Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Gentle Beings

August 19, 2019 at 8:15 am by Claudia

Today’s theme is ‘Beings who are not Human.’

My beloved Lonesome Dove, who sat on the rim of the birdbath for at least 30 minutes. Maybe longer. Enough time for me to run and get my camera with the telephoto lens. This little interlude made me very happy.

Later: a scary thunderstorm. Lonesome Dove had moved on by that point.

Discovered on some milkweed:

Another Monarch caterpillar. I’ve seen a lot of them this year, but never get to see the chrysalis. I’m not sure why, as I’m constantly checking for them.

And this morning, seen from the kitchen:

But there wasn’t just one fawn – there were three! The other two were hidden behind some trees to the left. Amazing. I’ve never seen three fawns on the property.

Magical!

Focusing on nature and all these wonderful beings calms me. I’ve been dealing with a bit of generalized anxiety of late. I’m not sure why – I have bouts with it and then months go by without any problems. When I saw Lonesome Dove last night and stood in the kitchen watching him/her, it melted away.

Stay in the moment, Claudia. Breathe.

I worked on deductions yesterday – most of which won’t work for Federal Income Tax, but will for New York State, because…we’re a Blue State – and am close to finishing. Deductions and taxes certainly can contribute to anxiety, right?

Today, I’m off to get the car inspected. Fingers crossed I don’t have to get new tires.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: birds, deer, mourning doves 26 Comments

Fog and Books

August 18, 2019 at 9:05 am by Claudia

I love a foggy morning. After last night’s intense thunderstorm, we woke up to this view. Perfect: not so much that it’s dangerous to drive, but just enough for ‘atmosphere.’

We tag-team mowed the front lawn yesterday and it was so humid that we were dripping! It was one of those days where the temperature was not all that high, but the humidity was. So, we went outside thinking it would be cool and quickly realized it was unbelievably uncomfortable. But we did it. We also took a morning walk right before we mowed.

Couldn’t wait to get in the shower and turn on the air conditioning.

All of that left me feeling tired, so I didn’t do any work on deductions. But today is another story and I have to tackle that chore while Don is taking photos at the Farmers Market. Tomorrow, I have to take the car in for a yearly inspection. And on Wednesday, I fly off to Las Vegas. Don is working on Friday on a new show called Starling that will be on Apple’s new network.

Suddenly, we’re busy. Feast or famine. But it will all get back to normal next weekend.

Thanks for the great discussion about children’s literature. I loved all sorts of books – many of the titles elude me because we didn’t have many books that we actually owned, but instead, checked books out of the library/bookmobile. Since I had to return them within a week or so, I didn’t often have the option of reading them over and over. All I know is that I read a lot of books and the authors I most remember are Beverly Cleary and Laura Ingalls Wilder. My grandmother had a book of fairy tales that I would thumb through on visits to her house. My mom’s childhood books sat on a shelf in our bedroom; Jack and Jill,  Anne of Green Gables  and Anne of the Island, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Little Women. Later, when I could buy Scholastic Books through my school, I saved up my pennies (or Mom and Dad gave me the money) and all of a sudden, I had books of my very own! I still remember when those boxes of books arrived in our classroom and my teacher would make a big deal of the unboxing. Sometimes, I was lucky enough to be the student who got to pass out the books.

My dad wasn’t much of a reader, he tended to read the newspaper and magazines. But my mom was a voracious reader and she made sure I had a lot of books to read via weekly visits to the Bookmobile. (I wrote a post about the Bookmobile long ago on this blog – it was everything.) When I had my book blog, I dedicated it to her. I am enormously grateful that she passed on her love of reading to me.

There’s nothing better.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: books, reading 24 Comments

Childhood Reading

August 17, 2019 at 10:02 am by Claudia

The zinnias are blooming.

Always a sign that we’re entering late summer. Soon (hopefully) we’ll see the morning glories as well. Last year, one of the morning glories bloomed and the other didn’t. Fingers crossed. The moonflowers? Well, they’re growing very, very, very slowly. We’ll see.

Every year is a different story when you’re gardening. Very little is predictable.

It’s a gray day out there, with rain on the way this afternoon. In the meantime, we have to mow the front lawn, at the very least. It’s getting quite long.

I’m reading Bookworm  by Lucy Mangan, a memoir of childhood reading. It’s very entertaining. But I also have to choose a novel – maybe Transcription  by Kate Atkinson. When I’m traveling, I like to take a novel in which I can lose myself during the flight. Atkinson might be perfect. I briefly considered A Book of Ghosts  by John Connolly, but at 600 pages plus and a hardcover to boot, it’s not the most packable of books.

The next chapter in Bookworm  is about Dr. Seuss. Should be interesting. I have a confession to make about Dr. Seuss. I never liked those books. There, I’ve said it. I owned  The Cat in the Hat and If I Ran the Circus. They were read to me many times and when I could read, I would give them another try to see if my mind had been changed. Nope. I never liked them. I found the characters annoying. I didn’t particularly like the illustrations either.

Years later, when The Old Globe premiered the How the Grinch Stole Christmas (with the blessing of Audrey Geisel, Theodore Geisel’s widow – they lived in La Jolla) Don originated the role of Old Max. I briefly worked on the show. But I still didn’t care for the story and the thought of having to perform it throughout the Christmas season would have sent me over the edge. (That may be the reason that Don declined the offer to do it again the next year. Once was enough.)

I’m sure that I’m the rare exception and I’m fine with that. I also wasn’t a big fan of cartoons. I got bored by them pretty easily. Go figure.

Today, work on deductions. Mowing.

Exciting, right?

What books did you love as a child?

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: books, flowers, garden, reading 72 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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