Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Flowers, Seasonal Changes & A Gift

August 29, 2019 at 10:14 am by Claudia

One of my hostas – one I planted under the kitchen window last year – is just now blooming. What a lovely late summer surprise! It’s very, very shady back there, so I suppose that might be a reason for the late bloom.

The butterfly bush is blooming. But the flowers are very small. It, I think, needs more sun than it’s getting in the side garden bed, which has become increasingly shady over the past couple of years. I may move it in the spring. I think it would do a lot better in the big garden bed.

The air, the light, the leaves – autumn changes are in the air. Just like that. I’m not quite ready for summer to be over, but I find myself welcoming the golden light and the cooler mornings. Funny how that happens – our bodies and minds start to anticipate and adjust to the change in season and we find ourselves welcoming it.

I see leaves on our roof and on the ground. I hear some birds, but not nearly as many as earlier in the summer. That always makes me sad, as I miss their songs. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a robin lately. I still hear the mourning doves and the catbirds and the wrens and sparrows and the Canada geese.

For example, right at this moment in the morning, 10 am, there is not a sound in the air.

School starts next week. The University just started classes this week. Change is in the air.

We just finished watching Trapped (an Icelandic mystery series) last week. Now we’re on to Dark, which comes out of Germany. Both are excellent. Trapped  is on Amazon Prime, Dark  is on Netflix. But I have to tell you, the finest series we’ve ever seen is Babylon Berlin  on Netflix. It is beyond anything else, on every level. We’ve watched both seasons twice and are looking forward to the third season which should come around after the first of the year. Oh, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel  is coming back the first week of December. Can’t wait!

Reader Kathy did it again. I went to the Post Office to send off our monthly bill payments and checked the PO Box. Much to my surprise, a package was waiting for me.

To Kill a Mockingbird  in Latin! Oh my goodness! I had no idea there was such a thing! Needless to say, I screamed a little bit. So did Don when he saw it. Well, maybe not a scream from Don, but a definite “Wow!”

Thank you, dear Kathy. It will now join my other TKAMs on the shelf in the den. What a beautiful addition to my collection!

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: autumn, books, flowers, garden, media, To Kill a Mockingbird 34 Comments

Pesky Deer, Slippers, & Books

August 28, 2019 at 10:39 am by Claudia

Do YOU have your very own pair of slippers from the Golden Nugget?

I thought not.

I know you’re envious. That’s the kind of thing that happens in the very glamorous jet set life of a voice and text coach.

Actually, Don is  jealous. There was another pair in the closet. I should have brought them home for him. (I did check with the hotel before I packed them, just to make sure it was okay.)

I’m sick about my morning glories. The pesky deer have chewed up all the leaves on the plants that are in the chicken wire fence garden. All of them. They also ate my moonflower vines – which were small and slow growing, but they had finally started to move up to the trellis. I’ve been growing morning glories for years and this is the first time any animal has eaten them. With deer, it’s a seasonal thing. Every once in a while you get a deer that is extra brave and comes rather close to the house. We’ve got one of those guys this season. Conversely, they haven’t eaten one bit of the hostas, which are usually their favorite plants to dine on.

I do have one more morning glory plant that lives on the fence right next to the side/kitchen door. I’m hoping that it is a bit too close to the house for them. And we’re trying to be very vigilant in the early morning and at dusk. We keep getting up and going to the side door to keep watch. And that’s all we can do. It’s just so hard when you’ve been nurturing seeds planted in the first week of May – all this time – only to see them destroyed.

I bought this yesterday. Even though I have to get it on publishing day, I usually don’t read it right away. It will be a year until another one comes out, so I delay my gratification.

Works for me.

Besides, I have plenty of books around here to read. Too many.

Another gorgeous day around here. It’s been so lovely lately. Cool mornings, autumn light, but nicely warm days.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: books, deer, flowers, garden 36 Comments

Potpourri on Tuesday

August 27, 2019 at 9:50 am by Claudia

• Mowing and mowing and mowing. Since we were both so busy last week and it rained several times, the lawn needed attention. We still have to do the back forty, but it’s looking better out there. Now, for the inside of the house!

• The sunflowers that I planted from seed have bloomed. The flowers themselves are moderate in size, but I love this color. There should be at least one more blossom, however, we’re missing one because the deer ate it (I saw it happening.)

• Speaking of deer, I noticed this yesterday afternoon:

All along the fence, there are stubs where there should be leaves. I’m pretty sure it’s the same deer who likes to jump into the corral and eat whatever is growing on the other side. The morning glories look dreadful now, thank you very much. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but will it now? Last year was a bust with many of the morning glories and I’m not sure why. Fingers crossed.

• As I was sitting in the lobby of the theater in Las Vegas, I saw a big advertisement for their upcoming season. This brought a double-take:

Three things:

The young actors have been cast to look exactly like the actors in the original Broadway cast. Same picture, same hair, same, same.

It now says Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville.  Hmmm. That wasn’t there before.

It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour.

Let’s make that four things: You get what you pay for.

• Moving on – today is the publication day for Louise Penny’s newest, A Better Man. Yours truly will be trotting off to the bookstore later today. It’s my little tradition. I buy her newest book the day it comes out.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: books, Escape to Margaritaville, flowers, garden, Louise Penny 29 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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