Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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CSN Giveaway

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By now, I’m sure you’ve seen or read about CSN stores. But if you haven’t, CSN has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from dinnerware to lighting to furniture to dog beds.

Wedgewood Sweet Plum Dinnerware Collection….want.

When I visit this site, I see many things I would like, no love, to have. Like these Laura Ashley Sheets:

Or this wall sconce (swoon):

Or this slip cover that would look awfully nice on my worse-for-the-wear ottoman:

CSN has generously offered a $60 gift certificate to be used at any of their stores for one lucky reader of this post. CSN only ships to the United States and Canada so entries will be limited to residents of those countries.

I won’t make you jump through hoops. Just leave one comment on this post and I will pick a winner. The deadline is September 1, 2010.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

Accumulating Stuff

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I am someone who loves to decorate. Who loves peeking in windows at night to see what the owner has done with her home. When I lived in Philadelphia and Boston (cities where I could walk for hours) I loved nothing more than getting a glimpse inside someone’s home in the evening. When my favorite decorating magazines were still being published, I looked forward to sitting down and looking at every story, every detail. Blogs have taken the place of magazines and windows for me. I get to travel the globe, peeking inside people’s homes…with their permission!

I love the all white and cream look, but it isn’t practical for me. Both my husband and I have a tendency to spill things. I have two big dogs with lots of hair. I never tire of seeing it, though. I love those bloggers’ homes that are spare, with hardly any excess stuff around. I admire them. I wonder how they do it. Do they continually purge? Do they have lots of storage space so they can rotate things in and out of rooms? Do they collect just one thing? Do they read and collect books? If so, where are the books, the magazines, the “things?”

Friends, I am not that sort of person, though I wish I could be. Yes, we live in a tiny cottage with no attic or usable basement. But I suspect I would still be dealing with the same issues even if I had tons of space. I love my collections. I love books. I have piles of things.


This pile is on the old wicker ottoman that is just to the left of my chair. Very typical, I might add. I’m reading the paperback on top, there is a book by Kelly Rae Roberts about the creative process just below it, the new Country Gardens is just below that. Then we come to the book from my giveaway which I have to send out to Tracie this week. Below that are books to read and review in the upcoming months. And on and on it goes. If I dared to show you, you would see a stack of books and papers just to the left of this under the table. Oh, and my Nook is on top of the table along with a sampler pattern I have yet to start embroidering.


This cabinet is jammed full of china and pottery, plus a few wedding cake toppers. I have one other cabinet in the den – and that is full. And I need even more display space.


A somewhat grainy photo because it is so dark and stormy today – but it will do. All table tops are crowded around here. This table has become, through no plan on my part, all things sea. There is seaglass, a boat assemblage from Linda Crispell, and a Roseville dish loaded with seashells from my recent trip. I just added the dish the other day. There is a shelf beneath that holds some favorite CDs.

I seem to spend a great deal of my time making stacks of things to sort through. What do I get rid of and what do I keep? If I keep it, where do I put it? I’m not a hoarder. I’m pretty good at purging when the need arises. I can be ruthless. But….not with the things I love. Not with my books or my china or my pottery or my paintings or my music or my little treasures.

So here is my question: Do you suffer from the same problem? Am I the only one in a mass of spare decorators out there who has stuff? Are there kindred spirits out there in blogland?

A Serving of Seashells

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Don suggested I use the cake stand to display some of my seashells….good idea! I carefully packed each and every one in plastic containers surrounded on all sides by cotton balls. I am proud to say they all made it home safe and sound. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, I’m home. I love looking for shells. There is a zen-like focus and relaxation involved. Seriously, I could have gone out each and every day looking for shells. Even now I wonder what little treasures are lurking in the sand, just waiting for me to swoop in and rescue them.


I love all the varied textures – some have taken quite a beating in the ocean waves – I like them all the more.



I’d like to take a vacation at the shore and just look for seashells and antiques. That sounds heavenly. Last week’s visit to Florida was all things: wonderful, fun, emotional, exhausting, draining and touching. I’m sure I’ve left some adjective out of the list. I arrived back home yesterday afternoon. I’m tired.

Today I was mowing the lawn and guess what? I encountered another yellow jacket nest. I got stung twice last year by the little buggers. This time, one of those devils stung me on my thumb – through my gardening gloves. Now I’m sitting here with a swollen, itchy thumb. I did do three things immediately: scraped a credit card across the wound to make sure the stinger was out, held a copper penny to the wound (and watched the swelling go down!) and applied a baking soda/water paste to the sting. I think one of my readers suggested the penny in a comment. Everything worked. The swelling around the sting went down, although there is still swelling at the base of the thumb. The pain has diminished. I had just taken a Benedryl right before it happened because I am allergic to grass pollen. Perfect timing.

Finally, a photo of Max and me, taken by my sister.


Read her post about Max – that boy is a sensitive soul. (My hair can look brown or gray, depending on the light. Boy, it sure looks gray here….)

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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