Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Day Three Hundred Forty-One

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And…another puzzle started. Interestingly, the black border was troublesome for a while because it became clear that the pieces were in the wrong order. But darned if I could figure out where the error was. So I looked for the connecting pieces that began the actual cover illustration and as I found them, I figured out what I had done wrong. After that, I went for the title.

We’re due for a boatload of snow tomorrow. (Will this ever end???) Don is currently trying to find some salt for the driveway and every place we usually buy it is out. Oh boy. A big snowstorm headed our way and a shortage of salt. Luckily he just found a couple of bags and is on his way to pick them up.

But the happy news of the day is this:

Today marks the 13th anniversary of this blog. Yep. 13 years!

I almost forgot, but fortunately, I had marked it in my planner.

I’ll be honest, there are times I consider shutting it down. Especially now, when I have very little interesting subject matter – at least, in my mind. But Don always reminds me that I wouldn’t be happy with that decision. I’d regret it. He’s right.

Writing a post every day has been a part of this blog for at least 9 or 10 of the 13 years. That daily writing commitment has been a good thing for me. I’ve always found writing to be cathartic and the discipline of sitting down, gathering my thoughts together, and crafting a post has provided structure for my mornings.

The blog also functions as a journal and I can’t tell you how many times I find myself wondering when something happened, search the blog, and quickly find the date.

Blogging has expanded my world and I’m very grateful for all the people I have met over the years. Followers come and go, just as friends come and go. But the relationships I have found through this medium are very real. I never consider them virtual. You are my friends.

I’ve never been a niche blog and it took me a while to realize that only writing about one thing – decorating, for example – would drive me nuts. Most bloggers that do that are interested in making money from their blogs. That’s absolutely fine. I briefly entertained revamping the blog to turn it into a money making venture several years ago. (We freelance and let’s face it, trying to do that made sense.) But it isn’t me. It felt false. I finally accepted what this blog was and is. A daily sharing of my thoughts and my life and my interests. That’s how I started out and that’s where I will remain.

Thanks for being here. I love hearing from all of you, knowing you’re out there, reading your thoughts. Without you, this would just be a virtual journal for me, myself, and I. This is much more rewarding!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Day Three Hundred Forty

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A quick post today: we didn’t lose power, thank goodness. But it’s a real mess out there!

As I walked toward the kitchen windows at the back of the house, I noticed there was water dripping down the inside of the window. Sure enough, they’re leaking. This happens rarely here – I’d say it’s been 6 or 7 years since it last happened. There is a gutter on the outside of that wall and because we had such freakish weather – snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain all night long – the gutter filled with water and then froze and now that the temperature is above freezing, the water has no where to go. I think they call it a ‘dam.’

So we’ve been outside using the roof rake to get excess snow off the roof and then Don shoveled the rest of the kitchen roof. The ice is too hard to melt at the moment but it’s going to hit 47 today (bizarre) so we’ll go out every hour and check on things until we can break up some of the ice and get it flowing.

And to think we said Don was going to take it easy today after lots of shoveling during the past 3 days. By the way, we’re being very, very careful, so don’t worry.

Oh, and after all of this is through, we have about 8 more inches of snow coming on Thursday.

Go ahead: ask me if I’m sick of this winter.

I think you know the answer.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Three Hundred Thirty-Nine

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I finished while Don was baking an apple pie yesterday at approximately 2 pm. As often happens, there was one piece missing and the two of us were looking everywhere for it. I lifted the wooden board off the table and peeked under it. Nothing. More searching. And then I lifted the board once again, this time entirely off the table, and there it was, tucked in the corner.

I left it in place overnight and after I finish this post, I’ll take it apart and start the next one.

We’re in for some pretty vile weather this week, starting off with freezing rain and “significant” icing overnight. We get a break on Wednesday and then Thursday brings us several inches of snow and some ice.

Lovely.

February, the shortest month, has been packed with constant large snowfalls, storms, ice, you name it. I’m over it. Please Spring – come a little early this year!

No vaccine appointments available and frankly, making one this week would be foolish. Even if it’s not icing or snowing, there is shoveling, snow blowing and salting to do. I just pray that everyone stays off the roads, stays safe, and that we don’t lose power.

One last thing, I panicked when I heard “Next week on the season finale” while watching All Creatures Great and Small  last night. Oh no! My goodness, this series is excellent – beyond excellent. On every level. And it’s just what we need right now, isn’t it? Back to what truly matters; goodness, decency, kindness, compassion. I have loved every second of it. I find myself thinking, will filming of the next season be delayed because of COVID? How long will we have to wait? I’m hoping they already have the next season in the can, but who knows?

Dee Dee, one of the readers of this blog, lives fairly close to the town where the series was filmed. It’s extraordinarily beautiful country and we’d love to visit someday. And we long to go back to Paris.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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