Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1294 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Nests

March 9, 2014 at 9:53 am by Claudia

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A bird nest is a work of art, don’t you think?

When I find one on the ground, it is immediately scooped up and brought into our house. A house within a house. This one is rather small, just big enough to fit on top of one of my favorite egg cups.

How do they do it, this weaving of twigs and other bits? How do they fashion it into the perfect little place to lay their eggs? Such a wonder.

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Inside is a robin’s egg I found on the ground.

Soon they will be building their nests once again. Though, when I look outside and see well over two feet of snow still on the ground, that seems a long way off.

I’ve heard our mourning doves the last few days. I hadn’t heard them all winter, so I take that as a sign. I love the sound of a mourning dove. It’s truly one of my favorite bird calls, haunting and beautiful.

The sun is out today and for that I am thankful. My mom is holding her own. She had a fever on Friday, but by Saturday it had gone down. She sleeps a lot, but sits up to eat and when she does that she seems fairly alert, though she doesn’t speak. I talk to one of the nurses every day. They are still waiting for blood culture work to come back and some more tests will be run today. In the meantime, my dad got a letter from the nursing home saying they would only hold her bed for eight days. Really? So now we have to deal with that on Monday.

My poor dad just gets overwhelmed by this stuff. Heck, I get overwhelmed by it. Mom was lethargic and out of it all last weekend; thinking she might have a UTI, we had to alert the staff and ask for a test on Monday, by Tuesday afternoon, her condition was ‘deteriorating,’ though no one informed us of that fact, and not until Tuesday night was she sent to the hospital. No one on staff picked up on it until we brought it to their attention. So she has to magically recover in eight days? I think not. Though apparently this is standard practice, part and parcel of Medicaid, regulations, etc.

Don’t get me started.

Deep breath. It can’t be dealt with until tomorrow. I’m going to ask the nurse today if there are discharge plans in place.

Happy Sunday.

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Ducks and Cake Toppers

March 8, 2014 at 8:35 am by Claudia

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I’ve got all my ducks in a row.

I know. Groan.

More from Heidi’s shop: these vintage wooden ducks were in a baggie with some other items – most of which I trashed. The ducks were what I had my eyes on. Aren’t they sweet? They remind me of another era, of simple wooden toys, of a non-high tech existence. I had to bring them home. They are safely nestled in with the egg cups that are on display in the den.

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This chalkware bride and groom cake topper came home with me, too. The poor things are missing a bit of paint here and there. The bride had a yellow waxy stain on her bodice and in one of the folds on the back of her dress. After using my finger nail to remove as much of it as I could, I grabbed some white paint and her bodice looks bridal once more. This piece is heavy and large.

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There they are in the studio cabinet with their new friends. You can see how tall they are in relationship to the others. The cake topper right in front of them and to the right is the very first one I acquired. Also chalkware. I won it in a blog giveaway.

That’s what happens, you know. You get one thing. You like it. You find yourself starting to look for others when you are out and about. I have eight of them now. But I acquire them slowly. There’s no rush. And no eBay this time. I like the hunt. If I happen to see one when I’m in a shop, I examine it closely. If it’s too battered, I leave it there. But if it’s artfully aged, like my newest, I’ll get it.

They need a home, you know. At one time they were on the top of the world, basking in the joy of a celebration, symbolizing a happy union – and now they are sitting at the back of some some shelf in a shop.

Poor things.

And they are just kitschy enough to be fabulous.

Don and I got married in a simple and lovely ceremony with two couples sharing our joyous day. We had a cake, but no cake topper. I didn’t want one.

But now I do.

Go figure.

Happy Saturday.

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A Flowery Find

March 7, 2014 at 8:30 am by Claudia

I’m celebrating.

Why? The temperature is going to go above freezing today. Not by much, but hey, this winter’s grip has been so strong that I’ll gladly celebrate a little warm-up. And what do we all long for right now? Spring. Flowers. Gardens. Warm breezes. Green grass.

The smell of spring in the air.

I don’t have any fresh flowers on hand, but I did come home with something flowery from Heidi’s shop. I saw it there the other day when I was helping her get ready for the sale. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and later in the day, I sent her a text that said: I want it.

This is often how I make these kind of decisions. If I can’t get it out of my head, if I know I may never see anything like it again, if I know I’ll kick myself if someone else buys it and, of course, if I can afford it, then it’s a done deal.

Here it is after I first brought it in the door:

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It’s a vintage Fireplace Screen, made to cover up the opening of a fireplace. It’s made of wood and is quite heavy. It also has a little stand in the back which doesn’t work very well, but since I don’t have a fireplace, who cares?

Oh, here’s the other question I ask myself: Do I have a place to put it? We are short on space in this little cottage, so that question must be asked.

The answer? Yes. Although I admit, at first I thought the answer to that question was No. There certainly wasn’t room downstairs, where we’ve pretty much used up all available wall space.

Oh, but wait….I recently decluttered my studio space, remember? I moved Mabel and a bookcase into the bedroom which opened up the space rather nicely. And the colors used in this pretty screen are sort of made for the studio. Aha! I do have a place for it.

So I trotted the screen up the stairs and into its new home. I’ve tried it in two places and I’m not sure which one is best. What do you think?

Here?

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Or here?

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I must confess that I’m undecided. But I do know that I am absolutely crazy about this piece. It practically screamed my name.

I’m looking forward to the days when the studio is once more flooded with light. Taking photos of that space has been a pain in the tush lately.

What do you think? Where should it go?

Update on Mom: She is about the same. The nurse told me she has spoken a couple of words, but that’s all. But she responds to their questions with a nod or a shake of the head. She’s on a specific antibiotic now, geared toward her infection. We have to wait and see if she can fight this off.

My brother-in-law, Meredith’s husband, lost his brother, who had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for many years, just last week. And now his mother, who was in the Emergency Room at the same time as my Mom, is failing.

Too much. Too much pain and sadness. Too much all at once.

So I’m focusing on the little things; the temperature outside, the flowery screen inside, the sound of Scoutie snoring, a cup of good coffee, good friends and life, which is precious indeed.

Happy Friday.

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Nests

Ducks and Cake Toppers

A Flowery Find

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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