Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1477 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Walk, A Gift, An Update, A Party

August 27, 2012 at 9:15 am by Claudia

Lately, we’ve been taking long walks on our local rail trail. We don’t take nearly enough advantage of it. We’re trying to change that. A brisk walk is good for the soul, the body and the mind.

The sun was bright – it was high noon – and I was shooting with my iPhone – so there’s a bit of graininess.

A couple of days earlier, these beauties were off in the distance; yesterday they were right by the fence.

Could that baby be any more adorable? And mom had the most beautiful eyes. I’m glad I’m a vegetarian.

That’s the ridge in the background. We have that same view, especially in the wintertime, from our little cottage.

And look who we found on the path:

It’s been a week now since we lost Riley. Each new day brings a small measure of healing. I’ve been watching Scout closely and I can tell she is not herself. She looks for Riley. She does that nesting thing – pawing at the rug – far more than she used to, and she does it a bit obsessively. She used to do it on the rug in the den. Now she also does it on the rug in the living room where Riley spent most of his time. She’s very clingy. She’s anxious. She doesn’t understand why Riley isn’t here and it is deeply upsetting to her. We are showering her with attention and love. But the poor thing is a bit lost and lonely for her brother. So am I.

My friend Judy sent me a package which arrived on Saturday. Enclosed was a beautiful sympathy card with a little note saying “these might bring a smile to your face.”

You’re darn right they do! You know I love these little elfin creatures called Nisse. If you remember, Judy handmade one for me a few months back when we did a swap. I sent her one of my Obsession Scarves. This was such a wonderful surprise. Thank you, Judy. By the way, Judy has a new blog called 20 North Ora (the same name as her wildly successful Etsy shop) and I know she’d love it if you dropped by.

I hope all of my readers find their way to my new site here on WordPress. If they’ve subscribed via Google Friend Connect, they are not going to get my feed. If you know of someone looking for the blog, please send her/him my way. It’s the same URL and it’s easy to subscribe to my feed.

This Saturday, September 1st, will be the first A Favorite Thing party. I sure hope you can join in. Every week, we will share a favorite thing; whether it’s a cherished antique, a book, a piece of furniture, a vintage find. It could be a camera or a laptop or a new washing machine (goodness knows, my laptop and camera are among my favorite things!) I will post the necessary link information on Friday evening around 8 pm and it will stay open for linking through Sunday.

Quick question: Are these photos too large for you? I’m experimenting – they are a little large for my 13″laptop screen but I know readers like large photos. Let me know what you think. Update: I think they might be too large, so I changed the size.

Have a wonderful Monday.

A New Home

August 26, 2012 at 8:21 am by Claudia

Well, I did it. I moved to a new ‘house’ here on the internet.

I have been working on this off-and-on for over a month; first signing up for WordPress, then buying a framework and theme, finding a host/server and designing the blog itself. I held off an the actual move while I was tending to and then mourning for my Riley. I knew it needed a level of concentrated attention that I simply didn’t have. But by the time the weekend approached, I felt the time had come. Yesterday, I sat with my laptop all day long, hunched over (not a good idea for my back) tense (also not a good idea for my back) and scared something might go wrong. But, amazingly, it went off fairly smoothly.

How did I do it? I used this ebook:

How to Move from Blogger to WordPress by Sharon Hujik. This book is simply the best. Sharon gives you every bit of information you need to make the move. Step-by-step she outlines exactly what to do – so even a terrified, not-at-all-techy person like me can manage to pull it off. If you’re thinking of a move to WordPress, I can’t think of a better, more clearly written guide to the process. And Sharon is extremely helpful. I’ve sent her countless emails along the way and she responds quickly and cheerfully. Her words of encouragement really helped me. If you’re interested, you can order the book by clicking on the link in my sidebar. You can even download a free preview. I’ll write more about this book later, but I feel so strongly about it that I’ve become an affiliate.

Let’s face it – if you google moving from Blogger to WordPress, you will find lots of horror stories about trying to do it on your own. You can pay someone to do it, but frankly, I don’t have the money for that. And even if you pay someone, there is no guarantee it will go smoothly. I’m frugal by necessity and I was bound and determined to do it on my own and save money. And I did it!

I have to also mention the generous fellow bloggers who helped me as I was researching the move to WordPress: Marianne of Songbird took the time to write her thoughts and recommendations in great detail, Susan of Between Naps on the Porch and Ann of On Sutton Place also shared helpful information with me. I hope I’m not leaving anyone out! Whoops! Forgot Kari of Thistlewood Farm – she was ready and willing to share her experience with me.

