Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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What I’ve Been Up To

June 30, 2013 at 8:24 am by Claudia

booksi'mreading

• Reading the next to the last Deborah Crombie mystery. Only one more to go. Say it isn’t so! I did the same thing with Lee Child’s mysteries two summers ago – I read every one of his books over the course of the summer. As I near the end of the books, I get sad.

I also ordered some books through my local library. Susan Branch speaks so highly of all the books by Gladys Taber and I seem to share Susan’s sensibility. So I’ve started in on Stillmeadow Seasons. As to the other book, I read one of Miss Read’s wonderful books while in Hartford and I fell in love with her cozy and funny stories of English small town life. She was a prolific author, so I will have plenty of books to explore.

edgarguest

• Dusting, swiffering and vacuuming. I’m not a big fan of dusting since I’m allergic to house dust, but when I’m in the mood to do it, I suddenly see dust where I previously hadn’t noticed it at all. Selective sight, I suppose. These books of poetry by Edgar Guest got some attention and now they look beautiful once more. By the way, did you know that Edgar Guest was my dad’s godfather? Yep. He and my grandfather were very close friends – Dad remembers them playing cards at his house. According to my dad, Edgar Guest was a great guy.

naturalwonders

• Adding to my collection of natural wonders. Remember the flicker feather I found in Hartford? There it is on the left. I just added half of a walnut shell from our black walnut tree. And that splash of yellow? Part of a bird’s egg that had fallen onto the funky patio. Does anyone know what bird lays yellow eggs? I’ve searched online but have been unable to come up with a definitive answer.

shakespeare&fruit

• Preparing for two coaching jobs – a two day job in the middle of July and the next gig in Hartford starting at the end of July. By the way, I just realized I will be gone for nearly two months this time around. I was expecting six weeks. Yikes. I can’t think about that too much or I get really sad.

cindy'ssoaps

• Getting a package in the mail. My blogging friend Cindy, of Cottage Instincts, sent me four bars of her amazing homemade soap. After my post the other day about The Struggle, she thought I could use some pampering. They smell heavenly.

soapindish

Cindy mentioned that Lemon Poppyseed was especially nice to use after some gardening, so I’ve put it in the soap dish by the kitchen sink. Thank you, dear Cindy, for your sweet and thoughtful gift!

• Mowing. No picture necessary. Just take my word for it.

• Getting the car fixed: new radiator and new something or other bolt that had deteriorated. causing my right front tire to wear more quickly than the other tires. It was, according to my mechanic, ‘becoming a safety issue.’ No picture necessary.

gorgeousgirl2

• Spending time with this girl. She’s still full of spunk and is doing well. She misses her dad, of course, and he misses her. (Her allergies are troubling her, hence the red, weepy eye.)

Oh, let’s look at her again.

gorgeousgirl

She’s gorgeous. And smart. And funny. That’s a good combination.

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: birds, books, collecting, Edgar Guest, Fellow bloggers, Hartford, Scout 50 Comments

A Favorite Thing #43

June 28, 2013 at 8:00 pm by Claudia

afavoritething

Welcome to week number 43 of A Favorite Thing! I’m waterlogged from all the rain we’ve had; when it hasn’t been raining, I’ve been just as waterlogged from the humidity. Nevertheless, I’ve been trying to grab some time to mow the lawn. Rain = grass too long. Anyway, let’s look at some highlights from last week:

tablecloth

Virginia Retro shared a visit to the Flea Market and this beautiful vintage tablecloth she found there. Yep, she brought it home with her. I love vintage tablecloths.

DSCN4233PinReady-1024x768

We Call It Junkin shared a tutorial on how to make this punch bowl ring. Isn’t it gorgeous? This is the kind of thing I never think to make!

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And Lorrie of Fabric Paper Thread shared the bouquet she made simply by strolling through her garden with her clippers. So lovely!

My favorite thing this week is this:

wroughtironthingy

I have unimaginatively named it The Wrought Iron Thingy. Shameful, I know. I found it four years ago at a flea market in Southern California. I was working out there for an extended period of time and found quite a few little treasures at my favorite haunts. I think this is from Mexico. I just fell for the rusty-but-once-white wrought iron and the shape of it. I knew I could use it in many ways. At the end of my stay, I had it packed in a big old box and shipped it home. At first, I placed it on the kitchen table and decorated it for the seasons. But then I painted my kitchen table white and I didn’t want The Wrought Iron Thingy to scratch the paint. Plus, it’s big and takes up a lot of room. So now it lives on the porch and I like it there. I think I’ve found the perfect place for it.

Now it’s your turn.

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do. It’s also nice if you leave a comment here, as well.

Enjoy!



Filed Under: A favorite thing 18 Comments

Merci

June 28, 2013 at 7:34 am by Claudia

hydrangeawithdrops

Goodness. What beauty there is in a flower. I watch and observe my flowers all of the time, but seeing them through the lens of a camera is another thing altogether.

Thank you for taking the time to leave your wise, compassionate, loving comments on yesterday’s post. And thank you for letting me know it’s okay for me to write something like that and post it on this little spot on the web. We’re here to help each other and to love each other. When I write something from deep within my heart, whether it’s happy or sad or frightened, it not only helps me but it seems to help you. There is a huge comfort in knowing we are not alone. Oftentimes, it’s easy to think you are the only one who feels the way you do. But you’re not. So I thank you for sharing your wisdom and for being there for me.  I knew you would be, just as sure as I knew the sun would rise and set today and tomorrow. We’ve tried most everything you suggested – believe me. It ain’t easy to find any kind of work when you are our age. Especially around my neck of the woods. I have to believe that the work I am doing is what I’m meant to do. Sometime, I will list all the ‘other’ jobs I’ve had in my life. There are many. You’d be impressed.

I will freely admit to a tear or two coming to my eyes as I read through all your comments. You are a gift – all of you. Having this blog has been an amazing experience for me for many reasons, but the chief benefit has been the blessing of your friendship.

Let’s have a mini garden update. I managed to snap some pictures in between the rain and thunder that will be with us for the next seven days. Between the impossibly high temperatures/humidity and the rain, I’ve been feeling cut off from the outdoors. I mowed part of the lawn yesterday in an atmosphere that can only be described as a sauna, just to get outside again. I was a wet noodle at the end of it all.

beebalm

Some of the bee balm has bloomed.

whiteconeflower

The various white coneflowers that I planted last year have just started blooming.

studyinspirea

The spirea’s first bloom is coming to an end.

rosehydrangea

Just plain pretty.

sedum

Can Sedum Autumn Joy re-seed? After 8 years here, I’m seeing a few little babies cropping up. There’s one in the lower left hand corner of the photo, as well. What a wonderful surprise. Ignore the weeds.

bunny

My little buddy. Taken through the kitchen window. He sat in this position for at least ten minutes.

Let me leave you with a couple of reminders. I wrote a book review 2 days ago and I’m giving away a copy of the book. You have until Sunday night to be entered. Just leave a comment on that post.

Remember that Google Reader is no more as of Monday, July 1st. If you read your blogs through Google Reader, you’ll need to transfer your feed. There is a lot of information out there as to other readers. I’ll leave that to you. I transferred mine to Bloglovin and I’m quite happy with it. You can also follow me on Bloglovin. There is a follow widget on my sidebar.

I’m trying a new font for my post titles. I love this blog design and I’m perfectly happy with it. I just like to change a little something or other every once in a while.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: blogging, flowers, friendship, garden 29 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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