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Saturday Stuff

February 18, 2023 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your lovely messages yesterday. It’s been a tough time here lately and, given our phone conversation with Adrian yesterday, will continue to be. Many challenges, some losses, lots of worries. But through it all, this blog remains my rock. It grounds me. And all of you are so wonderful! What a lovely group of friends! Your kind words touched me deeply.

On to year 16!

I started a jigsaw puzzle I had on hand. It’s been hard for me to fill my time lately, even though I’m reading a lot, writing Morning Pages, writing gratitude lists, and doing a wee bit of sketching. I sometimes feel listless. So, after a break, I’m back with my puzzles. THIS one was a bear that I abandoned quickly. I was working on the edges and I couldn’t get them to fit. Something was off. I tried to rectify the situation but it didn’t work. I must have had a puzzle on hand because I took what I pieced together apart and stored it in the closet. This time I’m putting together the center first. I’ve done that before when the edge pieces were challenging. Hopefully, after I find my way back to the edges, it will all become clear.

This morning’s 10 minute doodle:

This is the view I see when I look to my right. I left out the porch post and the overhang of the porch roof. Have to say the cars look like something I would have drawn as a kid but since these doodles are moments in time/memory evokers, that’s fine with me.

We’ve (Don and me) moved onto Part 3 of War and Peace. Today will be Day 49 of the readalong.

If you like to visit Don’s music site on YouTube, you might like this one – Blues in Double Time. You might see someone else you know.

Okay, my friends. See you later.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

MHC – 15 Years

February 17, 2023 at 8:38 am by Claudia

Well, here we are. It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been 15 years since I wrote my first post on this blog I decided to name Mockingbird Hill Cottage. 15 years! That’s longer than I’ve held any job. I suppose this is a job of sorts…just not as well paying as any of my other jobs and that includes my job in an office where I had the most dismal paycheck ever. It was still more than this blog ‘pays’ me.

But that’s the point – I don’t write this blog for any sort of monetary gain. That’s never been my goal. It’s purely for the pleasure of sharing.

My goal when I contemplated writing a blog was to share a sort of visual journal with as-yet-unknown people out there in the blogosphere. I was fascinated by the blogs I was seeing which were a whole new way of communicating. And for me, someone who never really succeeded at journaling, the combination of writing (which I loved) and photography was a perfect fit.

In those days, I just hoped that someone would follow me! I followed lots of other blogs, they followed me back, and I was off and running. But it was very early days in the blogging world. Crude, by today’s standards. But I sometimes miss those days. It was a wonderful time of discovery.

Now, less and less people blog. But some of us are still hanging in there. I love Instagram and use it every day, but it will never take the place of a blog post. Never. You simply cannot get into the depth of writing that you can in a blog.

I venture to say that few of the people who were blogging way-back-when still blog. Those that do, generally don’t blog every day. Maybe a couple of times a week, once a week, once a month, and for some – once every 6 months or so. I blog every day with rare exceptions; when I’m working long hours on a show or when I’ve been in mourning for my mother, my father, my dogs. Then I needed to take some time away from the blog. I like the routine of blogging every morning. I think it focuses my mind for the day ahead. And heaven knows, it’s been cathartic and beautiful and painful. As it should be.

It’s been so rewarding.

The community that has emerged from the comments on the blog is the BEST part of all of this. We reach out to each other, we offer help, support, prayers, laughter – whatever is needed. I’m so proud of it and it’s not something I fashioned. It just happened.

Thanks for being there for me through losses and triumphs and all the days in-between. In-between is where life is truly lived, don’t you think? Thanks for indulging my passions for collecting, nature, animals, books, decorating, my pets, gardening, dolls (who knew?) and my husband. Thanks for everything you have given me over these 15 years. Every day I feel your support. You are my friends. We haven’t met in person but we have met. We know each other and care for each other.

Without you, I’d just be writing and sending posts out into the ether. That would be okay, but, as a longtime performer: it’s sure nice to have an audience.

Thank you for being here. You mean more to me than I can say.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Happy Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Crochet, Dystopian, and a Question

February 16, 2023 at 9:07 am by Claudia

Lucy wondering: “What the heck is Valentines Day??” I didn’t pose these two, Lucy’s head was already tilted this way. By the way, I just remembered that Zoe’s dress was originally Lucy’s. That’s what Lucy was dressed in when she arrived here at the cottage.

Hmmm. Maybe Lucy is wondering why Lucy is wearing her dress.

Today: Blythes, if only because that’s what I was working on most of the day yesterday. Actually, I was working on this ↓

That darned hat.

It was the most frustrating day. This yarn is very fine, full of varying thicknesses, and – for me – incredibly hard to crochet with. I’ve been wanting to store the yarn I have in the den, but I had yet to make a hat from this. So that was my project yesterday. It took me at least two hours longer than it would normally. I was cussing up a storm. It stretches too much and, often, attempts to hook the yarn are fruitless. On and on it went. And then, as I was getting close to the end of the pattern, I grabbed Katie to check on the fit and my suspicions that it was much too big were confirmed. It’s the same weight as the other yarns I’ve been using, but as all knitters and crocheters know, that ‘weight’ and gauge can vary. What to do? I did another two rows of decrease and prayed it would work. It did, but just barely.

It’s very pretty yarn and it is part silk/part mohair, so it’s very soft. But it’s a pain in the tush to work with. This little endeavor, which was supposed to go quickly, took up the entire afternoon.

She looks cute, though.

We’ve been watching The Last of Us – episodes are being released weekly – a dystopian series about what happens after a fungal infection kills the vast majority of the population (it’s excellent) and Station Eleven, a series based on the book written by Emily St. John Mandel, which I raved about on this blog when it was first published. It’s also dystopian; this time it’s the flu that is the culprit. Normally, I don’t watch series based on favorite books, as you know, but several years have passed since I read Station Eleven, and I couldn’t remember the details any longer, so we went for it. Both series are very, very good. Tonight, we’ll watch the final episode of Station Eleven. By the way, both series are on HBO Max, which we get on a monthly basis (can cancel at any time) through Amazon Prime.

The temperature hit 65 degrees yesterday! But it was very windy, as it often is when the weather is unseasonably warm. Today: 60 degrees with a low of 48. Tomorrow, the low plunges down to 22 degrees. Crazy weather! It will get colder next week, with a chance of snow. Earlier, the prediction was for substantial snow fall. Now, it’s been changed to snow showers mostly; maybe some accumulation on one day. But I bet that changes.

Okay. I’ve been thinking about some other way to display my girls, but there are constraints. They have to be in the same place they are now – that little niche in the den. If I buy a narrow cabinet from IKEA, where do I put the music cabinet? I can’t see any other place in the house where that piece will fit. If I find something with deep and tall enough shelves that can fit on top of the cabinet, it has to be just perfect, like the egg cup cubby was perfect. If I install shelves on the wall, then they have to be be deep enough so the girls don’t slide off. Every time we come down the stairs to the den, there’s a bit of vibration and I don’t want it to cause any of these girls to slip and fall.

Any ideas?

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Saturday Stuff

MHC – 15 Years

Crochet, Dystopian, and a Question

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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