Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Pansies, a Frog, and Miniatures

May 14, 2025 at 9:08 am by Claudia

The pansies are thriving, probably because of the amount of rain we’ve had. I have three containers full of them. By the way, these urns, or former urns, are made of a cheap composite material. I got them at the now defunct Christmas Tree Shoppes several years ago. I have two in this off-white color and two in a dark gray. Because they are exposed to the elements for several months, they’ve gradually decayed and the bases detached from the pots. For the past two summers, I’ve managed to balance the pot on the base, but this year one fell off. I decided to go with just the pot – Don likes them better this way. How much longer they’ll last is anyone’s guess. I miss the Christmas Tree Shoppes. I found our two Adirondack chairs there, as well, for $50 each! Much less than a proper Adirondack chair.

Rain is back today, tomorrow, and Friday. So we mowed the corral and the back forty yesterday. Oh, and the secret garden, which seems to be permanently boggy because of all the rain. I knew I couldn’t wait until this next round of rain exits to tackle that chore, so I went ahead and mowed it, my boots constantly sinking into the mud.

Our froggy friend, Phileas Frog, has taken up residence down in the culvert. Don appears to be a “frog whisperer.” He walks down there and waits until he sees a splash and talks to him. Yesterday, when we were mowing, etc., I heard Don singing. I thought he was on the porch, but he was down at the culvert singing to Phileas. Apparently, he sings to him every time he visits. I tried going down there and I sang to him, but nothing. No appearance by Phileas.

Don has won him over. (I find this so endearing. Don has an inate sweetness that warms my heart.)

I spent yesterday afternoon looking at miniatures online, and thinking about the Beacon Hill. That’s a good sign, don’t you think? There is a man in England who creates the most beautiful vintage looking appliances. I’ve had my eye on one of his vintage stoves for a long time, but it would be a major expense and I’d have to save up for it. It is white and very much like our Stella. But yesterday, I saw this new design:

Photo credit: OC Miniatures/Oliver Clarke

Oh my heavens! In mint green, no less. It’s actually a copy of Wedgewood stove, but for all intents and purposes, it’s like our Stella. It’s expensive and rightfully so, but after I pay for the host renewal for this blog, I will start putting aside some money for this gem. (I’ve saved a little each month for the host renewal and I’m just about to pay for it in full. Hurrah! That means I’ll be blogging for at least another year.)

Anyway, I’m salivating over this beauty.

The shop is on Etsy and the wonderful Oliver Clarke is the designer. This is his photo from the site and I want to make sure I credit him. I don’t know how he does this, but he is very talented, indeed. I’ve corresponded with him before and he is such a nice guy.

Okay. Have to go make a second cup of coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Thoughts on Disappearing Bloggers

May 12, 2025 at 9:13 am by Claudia

Don sneak-shot this photo of me about 4 years ago. I was working on Dove Cottage. Hair in my eyes – my life story. I’m about to start work on the Beacon Hill, on a budget, and I’m gathering ideas. My friend Helga, who lives in Germany, has a beautiful Beacon Hill. She added lots and lots of detail and whimsy. I found myself on Instagram pouring through all her photos. And I search for other Beacon Hills, as well.

I have another blog that has been defunct for about 10 years. If you’ve been here a long while, you might remember that I briefly had a photography blog where I posted a photo a day. Eventually, like a few other blogs (a blog about how to design a blog, my book/reading/review blog) I got bored or exhausted and realized that I only needed one blog; this one, that has been around for 17 years. Anyway, I haven’t deleted that photo blog because it has a blog list on the sidebar which includes blogs about miniatures and another list of general blogs that I was reading at the time. I like to visit those blogs occasionally.

Fast forward to the other day when I was thinking about the Beacon Hill and I dropped in on that blog to see what was new with some of my favorite miniature bloggers.

Most of them have not posted in years. I sort of knew that was happening, but on that day, the reality of just how many miniaturists had stopped blogging really smacked me in the face. A few of them had moved to Instagram. But the others? Where are they?

