Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Sunday Update

February 27, 2022 at 9:08 am by Claudia

Thanks for your well wishes for Don. He is in pain, but he’s sure he didn’t break anything. If this goes on much longer, he’ll have it checked out. We’ve been icing, etc. I’m taking care of him. But keep him in your prayers, okay?

I went over to our neighbors’ property yesterday to try to shovel their driveway. Unfortunately, the snow is like a block of ice, so I had to chop at it with the shovel and then clear some of it in layers as best I could. They have a long curved driveway. Sadly, I didn’t get too far. It was too hard on my back and my neck.  I managed to clear enough so they could at least pull in off the road.

Then I texted Laura and explained what was going on – Don’s injury, my back – and she immediately responded with sympathy and a “Don’t worry! We’ll take care of it!” We have good neighbors.

I finished this yesterday. It was extremely difficult and a real challenge. I loved it. This isn’t the best photo, but it’s beautifully designed.

And, amazingly, a Blythe outfit that went missing in the post arrived yesterday. It came from Russia and arrived in the US in November, where it sat on a barge for a long time and we gave up hope. Then it showed up in Chicago, where it also sat for almost 2 months. But it dropped off the radar again, so Olga refunded my money. This past week, she wrote me saying it looked like it had resurfaced again. Go figure! This time, the delay had nothing to do with Russia but with the USPS. It took 103 days to get here.

Maeve is today’s model:

This is as close to a cat as Maeve will get since Mom is allergic. Olga – pippydolls on IG – makes beautiful clothes. And she has been such a great communicator during all of this. We became friends.

Today, we’re laying low here at the cottage. With all the melting and then temps plunging down to single digits at night, it’s slippery out there. But it’s going to reach 45 today, so once that happens, I’ll venture out to put out the trash, etc. I won’t let Don do it.

The egg cups arrived safe and sound. Country Living did a great job of packing and protecting them. They’re back home in the cubby and on the shelves.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, Don, egg cups, jigsaw puzzles 32 Comments

Overwhelmed

February 26, 2022 at 8:55 am by Claudia

Let’s see…what’s happening? Don used our neighbor’s snowblower yesterday and it worked just fine on our driveway. Then he took it back to their property and proceeded to snowblow their driveway and it promptly stopped working. Since there was so much sleet mixed in with the snow, there were chunks of ice “like bricks” between the blades. Don cleared all of that out. The engine runs perfectly. But the blades won’t turn. He went back later and tried it again. Still didn’t work. So he called our neighbor to explain what happened. Of course, Don feels guilty, but he didn’t do anything wrong. It just happened. We’ve offered to pay for repair or a new snowblower. Meanwhile, our  snowblower doesn’t work. Crap.

One of my Instagram accounts has been hacked, I think. It’s the one I use for books and reading and I don’t use it all that much, but it’s a pain in the tush. I keep getting a ‘challenge required’ message which means they want to verify your identity. Normally, that would mean an email would be sent to me, but I’ve received no emails. And that makes me think they’re sending them to another address – like that of a hacker. I’ve tried contacting IG support, but who knows if they’ll respond? Is it worth it to start another account? I’m not sure. I have two-way verification turned on for my main account and foolishly thought that meant the other two accounts would have it, as well. Nope. So I turned it on for Sophieandherpals. And now, I’ll just watch the other account and wait.

And, of course, there’s Ukraine, which I can’t get out of my mind. Nor should I.

Anyway. I should get my egg cups back today. These sad little empty cubbies will have residents again. UPS delayed delivery until today and made that decision ahead of the storm.

Don just slipped on the ice and hurt his shoulder. He insisted on going to recycle anyway.

I hope he’s okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: life 30 Comments

Friday

February 25, 2022 at 9:33 am by Claudia

The situation in Ukraine is on my mind all the time. Such heartbreak. Thanks to my Blythe obsession, I have friends in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. None of them want war. None. One of my Russian friends wrote that she is against the war but afraid to protest as she would be arrested and who would watch her young son?

I have no words and, frankly, nothing I could say here hasn’t been said already.

We’re in the midst of a snow event – it’s a mix of snow and sleet, so it’s wet and heavy. Don just went out to shovel a bit and confirmed it’s a pain in the tush. Our snowblower isn’t working, as you know, but our neighbors went north to their second house to take advantage of the skiing conditions and offered us theirs if we need it.

Sick of winter.

In the meantime, I worked a lot on the puzzle yesterday. It took me three days to finally get all the edge pieces in place. Yikes. Now I’m working on the puzzle itself. It’s about the mythical world and it’s really complex. The border design has also driven me insane. But the challenge it offers kept me nicely occupied yesterday when I needed to step away from the pure evil of Putin.

Two days ago, we had a murmuration of starlings on our property that lasted for over an hour. Gorgeous! I saw at least 20 robins feeding on our then snowless lawn. I assume they were stopping on their way north. And the little carolina wren was around the porch and flew up to the trailer again. All of that made me long for spring and know that it isn’t far off.

Though today is a reminder that winter isn’t over yet.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: snow 8 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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The Dogs

The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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