Mockingbird Hill Cottage

About 4 inches of wet snow fell over night and Don was outside shoveling his car out at 6:30. He has two auditions in the city this morning and he had to catch the bus. There’s still quite a bit to be shoveled, so I’m going to go out there after I have some oatmeal and finish this post.

Or maybe I’ll wait. It’s raining and will be off and on today. It’s also going to hit 42 degrees. I’ll see how much snow disappears with the help of the rain and then tackle it in the early afternoon.

Anyway, it was a topsy-turvy morning with our little routine thrown for a loop.

Loved the Oscars last night. It was one of the better Oscar nights I have seen, and by that, I mean the flow of the evening, the presenters, the opening number with Janelle Monae (fabulous!). I think it functions better without a host. We were happy to see Brad and Renée win. I haven’t seen The Joker  so I can’t speak to Joaquin Phoenix, but I sure loved his speech. My only disappointment was Laura Dern’s win. I have nothing against her, she’s a good actress, but that role was not Oscar-worthy. It was written as over-the-top stuff that was better suited to a soap opera. I’m sure she was directed that way, but nonetheless, I was shocked when she won. So was Don. It seems that we are the exceptions in our feelings about A Marriage Story – we weren’t crazy about it. I love Adam Driver in just about anything and he was solid, as usual. Scarlett Johansson? I think she was miscast – I never quite believed her. And Laura Dern seemed to be in a different movie. All of this may have been due to the director. I have no idea. Anyway, as always, just my opinion.

Okay. Enough about that.

We drove into our neighboring town yesterday after stopping by Rick’s to water his plants. There is a chocolate shop there that has the best sugar-free chocolate and those chocolates are my only sweet indulgences since I stopped eating sugar. I have one or two in the evening. We got some regular chocolates for Don, as well, and then visited the two bookstores that are on the same street. One is entirely used books, the other is a mix of new and used. I didn’t find anything in the used bookshop, but I did find some books in the other shop. One was used, two were new.

I love Charlie Lovett and I haven’t read this book. He writes books – mysteries – involving books and booksellers. This one focuses on Jane Austen and a mystery involving the “true authorship of Pride and Prejudice.” It sounds like fun.

I follow Patti Smith on Instagram. She is such a fascinating person. She writes beautifully and she is an avid reader. Every time I visit Oblong Books, I think of buying one of her books and I never do. It’s as if I’m getting messages to read them. Just yesterday, I was reading a weekly email – Brain Pickings – that I subscribe to and Smith was quoted about her love for libraries when she was a kid. I find references to her everywhere. I’m not at all drawn to her music, but I definitely feel that the Universe has been nudging me to read her, so I bit the bullet and got these two books.

My abstinence as to book buying? I fell off the wagon.

So that’s the latest. Shoveling is on the docket for today.

Happy Monday.