Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Around the House

March 26, 2012 at 11:25 am by Claudia

Yesterday I was in the mood to clean. I’ve long since learned that I have to be in one of those efficient, determined moods to do any deep cleaning. I tackled both bathrooms and the kitchen. If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you are more than aware of the fact that I hate cleaning the bathroom. I abhor, detest and dislike intensely cleaning the bathroom. I even wrote about it in this post.

I even washed the fake fruit in this bowl. Oh, I forgot; the thing to do is call it faux fruit. But really, it’s fake fruit.

Now it’s clean and spiffy, as are the countertops and the island. Side note: since I’m in the mood to use the word ‘detest’ let me add that I detest our tile countertops (the grout never looks clean) and I also detest our humongous black microwave. It takes up too much space. But since it came with the house and is still working, I can’t get rid of it. Oh, and I cleaned the inside of the microwave.

Do you see that piece of paper on the butcher block? Here’s what it says:

These are the kind of love notes my husband and I leave for each other. Mr. Riley has a debilitating disease which involves his spine and hind quarters. His poor muscles just don’t have the control they used to. So, if Don is working late, I leave him a note with a Riley update in hopes that if we cover our bases no ‘incident’ will happen during the night. We love our boy and aim to make his life as stress-free as possible.

Speaking of my husband, this pile of his washed and folded clothes has been in this chair for 3 days. Any bets as to when he will take it upstairs?

The other night, Don was waiting for Riley to, you guessed it, poop and sat down on the bench. He decided to play with his jumping jacks. The next morning I arose to find the guy in the center (soldier?palace guard?) decapitated. He has since been repaired. The monkey was also decapitated at one time, which is why his head is permanently cocked to one side.

Aren’t these flowers Easter-like? I found this mixed bouquet at Trader Joe’s and it reminded me of Easter eggs and Easter baskets and Spring.

Today it is very windy and tonight the temps are going to go down to the mid-twenties. A hard freeze. I’m worried about my lilac bush and all the other plants that have popped out of the ground in this early Spring.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Filed Under: flowers, Mockingbird Hill Cottage, Riley 14 Comments

Blogging Tips – Daily Drop Cap

March 25, 2012 at 10:24 am by Claudia

Sunday mornings tend to be the only time I can explore new-to-me blogs. I sit here in the quiet and click one link, which leads me to another, which leads me to another. It reminds me of the time period when I first discovered the world of blogs. Oh my! I was like a kid in a candy store. I couldn’t believe I had finally discovered the existence of a world that had been out there all along. Remember those days?

One blog I stumbled upon a while back is The Handmade Home, a lovely design blog written by a young (to me) 30-something blogger. She has a regular feature called The Font Snob Club, where she shares interesting font sources that are free. As you know, I love fonts. Snob is not a word I like to associate with myself, but I suspect I am a bit of Font Snob. I sure appreciate an interesting and unique font and, goodness knows, I’ve changed the fonts on this blog often enough! The most recent edition of The Font Snob Club referenced an amazing site called Daily Drop Cap. Oh my goodness. Jessica Hische, an illustrator and designer, has posted an illustrative initial capital letter daily (since 2009) that you can use – for free – in your personal blog posts. They are not for commercial use.

I’ve used one at the beginning of this post. I also went back and edited my previous post and added one there. I love, love and love (again) them. There are twelve different alphabets and all you have to do is click on the letter you want to use and easy instructions for adding it to your post magically appear.

Let’s try another one.

And one more.

Be still my heart.

Stop by Daily Drop Cap and explore. You’ll be entranced. And be sure to leave a comment thanking Jessica if you use any of her Caps – I just think it’s the polite thing to do.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Filed Under: blogging, blogging tips 18 Comments

Fairies in the Trees

March 24, 2012 at 2:35 pm by Claudia

We have lots of wild roses all over the edges of our property. I call them brambles, but they are technically wild roses. For the most part the pricky roses and I get along, but today found Don and I outside cutting down the ones that are growing around our Catalpa tree. I managed to get pricked countless times – oh my aching body!

As we were finishing up, Don looked at the base of the tree and a piece of bark that was on the ground and had an idea.

Next thing I knew, we were drawing a little window and adding a stone doorknob.

I’m going to make a twig chair or bench that will sit just outside the door.

My husband has a wonderful sense of whimsy.

Filed Under: Don, garden, trees 39 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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The Dogs

The Dogs

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

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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