Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Adventures in Flannel Pajamas

December 2, 2012 at 9:42 am by Claudia

A weekend devoted to flannel pajamas. Yes, that’s what we’ve had here at the cottage. Yesterday a very rare thing happened. Don and I stayed in our pajamas all day long. It just happened. I got obsessed with deleting lots of old emails that were clogging up my in box, so I sat in my chair in the den for hours, reading each email and hitting ‘delete.’ Before I knew it, mid-afternoon had arrived and I looked at Don, who was also still in his pajamas (not flannel), and we made the decision to wear our pajamas all day long. Oh, rest assured, we took showers and brushed our teeth, but afterwards it was right back into our pajamas.

This morning? Another adventure.

I am not a morning person. When I come downstairs in the morning, I greet Scout while thinking the whole time that I must have some coffee and walk toward the kitchen door where I let her out into the ‘dog corral’ to do her thing. This morning, I let her out, watched her walk outside and then suddenly tear off in the direction of the back corral fence. Usually when she does this, there is something (rabbit, deer, squirrel) on the other side of the fence. I quickly realized, however, that this time that ‘something’ (a squirrel) was on the inside of the fence. And Scout was chasing after him, as Mr. Squirrel frantically and unsuccessfully tried to climb up the chicken wire to freedom. I was out there in a flash in my white socks and flannel pajamas screaming at Scout to stop. Of course, she was obsessed and not at all interested in listening to me and the squirrel was more and more panicked. Finally, I was able to wrestle Scout to the muddy ground and turn her back toward the house and, amazingly, she docilely went inside. I then put my muck shoes on over my wet and muddy socks and tried to help the squirrel escape. In the meantime, Don was shouting out the  bedroom window, “What’s wrong?!?”  Perhaps he was alerted by my shrill screams? After the squirrel made many frantic attempts to run up the side of the chicken wire, I managed to steer him toward a narrow opening between the fence and the house. He squeezed through the opening and stopped for a moment trying to catch his breath. I could see the panic in his eyes, poor thing. Wanting to make sure he exited all the way out of the corral to freedom, I walked toward him and he took off like a bat out of hell.

Lord knows what the neighbors thought. Thankfully, we don’t live right on top of our neighbors, so I’m hoping this little madcap adventure went unnoticed.

And, believe me, I am fully aware of the irony that my pjs have squirrels on them.

Mr. Squirrel was safe. Scout was muddy. My socks were ruined. All three of us were exhausted. And all I could think about was that I really needed that first cup of coffee.

Have you had any madcap adventures in your flannel pajamas? Or in your nightgown or non-flannel pajamas? Please share.

I’m still catching my breath.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: flannel pajamas club, Scout 60 Comments

A Favorite Thing #14

November 30, 2012 at 8:00 pm by Claudia

Welcome to the fourteenth week of A Favorite Thing! I’m writing this as fast as I can because we’ve been having trouble with the internet all day long and I’m afraid to wait until the last minute to write this! I was so flummoxed by my slow connection – especially when trying to do anything with this blog – that I called my server (all was okay there) and finally my cable company. They said there were problems with the internet in my area so, though I can get online, I don’t have 100% of it working. Okay. Hopefully, all will be fixed soon.

Let’s look at some highlights from last week.

Gardenbug World’s son had returned home with his friends to spend some time working on enhancing the software on the One Laptop Per Child computers that are used all over the world. How neat! This is such an honorable endeavor and they are to be applauded.

Cozy Little House shared the little Sugar House she found at Pier One – for $5. It looks right at home near her coffeemaker.

Olive Out shared her beautiful wax ornaments made from German molds. They are truly lovely and remind me of some wax ornaments that were on our Christmas tree when I was a child.

____________________________________________________________________________________

My favorite thing this week is:

Mabel, my gorgeous Featherweight. Mabel was my birthday present this year, delivered two months before the actual day. One day I was antiquing with my husband and, recognizing the familiar Featherweight case, zeroed in on her. After careful examination and several minutes of  ‘should we?’ Don and I decided timing is everything and that she should be my 60th birthday present. I love her. I have waited many years for my own Featherweight. The only frustration is that with all my necessary crocheting, I haven’t had much time to spend with her yet. Soon, Mabel, soon.

Now it’s your turn! Share a favorite thing of yours with us!

By the way, the December 21/22 edition of A Favorite Thing will be all about favorite Holiday (Christmas or Hannukah) things. I’ll remind you again as we draw nearer to that date.

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.

I’m sorry but I had to remove a link from this post as every time I tried to visit it came up as a Web Threat in my Virus Protection software. I want this party to be safe for all those involved.

Have fun!



Filed Under: A favorite thing 15 Comments

Friday Free Associating

November 30, 2012 at 8:36 am by Claudia

I hung on to my porch plants for dear life this year. Countless cold evenings found me dragging them all indoors for the night. One by one, the impatiens are fading but I have 2 pots that are still blooming. The hanging plants lasted until yesterday when I forgot to bring them in for the night. Actually, I most likely forgot on purpose as the realization that it was almost December hit me. It ain’t going to get warmer, Claudia (I said to myself.)

I have this problem. I can’t let anything die if there is a way of saving it. Bug, spider, potted plant – you name it. I am Chief Rescuer here at the cottage. But this year, more than any other year, I hung onto those plants for dear life. It gets harder and harder for me to leave summer behind and move into the dark days of winter and besides, I love my potted plants. I guess this means porch life is officially suspended until spring. Sob.

Colder weather means more indoor life. More nesting. More scarf making. I don’t mind telling you, I have been on a roll with the scarves. Lots and lots of crocheting. I’m trying to add more stock to the Etsy shop for your Christmas-present-buying-pleasure. Speaking of Christmas:

Do you see that volume of George Bernard Shaw at the top of the photo? Pygmalion and Three Other Plays? Don is going to be playing Alfred Doolittle in a production of Pygmalion out at our old stomping grounds, The Old Globe. He leaves in December. Before Christmas. We’ll celebrate early, of course,  but this will be the first time we haven’t been together at Christmas since the year we met (when I went home to Michigan to visit my parents and coped with knowing looks exchanged by my mother and father when I would leave the room for yet another long phone call with that mysterious ‘Don.’)

It will be strange. And bittersweet.

And for those of you have been kind enough to check in, Scoutie is back to her old self again. We’re so thankful. She’s feisty, naggy, funny, and full of herself. The antibiotics are doing their magic and my girl with the poodle-like front legs is once more the Princess of Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Don has a friend who has a Border Collie who is 18. Scout will be 14 in January. So, you see, I plan on another 4+ years.

I am totally in love with my girl. And I miss my Riley. Christmas won’t seem right without him.

It promises to be a very different holiday season this year.

If you check in on my blog roll, don’t panic, it’s still here. It’s now on the navigation bar at the top of the page under “Blog Love.”

I’ll be back at 8:00 EST for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday,

Filed Under: Christmas, Don, life, Scout 47 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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