Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1167 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

There Are Times I Just Can’t Come Up With a Post Title

March 20, 2015 at 9:21 am by Claudia

3-20 deer watching Scout

A deer looking at Scout (who’s in her mini corral.) Right after this, Scout became aware of the deer. They engaged in a stare-off. (This was shot through my kitchen door, so there’s some reflection bouncing off the deer and the tree.)

What a beautiful animal.

I was going to say that there’s much less snow on the ground – and there is – but on this first day of Spring we are supposed to get 3- 6 inches of snow. I’m calling this The Last Hurrah. My only comfort is in the fact that snow doesn’t stay on the ground for very long come March. The ground is warmer, the angle of the sun is higher. And the temp tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid-forties. Nevertheless, the whole thing is a bit daunting, wouldn’t you say?

Don, the saintly man to whom I am married, came along with me yesterday as I searched for jeans that fit my no longer angular and now curvy body. He helped me find various styles in my size and patiently waited for me to try them on and discard them. Eventually, I found a style by Lee that fit well. Huzzah! And then I found the same style in black. So I bought two pairs. There was a sale at Kohl’s so I got them at a very good price. Huzzah again! Note: I want to write the plural of pair as pair because that’s the way I was taught. But I hardly see that anymore. What to do?

Then we stopped at Target to pick up a couple of items.

I rewarded Don (and me) by agreeing to a stop at Five Guys. He got his burger (yes, he does eat meat now and then) and we shared some fries. As we were heading home, Don saw that Dairy Queen was open for the season and somehow we ended up with two chocolate shakes.

How did that happen?

And how did I end up having Five Guys fries and a chocolate shake for lunch?

I’m not sure, but it was awfully tasty – and slightly wicked.

3-20 lamp

This is the lamp that I had on my sewing table. It’s been moved to the den because I need a stronger light here. It’s the Ranarp Lamp from IKEA and my plan is to get another for the studio but since I’m not working on anything up there, there’s no hurry.

Today might be a good day to do some hand quilting as the snow falls.

For the last time.

I insist on it.

Happy Friday.

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Potpourri: Heat, Flowers, Cups, & Jeans

March 19, 2015 at 9:24 am by Claudia

3-19 flowers 2

Don went to Trader Joe’s the other day, so I gave him orders to come back with flowers. I even took the time to show him photos of the specific flowers I wanted – alstromeria. He passed his test with flying colors.

Fresh flowers are very pricey around here. Our local supermarket will have a price of $12 – $15 per bunch. I just can’t pay that much money when I know that the price at Trader Joe’s for the same amount of flowers – actually, more flowers – is $3.99. No can do. I got two bouquets for much less than the price of a supermarket bouquet. Pretty good deal!

Not long after I wrote yesterday’s post, our furnace guy came over and replaced our thermostat. He was pretty sure the power surge blew out the thermostat. The replacement, which he thinks might be better, is unfortunately not digital, like the one we had. That means that I have to put on my glasses to read it and fiddle with the dial. Ah well. As soon as he put in the new thermostat, the heat started to come through our baseboards and all was well.

The driveway and parking area were very icy, so I salted everything so Don could get out of here and run some errands, one of which was this:

3-19 cups

Yep. We decided we had to get the other three cups and saucers. They needed to be together. I love this Susie Cooper pattern so much and after I learned more about it and her, I loved it even more. For now, they are living on this yet-to-be-filled-with-books shelf. I’m thinking some sort of tole tray would be pretty behind them. What do you think?

3-19 flowers 1

More flowers.

Today, I get to go through the depressing ritual of buying new jeans. Yuck. But since a largish hole has appeared quite near the crotch of my current jeans, methinks it’s time to replace them. After all, I mustn’t reveal too much.

Don’t forget: today is the last day you can leave a comment in order to be entered in the giveaway of Hush Hush, Laura Lippman’s latest mystery. Click on this post.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Thursday.

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When the Wires Come Down

March 18, 2015 at 7:58 am by Claudia

3-18 sunset

Well, it’s been a crazy twelve hours or so. Yesterday brought very high winds to our area. Around 5:00 pm, we heard a boom and the power went out. We looked outside and saw something burning about 75 feet down the road from us. At first, we thought there had been a car accident, until we realized that something had happened to the power lines. We called 911, as did our neighbor. The smell of burning electrical wires filled the air.

The fire department came, but they kept their distance for a long time – I suppose they were waiting for the power to be cut by Central Hudson (which is our power company.) So the wires kept sparking and burning. We live on a busy county road, so the trucks also blocked traffic. It wasn’t until we went outside that we saw wires in the street, wires blocking our neighbor’s driveway and a snapped pole or two, including the one directly across the street from us. We called our neighbors to warn them about the wires, but the fire department had already called to tell them not to leave their house.

This would also be a good time to mention that the weather turned very wintry yesterday, with wind chills in the teens (this morning there was snow on the ground.) Today is also supposed to be very windy and cold. So much for Spring, right?

We lit candles, got out the flashlights, I found a battery operated lantern, and we sat together on the living room sofa, covered with blankets. I found our old transistor radio and we listened to oldies all evening long. That part of the evening was rather nice. Power was supposed to be restored by 11:30, but at 1:00 am it was still out, so we went to bed.

The power finally came back on at 6 am. Everything seems to be working, except the newish thermostat that was installed last year, which means we still don’t have heat downstairs. Upstairs, yes. So we’re waiting for our furnace guy to come over and figure out what the problem is. My fingers are freezing as I type this!

No frozen or burst pipes, thank goodness. That was our biggest worry.

Bless the guys from the power company. There were trucks up and down our road all night long. It was windy and freezing and miserable out there.

It’s a very bizarre feeling to hear the furnace come on, but to still have no heat downstairs.

We’re cold!

Thank goodness no one was driving on that part of the road when the wires came down.

Anyway, there you have it. I have to stop typing and put some gloves on.

Happy Wednesday.

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There Are Times I Just Can’t Come Up With a Post Title

Potpourri: Heat, Flowers, Cups, & Jeans

When the Wires Come Down

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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