Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1141 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Off To The Fair

June 5, 2015 at 6:00 am by Claudia

Since Don’s fitting was changed to Monday, we’re taking off early this morning for the Country Living Fair. I’ll be sure to take lots of photos for you. It can get very crowded, so I like going on a)Friday and b)early. Since I have Early Bird Admission Tickets, hurrah!

6-5 babies sunning

No telephoto lens, remember, so not at all the best quality, but the two babies were sunning themselves on the ramp to the shed yesterday and I knew you’d want to see that. That climbing plant that is hiding their entrance hole is a Climbing Hydrangea. I’ve had this plant for years and the information I read about it said it could take up to 5 years to finally bloom. Last year was the first time I saw blooms – and that was six years after I put it in the ground. There are even more this year.

6-5climbinghydrangea

This is what they look like as they start to pop.

Finally, I was the lucky recipient of another present – this time from longtime reader, Trudy.

6-5 from Trudy

Look at all that gorgeous crochet! There’s a bag, some dish cloths, a back scrubber, and that little yellow bag holds face scrubs. Trudy tells me you can put the dirty scrubs inside the bag, cinch it shut and throw them in the washer. Along with all the beautiful handwork is a bride and groom to add to my cake topper collection. This one is made by Royal Doulton. So elegant.

Thank you so much, Trudy, for such a lovely gift! I’m so impressed by your crochet and by the time and care you took in putting all of this together. You are such a sweetheart.

This is a short one, as I’m writing it on Thursday evening. I’ll have some pictures of the Fair on Saturday.

Happy Friday.

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The Vocal Bob and Weave (& Henry)

June 4, 2015 at 8:18 am by Claudia

6-4 baby henry

Meet baby Henry.

Don and I happened to look out the window and both Henry and baby Henry were chomping on food rather close to the house, and running back and forth under the car. At one point, Henry was in Scout’s little corral. Then they both got scared by something or other and ran back to their home under the shed.

About five minutes later, who did I see but Henry in my garden, dining on something that wasn’t on the menu we have provided for him. I opened the front door, went out on the porch, and of course, he scrambled for the shed. He stopped on the ramp and stared at me.

We had to have a talk. I firmly told him that he was welcome to dine on the grass and on all the vegetation in the woods, but that the garden was a NO. He continued to stare at me. NO, I repeated.

That scamp. Do you think he understood? All I know is that later in the evening, he was seen in what we call his ‘pasture’ eating the grass.

I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.

Yesterday was a sunny, beautiful day, very welcome after all the rain we’ve had. I weeded. I weed wacked. (I’m alternating the spelling of wacked/whacked because I’ve given up trying to figure out which one is preferred. Last time I wrote about it I used ‘whacked.’ Hence, ‘wacked’ in this post.) Later on, when the grass was dry, we mowed. I watered the plants on the porch.

It was just so nice to be outside!

6-4 gardenfromtheporch

I’m reading Disclaimer by Renée Knight (scheduled for a book review) and it’s very good! Rather chilling, in fact. More on that in about 10 days or so. And it’s not at all like Gone Girl, thank goodness. In fact, when I grabbed it from my shelf, I noticed the blurb on the front is from Lee Child. Okay. Now we’re talking!

Don may or may not have purchased donuts yesterday. I may or may not have eaten two, which was one too many.

And speaking of language and communication, I really dislike this sort of thing:

“Do I wish I had done things differently?”

“I do.”

“Did I experience regret when I made that choice?”

“I did.”

Commit, for heaven’s sake. Don’t circle around the subject.

I’m rewriting the dialogue.

“I wish I had done things differently.” Or, better yet, “I was wrong.”

“I regret that I made that choice.” Or…”I was wrong.”

Asking the question and then answering it for oneself keeps the speaker one step away from taking full responsibility – just over the border from clear and unvarnished truthfulness.

I’m tired of people not taking responsibility for their actions and using language to dance around the subject, all the while bobbing and weaving, when a direct hit would be much clearer.

“I was wrong.” “I’m sorry.”

Simple, right?

“Don bought donuts. I ate two of them.” Nothing unclear about that.

Sigh.

6-2 peonies in mccoy

McCoy reporting for duty and providing a nice little home for my rescued peonies.

Don’t forget to stop by Hanging Out With Bloggers: Enabling the Change – the post I wrote about a great discussion I had with four other bloggers. There’s even a video of us! If you leave a comment you will be eligible to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

Happy Thursday.

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It’s Not Fair: Caroline vs. Claudia

June 3, 2015 at 8:00 am by Claudia

I’ve been examining some inequities re the dollhouse and my house, the most blatant of which I’m sharing with you.

My ‘potting bench,’ for lack of a better term:

5-23 gardening stuff

Caroline’s Potting Shed:

2-6 DH Potshed 1

2-6 DH Potshed 2

2-6 DH Potshed 3

First of all, it’s a shed. With a skylight. And she has a sink. And a bench. And a red floor. And the walls are painted in my favorite color.

My studio space, crammed into a hallway upstairs – not even a separate room – and my desk space, which is usually the kitchen table:

studioupdate1

Corners-studio 2

Caroline’s studio/office. In a separate room. With a big cutting table. And plenty of desk space.

WWW - office-studio2

WWW - office-studio3

She even had the temerity to tell me she’s going to add an easy chair to this space. What the heck?? Clearly, her paycheck goes further than mine.

My kitchen with a standard stainless steel sink and a basic stove (not pictured):

Corners-kitchen 12

Caroline’s kitchen:

WWW - dollhouse kitchen 2

Crap. She’s got a farmhouse style sink. And the tile used in her backsplash is just what I’ve been yearning for. And where the heck did she find a plate rack? Let’s not even talk about the retro mint green refrigerator.

Wait – are those wood countertops? I hate my tiled countertop.

WWW - dollhouse kitchen 5

She has an Aga. Do you know how much they cost? And how much I’d like one in my kitchen? Copper pots? My pots are from IKEA.

On the list of things we wanted in a house was a fireplace. Do you see one here?

living room july 2014

No, you don’t. Just a chimney. Without the fireplace.

You know what’s coming. Let’s visit Caroline’s living room:

mondhlivingroomrug

WWW DH LR2

Complete with birch logs, ready to burn. And shelves. And a mantel to decorate.

And the bathroom? I’m not even going to go there.

Listen. I like Caroline. She’s a nice person. However, it seems to me that there is a sort of ‘flaunting’ going on here. Here we are in our cottage; sans farmhouse sink, sans vintage stove or Aga, with no fireplace, and a studio space for yours truly that is in the hall, for heaven’s sake, and there’s Caroline, ensconced in her perfect house which is smack dab in the middle of our living room. Right there. I cannot avoid seeing it. I cannot pretend to be unaware of Caroline’s activities. I hear her laughing and humming little tunes, singing in the shower. I see her go into her studio/office and shut the door for privacy. I see her reading by the fire.

Sometimes I can even catch the scent of wood smoke.

Do I sound bitter?

I am.

Wouldn’t you be?

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Wednesday.

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Off To The Fair

The Vocal Bob and Weave (& Henry)

It’s Not Fair: Caroline vs. Claudia

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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