Let’s just stop and take a gander at this miniature that arrived in yesterday’s mail – all the way from England.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.
This was made by Emma of Croft House Miniatures. She has an IG account that I follow. One day, she posted this piece, along with a smaller loveseat and an big ottoman, all upholstered in this vintage fabric that she’d had in her stash for years. I happened to go on IG right after she posted a photo of the pieces and I was stunned. I went right to the link for her Etsy shop and threw caution to the winds and purchased this piece. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t.
It’s a good thing I did, because the ottoman had already sold and this piece and the loveseat went, according to Emma, within seconds of each other. Fast forward only a week and it arrived in my mailbox yesterday.
It is beautifully made, solid and with heft, just like the June Clinkscales pink toile chair that I have in Dove Cottage. The upholstery is impeccably done. I have it on the table next to my blogging chair and I can’t stop looking at it and holding it! It’s a true collector’s piece.
My goodness!
This is earmarked for the future Beacon Hill, which, unless something changes, we’ll probably retrieve on Tuesday. I tend to go with one signature piece in each room and then let the room evolve around it. This will definitely be the signature piece in the living room.
This is the link to Emma’s shop. My heavens, she’s talented!
Don and I had a long talk about the state of the world and our feelings of despair and anger and everything in between. We had to force ourselves to come back to gratitude. And we did. Quite frankly, all I want to do is retreat from the world here in our cottage, spend time with my husband, be creative, read, and start rehabbing that Beacon Hill. Of course, I have a few things to finish in Dove Cottage, but all of the major things are done. I can work on both at the same time.
I admit it: I’m not so crazy about people nowadays (present company excepted.) I’d rather be here. I need to work and when I do have work, I’ll venture out in the world. But in the meantime, I’m here.
I waited to write this until Meredith wrote about it on her blog. My nephew, Mere’s middle child, who is 24 and vaccinated, had a breakthrough case of COVID. He’s better now, but it lasted for two weeks. He was quite ill and lost his sense of taste and smell. He had now tested negative, but his taste and smell are coming back very slowly. Thank God he was vaccinated.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but, if you haven’t, get vaccinated. Now. And wear a mask.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
Oh Claudia I am so angry at certain people in this world right now. To go from feeling relief to this is awful. We have six grandchildren all under the age of 12. To say I’m scared out of my wits is putting it mildly. Just hoping and praying for the best. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.
I know. I’m scared for my littlest nephew and for my great-nephews and nieces.
Stay safe, Cindy.
Yes we just got back from Trader Joe’s and there were soooooo many people unmasked. I think a lot were tourists.
I know they want to be by the ocean but I will be so glad when the season ends.
How do you get work?
Is it through people you know or agencies?
I usually get work through people I’ve worked with before, or who are familiar with my work.
Stay safe, Linda.
sorry that your nephew has been going through covid post-vaccine … such a worry for you all, too. i will pray he feels 100% better soon and you all can, too.
am sure that adds to not feeling so fond of a lot of people right now. it sure does for me. i am the only employee wearing a mask and social-distancing. very few of the people i work with wear one (i saw only two out of more than 40 yesterday) … been that way all along. had to call 9-1-1 for someone yesterday and got stuck in a corner of a small room while six paramedics helped the person … too close!
i want (sadly, need) a mask that says in big, bold letters “part of the solution”.
on a happier note, so glad you were able to get that beautiful mini sofa … a work of art! hopefully tuesday you can get the new dollhouse for it and enjoy a nice drive with don. have fun!
oil change done. heading home to clean my car and me, then go visit members of my family. :)
happy, safe saturday to everyone!
kathy in iowa
Meredith works with children in their homes. She has been in homes recently where someone ended up having COVID. In one or two cases, children were at risk, and that is unacceptable.
Thanks, Kathy.
Stay safe.
Right now there’s a matching ottoman for sale !
I know!
Stay safe, Barbara.
That sofa is exquisite. It will be perfect in the Beacon Hill.
The world is in a terrible mess. It is depressing. I have been trying to find the good in people and it’s getting harder to overlook the selfishness of people these days.
Hope your weather is cooling off.
Stay safe
I must admit, I’m very angry at people lately. I can’t allow it to overwhelm me, though.
Stay safe, Marilyn.
Wow — I’m behind reading blogs (Art camp does that to you!) and I’ve yet to catch up with Meredith. I’m so grateful he’s recovered but wow — that’s a sobering reminder.
That sofa is fabulous. In every detail. You would have kicked yourself for a million years if you didn’t get it. Thanks for sharing the link. Even though it’s not my passion I have such tremendous admiration for what you do and for what people like Emma do. The time, the quality, the care…. it’s exquisite.
