Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Little Trip Back Home

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beautifulgirl

Just a short post today. I found out I can go home for about 4 days! This part of the rehearsal/tech process is not about me, so I usually stay away for a few days. Don’s on his way to pick me up and I’ll soon be reunited with my family. Yay! It’s raining hard and, unfortunately, the pesky roof is leaking again. We need to put a tarp up there until the chimney flashing can be fixed. So Don’s on his way, he’ll pick me up, and when we get home it will be tarp time.

And I’ll get to see my girl.

It’s a holiday for some of you – enjoy.

I have to get going. I didn’t expect Don to be on the road this early in the morning and I’ve been sitting around, drinking my coffee, thinking it would be  several hours until he arrived. Whoops!

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

From My Desk

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colorfulpens

Good morning. We had big old thunderstorms last night, with lots of lightning and cracks of thunder. I awoke to no internet this morning, which had me a wee bit worried. It was soon back on, however, so all is well. It’s a little worrisome that my first reaction upon failing to connect to the internet is “What will I do?”

Uh….Claudia? The same thing you did for all those years pre-laptop and internet. Read a book. Slowly sip your coffee. Thumb through a magazine. Meditate. Do a crossword puzzle. Somehow I managed to fill my time for, ahem, decades without automatically checking my email or surfing the web.

The other day I saw a commercial for Angie’s List where a woman was talking about the rescue dog she adopted and how she found all sorts of references for reliable Vets, groomers, etc., through that site. The rescue dog’s name was Riley. I was immediately in tears. I cried again yesterday, just thinking about the commercial. I miss my boy.

I thought I’d share a few interesting links for you today. I routinely bookmark all sorts of things that strike my fancy, then I promptly forget about them. Yesterday, I was cleaning out and deleting some of those bookmarks and I found a few that might be of interest to you.

• This piece, written by Tom Hanks for the New York Times: an ode to the typewriter. He loves them, collects them and I found myself smiling as I read it. I bought Don a vintage typewriter a couple of Christmases ago and, though it’s not the same vintage that Mr. Hanks raves about, I dream of owning an IBM Selectric. I typed on many of those in my temping days and there is nothing like the sharp rat-a-tat-tat sound that happens upon touching the keys. It’s on my wish list.

• These sheds, called Studio Sheds, that I think are so nifty. I’d love to have one. It could be a retreat or a studio or an addition. I love the modern design and they seem relatively affordable if you have some extra cash. Which I don’t.

• This great tutorial on the Simple Details blog for creating a concrete garden sphere. I want to do this next year.

• This armchair. I want it. It would be a beautiful replacement for my blogging chair, which, under it’s ratty slipcover, is not only quite old, but is slowly falling apart. Maybe this will go on sale some day? I keep clicking on the site and hoping.

• And finally, this interview with one of my favorites: Joni Mitchell. Oh Joni, you are amazing. (I saw her in concert in an outdoor venue on the night that Richard Nixon resigned. She announced it from the stage. I’ll never forget it.)

There you go. Enjoy.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

A Not-So-Blank Canvas

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It’s a holiday weekend, but not for me. I work today and tomorrow. Monday is just another day off, since it’s always our day off. So I will continue to merrily tap away on the keyboard of my laptop and write posts to share with you.

I suppose if one wanted to call it that, I have a logo. Or to use Big Bloggers’ Speak: a Brand. I’m talking about that little lamb with the party hat that you see in my header and on my watermark. It’s also on my blog/etsy business card. I certainly didn’t create it with a plan in mind. I just took a picture some 4 years ago of a little lamb and the party hat I created for her.

But she stuck. She wormed her way into my heart. She landed in a couple versions of the header I used on the Blogger version of this blog. When I made the move to WordPress, I decided to go with clean and simple and there she is, right there among the letters that spell out Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Well, all this recent talk about that little partying lamb got me thinking. Look what arrived yesterday:

canvas1

I ordered a wrapped canvas version of my photo.

My stars! I’m in love.

It’s 16 x 20 inches. There was a special offer from this particular company and I got it on sale. At deep discount.

I like whimsy. This, to me, is exceedingly whimsical. I might hang it in my studio at home. Or in the den where I blog. I’m not sure. I just know I thought it would be really cool to have a canvas version of My Little Lamb with the Party Hat. I’ve never had a canvas version of one of my photos. This might well become addictive.

I decided to hang it on an already established hook here in the apartment. I’m sure the landlord here wouldn’t appreciate me adding a largish hole to the wall. Little pinholes, fine. Big ones? A no no.

canvas2

She’s hanging above my desk, where I can see her as I blog and surf the web and type up notes for the actors. She is making me smile on this early Saturday morning and that’s no small thing. I’m still groggy with sleep and I’m in the midst of my morning coffee ration. As Don knows, getting any sort of reaction out of me when I first get up is tricky at best.

canvas3

Love, love, love this canvas. I ordered it from this company. It was created and shipped within a couple of days of placing my order. It took about 3 days to arrive here in Hartford.

Here she is this morning:

canvas4

There are different options available as to the actual wrap, but I chose to have the photo on top of the canvas and to have the sides wrapped in aqua.

Is this temporary apartment in danger of becoming too warm and cute and cheery?

Nope. I need all the warm and cute and cheery I can get.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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