Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Hostas, Moths, and Ella

at by

The hostas just started to bloom. Those little flowers are so delicate. They don’t last long, so I’m going to enjoy them while I can.

We’ve had horrendous humidity the last couple of days. Yesterday was unbearable and today? The heat index will reach 100°. Weather like this really affects my respiratory system. We have yet to turn the A/C on this morning, but we will soon. We had a very early thunderstorm around 5 am. Quite spectacular!

We’ve had the adult male gypsy moths flying around here for a week or so. Did you know that the females (who are white) do not fly? I guess they just hang out waiting to lay eggs. The males – who are a tan/brown – do not eat, but they do fly. And they only live for a week. There are so many of them around here, but they were gentle. We even rescued some who accidentally  got inside. I figure if they only get to live for a week, they deserve to fly as much as they can. In the past couple of days, the numbers have greatly decreased, and it has been about a week since we first saw them.

Ella showing off one of three t-shirts in different colors with this message. Cute as f____. I know some of you don’t use that word, but I sure do. It’s the perfect word to use as an invective because it starts with a fricative (f) and ends with a plosive (k). Also, my mother’s favorite word, sh___t, has the same combination. There’s a reason people like those words. If you were here with me, I’d speak Mom’s word in the way that only she could. I still imitate her!

Anyway, on we go. Hot, hot, hot today so I’ll be staying indoors,

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Friday

at by

The coneflowers are opening and, boy, do they make me happy! It’s my favorite time in the garden because I like a cottage garden look and, to me, coneflowers are a cottage garden. And, since they’re self-seeding, the bang you get for your buck is fabulous.

Thank you so much for your best wishes on our 30th anniversary! We had a lovely day yesterday and we’ve decided that we’re celebrating through the weekend. We want to continue our celebration. We received so many well wishes here on the blog, as well as on Facebook and Instagram. We heard from actors and designers who were at that party, childhood friends, and a host of other friends and acquaintances from our lives in theater and music, my colleagues from the veterinary hospital, former students, and social media friends. All in all, it was very moving.

We had this idea earlier in the year and weren’t sure we would go through with it, but we did. It took a long time.

Then and now:

Don kept this shirt that he happened to purchase on that Fourth of July and he only pulls it out once a year. I kept my sweatshirt because I loved it, eventually using it while painting, as you can see. It’s still my comfort sweatshirt and I wear it when I’m not feeling well. So – both of us had our shirts from 30 years ago.

As best we could, we tried to recreate the look of the original photo, though I have no idea what I was doing with my hand in the original and every time we tried it, it looked like a fist, so I modified the pose. And the slightly shy look I had 30 years ago only served to highlight my double chins, so that got altered quickly.

Goal: lose some weight. I was too skinny in those days and Don prefers me this way; nevertheless, some dieting is in order.

We did all this while shooting a video and then we froze the frames when we found a good shot. Consequently, there was a lot of back and forth between us on the videos. Watching them made us laugh out loud. Boy, we sure are a longtime married couple!

Anyway, we are proud of us. Don had been married twice before and I was deathly afraid of any sort of commitment. Yet, here we are, 30 years later.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Thirty

at by

I won’t address the elephant in the room except to say I’m enraged.

That anger has to be channeled into “All Hands on Deck”  by everyone. So I’ve signed up to help the Biden campaign, as I did in 2020.

__________________________________

But today is my baby sister’s 60th birthday! I’m 11½ years older than her, so it’s hard to grasp that she’s 60. She’s a beautiful 60, both inside and out. Happy Birthday, dearest Meredith! I love you to the moon and back!

And tomorrow? The anniversary of this day:

But it’s not just another anniversary of the day we met, it’s the 30th anniversary of the day we met. We’ve been together for 30 years! Since we met when we were in our early 40s, it’s a big deal!

You know the story, so I’ll be brief. My friend, the late Kathy McGrath (an actress at the Old Globe Theater) lived in Ocean Beach and threw a Fourth of July party every year. Actors, actresses, staff, designers…everyone came. It was my first full summer in San Diego, and my first ‘Kathy’ party. I had a great time and later in the day, as I went outside (to the barbecues) and came back inside a few times, I noticed this guy (sitting right where you see him in this photo) leaning forward and smiling at me every time I came inside. I knew who he was as I had seen him in a production of Morning’s at Seven  when I flew into town the previous summer for my job interview. Kathy was in that production, as well. I remember looking at his photo in the program during intermission because I was so impressed with his performance and I thought “He’s very interesting looking!” Fast forward to about a week before Kathy’s party. The Globe held it’s summer season Company Call where everyone involved in the three shows going on in three theaters was introduced. At the beginning of the Call, Jack O’Brien announced the names of the new Associate Artists, an honor only awarded to those who had done inspiring and excellent work  at the Globe for a number of years. Don, who I had noticed already because he was sitting across the aisle and two rows back from me, was one of the honorees.  He had no idea it was going to happen and he walked onstage and spoke off the cuff and he was very sweet and funny.

ANYWAY, back to the party: I am a shy person and normally I would have smiled back but only that. This time, after the 4th or 5th smile, I decided to walk across the room and introduce myself. He, of course, didn’t know who I was because I was not coaching the production of Twelfth Night  that he was in. I sat down and we started talking about the fact that we couldn’t believe we were in our early forties! How could that be? (Older Claudia and Don now roll their eyes at this.)

By the end of the conversation, I was in ‘crush’ mode, seriously intrigued by and attracted to this man. We all walked down to the beach for the fireworks and Don was sitting several feet away. At one point, he looked back at me, caught my eye, and gave me a big smile.

Little did I know, I was a goner,

It took a while to have a first date as our schedules were different and jam-packed. I also had to engineer several ‘accidental’ meetings in the hallways of the theater in order to flirt with him. (Sounds like high school!) I ran into him at an opening night party where we flirted some more and where my wallet was stolen. He offered to drive me home and comforted me and, as we stood outside on my front stoop, suddenly leaned forward and kissed me. Eventually, we went to the beach on a date that ended with another incredible kiss as he left for the theater, and that was it.

Though I certainly fought it as I liked my single life and was deathly afraid of commitment.

But it was inevitable.

I am profoundly grateful for that party, that particular Fourth of July, where we did indeed see fireworks!

The photo was taken by our dear friend Jonathan McMurtry, who passed away a few years ago and who is greatly missed.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives