Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Twelve

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The river that is just across the street from the cottage. I took this picture because Don had ventured out for a ‘short walk’ and when, an hour and a half later, he still hadn’t returned, I got a bit concerned. He was going to visit the river and then take a short walk. The river is a steep drop from our neighbor’s property, so I went there first to see if I could find him.

No dice.

Then I debated whether I should get in the car and look for him. While I was debating – and I was only concerned because he didn’t have his phone with him and he could have fallen – I walked around our property and took this picture:

Winter milkweed.

Finally, I grabbed the car keys and pulled out of the driveway. I ventured about 500 feet down the road and there he was, walking stick in hand, headed back to the house.

New rule: Take your cell phone with you.

He lost track of the time. I’ve taken to calling him Huckleberry Finn. Or should it be Tom Sawyer?

Speaking of the cottage, and picture taking, and Don, and adventures, today is the 12th anniversary of this blog. I hit publish on this date in 2008. Who knew I would still be going all these years later? I’ve been writing this blog for more years than I’ve worked at any job, whether it was that stint in an office in Detroit (7 years) or grad school (3 years), or another office job while I was applying for teaching positions (2 years) or various temp office jobs, or teaching at Boston University (5 years) or teaching at the University of San Diego/Old Globe MFA program/coaching at the Old Globe (8 years). I’ve been freelancing for the past 19 years, but that involves a long, long list of all sorts of  jobs.

I haven’t been writing daily for all 12 years, but I’ve been doing it for at least 7, maybe 8, years. I’m proud of this blog, which began as an experiment and still is in a way, though I’ve settled in rather nicely.

I won’t belabor this anniversary by writing too much as I’ve written about it in the past. But I do want to thank you for being there, for visiting this little corner of the Internet. If you weren’t there, I’d just be writing for myself and that’s nearly as much fun as chatting with you.

Sending all sorts of love on this February 17th.

Happy Monday.

Comments

  1. Thank you, Claudia, for writing this blog that we all enjoy so much. I know each of us appreciates all the care and effort you put into it.

  3. Twelve—wow! The blog was started just a few weeks after my Glory was born on January 10th of that year. Two of my favorite things. Congrats and thanks a bunch!

  4. I do not comment often but want you to know I read your wonderful blog daily! I enjoy your perspective on the world and your and Don’s adventures. Thank you for sharing so much of yourselves with us.

  6. Oh happy anniversary!!! I am so glad you are writing this blog. I look forward to it every morning and I think what has Claudia been doing or wanting to say!!! Such enjoyment!!
    Here is to another twelve!!!
    Marion

  7. Here’s to the next twelve years, Claudia! I think I came across your blog about eighteen months ago and I’m so glad that I did. It’s always interesting, heartfelt and informative.
    Just today I’ve learned what winter milkweed is, after looking at your photo and thinking is that some kind of pupae? Never seen it before😀
    Glad Don turned up safe and sound

    Happy Monday

    • Well, it’s milkweed but in its winter form. The silk from the pod surrounds the seeds, which fly away in the wind and reseed all over the property. Thanks, Dee Dee!

  8. Happy 12th year Anniversary! I love reading your blog daily and certainly enjoy your view on life and the world. I look forward to the next 12 years :)

  10. Claudia, Happy anniversary! I’ve been too busy to comment these past few weeks but had to chime in among the congratulatories! Is that even a word?!

    • I look forward to your blog every day. I have always been amazed that you can feel such a connection with someone you have never had the good fortune to meet in person. That’s one of the things I enjoy so much about your blog and your readers. We are more alike than we are different and your sharing reminds us of that. Congrats and hopes for many more years !!

  11. I am so happy I discovered your blog. I do not know when I did but, as I have said before, it has enriched my life and I look forward to it every day.
    You and Don are the best,
    Kaye
    Park City, UT

  13. I am so happy I discovered your blog…keep writing…through you, as I have commented, I discovered Louise Penny…love the photos and descriptions of your darling, sweet cottage…enjoy the history of your life–your jobs, marriage, family, etc…as one who loves reading the blogs-only the past year or so-I sometimes wonder about the lives of those who write. I do a little column for a tiny newspaper, and have off and on for twenty years…sometimes through terrible times, lost my muse…it is nonsensical and memorable…touches a few hearts…just for fun…your blog is often like a newspaper column…informing and sharing…love it…glad you found your husband-they can lose track of time often. Been there…

    • I love that you write a column, Brenda. I consider this blog to be much the same thing. Thank you.

  14. I believe I have been reading your blog since right after I retired, so for about 9-10 years, I think. Time does fly by, doesn’t it ~~ whether we are having fun, or not. But, on this site it is mostly fun I would say!! If you keep writing, we will continue reading.

    It is snowing quite heavily right now. Lots of schools are cancelling for the rest of the day. The roads must be getting bad out there. Have I, over the years, ever mentioned my dislike of the winter months?? Ha!!

    Happy 12, Claudia, and here is to 13 and beyond!

  15. Happy Anniversary! I don’t remember when exactly I started to read your blog, but from the beginning, I felt as though this was the place for kindred spirits to gather. You bring us along on your travels, let us peek into your home and gardens, and share from the heart. You’ve done all that…thank you! ;)

  16. Thank you for making my dreary Michigan day brighter. You found such beauty in the dead of winter. Your photo of the milkweed is lovely. Happy blogging anniversary.

  17. Happy 12th! You are my (almost) daily ray of sunshine!

    Glad Don’s walk had a happy reunion at the end. My FIL took a walk, fell down the creek and my MIL found him as he put his hat on a long branch and waved it–she rescued him and they lived happily ever after. (These men!)

  18. Your blog is a refreshing change from crafts, food and decorating. Not many blogs about someones everyday life. Since reading your blog I have discovered several authors I never knew about. Mysteries are my favorite. Happy 12th anniversary.

    • I could have taken that path and made a lot more money but it never felt right. I had to do what felt right. Thank you, Olivia!

  19. I came along with your blog by a link ofthe European dollhouse miniature blog scene ca. 2009/10. You were renovating your first dollhouse. I was a beginner in this subject inhaling everything I could find about this on the net. Then I noticed I was looking into a mirror according to our living conditions (we both freelancing in different ways, fighting with changing income and all th problems that comes along with this). We have no children, we have animals, we live in a farm house in the country, I am exact your age, Claudia, we fought with the deaths of our parents, we love books, gardening, arts and craft, Paris of course etc. etc. (besides that I love to learn foreign languages, I love New York and the American Eastcoast, never been there in person). I loved your clear and easy speech to let me understand and learn a bit of your American English.I see there are many women who visit your blog who feel the same like me. Don’t misunderstood me, I am not expecting too much, I’m just gratefull to have an alterego far away beyond the pond. Would be a great loss without this.
    All the best another 12 years!

  21. I enjoy your blog everyday. It is like getting a personal letter in the mail. Thank you for your time and hard work. Such a pleasure.

    Kay

  22. Happy Anniversary on 12 years of writing this blog. I enjoy your posts and look forward to them. Glad everything turned out alright with Don.
    Marilyn

  23. Congrats on your dozen years of blog ownership; I think it’s a feat of faithfulness and maintenance and effort that the rest of us who are merely commenters can’t quite envision, the task and commitment of it. You’re such a good writer that I hope it’s been a good outlet for some of your creativity. We readers certainly get the benefit; I’ve learned SO much from your posts, Claudia. Always delightful, honest, informative, thought-provoking, relatable, interesting posts from you.

    I’m glad you ‘found’ Don. My husband will go without his phone for the precise times when we NEED a two-way communication; yet, when he’s home, he’s lost to the phone, just a room away from me. I have a love-hate relationship with these phones. When I’m out in the car, the phone on me is a lifesaver and I remember plenty of years when I didn’t have that, out at night, on long stretches of isolated road with equally-long walks to a call box on a roadside if there were to be a car problem.

    My husband and I awoke to more news about his friend (from work) who’s been quarantined on that Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan. It’s the friend and his wife, and they’re traveling with another couple who’s in a cabin next door. The wife in the other couple came down with the virus. She was moved to a hospital in Japan; she’s still there and very, very ill. They moved her reluctant husband, and our friend (with his own UNaffected wife) off the ship; extremely hard for the other man to leave his wife behind but it sounds to me like he wasn’t given a choice. (He’s got his own health problems; these are people in their 70s.) Now, during the flight back to the U.S., my husband’s work friend (the guy, not his wife) has come down with the fever mid-air. My husband is so very worried about him (the man is already afflicted with I believe an auto-immune disease). I don’t know how the medical professionals isolated him on the flight, but they did…and the plane touched down in Texas to let some of the cruise passengers off, but then went on to Nebraska, where my husband’s friend is now getting treatment; his wife is still not infected. At least they’re home on U.S. soil (although they all live in SoCalif), sans that poor other woman/wife back in Japan, so far away.

    I think I got all those details right. Regardless, a frick’in nightmare for those cruise ship people. And I just read that a Japanese medical official who came aboard ship to tend/assess people also has now contracted the spreading virus himself. Hazard of the job that can mean your own LIFE.

    When I was younger and traveling overseas, I never thought about getting sick. I mean, I actually DID get sick, which went into bronchitis, but I was able to talk to a ‘chemist’/pharmacist in the south of France who gave me some sort of cough elixir (fortunately, my limited ‘command’ of the French language came in handy, although my doctor back home told me I was taking too much of it). But getting a cold and bronchitis or flu or contagious virus at this age I am now when traveling? Scary. And to be terribly ill, in a foreign hospital, with no family advocate; perhaps, some of the time, a language difficulty as well? I feel so, so badly for that SoCalif lady, and her husband who didn’t want to leave her.

    Hugging our own husbands today that they’re safe.

    I had a fleeting thought that, okay, we (husband and I) personally, really don’t have the money to do much traveling anyway, and I was on a cruise ship once and did NOT enjoy it. So, just as well. Although, in the current instance, we know this virus will ultimately be contained, and life will go on. I know I’d probably change my attitude in a heartbeat if I was given the chance to travel and ever take a vacation again in my life; but, how I feel at the moment, even though it’s impractical, I just don’t like the idea of being on any plane, train or boat. Where if I wanted off, I couldn’t get off…and had to stay confined to the vessel. Feels claustrophobic. Clipped wings. (I have a more free life in SoCalif where we’re still the ‘car’ society/culture; I never take public transportation, like a subway or a bus or a cab, and I’m not saying that’s good; L.A. had a successful run with The Red Car in the earlier 20th century [street car] and shouldn’t have done away with it; my grandmother never learned to drive because she didn’t have to drive in L.A.; same for my mother, never having a reason to learn how to drive til she went to the suburbs in her 30s; they took the street car EVERYwhere in the City.) That one time I was on a big cruise ship and I wasn’t enjoying it, I definitely was feeling frustrated, like ‘I want off this darn boat!’ but there was no way. I guess I’m a control freak.

  24. Congratulations on your anniversary. It is a wonderful achievement to write a blog for 12 years. I have only recently come to your blog – 8 months or so, however your writing has made it is easy to feel at home immediately. One of your other readers commented that it is a conversation they enjoy each day. I feel the same. I often come to the conversation towards the end because of our time difference. Your readers have often raised with you thoughts or comments that I would make. As I read through the comments I find myself agreeing and smiling. The few times I have disagreed with the one of your readers you have already responded with grace and understanding.

    I enjoy your posts each day and feel like I have joined a group of people who like me believe what we share in common far out weighs our differences. Thank you for creating and sustaining this community.

  25. Well, that’s a lot to celebrate, not the least of which is that Don was fine and an amblin’ man! I get worried about Rick sometimes on his longer rides.

    Congratulations on twelve years! I should amble back into the archives, having only discovered you about a year or so ago. Three cheers (and a sip of prosecco!)

  26. and sending you love right back!
    I admire your blog longevity! never ever think it’s not appreciated!!!
    thank you for all your posts and beautiful photography. and book reviews…
    and just for mainly being YOU! xoxo

  27. Congratulations! Your blog is my treat at the end of the day. I enjoy your gardening and travel adventures.
    It’s so nice to read about someone else’s ways of bringing light into life. Isn’t that really what life is all about?
    I admire your commitment!
    Betsy

  28. Congratulations! Long time follower, first time to comment! I really enjoy your writing, photos, antiques, miniatures, gardening and adventures! I also want to thank you for all the books you list that you read. My husband fell off a ladder at work. While healing, I brought him books from the thrift store of authors you write about. It turned him into an avid reader!

  29. Reading your blog is like visiting with a good friend — and a visit that I look forward to every time you post! Congratulations! I am looking forward to more years ahead.

  30. Congratulations, Claudia! I love reading your blog — sometimes in the morning to help me start the day off right and other times at night to bring some joy into my evening. I really enjoy your pictures and your writing, but especially enjoy hearing about the theater and the thespians you know (and especially the ones you love), and the literature you read. I, too, have read authors you’ve written about, most I never heard of, either. You fill my life with many joys. Hope to keep reading your pearls for a very long, long time.
    Caroline
    P.S. Glad Don returned unscathed. The pics today touched me. I miss being in the outdoors with my wonderful husband (he’s gone, but never forgotten). Thank you for that reminder.

    • Caroline, I am sorry to hear that you lost your husband. I hope the photos sparked some happy memories for you.

      Thank you so much for your kind words. xo

  31. most importantly, i am glad that don’s okay!

    also, congratulations on twelve years of blogging and many thanks for all that you’ve shared with us! i hope you know that it is all much appreciated … your time and efforts on each post, your way with words (like don going to “visit the river” … love that) about your many adventures, talents and interests, your compassion and generosity of spirit, the community you’ve created here …. YOU are much appreciated! don’t know how i found your blog or who to thank for that (it’s been a few years), but i am so glad i did!

    best wishes.

    kathy in iowa

    also … i am happy for you to have that pretty river so close by to enjoy (there’s just something about moving water, isn’t there?!)!

    • I love having this river nearby and yet another river down the road! We live in the midst of two rivers. Thank you so much for your kind words, Kathy!

  33. Congratulations on the 12th Anniversary of your Blog, Claudia !!! I don’t comment often but I have come to visit you at the Cottage every day for 8 ( 9-16-12) of your 12 years! I have so enjoyed my visits and following yours and Don’s Adventures! and hope that I will be invited to visit the Cottage for many more years!! Thanks for inviting us into your Home and lives!

    Debbi

  35. Congratulations! I found your blog thanks to your first charming dollhouse, but of course it is so much more. I must admit that I find it endlessly fascinating learning about America from the daily discussions. According to our time zone, I have about three minutes to get this posted before the day is over, so here’s to another 12 years!

  36. Claudia, I’ve been reading your blog for many years now. It’s part of my daily routine and such a pleasure. Thank you for the gift of your blog. Congrats on 12 years and here’s hoping there’s many more!

  37. Very glad you found your happy wanderer! And congratulations on 12 years of beauty, challenges, projects, books, travels, conversations, and sharing and inspiring so many others. I know a few years back you had debated ending the blog and I’m grateful that you found a way to keep going. For your own self, it’s a great record of what’s gone on in your inner and outer life.

  38. Dearest Claudia,
    Happy Anniversary! That really is a testament to you. Sticktuitiveness is a lost art. Beautiful writing has given way to hashtags.
    I found you a few years ago and have been loving your writings ever since. I feel connected in your love of home and gardens, but mostly in your tender heart.
    Thank you for sharing your life and your beautiful love story with Don all these years.
    Best,
    Susan

  39. Claudia, I have purposely waited to thank you for your blog in hopes that others may not
    read my entry. I feel my posting is too
    much about me and will not be perceived as being enough about you…… truly not my
    intent. Several years ago I felt certain I had an obscure tumor that was not being accurately
    medically defined. ( All women identify with a “gut level feeling” that can haunt
    us.) I studied medical research papers from all over the world. But, I was not a blog reader.

    Somehow in a late night search I came upon your blog. Perhaps I was drawn in by your photography (we can only speculate). I can say I identified with your obsession for books, appreciated your creative talents, and shared your love of dogs. In those days I was actively acquiring an additional dog and at times Scout seemed to be along for the hunt !
    Eventually finding a medical group that was convinced upon analyzing my data, I traveled far away for surgery. I was so very blessed with two excellent surgeons who did indeed expertly remove the tumor. Needless to say the ordeal was not without a fair degree of normal anxiety of the unknown. So each day, regardless of my locale, pre and post surgery, I would read “Mockingbird Hill”. In those moments I experienced familiarity offering comfort through the cadence of your blog, and the feeling that life could return to normal. Thank you Claudia.

    Hopefully you feel appreciated and I do congratulate you on many years of your successful endeavor.

    • Thank you so much for this comment. I’m glad you recovered and I’m happy to be a very small part of that process. Thanks, R.

  40. Dear Claudia,

    Congratulations on your anniversary!
    I really appreciate your blog and look forward to reading it every day.
    Wishing you the best.

    Mary

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