Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Happy Trails

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Look at these two – all decked out in new bandanas, looking quite spiffy if I do say so myself. My husband is now calling them Roy and Dale and the sound of Happy Trails to You is in the air. Pardon their squinty-eyed look, the sun was directly in their eyes. By the way, my husband met Roy Rogers once – I believe it was in a restaurant in California. He got Roy’s autograph but laments the fact that he somehow misplaced it.

The day is a hot one, but tomorrow promises to be cooler. I mowed another section of the yard,cleaned up dog poop (yes, it must be done) and went grocery shopping. For my pains, I stopped at the bookstore as a treat and picked up some magazines (Quilting Arts, Country Gardens) and the new Karen Slaughter mystery. She is a wonderful writer: the mysteries are complicated, somewhat violent but not gratuitously so and beautifully written. I perused the Stephenie Meyer section since all I have been hearing or reading about are her books. I’m not sure yet how interested I am in them, having been through an Anne Rice phase long ago. Are they different? If anyone can give me their thoughts on them, I’d sure appreciate it. The Barnes & Noble I was in is having a big launch party for the newest Meyer tonight at 11:00 p.m.

I so appreciated your compassionate thoughts about the root canal. Things are much better now, no pain, just a little tenderness here and there.

Hope your trails this weekend are happy ones!


Note: After reading this blog entry, my husband corrected me. He got the autographs of both Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. And lost them.

Happy Birthday Mom!

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Today is my Mom’s 81st birthday. If this was a peach colored rose, it would be perfect. Those are her favorites. This will have to do. My Mom is a wonderful mother. She raised four children, a few dogs, and a couple of cats. She has a great sense of humor, and a love of reading, old movies, music, Jeopardy, Tony Bennett, Law and Order, crossword puzzles, corresponding with her friends, going out to lunch, her church, her family, her cat Nella, and all her grandchildren and grandpets.

I have great memories of laughing with her, watching old movies with her (she’s the reason I know the names of so many character actors – an ability that amazes my husband), watching The Mike Douglas Show, Barney Miller, and a host of other shows with her, listening to her lovely voice singing hymns in church, listening to songs from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s with her (thus contributing to my eclectic tastes in music), making her laugh with my silliness, playing Dominos and Aggravation with her and my Dad (she is a fierce competitor), the scent of Oil of Olay on her skin, the list could go on and on. She was always there for every performance or big event in my growing up years. She was a stay-at-home Mom and was always there for us – waiting with lunch ready when I walked home from elementary school, waiting at the door at the end of the school day or when I had to come home early because I was sick. She had kids at home for a long time – there was a 17 year age difference between my brother and my youngest sister. After we were older, some of us on our own and the youngest in high school, she applied for a job at our local hospital without telling anyone, and got it. She started to work part-time after having been away from the work force since she was 18. We were and are very proud of her.

She and my Dad have been married for over 60 years. They were pen pals, met each other, and were married 6 months later. She was 18. He was 22. They were babies. They are the definition of what commitment and love are about in a marriage. They have stayed together through many ups and downs, have suffered the loss of their only son, and they stay strong.

Mom has given me many things, more than I could hope to express. I thank her for my love of reading, of music, of theater, of movies, of laughter, crossword puzzles, stitching, and of animals. She is a good, loving person and my hope is that I am like her. I know I look like her, more and more as I get older. We even walk the same way.

Mom – Happy Birthday. I’m proud to be your daughter.

Love,
Claudia

My tooth hurts!

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I’m home today, after having a root canal yesterday. This was my first root canal…and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to it. My dentist knows I hate any dental work and therefore shoots me up with lots of novocaine. So the actual root canal didn’t hurt, but my lord, did it take a long time. The tooth was a rear molar, consequently my mouth was forced into an open position for so long my jaws ached. I was in the chair over an hour and a half. Don’t get me wrong, my dentist is the gentlest of dentists, but we are talking about a root canal and there’s not much you can do to speed up the process. (By the way, I drive over an hour to go to this dentist because he is so gentle.) After the whole thing was over, or almost over, apparently I have to go back in a week or so for one more thing, I drove home and was nicely taken care of by my husband.

Today I woke up with lots of pain. I guess it’s to be expected, but I’m not a happy camper. It is getting slightly better as the day goes on. We have declared this day to be a soft food day and will eat accordingly.

Below is a little vignette from the wall by our front door. These house paintings are very dear to me. The top one is of our house, Mockingbird Hill Cottage. My Dad painted it and gave it to us not long after we moved in. We treasure it. The other is of the house in Canada where my grandmother was raised. It was the family farm in Orillia, Ontario. My sisters, my Mom, my late grandmother and I went to Canada years ago and one of the things we did was visit the farm. It had new owners and was painted white, but it was full of memories for grandma. Years later, we heard it had been destroyed in a fire. Very sad. The painting was done by my Grandma’s sister, my Aunt Ruth.


I’m going to go sit down and eat some soft food. More later.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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