yucky and start my book.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

She’s Strangely Competitive

As Is: Late Summer Edition

The Repercussions of Trying to Beat Out the Rain & Other Things

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives