Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Transition to Flannel & Snow

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Two days ago, I marked an important transition here at the cottage: I changed over to flannel pajamas. I held off as long as possible, but this week has shown a marked change in the temperatures and I can no avoid them.

Actually, I love  wearing flannel pajamas and would stay in them all day if I could. In fact, right before dinner last night, Don said, “You should go upstairs and change into your pjs.” I never got around to it, but that guy gets me.

Perfect scenario: I’m wearing flannel pajamas, reading a good book, and drinking hot chocolate.

That might happen later today. If it doesn’t happen today, it will definitely happen on Thursday when we are due for 3-5 inches of snow. 

Yes, indeed. I know many of you have already been blessed with the white stuff, but we haven’t. I have mixed feelings on the subject. The first couple of snowfalls are awfully pretty. But I’m not a fan in the long run. Tomorrow, I have to clean up some of the porch, move the rakes, shovels, etc., back in the shed and move the snow shovels to the porch. Oh, and we have to take the air conditioners out of the windows. As usual, we procrastinate about these chores and then we find ourselves running around at the last minute, trying to accomplish everything.

But today it is raining. It rained all night long. I’m almost halfway through my current read and I’ve kept to my goal of reading first thing in the morning. I usually read for a couple of hours and then it’s my turn to make our second cup of coffee (Don makes the first), which we drink on the loveseat in the den, coming together to chat about the day ahead. (See first photo.)

We had a lovely time at R & D’s yesterday. Our friend from back in the day at the Old Globe was visiting and I haven’t seen him in about 23 years! He’s such a nice guy and, as usual, the conversation was terrific and we laughed a lot. Sam is also doing well and made sure to demand affection from all of us. Love that dog.

I know these posts must seem incredibly boring after all the posts about the trip, but that’s daily life back home for you!

Happy Tuesday.

Shuffling: Indoors and Outdoors

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Available cubbies are getting limited. Book now.

Sometime this week, I have to grab my museum wax and use it to adhere each egg cup firmly in place. At some point soon, I’m going to have to pull the cabinet out to get to the cupboard under the stairs, which I open about twice a year. I store some outdoor cushions there as well as the small white Christmas trees that I use. Which reminds me: where am I going to put the plants that are currently on the bistro table when I need to move them out of the way for the Christmas tree? I don’t decorate until mid-December, but I’d better start thinking about that particular problem. Small house = no storage, no usable basement, no attic, no mud room. The result? Constant shuffling of items from one room to another.

Anyway, I have sliders which I’ll put under the cabinet. I think that I’ll stow the cushions in there next week and take all the Christmas stuff out and store it upstairs in the office until I’m ready to decorate. Then I’ll only have to move it once more to put everything back. And that will be it until I need to retrieve the cushions in the Spring.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears, thanks for all your comments yesterday. I see that we’re all coping with this same problem to one degree or another. I was fairly successful yesterday. I finished the book by Michael Connelly, read a short novel that I bought in London – finished that, and started on the newest by James Lee Burke –  Robicheaux. I’ve had it for a few months and am just now getting to it. What a poetic and lyrical writer Burke is, an amazing feat when he’s writing about murder and corruption in Louisiana! He’s one of the best.

Today we’re having brunch at Rick and Doug’s. A colleague from our days at the Old Globe is visiting.

We talked on the phone with Little Z last night, who lost his two front teeth in an hour’s time – one after another! The adult teeth are coming in right behind them. He’s so adorable, even more so with the gap in his smile.

That’s about it. The potted impatiens bit the dust last night – we had a hard freeze. I’m not sure of the status of the other porch plants, but I am going to have clean all of that up this week, do some more shuffling (into the shed, into storage) and get ready for winter. Yikes.

Happy Monday.

Limiting

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I forgot to share this paperweight I found in Paris – it’s from the Musée d’Orsay. Monet and waterlilies. I love it.

On the past two more mornings, I haven’t turned on my phone to check email or scroll through Instagram, but have, instead, sipped coffee while reading a novel. Now, this isn’t  breaking news and it may indeed be what many of you do every morning. As a matter of fact, pre-cell phones, that’s exactly what I did every morning. I made coffee, sat down in my chair, and read for a few hours.

This year I went through a period of being unable to concentrate long enough to read any fiction. I read some non-fiction, but very little fiction, which has always been my first love. I found it alarming, though I’ve been through it before. I’m pretty sure it was the result of a couple of things: the ongoing stress I have felt since the election which has made me unable to concentrate for long on anything and the amount of time that I spent on the computer and phone checking twitter and the news and then trying to distract myself with pretty pictures on Instagram.

Fortunately, I got through the worst of that period and came out on the other side and now I’m reading fiction again. I read a big chunk of my current book yesterday afternoon, as well.

But I noticed a couple of things while on our trip. I felt much less eye strain because I wasn’t constantly looking at a backlit screen. And I was much happier when I wasn’t concentrating on either of those devices. (Not to mention the fact that I was much, much happier when I wasn’t concentrating on the news.)

I’m going to make some changes. I’m not going to leave my laptop on all day. I’ll write the blog post, check emails and sign off. Later in the day, I’ll sign on again to respond to comments. I’m also going to try to limit the time I spend on IG. Once in the morning, maybe a quick post or two during the day. The rest of the time? Puttering around the house, doing chores, listening to music, going somewhere that’s visually stimulating, and reading.

Reading has always been of the utmost importance to me. So I must ensure that I allow time for that. My current reading selection is Michael Connelly’s latest. He’s such an excellent writer that I have had no trouble losing myself in the story and that helps.

I love Instagram because I love the photos people share and I’m very visual. But I also don’t want to be one of those people who constantly checks her phone. Life’s too short.

A couple of questions: Have you struggled with limiting screen time? Since I publish a blog post daily and also post on IG, screen time can be problematic. Have you struggled with reading this year? And – finally – what are you reading right now?

That’s a lot of questions, I know, but I think it might be helpful for us to have a dialogue about these things.

Happy Sunday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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