Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Butterflies and Skies

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I’ve seen more Eastern Swallowtails in the past few days than I have in 3 years! I can see this giant thistle from my chair in the den, so I’ve been watching a lovely little show.

We finally got our deductions off to our tax preparer. But not until late yesterday afternoon. I’m so relieved that it’s DONE.

Mowing is on the docket for today. I just have to figure out what section of the property I want to tackle. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, which means I have to get out there today.

We watched Out of Africa  on TCM last night. I saw it when it first arrived in theaters and have seen many clips from it since, but not the entire movie. Don, surprisingly, had never seen it. Oh my heavens, it is so beautiful, so impeccably made. Sydney Pollack was one of my favorite directors. It is sweeping, majestic, old-fashioned in the best possible way, a story beautifully acted and realized. I can’t stop thinking about it today. And John Barry’s score is one of the most beautiful ever written for films.

I confess, whenever I hear it, it makes me cry. Don can’t stop talking about it today. What a glorious movie it is!

The sky was full of clouds like this the other day.  I was completely fascinated.

My pretty entrance hall.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Mini Monday

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This Eastern Swallowtail loved the thistle – as do the bees. I swear, that beautiful butterfly drank from every blossom. He was there a long time and didn’t seem to be afraid of me. Don had already observed how many bees were attracted to the thistle as well, and there’s one in this photo. This is a screenshot from a little video I posted in my stories in my main IG account.

I mowed the lilac side of the lawn yesterday and weed whacked. I also cleared out the entrance to the culvert drain pipe which had been blocked. Why? Because the county came by one day and re-dug the culverts – too much, according to me – and then left behind all the debris (consisting of tree roots and branches.) All the heavy rain we’ve had pushed everything toward the entrance to the pipe that runs under our driveway. The culvert is not our responsibility but this is about the 6th time I’ve had to clean up after the county has made an ‘improvement.’ You would have heard some cuss words coming from that general area.

Do you remember this cupboard?

I got it for about $5 when miniatures (dot) com went out of business. It originally came with fleur-de-lis designs on the sides of the cabinet and drawer. Not my cup of tea, but I knew it would be good to have in my meager stash. I’ve had it sitting on the first floor of the Beacon Hill for a while. You can see that I put a coat of paint on it to cover up the designs. But that’s all I did.

On Saturday, I decided to transform it. And I just dove in – which is my favorite way to do this type of thing.

I wanted it to look like my favorite kind of furniture – old and weathered with multiple layers of paint. I’ve always envisioned the owners of the house loving folk art and antiques.

Here it is in the hallway. I staged it a little just for fun. Right now, I have some books in there, but I’d love to have a collection of crocks on the shelves. I think that would be fun.

I’m really pleased with the results. In fact, I love it.

One more mini thing:

I have this tile on hand and I’m wondering if it might be a good choice for the studio. Easy clean up, no worry about the floors. I might paint the walls white so that the artist can display paintings-in-progress on the walls. (I didn’t glue it down yet.)

Okay. This has turned into Mini Monday, I guess.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Corners of the Cottage

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Around the cottage on a Saturday morning.

I think I might do this kind of post on Saturdays. After having written a long post on Friday, I often don’t have much to say the next day. But photos taken from bits and pieces of the cottage might be fun. And it injects fresh energy into a Saturday morning.

Did you know I have a YouTube Channel? I share a bit about my collections and the cottage and the dollhouses. But lately, I’ve been doing weekly posts on the process of renovating the Beacon Hill. You can hear my voice and get a sense of my successes and struggles. There is more there than there would be in a standard post here.  “Claudia the Chronic Collector” and here is the link.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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