Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Egg Cups, Rain, and The Pitt

April 7, 2025 at 8:51 am by Claudia

In the midst of yet another dreary rainy morning, I think some charming egg cups are just what the doctor ordered.

On the left, an excited bunny. From Japan,

Next, one of my favorites, a beautiful mom and her babies with a lustreware finish on the egg cup. Japan.

Next, two chicks playing on a seesaw/teeter-totter in front of an egg cup home. A recurring theme in some vintage egg cups from Japan is egg cups with windows. I have several of them.

Finally, a petite egg cup being held up by a bunny in an orange jacket and blue pants. That’s a flower on the other side. Japan.

We are in for three days of much colder weather with rain off and on and nighttime temps below freezing. Oh, and high winds tomorrow. (Yuck.) I think that once we get to Thursday, the temps will become warmer and there won’t be any more freezes. Then I can sow some seeds.

In the meantime, it’s wet, cold and dreary.

Laural is about the same. She doesn’t really have the energy to talk, so we are communicating via text. She’s been getting some oxygen and is basically exhausted. I haven’t checked in with her this morning. I don’t want to disturb her if she’s sleeping, plus hospitals are always very busy in the morning. I’ll text her around 10 am. Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming, please. As Joe said to me when he heard about Laural, “This damn adulting is hard.”

You said it.

If you’re at all interested, we are watching the final episode this week of the first season of “The Pitt” which airs on HBO Max. (We get Max via Amazon Prime.) It stars Noah Wyle, who you might remember from “ER.” The Pitt takes place in an emergency room in a hospital in Pittsburgh. The first season has 15 episodes, each episode being one hour in a continuous 15 hour day. Don and I think it’s one of the best series we’ve ever seen. The level of detail, the writing, the acting, the direction – everything is excellent. Noah Wyle is brilliant. One thing I love is the use of relatively unknown actors, which keeps it real. There is no “Oh, so-and-so is guest starring!” kind of thing, That would take you out of the immediacy of the plot. By the way, the actors may be unknown, but they are routinely excellent. I can’t recommend it enough.

Okay. More coffee needed.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: egg cups 29 Comments

Egg Cups and Prayers

April 5, 2025 at 8:44 am by Claudia

Yesterday, right after talking on the phone to my friend Joe, who had just received Jan’s ashes, my best friend Laural texted me from a hospital where she had been admitted with congestive heart failure, severe edema, and Covid. She had been on a cruise with her husband and several friends in Hong Kong. She started feeling ill while still on the cruise. She got back to the Chicago area on Tuesday evening and by Thursday evening she was in the hospital. She has battled congestive heart failure before. Obviously, this is very worrying. We’ve been best friends since I was 12.

Please, if you would be so kind, send prayers her way. I haven’t checked in with her today, but will after I’ve finished this post. Needless to say, I woke up way too early today. Too much on my mind, I guess.

Today’s egg cups are double egg cups. The bottom is narrower and meant for a hard boiled egg. The wider top is for a soft boiled egg.

These are transferware egg cups. The one on the left was one of my first purchases. It’s brown transferware from Mason’s Vista in England. The middle egg cup is Flow Blue. Since there is no identifiable mark, I don’t know who the maker was. On the right, a red transferware cup from Johnson Brothers in England.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: egg cups, Laural 30 Comments

Daffodils, Gatekeeping & Egg Cups

April 4, 2025 at 9:06 am by Claudia

The daffodils on the edge of the woods are blooming. They’re facing east and the back of the property which makes taking a photo tricky.  I suppose they like the morning sun, though there’s not much of that today. No rain today, but Saturday and Sunday will be very rainy.

Both of us hit a wall yesterday. We have to take care of our mental health and regulate our reactions to stress. Obviously, most of this is a reaction to the news. But we also have other worries in our lives – everyone does – and all of it combined together is having a very negative impact. We’re not young and we have to protect ourselves. So we had a big talk about it and we’re going to move into a healthier self-protect mode (as well as protecting each other, of course.) I can no longer take everything  in. Neither can Don. I know this will be a challenge, but I also know that if there’s some information that we absolutely need to know, it will find its way to us. I’ve been suffering from anxiety once again. I can’t seem to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes. We have to be better gatekeepers.

Sometimes you have to hit a wall before you say “no more.”

I hope you’re protecting yourselves, too. Do what you have to do to create a safe space. It’s imperative.

Oh, sweet egg cups; you make me smile.

On the left, one of my favorites, a beautifully painted egg cup with two feathered friends. One is eating, the other one is maybe hiding? Or holding up the cup? Made in Japan.

Center: This may be my favorite cup. An artist rabbit in a smock, holding a palette while he paints a face on the egg cup. Japan.

Right: A gift from reader Linda. A fabulous egg cup with a tail (which you can’t see) that is removable. Why? Because it functions as a salter. It has holes and a stopper. So ingenious!

Okay, my friends. I have to make more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: egg cups, flowers 14 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.

Thanks for stopping by.

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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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