Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

From my Mind on a Wednesday Morning

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:: A thought: As I was looking out our front door, I saw this large spiderweb stretching from a porch post to the underside of the gutter. I moved at hyper-speed to grab the camera because I know from past experience these moments are fleeting. The spiderweb had been there all along but until the sunlight was shining through it in just the right way, it remained hidden.

It struck me that so much in life is just like that. Happiness, abundance, love, blessings, guidance, peace – are always there but often remain hidden because we can’t see them. We let darkness in and it obscures the truth. And we assume that what we see in that darkness is the truth. But it isn’t. I hope I can remind myself of that on a daily basis.


:: I’ve just started working on this. Designed by Rebecca Ringquist, it is a summer stitch sampler. I discovered Rebecca while blog hopping. A few bloggers were working on this sampler and I was immediately obsessed with obtaining one. Her design is hand drawn and screen printed on cotton. She just designed a new sampler – the Cake Sampler – which I’ve also ordered. Rebecca sells on Etsy and she also has a blog, Drop Cloth. You can link to her Etsy shop via her blog.


:: Last night, Don was featured on a radio show that originates out of Vassar College. The host was fabulous and he interviewed Don for about 90 minutes. Don played some of his music live and also shared some pieces by other musicians that have influenced him. I listened to him on my computer and had the best time! Don is really good in that kind of setting – he’s funny and articulate. He was so good that they want him to come back.

:: Mom is in a rehab facility. She is not doing well, however. I’m not sure where we are in the healing of her UTI, but she has been very confused and a bit delusional and I know those can be side effects of the infection. She’s getting physical therapy twice a day. She is making no effort to talk to other patients or take part in any activities. She just wants to go home. However, she’s not strong enough yet and there is no way my almost 87 year old father can take care of her until she is stronger. She needs to fight, but she doesn’t seem to want to. And there lies the problem and our biggest worry. My Dad has called me in tears because he’s scared. My sister is trying to juggle their needs with the needs of her family, all the while battling a cold.

We think I should wait to go back down there until we see what transpires in the next week or two. Meanwhile, we hope for the best, for a turnaround, for a little miracle.

:: Today is the last day to be considered for either of my giveaways. The CSN Giveaway ends tonight as well as the book giveaway from yesterday’s book review. Frankly, I’m surprised there are not more comments on the Book Review – gosh, you could win a free copy of the book and it is a wonderful novel! Come on, just do it!

Book Review: Hothouse Flower

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Today I am reviewing HotHouse Flower through TLC Book Tours. (I am provided with a copy of the book but am not compensated in any way for my honest review.)

About the book (from the publisher): HotHouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire is one woman’s journey from the modeling and advertising world of New York City to the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula. From the hot and steamy plant dealers in the Union Square Green Market, to the curanderos, herbalists and shamans of Southern Mexico.

Lila Nova is a 32-year-old adverting copywriter who lives alone in a plain white box of an apartment. Recovering from a heartbreaking divorce, Lila has a simple mantra: no pets, no plants, no people, no problems. But when she meets David Exley, a ruggedly handsome plant dealer, a country-sexual, as she calls him, her lonely life turns into something far more colorful. From the harsh streets of Manhattan to the verdant jungles of the Yucatan, Hothouse Flower is the story of a woman who travels beyond sense and comfort to find out what she really wants.

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My review: Lila, the protagonist, is a newly divorced woman living in Manhattan and working in the world of advertising, where she is increasingly disillusioned with what she sees. She discovers exotic plants through a plant dealer selling in Union Square and eventually meets Armand, the owner of a lush, tropical forest of a laundromat. Through these two meetings, she sets off on a journey of discovery that takes her from Manhattan to the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula.

There is a strong element of myth and magic in this novel. The author creates a myth centering around the powers of the 9 Plants of Desire. Obtaining these rare plants turns out to be the obsession of many and each chapter heading features a plant and its description. Characters like Armand and the people who reside in and around the jungle live in a world where the improbable becomes probable, the imagination soars and everyday life is full of magical thinking.

Lila herself is very interesting. Though sometimes I get impatient with her seeming naivete and the mistakes she makes in judgment, I also realize that she is indeed like all of us: flawed and vulnerable and searching for that elusive something that makes her whole. Her carefully created and somewhat narrow world is due for a shake-up and she has some growing up to do.

The descriptions of the plants and the jungles of the Yucatan are rich and filled with wonderful detail. I felt as if I was there, trudging through overgrown paths, the chattering sound of monkeys all around, sweating from the sweltering humidity.

This is a novel that requires a leap of imagination. If you read it with more than a smidgen of doubt or skepticism, you’ll have a hard time with the plot. I suggest you just go along for the ride and leave your ‘practical thinking’ behind. You just might be transported. Margot Berwin is to be commended for creating this magical world in her debut novel.

The publishers have graciously offered a free copy of this novel for one lucky commenter on this post. Just leave a comment! I will contact the winner and pass along his/her address to the publisher. You must be a resident of the United States or Canada. I will pick a winner on September 2nd.
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About Margot Berwin: MARGOT BERWIN won a merit scholarship for creative writing from the New School and earned her MFA in 2005. Her stories have appeared on Nerve.com, essaysandfictions.com, The New York Press, and in the Anthology The Future of Misbehavior. She lives in New York City.

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In a totally different vein: Congratulations to Jim Parsons, a student of mine in the MFA Acting Program at USD/The Old Globe as well as a good friend, for winning the Emmy for his work as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory!!!! I am so proud, I can’t stand it!

5 Years at MHC

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We moved into Mockingbird Hill Cottage 5 years ago tomorrow on August 30th, 2005. It was such a wonderful day for us, two artistic types who worked in the fickle performing arts and had been through their share of financial ups and downs. We actually bought a house. My dream for years had been to have a little house in the country. The locale in this dream changed depending on where I was living at the time, but the idea of a place in the Northeast kept recurring. Then we moved from San Diego to Westchester County, NY, rented a little cottage and the dream became more specific: find a place that is affordable in the the very expensive greater NYC area. That led us to the Hudson Valley and eventually to our little abode.

My wish list at the time included an attic, a basement, 3 bedrooms and a garage. We looked all over the area, on both sides of the Hudson River, and saw house after disappointing house. One day, after seeing the listing for this house, we paid it a visit. Light filled the rooms. The kitchen, in a house with low ceilings, had a very high ceiling – perfect for a guy who’s over 6’4″. It was built in 1891. It had been owned for years by the local ‘cat lady’ and when she died, the new owner took it down to the studs, rewired everything and flipped the house. But – it only had 2 bedrooms, a basement that was small and entered from the outside (no storage opportunities there), no attic and no garage. It had a large shed that had been built recently. And it had a glorious, wrap-around bluestone porch.

Don loved it. I loved it but was hesitant. Where was the attic, the extra bedroom, the basement? We sat in the realtor’s office, debating our list of ‘must haves.’ In the end, we knew it was for us.

The day after we moved in, we drove back to our rented cottage and spent the most humid day I can ever remember cleaning every inch of the space. We put things we no longer wanted out on the street with a ‘free’ sign. Exhausted at the end of the day, we left renting behind and moved into the new world of a mortgage payment that is larger than the rent we were paying. Sometimes I miss renting – the smaller monthly outlay, someone else being responsible for repairs. But not really. This is our house. We have almost 2 acres of land that is ours.

We freelance in an enonomy that is deeply troubled. We sweat the payment every month. We dream of winning the lottery and just paying the whole thing off. Stranger things have happened. We know this whole house-owning thing is a gamble…but it is for everyone, isn’t it? We are no different.

We love this little cottage with its quirky imperfections. We love the warmth and shelter it gives us. There are things that need to be done around here ( a new furnace in the not-too-distant future) and things that we dream of doing (adding an extension that would have a master bedroom, laundry room, family room, studio space, and storage.)

Sometimes the dream seems impossible but I’ve learned that nothing is impossible. After all, a few short years ago, the dream of owning a home seemed equally impossible. And look where we are now.

Happy Anniversary, Mockingbird Hill Cottage. We love you.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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