Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Collecting, Collecting

April 6, 2015 at 9:58 am by Claudia

4-6 egg cups in a row

All of the various shelves that house my egg cup collections are full up, which has necessitated a new display here in the den. I’m always on the lookout for little ‘what-not’ hanging shelves, but until I find some this will do.

4-6 egg cups in a row 2

The four newest egg cups: On the left, a chick – a gift from Linda, the sailor – a gift from Scout and Don, the little boy – a gift to myself, and the rooster – a gift from Susie.

They make me smile.

Scoutie thanks you for all your Easter greetings. Saturday found me looking for those darn bunny ears in my sewing/craft/whatever closet. That ended up being a good thing because the closet was the kind of mess you see in old cartoons – you know, where you pull out one thing and everything else falls out of the closet. Don wasn’t home, so I took the opportunity to yank everything out of there. Three trash bags later, I had restored some semblance of order. I still have to go through all my fabric (yikes) but I hesitate because, even though I haven’t used much of it in years, I just might need it one day…

Here is Miss Scout at her most pensive – from my Instagram feed:

IMG_2890

If you’re interested, you can subscribe to my Instagram feed by clicking here. I really love Instagram, but it does not replace a blog post. I saw a post from a favorite blogger the other day that said she could be mostly be found on Instagram nowadays instead of her blog. I was so disappointed. I understand time constraints and families and all that kind of thing – but an Instagram post is not  a blog post. Nor should it be. When I flip through my IG feed, the whole idea is for it to flow rather quickly. If I find a post that’s too wordy, I keep moving. Blogs are for depth and words and stories. IG is for a quick peek into the lives of those we follow.

Today, after a couple of cold, windy and very rainy days, we have sunny skies and the temperature is supposed to hit 60 degrees. Huzzah! Boston plays baseball today. We watched the opening game between the Cubs and the Cardinals last night. We’re ready for baseball!

You all know I love collections, right? I love collecting things that I love. And, try as I might, I keep on collecting: McCoy Pottery, egg cups, bakelite, books, Roseville Pottery, miniature pottery, china, bride and groom cake toppers, fabric – I’m sure there’s more, but let’s stop there. Most everything I collect is on the smallish side, simply because we live in a tiny cottage.

I’m starting another collection.

I grew up, as I’m sure most of you did, reading Nancy Drew books. They were my first introduction to mysteries, which, all these many years later, remain my favorite kind of book to read. A while back, I found this book in a used bookstore:

4-6 nancy drew

There are all sorts of editions of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories out there. I grew up reading the ones with the yellow covers. But this one really drew me in. I fell in love with the illustration by Russell H. Tandy. He only did 25 of them, from 1930 – 1949.

These are the editions I’m going to collect. I love the vintage look to these covers, the period clothing, and Tandy’s particular style. I’ve done a lot of research, something I love to do, as you know. I see them on eBay and Etsy, so I know they’re out there. This will be fun! And won’t they look lovely on the bookshelves?

The winner of a copy of The Dead Key  is Sylvia. Sylvia, I’ve sent you an email. Please send me your mailing address and I’ll forward it on to TLC Book Tours. Congrats!

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: books, collecting, egg cups, Scout 68 Comments

Happy Easter from a Certain Bunny

April 5, 2015 at 8:54 am by Claudia

4-5 Scoutie Bunny 1a

4-5 Scoutie Bunny 4

4-5 Scoutie Bunny 3

4-5 Scoutie Bunny 2

4-5 Scoutie Bunny 5

Happy Easter!

from Scoutie Bunny

and the rest of the crew at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Filed Under: Easter, Scout 57 Comments

Signs of Spring

April 4, 2015 at 9:31 am by Claudia

4-4 redsox&eggs

An iPhone/Instagrammy photo that captures this beginning of April: fabric Easter eggs and the Red Sox. Opening Day of the baseball season is tomorrow. The Red Sox are looking good this year. We’ve already watched a few exhibition games during Spring Training. Oh baseball, I love you. Welcome back!

I walked out to the leaf covered big garden bed the other day and uncovered a small area just to assure myself that something is happening out there:

4-4 sedum

I knew I could count on the sedum – always the first to show new growth. I keep the leaves on the garden beds until there’s no danger of below freezing temperatures. I’m hoping that will be in the next week. We have almost two acres here and there are woods and lots of trees and dead leaves and fallen branches and several garden beds to clean up. Brambles have to be cut back – ouch.

All the stones (called Item 4, for some reason) from our driveway that the snow blower propelled onto the grass need to be put back where they belong. That, by the way, is one of the most painstaking and irritating jobs there is in early spring. Last year, Don and I sat out by the driveway with pails by our sides, gathering up all the rocks that weren’t where they were supposed to be. And that was before we had our own snowblower that had to be used several times this winter. This year, there are even more rocks on the lawn, rocks on the patio, rocks in the garden. I used to rake them up, and I still do as much of that as I can, but last year I enlisted Mr. Sparks in the whole thing and I’m going to do that again this year.

Someday, we want to pave the driveway. Most people around here, however, have the same kind of driveway we do – part of country living, I guess.

It’s a quiet weekend around here. We have no big plans. We watched The Wizard of Oz  last night on TCM. Glorious. And, after decades of watching it, I still worry when I don’t see Toto in a shot. Where is he? Is he okay? Did he run off with Dorothy unaware that he’s missing? Then, he’ll suddenly come into the shot from offstage and I relax. Don understands, bless him. He knows I worry about that sort of thing.

What are your plans for today?

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: baseball, garden, movies, red sox 39 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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