Very worrying. Thank goodness he was vaccinated. (Meredith just wrote about it today, which is why I didn’t write about it until today. It’s her news to break first.)
I can’t conceive of making something this beautiful. I admire her artisanship!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
That might be the most stunning miniature I’ve ever seen. It is gorgeous. Truly a work of art. I’m excited to see you get and work on Beacon Hill.
We are surrounded by stupidity here. Only 40% of our county is vaccinated and our Covid numbers has shot through the roof again. Mom and I are back on lock down pretty much. Even with vaccinations its not safe out there. My SIL Blake has an outbreak at his work where so many won’t get the vaccine. He had to keep testing to make sure he didn’t have covid and he did’n’t. He has young kids and old parents especially me and my Mom. Anyway. I am not liking people much right now either. Just stay home, read, paint and create and hope for a better day.
I resent having to lay low because of idiots who won’t get vaccinated. It’s not as if I’m out and about that much, but now, I’m hyper vigilant, as you and your mom have to be.
Stay home and stay safe, Linda.
Oh dear, I am so glad that your nephew will be okay.
I did a really stupid thing yesterday. My problem is that I’m just not used to being ‘out’ in the world because I’ve so closely confined myself for the past…well, nearly, I guess…EIGHTEEN months since my husband and I had a heads-up very early about Covid due to our friend being on the Diamond Princess ship which is where this all started to come to people’s awareness in the news, early 2020. Anyway, I’m good as long as I know where I’m going and I’ve planned it out ahead of time like a good little Girl Scout; prepared; got all my armor of face mask, disinfectant wipes, gloves, sanitizer, etc/etc/etc. However, when I am caught UNaware is my downfall.
We went to the cemetery yesterday, where we hardly have been in indeed that 18 months, because I felt I needed to check on my 14-some odd graves I seem to have become the caretaker of in my dwindling family; fortunately all looked good and nobody has stolen our floral cans. But the thing is, I’m in a small town, my kin has been here for over a hundred years, I just by association know so many/too many people in the town, so I’m running into somebody in a lot of places; it just happens. I’m down on my knees clipping grass away from a floral can and a guy I’ve known for years who’s a groundskeeper comes up and starts talking to me. I didn’t have on a mask; he didn’t have on a mask. I didn’t even think about it; I wasn’t expecting, so early in the morning at 9am with nobody in the cemetery, to see anyone. It’s a big open space of cemetery lawn, hundred-acres plus. Suddenly, bang, it hit me, OMG, I don’t have on a mask and I’m definitely not even 6 feet from him. I managed to work into the conversation as to whether or not he was vaccinated and he said he was, so I’ll take him at his word; still, I’m unnerved by this and will probably sweat out the next few days. All it takes is one slip-up. I keep saying, “Okay, you were outdoors; you were in open air although there was no breeze yet. You’ll be needing that September booster, but you still have more protection against virus than you did six or seven months ago before vaccination.”
(By the way on that: One doctor told my husband this week that his theory is that after the severely-immuno-compromised get their ‘booster’ which is imminent, the next people to get them will be those who had J&J and Pfizer [like, he {the doctor} had Pfizer vaccine in January, so he’s feeling a little nervous with efficacy these seven months later]; that Moderna will be last for a boost because it was the better of all the vaccines; that is, if you had your second shot of Moderna, in say March, you probably won’t get the third shot til November or maybe even Dec. We’ll see how that plays out, because there are a lot of opinions out there, a lot of guessing, and the news seems to change daily.)
Can I just say too, of how much I agree with my relief in getting back home. The world does feel hostile again. I wish my husband was as comfortable as I am with being home as much as I am all the time. He IS changing some habits, though (after just relaxing them; sigh). We seem to have been clustering a lot of medical appointments which have resulted in more prescription drug prescriptions which, in his case, he needs right away, so it’s in-store pickup, but he’s going when the pharmacy counter opens, right at 8am and has been lucky to not run into other customers. We’re continuing with curbside pickup for groceries, a service which has really picked up again in the last few weeks, so they’re busy and we don’t always get exactly what we want; oh well. But it keeps us in fresh eggs, produce, dairy.
My husband had an incident at one doctor’s office yesterday where a female patient crowded him TWICE at the reception window, interrupting, shoving paper thru the plexiglass ‘chute’ and causing him to move to the side. He finally said to her, “Would you please wait your turn, respect distancing and let me finish with my check-in.” She gave him some sass about it and, my husband can be very direct, he said, “I’m not asking, I am TELLING you to get the h*ll out of my space, get away from me, stand where they tell you to with the floor markings, LET ME FINISH MY TRANSACTION.”
What is it with people out there in the world right now, with no courtesies, who bully and barge and push like this rude-aggressive woman, who are belligerent and hostile? It’s an anger and frustration that some people obviously can’t control. We’ve all got our anger and frustrations with the way our lives have been changed (in the last five years, not just since 2020!), but where is the filter? Where is the refinement? It’s as if there’s no fear if one is out of line, pushing the envelope. There is a point where being ‘bold’ is OTT and NOT cool. A real breakdown in good-human behavior. Is this early stages of society breakdown? Chilling.
But, wow, I sure learned a lot at the cemetery. They’ve been going over the oldest part of the cemetery with what I swear he said was a geiger counter (must be some kind of other type of ‘radar’ or something) and this groundskeeper said they’ve found hundreds of gravesites, long buried and covered up by grass. We’re relatively ‘new’ in the West, so of course these only go well into the 1800s; our town wasn’t even incorporated til 1910. He was also telling me how someone recently was looking up an old grave, unmarked, and how it resulted in the Veteran’s assoc/admin erecting a monument/vertical tombstone for this California man who’d fought in the Mexican War (I think it means Mexican-American War); he was born 1829 and died 1888. (I find this stuff so interesting because I love history.) The man would have been a very-young soldier, in his teens. At least he survived the battle and went on to live another 40 years.
Let’s get to this phenomenal new doll house piece. It is perfect. So incredibly crafted and very authentic with style/form/fabric. Like a heritage piece; a stand-alone collectible as are so many of your doll house accessories, Claudia. Wonderful find; wonderful purchase. I really enjoyed seeing it today! You make the most lovely finds but, of course, you’ve got that artistic eye. Can’t wait to see how it looks inside the doll house.
Me too! But that will be a long way off.
Stay safe.
We have also told people to back off and give us space. You just have to, otherwise they don’t get it.
I ran into our local hardware store about a month ago and realized I wasn’t wearing a mask. Delta wasn’t quite as bad then, but it was unsettling. I understand.
Stay safe, Vicki.
I love the new sofa. I’ve started following Emma on Instagram so I can see her beautiful work.
Thanks so much, Cindy.
Stay safe.
We too have had a break out case of Covid in a vaccinated family member resulting in viral symptoms and loss of taste and smell. He had 100% been masking up everywhere. Unfortunately we live in Florida and our governor ( don’t get me started)refuses to allow any mask mandates and the unmasked are everywhere.
So does my sister and her family.
Stay safe, Jen.
I keep hearing over and over again, of how RARE it is for a vaccinated person to get a breakthru infection with, say, Delta. How can it be so rare, when my friend knows two people who’ve already experienced it, my cousin has a friend who nearly had to go to the hospital with his breakthru, and now I hear of your dear nephew, Claudia. I’m just one person with not some huge circle of acquaintances/contacts, yet I already have heard now of four people, vaccinated, who’ve become virus-positive, and also quite recently? I’m glad none have actually, so far, had to in fact BE hospitalized, although there’s definitely some very real illness there as only one of ‘my’ four has been asymptomatic. There just must be scads of vaccinated people carrying the virus in their nose (is that how it’s described?!) as much as the unvaccinated(?) but we’ll never get a true count because many/most won’t have symptoms and of course then would never be tested. They’ll never know unless they test ALL of us, right? But then what? Well, I guess the boosters … ohmygosh, it’s all such a MESS.
We were so close. Just so close to getting out from under this thundercloud of misery. And some ruined it for all. Is very difficult to not be angry with those who choose not to vaccinate. I’m just so scared for the little ones. I saw their moms walking them to public school, K-3, this past week and said a prayer as we drove by the school. Vulnerable, innocent little children shouldn’t have to suffer because of irresponsible adults. These sweet little souls need to be surrounded with safety, and that’s VACCINATED adults.
Children are getting sick and it’s frightening.
xo
That sofa in indeed exquisite! What a great find for the new home…hope all goes well on Tuesday. ;)
Thank you, Donna!
Stay safe.
You wouldn’t want to come to Europe. In case anyone will aks in 50 years how this could have happened. Why didn’t anybody stop it? I’m trying my best.
I am home when I can and don’t want to meet anyone except the friends I still have.
Home sweet home …
All the best.
Regula
I feel for you and everyone who is doing the right thing but still having to deal with this virus.
Stay safe, Regula!