Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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The Storm

March 14, 2023 at 8:28 am by Claudia

8 am on March 14. We have about a half inch of snow. Rain fell all day yesterday and into the night, so the snow that has fallen so far is heavy and wet. Just after we got up this morning, it changed over into snow.

I’ve been following our local weather gurus and this is a very strange storm. It is shifting east, and some areas east of us, especially on the other side of the Hudson River, will get much more snow than had been expected. Of course, my county includes our local mountain range (the one I see from the front of my house,) and the Catskill mountains, so the more elevated areas will receive a huge amount of heavy, wet snow. Apparently, part of this area is in the ‘downslope’ where much less snow will fall. It looks to me like we are in the downslope. By “much less snow” I mean about 6 inches as opposed to 16 inches. (Downslope has to do with mountains.)

This is supposed to go on until 9 pm. The county has supposedly banned traffic from the roads, but there sure are a lot of cars going by on our county road!

So, in this one county there are huge extremes. The town just north of us has 4 inches on the ground; we have less than an inch.

So far, we have power. But there are outages everywhere. The outage map is full of dots indicating homes and businesses where there is no power.

So far, no winds, but I’m sure they’ll pick up as the day goes on.

I spent a lot of the day yesterday reading the ever-changing forecasts. Such a wide range of predictions! And as new models appeared, the forecast kept changing. It’s fascinating.

Hopefully, we keep our power, but if the amount of snow increases, that might change.

Keep us in your thoughts!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: snow, storm, winter 31 Comments

Monday

March 13, 2023 at 9:19 am by Claudia

I woke up this morning and immediately went into worry mode. The nor’easter will begin to hit our area today and it will go on through Wednesday. Frankly, it sounds horrendous. Our little area of the Hudson Valley has predictions of 8 – 16 inches of heavy, wet snow. I worry about our trees and the power lines. We stocked up on big bottles of water yesterday. If our power goes, so does our well pump. And this is a mammoth storm, so power outages will definitely be occurring. We’ve been pretty lucky so far and I’m crossing my fingers.

I have already told Don that I will not allow him to try to shovel and/or snow blow this stuff. It’s nearly impossible. And heavy, wet snow is dangerous. So, we could be trapped here for the week.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Say a prayer for us and for everyone in the path of this storm.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: snow, storm, winter 27 Comments

The Calm Before the Storm

March 12, 2023 at 9:55 am by Claudia

Late today because of the time change.

The puzzle I’ve been working on is one I took at stab at about 3 years ago. Back then, I started with the borders, as I usually do, and I just couldn’t get them to work. There were a few missing pieces and a couple that didn’t fit anywhere. So I gave up and put it in the closet.

This time, I started from the middle of the puzzle and did the two side borders last.

Same problem.

I’m glad I started with the flowers this time because, at the very least, I was able to see the finished piece. It really is lovely. But I can’t donate this one because it doesn’t have all the pieces.

On to the Renoir puzzle, which is in the ‘find the outside edge pieces’ stage.

Well, my friends, we are going to get walloped by a nor’easter tomorrow and Tuesday. The forecast has fluctuated over the past 36 hours, but it’s starting to look like we’ll get at least 8 -12 inches of heavy, wet snow. There will be high winds. It will be quite dangerous out there.

I pray for the safety of everyone in the path of this storm, for the safety of trees and animals, and I hope we don’t lose power. In the meantime, Don is out right now buying bottled water in case we do. I can hear birds singing right now and it’s beautifully sunny. You would have no idea what’s on the way.

Crap. It’s very worrisome. Don thinks I worry too much, and he’s right.

It starts tomorrow morning, but I should be able to get a post up. Then, we’ll take it day by day.

We watched Everything, Everywhere, All at Once  last night, which is nominated for lots of Oscars.

I hated it. In fact, we didn’t finish it. It was like being assaulted with a strobe light for over 2 hours. I get the message of the movie, but it was all special effects. I’m not even sure why the performances were nominated – how could you chart any through line and character growth with all that going on? Lots of people disagree with me on this one, but both Don and I disliked it. It’s the kind of movie that is so different and edgy that all the critics hop on board and praise it. Bravo to the critics that called it out for what it is – and isn’t.

Wings of Desire  said it so much better. Stranger Things  also has lots of time/place/different world special effects, but the story is enhanced by it, not lost.

Okay. Today is the calm before the storm. Literally.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: jigsaw puzzles, snow, storm, winter 34 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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