Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The coneflowers are coming! My favorites will be in full color very shortly.

Beautiful yarrow, which is popping up everywhere.

Well. Yesterday was frustrating. I was filming a video of the Beacon Hill kitchen for my YouTube channel and, in watching it before I was going to to upload, I noticed that there were little stains on the wallpaper right below the center window. I must have checked and rechecked that area twenty times before I could believe it was real. The wallpaper paste had bled through the wallpaper. I’ve used the same wallpaper paste for years and I have never had that happen before. The more I looked at it, the more I realized I would have to remove it and order some more sheets. And I’m going to try another paste that she recommends – guaranteed not to bleed through. I was able to peel it off the center back wall and the long wall where the door is.  I ordered the wallpaper and now I wait because this is the woman in Washington DC. Remember? It took two weeks to get the first order.

Now, I’m not sure what to do. I can paint the bare walls in the hallways, I guess.

Today, though, I’m going to mow the front lawn.

And finish The Black Wolf  because I just picked up Maggie O’Farrell’s newest from the library – Land.

I really don’t want to lose my momentum on the dollhouse because I worry about losing interest. So I’m going to have to start work on another room. But wallpaper is expensive and I just can’t order things any time I want to.

Good news, though – You’ve heard me talk about Dragonfly Blythe, the customizer who created Nina and Pru.

About three years ago, she stopped customizing and those of us who love her work have been in mourning ever since. My dream has been owning one of her redheads and several times I’ve missed on out one that was being resold. Two owners wouldn’t ship to the USA. One promised me hers but then it fell through. And that’s the only way you could get a Dragonfly because Ola was no longer creating.

Yesterday, I got a message from her. She’s coming back! She has had a tough time of it for 3 years, but she’s doing better and misses her work. I’ve already put in a request for a redhead. But first, she has to get her sea legs back.

Sure enough, two of my friends received the same message and we’re all thrilled.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

The catalpa is blooming – not as much as last year, which seems to be a recurring theme this summer – but it’s lovely. I’m hoping we don’t get any more rain for a few days, because the blooms are fragile and are knocked off the tree by the rain.

It smells heavenly.

I worked on the Beacon Hill for about 3 hours in the morning yesterday.

It’s a little blurry, but I’m about halfway through laying the floor.

With the cupboards. I’m using a pecan stain on the floor. Today, I’ll finish it.

You are so sweet to suggest ways in which I can get past the heat in order to get more time with the Beacon Hill. But, I’m okay with that, really. First of all, for me it’s always about the process. I love the process and I purposely take my time on any project I’m working on. This is therapy for me and I’m grateful for it.

And, after a lifetime of working in the theater at night and teaching during the day, routinely working until 11 pm every evening except Monday, getting to bed late, as well as working away from home for long stretches of time, we now find ourselves to be early morning people. We wake up early and we get our best creative work done in the morning hours. So being limited to the morning before it gets too hot is fine with me!

It’s all good.

We’ll be watching the Knicks tonight. And celebrating the removal of a name that should have never been displayed on the Kennedy Center. I’ve performed there. I know what it feels like to be in that space. It’s a sacred place.

Finished floor pictures on Monday.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.