Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Grumble, Grumble

April 17, 2024 at 9:29 am by Claudia

First of all, I apologize for not responding to your comments on dreams. I promise I will, but we’ve been busy working outside, as well as mowing, and Don woke me up in the middle of the night making strange noises and I never got back to sleep. On top of all of that, there’s something else wrong with Don’s car and we don’t have the money to fix any of it at the moment.

Oh, I could go on with this list, because there’s much more, but this is enough ‘poor me’ for today.

So. I’m sleep deprived and slightly pissed off at Don, even though he didn’t know he was making the noises. He felt so bad about the whole thing that he made both rounds of coffee today.

More crabapple blossoms! I never get tired of them. How can I? – they’ll be gone before you know it. Every year, I notice another crabapple tree on the property.

We have some rain due this afternoon and tomorrow. Then – fingers crossed – some dry days. We need them. I can’t even walk in the secret garden because it’s so waterlogged.

I took this photo of Lucy yesterday.

She looks like she’s contemplating some mischief. And I suspect she doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

We watched the limited series, Ripley, on Netflix. It’s based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. It stars Andrew Scott (we are great fans of this man’s work) and it is exquisitely shot in black and white. Stunning to watch, but even more stunning is Scott as Tom Ripley. I really, really loved it.

Okay, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, flowers 18 Comments

Lilac Buds

April 15, 2024 at 9:02 am by Claudia

Lilac buds! But there are not nearly as many as last year. Lilacs need lots of winter cold and, though we had a stretch of very cold weather in January, it was warmer than usual this year. It was nice to have the warmer temperatures, but there’s a price to pay. The crabapple by the catalpa is in full bloom. The daffodils are lovely. The forsythia is very full this year and very yellow, as well.

Yesterday was a bizarre day. I worked outside in the morning. I was digging up an invasive plant – I swear this entire spring will be spent doing this, it’s endless – and then I came in because my back was aching. Then, in the afternoon, we had a little rain, with thunder rumbling constantly throughout the afternoon. It seemed to come from everywhere. I don’t remember hearing that much thunder over several hours. I liked it.

Today, finally, is sunny. I think I’ll dig up some more of that hawkweed and start to clean up the garden beds. But, I cannot do that work for as many hours as I used to.  I find I have to ‘call it a day’ sooner rather than later. It’s frustrating.

As is my jigsaw puzzle, where I find myself fairly close to finishing. However, I’m caught in the hellscape of the trees and it’s so hard to figure out what goes where. I refuse to give up, though I briefly thought of doing just that yesterday. Cue my scream.

Both Don and I had dreams right before we woke up this morning. They were the fear of/performance type dreams that we often have. Don was in a show where he was wearing a tuxedo but had no pants or underwear on. He was onstage with everything hanging out, if you get my drift. In mine, I was in a musical and was supposed to substitute for the lead actress in an upcoming performance. I knew the song (I think it was “Anything Goes”) but when I was shown a video of the actress performing it, the interpretation and choreography was unlike anything I could ever imagine or think was appropriate, with the actress performing bodily contortions that I knew I would never be able to do. Both of us woke up at about the same time and had a good laugh.

I know that all of us have that kind of dream. Mine are most often theater-based, though I also have university dreams where, for some reason, I have either stopped going to class or never did the assignments/reading and I’m suddenly facing the fact that I’m going to flunk out. The theater dreams are either about not knowing the lines and my attempts to memorized them while I’m standing in the wings, ready to make my entrance, or being late for rehearsal and trying to find my way there through a maze of buildings and roads and obstacles.

I’d love to hear your versions of those dreams.

Time to get ready to do some work outside.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: flowers 24 Comments

Imogen & What are you Reading?

April 13, 2024 at 8:41 am by Claudia

Tons of rain yesterday and then the wind came. It’s still a little windy out there and, though we were supposed to have no rain today, we might have some this morning. Don just went out to work on the trails, where he has been raking and cleaning things up. I’ll wait to see if it rains around 10 am. If it does, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get some work done.

Dear little Imogen. I hadn’t pulled her off the shelf in a while, so I remedied that the other day. She was one of my first Blythes. The third, I believe. She arrived at the house just before I took off for 6 weeks in Brooklyn when I was working on the movie.

In fact, here she is with Sophie the day I moved into the apartment in Brooklyn. (Maeve, though the second Blythe, hadn’t arrived yet – she had a very long trip from Russia.)

She was customized by Torry Dolls who lives in Belarus. Love the dimple in her chin.

The puzzle is driving me mad, but I think I managed to correctly insert about 10 pieces yesterday. Nothing else is new, my friends.

Since that is the case, this post will be relatively brief. But, I do have a question: What are you reading?

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, books, Imogen 31 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.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

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