I’ve lots of thoughts to share on the move that I’ll try to put together in another post. For now, you can see that the layout is fairly similar to my Blogger layout. As I said to someone, I don’t want to re-invent the wheel. I want Mockingbird Hill Cottage to look like a good friend who’s just had a wee makeover. You’ll find that I have to add lots of links yet – not everything works perfectly – but it’s presentable. I also want to add that, like many of you, I sometimes don’t like having to click on “read more” at the end of a truncated post. I’ve designed this blog so that there will always be 4 full-length posts on the main page, as I know most of you read this blog daily. Even if you visit once a week, most of the posts will be full-length. I hope this makes everyone happy!

Subscribing

I’ve been told by some of my blogging friends that the blog is showing up in Google Reader. But that may be the old feed from Google Friend Connect. If you already have my blog bookmarked, there will be no change at all – same address. If you followed on Google Friend Connect, which I can no longer have on this blog, you can make sure that feed is part of your Google Reader or you can click on the RSS symbol in the Contact widget on my sidebar and subscribe there. Or you can subscribe by email. I don’t want to lose any of you. If you haven’t already, you can also bookmark my website (that’s how I keep up on a lot of blogs.)

If you go to your Blogger Reading List, you’ll see “View in Google Reader” on the right hand side:

Did you know that’s an option for viewing your blog list? And if you go over to Contact on my sidebar, you’ll see a symbol like this (only mine’s in blue):

If you click on this symbol, you’ll be taken to a page where you can subscribe to the blog via Google Reader. There are a variety of options for different readers, but if you click on Google, you’ll be able to add this blog with its current feed to your Google Reader. I hope this helps.

Why?

I didn’t move to WordPress because I want to be a ‘big’ blog or for better SEO (my eyes glaze over immediately when I read about that stuff.) I moved because I had some problems with my Blogger blog on several occasions which alarmed me. The Blogger Forum, where I sought help, responded only once. I felt like I was stranded in a boat without a paddle. When I searched for others with the same problems, I found countless instances of people asking for help who never received an answer of any kind. Now I know Blogger is free and it’s huge and I’m sure that accounts for the lack of response. The same problems can happen to any blogger, but now I have a host/server looking after me as well as the fantastic support in the WordPress and StudioPress Forums.

You can do a lot more with a WordPress, too. I’ve been fairly cautious with all of that. I’m sure I’ll be trying new things as I go along. And I’ll be sure to write about it, as well. And everything else that you read about it holds true – now I own my content, I’m not dependent on the whims of Blogger – it was time to move on.

It’s been an emotionally devastating, exhausting week. I miss my little boy more than I can ever say. Don, Scout and I have hunkered down here in the cottage while we tried to come to terms with Riley’s passing. Everywhere I look there is a memory and an empty space where Riley used to be. Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the loving, compassionate messages you sent to me. You will never know how much they have helped in this journey of grief and pain.

More tomorrow.

In the Garden: What is it?

August 24, 2012 at 8:24 am by Claudia

Since Riley’s death, Don and I have been sticking close to home. Crowds irritate us. Normal, everyday activities and conversations irritate us. Our world has changed, yet everything else around us seems to go on as usual. Yesterday was the first day I’d ventured out since Monday. And I couldn’t wait to get back home. I think this is fairly normal. We just want to be here in our cottage, with Scout, and shut the rest of the world out.

One thing that gives me comfort is nature. I walk around the property, camera in hand, and sometimes see something that is so compelling, I am pulled out of my mourning for a moment in time. The other day I saw a creature darting from flower to flower among the phlox. It moved very quickly. At first, I took it to be a hummingbird. But as I looked more closely, I realized it wasn’t a hummingbird.

It had a hairy body, clear wings and it moved as quickly as a hummingbird does. So quickly that I barely got this shot. I came back in the house, grabbed the laptop and quickly found out that this little guy is a hummingbird moth. Often mistaken for a hummingbird, hemaris thysbe, or hummingbird clearwing moth, is attracted to white or pale flowers with a sweet scent – hence, the visitation to my phlox. If you visit the link, you’ll see a great close-up of the moth’s body.

It feeds through a proboscis – the long tube that you can see in this close-up:

The proboscis curls up under the moth’s head when it’s not feeding. Amazing.

Many of you may already know about this creature, but it’s my first sighting and the discovery of it among my flowers provided a little respite from my grief.

I wasn’t planning on posting today, but I was scheduled to run the ad at the top of the post, so I forced myself to. Good thing: I was able to share this little wonder with you. I’ll be moving the blog over the weekend so hopefully all will be in place by Monday. Wish me luck!

Have a happy Friday.

A Walk, A Gift, An Update, A Party

A New Home

In the Garden: What is it?

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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