Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1286 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

On Her Rounds

April 2, 2014 at 6:44 am by Claudia

Thank you for your loving and compassionate comments on yesterday’s post. Your words help me in what is a difficult and stressful time. You are the best, my friends.

No walk yesterday for Scout. I wanted her to take it easy. She was tired and sore but she has such a strong spirit, such a zest for life. Later in the day, I went to the kitchen door to see if she was ready to come in from outside and I saw her loping, almost galloping, along as she ran in from the back of the corral.

I shook my head in wonder. That girl is amazing.

And then I immediately called Don to tell him about it.

She has her ups and downs. But she is, and has always been, the most magical, life-filled, spirited dog I’ve been lucky enough to know.

Here she is on her rounds (excuse the view of the toilet):

scoutonpatrol

scoutonpatrol2

scoutonpatrol3

She has to check out the bathroom; must sniff the trash, the toilet and the bathtub. Several times a day.

This will be a short post. I have to take the car in for some repairs this morning. We’re trying to keep our 13 year old car going as long as we can. Fingers crossed.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Comfort and Changes

April 1, 2014 at 8:22 am by Claudia

hotchocolate

Late afternoon hot chocolate will soon be just a memory.

Not quite yet, but soon.

I’ve been so good about eliminating sugar from my diet, but I must confess that this little indulgence is one I have allowed myself. It’s a comforting ritual, this late-in-the-day treat. It usually coincides with one of Scout’s meals. While I am preparing her dinner, I’m also heating up the milk, stirring in the chocolate and occasionally indulging in some marshmallows. After Scout’s needs are all sorted out, I carry my cup into the den, sit in my chair and slowly sip my hot chocolate.

It’s been there for me throughout the winter, through all the snow shoveling and ice chipping and roof raking. On days when Nor’easters were swirling and blowing all around the cottage, when snow was falling at an alarming rate, I took comfort in my guilty pleasure.

Some hot chocolate, some reading material, sometimes some music, sometimes quiet. Lovely.

I awoke at 5:30 this morning to the sound of Scout falling. Yesterday she had trouble getting up after a nap and fell a couple of times. I assume the same thing happened this morning. I ran downstairs and saw she was having difficulty walking. But once I let her outside and she walked around, she was okay. It’s hard to see this happening as it brings back memories of Riley’s struggles. I think her hind legs sometimes buckle when she first gets up after sleeping for a long time.

Sigh. This is very hard. My agile Border Collie is struggling.

My mom is also declining. Things have changed in the last few days. She was given a chest x-ray, but it’s clear, so no pneumonia. Her breathing, according to Meredith, is shallow. She doesn’t speak anymore. She sleeps most of the time and when she is awake, she stares blankly. No recognition of anyone. Both Meredith and I, and even my dad, feel that her transition is in the near future.

Her body has become her prison and she needs to be set free. Of that I am certain.

I now bring the phone into my bedroom at night. Just in case.

That these thoughts about my mother and Scout are constantly in my mind is obvious, I’m sure. They are never far away, hovering in the background as I move through the day, always ready to take over and make me stop in my tracks.

That’s where I am today.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Making A Reading Journal

March 31, 2014 at 8:16 am by Claudia

In the not so distant past, I mentioned here on this blog that I regretted not keeping a record of all the books I’ve read. It would be such fun to look back at my records and track my reading patterns and what I liked and didn’t like. I have a friend from back home who is a voracious reader and has kept a notebook with detailed descriptions of his reading journey for years. Imagine how many notebooks he has filled!

So, this year I’m keeping a little reading journal.

It’s a quick project. I started by looking for an attractive notebook of some kind. I didn’t want anything big – just a small journal I could keep on the table next to my blogging chair. (There are actual Book Journals that you can buy, but I didn’t like the ones I saw. They included too much extra information to fill in and I felt restricted by all of that.)

bookjournal

I picked up this smallish notebook at Target for $1.99.

bookjournal2

Then I added a label (also from Target and found in the dollar bin) with my not-very-inspired name for the journal.

bookjournal5

I do not like my writing. May I just say that? After years of taking hurried notes on actors’ performances in rehearsals and in the dark of a theater, my handwriting has devolved.

Anyway, it’s a simple list. Just the title, author and a quick mini-review. It could be much more detailed, of course. You could add things like how long it took you to read the book, how many pages, publisher, some sort of rating system, plot, etc.

Since I started this at the end of March, I had to try to remember everything I’ve read since January. It’s pretty accurate, though I may have missed a book or two. (There’s more on the next page.)

bookjournal4

I’m sure some of you already do this. But I’m a late bloomer, remember? Better late than never!

Maybe you’d like to keep a reading journal? We could compare notes at the end of the year. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Yesterday, I mentioned watching His Girl Friday on TCM the other night, starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy. Every time I see Ralph Bellamy, I think of Don. Don had a recurring role on L.A. Law years ago. He played a district attorney named Russell Spitzer. On one of the episodes, he represented a character played by…you guessed it…Ralph Bellamy. So Don, lucky duck that he is, got to spend several days on the set sitting next to Ralph Bellamy, who regaled him with stories of making movies and old Hollywood and all of the actors he had worked with during his amazing career. He was an awfully nice man.

On a side note: Not long after I met Don, Ralph Bellamy came up in a conversation and Don told me about that experience. And I remembered seeing that episode when it first aired. Little did I know that the guy who played the district attorney would one day end up being my husband!

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

On Her Rounds

Comfort and Changes

Making A Reading Journal

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives