Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1731 — Life in our little cottage in the country

Edgar Guest and my Dad

February 24, 2008 at 5:43 pm by Claudia

I read a poem by Edgar Guest in Hope’s blog (Second Time Around) today and it reminded me of the first time I commented on Kim’s blog (Dear Daisy Cottage). She had written a post about Edgar Guest and how much she loved his poetry. There was a picture of a book of his poetry and it brought back such memories. You see, Edgar Guest was my Dad’s godfather. My Dad always quoted the poem It Couldn’t Be Done to me when I complained that I would never be able to do something or other. He paraphrased the poem so that it read “Somebody said it couldn’t be done, but I with a chuckle replied, I wouldn’t say so until I tried.” I still quote that Dad-version of the line myself. If you read the poem you’ll find that the actual line is longer and slightly different.

I grew up hearing about what a lovely man Edgar Guest was. I never got to meet him, but my Dad is proud that he was his godfather. We lived in the Detroit area and Guest’s son, Bud, was a radio personality on one of Detroit’s major radio stations. He had a wonderful voice and his show was very warm and folksy. He often read his father’s poetry on the air.

After talking to Kim, I decided to collect some copies of Edgar Guest’s books. This photo is of two of them arranged on my piano, along with a book that was my grandmother’s. The Model T was my Dad’s toy when he was a little boy. He is now 84!

Scout and Riley

February 22, 2008 at 5:02 pm by Claudia

Today has been about watching the beautiful snow fall all day long – and shoveling, of course. It really is a winter wonderland out there. There is that hush that happens when snow falls steadily and there is little traffic.

I thought I’d take the time to introduce you to our dogs, Scout and Riley. I come from a dog-loving family. When I was a toddler, we visited some friends of my parents and their dog jumped on me. I guess I was knocked down and consequently developed a fear of dogs. Quite a big fear. I would cross to other side of the street if I saw a dog in someone’s yard and run away as fast as I could. Dogs reduced me to tears. So my parents decided that the answer to my problems was to adopt a dog. Frisky, a terrier, became part of our family. After a somewhat rocky start, my fears gradually left and I came to adore him. He even slept under the sheets at the bottom of my bed.

When my husband and I moved into our first rental, we made sure there was a fenced-in yard so that we could adopt a dog. (I am an animal lover and a great advocate of rescuing dogs and cats. There are so many animals who need homes and they are so grateful to be loved and cherished.) That is how we found our first dog, Winston. We loved Winston deeply and after a while we felt he needed a companion. So we adopted Scout. She and Winston were fast friends. After 7 wonderful years, we lost Winston very suddenly to cancer. Our hearts were broken and we grieved for a long time. Having Scout really helped us through that period. She is a loving girl and a happy one, but we couldn’t help but notice that she was lonely.

After a few years, we adopted Riley (also a rescue) and he and Scout immediately became good buddies. You never know what issues these little ones have as a result of being abandoned. Riley seems to have been abused in some way and it took him a while to accept the fact that we were a family…that he wasn’t going anywhere. We were shocked to discover he had heartworm not long after we brought him home. He had to go through 3 months of very tough and dangerous treatment – luckily he came through all that with flying colors. He has his “issues” but he is a very good and loving boy. Scout has endless energy and a great sense of fun.

They are my babies. I love them dearly and they bring joy to our lives every day. They are funny and loving and endlessly fascinating. You will notice that Scout has a heart-shaped spot on her body. No kidding – we call her our “magic” dog.

This is my favorite picture of Riley – He’s smiling!

Hope your day is a good one!

Sunlight

February 20, 2008 at 3:59 pm by Claudia

We are expecting more snow on Friday – how much there will be we don’t know. Today is very cold…but it is sunny. We are blessed with many windows in this cottage and nothing is as beautiful to me as the sun pouring in, washing over the pine floors and spilling onto the furniture. When we were house hunting, we saw so many houses that were nothing like the picture in the listing. You know the feeling: you get all excited and think this is the one! This is what we’ve been waiting for! Then you actually see the house and find that there’s a gas station next to it, or the inside should be condemned, or the rooms are so small you can barely move. When I saw the picture of this cottage, I got excited all over again. It looked so charming. We wanted to see it right away, but our agent couldn’t line up a visit until the following Monday. We had to wait all weekend and I was sure someone would snap it up. This time the pictures didn’t seem to lie. When we finally arrived here and walked onto the big front porch made of bluestone, then walked into rooms filled with sunlight – we knew. We knew it was our cottage. It was smaller than we had hoped, and it didn’t have enough storage space (though it did have a dandy shed) but ultimately we didn’t care. We knew we could always add on some day, and we will. In the meantime, it is perfect for us.

My previous post spoke of winter doldrums – I still have them. But sometimes when it snows, as it did one day this winter, this is what I see in the early morning light and the beauty knocks me off my feet.

Edgar Guest and my Dad

Scout and Riley

Sunlight

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