Of course, there are several possible answers. They got tired of working on miniatures. They’re too busy. They got tired of blogging. They aren’t with us anymore. You know I start to worry about people when their online presence disappears. I worry about it with commenters on the blog, I worry about it when virtual fellow bloggers disappear, as well. I tried looking for them on Instagram, but I wasn’t successful.

My friend, Casey, for example. I’ve wondered about her for a while. She lives in Arizona and she had been experiencing health problems. She hasn’t blogged since 2019. I haven’t seen her on IG. She created that wicker chair that is in the den of Hummingbird Cottage. I won it in a contest. She was so kind and generous with tips of all sorts. The blog is still up, but it’s been six years since we’ve heard from her.

As I glance down the list of blogs, I do see a few that I know are on Instagram now. As is the case with many bloggers, Instagram seems to be the preferred thing. I’m glad they’re still around, but I have to say that IG cannot and is not meant to replace the detail in a blog post. The miniature bloggers who used to blog fairly regularly provided lots of photos and details about their miniature work in each and every blog post. You can try to do that in IG, but let’s remember. It’s called INSTAgram. Instant, quick posts about daily life. And that’s not the same, is it?

On one level, I get it. Life is busy and taking the time to write a lengthy blog post or even just maintain a blog is a challenge. And it isn’t just miniature bloggers. Most of my fellow bloggers from those first days back in 2008 have stopped blogging. There are very few of us left. And, as you know, I have thought about ending this blog. Many of us are older now and aging has an impact. And sometimes you just lose your enthusiasm for something.

So, I’m certainly not complaining! Not at all. I’m observing.

When I first started working on Hummingbird Cottage, I knew nothing. Nothing. By that time, I had accumulated a list of miniaturists that I followed and believe me when I say that those bloggers were incredibly helpful and generous. I left comments with questions. I emailed some of them. Every one of them answered and generously shared their knowledge with me. Some sent me miniatures to help start me on my journey. It was a vibrant community and boy, was I lucky! I was able to pour over the blog posts, look at detailed photos, read the how-tos. I’m very grateful to this day for all of those interactions and virtual friendships.

I’ve written very detailed blog posts about my dollhouse renovations. I’ve made lists of sources. All of that is on my navigation bar. And no, you can’t really do that in any depth on an Instagram post. It’s impossible.

Heck, I sometimes go a very long time without doing any miniature work at all. I’m just coming off of a long break. I got the Beacon Hill during lockdown. That gives you an idea of just how long it has been.

Anyway, it makes me sad. Everything is ‘instant’ nowadays. But some things take time.

And, of course, I wonder about some of those bloggers. Are they well? Is everything okay? I’ll do my best to find out, but it will be a challenge.

Just some thoughts that have been whirling around in my brain over the last few days.

Happy Monday.

Stay safe.

What a Deluge!

May 10, 2025 at 8:07 am by Claudia

The deluge finally ended late last night. Yesterday, it rained so hard for hours and hours – relentless rain – that the culverts were overflowing onto the street. We tried to keep our spirits up here in the cottage, but it was a challenge. Later in the day, I went out to get the mail and I noticed all sorts of trash/debris in the culvert on either side of the driveway. You know, people throw things out their car windows and the trash lands somewhere up the road from us and the force of the water flowing very powerfully through the culverts carries all that trash here. So we had to run out in the rain to gather up all the debris. Don was pulling some cardboard out of the culvert and the frog appeared again. Same general area where he was before. We’ve named him Phileas Frog (inspired by the character in Around the World in Eighty Days.)

This morning the water has receded. Where will Phileas go, I wonder?

I can hear the rushing of the river from where I sit in the den. It’s so loud!

It looks like we’ll get a respite for a few days but there’s more rain coming next week. I can see the beginnings of sunshine out there and I’m grateful.

We have wildflowers popping up everywhere in the area around the gardens and the funky patio. It makes for a somewhat cluttered look that I’m tempted to clean up, but then I see these buds.