Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Day Two Hundred Eighty-Five

December 23, 2020 at 9:49 am by Claudia

For those of you who get the post via email who might be wondering why there are two posts titled Day Two Hundred Eighty-Five? Well, I mistakenly wrote the wrong number on yesterday’s post. Reader Petra kindly pointed that out to me. Unfortunately I was sitting in the car waiting for Don to come out of his eye doctor appointment at the time and had no way of correcting it until I got home – which I did, but it was too late to change the email version of the post. A big thank you to Petra! We’re back on track.

The morning sun was hitting the paperwhites with a sort of spotlight this morning. I took a series of photos and every one of them has this orb of light that you can see on the right. Magical!

We’re pooped. Don’s appointment with the eye specialist is always stressful…no one wants a shot in the eye. The side effects vary every time. Sometimes there’s no pain and it’s as if it never happened. This time there was more soreness afterward and a lot of blood on the eyeball. It’s slowly getting better. I’ve encouraged him to lay low today. We are officially starting our ‘no chores-listening to music-reading-relaxing’ days leading up to Christmas. Of course, I’m cleaning the bathroom today but that’s because I like things clean before Christmas. And since we’re getting lots and lots of rain tomorrow on top of a snow pack and temperatures in the 50s  for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with a 20 degree drop on Saturday, we’ll probably be out there salting as the melted snow turns to ice.

Our Christmas – at least the outdoors portion of it – is not going to be pretty. Indoors? Pretty.

Today, however, is sunny and quite beautiful.

This arrived at nearly 10 pm last night:

A big thank you to UPS drivers who are clearly working long, long hours. (By the way, we’re still missing our USPS packages – not their fault, of course, just annoying.)

Anyway, this is the Beacon Hill dollhouse kit. We haven’t unboxed it yet, but it weighs about 40 pounds and we’re going to have to drag it upstairs later this morning. I’ve been reading lots of posts about constructing this huge house and they’re very helpful. But I had to stop reading them for the time being. If I kept on reading, I would never start the project!

By the way, this is for Jeanie, who mentioned she’d like a photo of the den in Hummingbird Cottage all dressed up for Christmas.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: life 34 Comments

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Four

December 22, 2020 at 9:31 am by Claudia

I spy paperwhites! The first two blossoms have emerged on the plant in the kitchen. This makes me very happy.

Let’s see. We went shopping yesterday. Always exhausting. It was warmer during the day and the snow and ice were starting to melt. I went outside to get the mail and noticed that part of our gutter was hanging down. Yikes. Went inside, got Don and after an hour or so, Don managed to reattach it. The weight of the built up ice was just too much for it. Whew. Glad we could fix that.

Interesting note about the weather. There’s still a lot of snow on the ground, but each day up to and including Christmas will be warmer than normal, with heavy, heavy rains on Christmas Eve and then a combination of rain/snow on Christmas. The high on both days will be in the low fifties. What the??? Then it plummets 20 degrees on Saturday. I just hope that after all we went through with that winter storm last week that we have some  snow on the ground on Christmas. We really did earn it.

The simple tree that lives in Don’s mini studio at Christmastime. I had to point it out to him. He’s completely into his music right now. Speaking of which, Don and Dan released a new single. Go to this link, and read the Dec. 19th post, which provides a link to the song. She Saves Me  was inspired, in part, by our beloved Scoutie. A wonderful arrangement of the song, with Dan playing the mandolin.

The Beacon Hill kit is arriving today via UPS.

Still awaiting actual Christmas presents, though. Don is waiting for one package for me. I am waiting for one package for him. I’m also waiting for my 2021 planner, which was shipped on December 10th from a state that is not far from me. Sigh.

Tonight’s movie is one of my all-time favorites, The Shop Around the Corner  with Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan and a cast of terrific character actors.

Oh, and I’m driving Don to the eye doctor today for his shot.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: Christmas, dollhouse, Don, flowers 34 Comments

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Three

December 21, 2020 at 7:58 am by Claudia

I love this ornament. The aged, faded beauty tells a story, not a personal story because I bought it a few years ago, but the story of many Christmases in some house, somewhere.

Oh, this is a strange time. A strange week. We’re doing our best to make it festive, though we’re missing gifts. Unless a miracle happens, we might be delaying our gift exchange. Fingers crossed, though it’s surely not the end of the world. This morning, we’re going grocery shopping for the week, so I’m writing this post early in the morning. We want to get there before it becomes too crowded and I’m desperately trying to wake up enough to write a list.

Tonight is the start of our week of Christmas movies every evening. We plot this out every year, usually ending with It’s a Wonderful Life  or A Christmas Carol  (with Alastair Sim) on Christmas Eve. Tonight will be White Christmas.

I’ve been feeling crappy for the last three days – my sinuses are really acting up. It’s time to start using the humidifier again as I suspect the dryness of the house is making things worse.

By the way, my parents’ 45 year old snake plant (sansevieria) is blooming. It has the most wonderful scent. I repotted it last year and it didn’t bloom (I was prepared, as I’d researched it.) But this year? It’s back! The paperwhites in the kitchen should bloom by Christmas. The ones in the den are growing a bit more slowly. That’s fine with me. I’m all for extending their bloom time.

Less than a month until Inauguration Day.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, houseplants 20 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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