Claudia — Page 1634

Forgotten Treasures, Dollhouse Update

January 24, 2011 at 12:35 pm by Claudia

Good morning! It was 9 degrees below zero when I woke this morning. During the middle of the night the temperature was supposed to go to at least 11 below; I have a feeling it went even lower. Don had to go into Manhattan today and I have to go in tomorrow. You’d better believe I will be rewarding myself with cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery!

We all have little treasures that we are used to seeing around the house. We get so used to them that we don’t really see them anymore until something makes us look at them with fresh eyes. That happened to me the other day. I ‘saw’ this box which has a home on our spinet desk. I bought this little cigarette box when I was in Edinburgh in 1991 – oh my gosh, it’s been 20 years! I well remember walking into a little antique shop, hoping to discover some little treasure that would always remind me of my trip.

The copper has transformed into that wonderful blue patina that I love. The flapperish female figure is looking elegant while enjoying a cigarette. Isn’t she fabulous?

A confession: When I gaze at this lady, I get that little twinge that reminds me how much I loved smoking years ago. Don’t worry. I haven’t smoked in 26 years and I’m not about to start now.

The inside of the box is wood.

It’s full of memories: chaperoning a group of Boston University students who were performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, staying in a lovely flat for 2 weeks and having the luxury of time to explore that gorgeous city, traveling to London for 5 days to explore some more. Those students were members of a class that I adored teaching. We had such fun together – at Boston University and in Edinburgh.

This weekend, I painted the roof of the dollhouse.

I wanted the shingles to look a bit weathered, so I used 2 different shades of gray. It’s subtle, therefore hard to see in the photo. I hope this gives you somewhat of an idea of what I was going for.

Today, I’ll start painting the house itself, which will be white, then the shutters, which are on order. I’m not sure what color I’m going to use on the shutters – maybe a turquoise mixed with some gray? After all this is done, I will start on the inside and that, my friends, will be the biggest challenge.

Hope your weather is a tad warmer than mine!

Crochet, Weaving, Dollhouse & Snow (Again)

January 21, 2011 at 11:37 am by Claudia

This just about sums up my snowbound life of late. If you added a copy of The Merchant of Venice and some cookies, this vignette would be perfect. And no, I didn’t arrange this photo. I looked up from my laptop and this is what I saw on top of the music cabinet: Monty the cow surrounded by dollhouse furniture and another obsession scarf on the hook. Speaking of scarves, here is #6:

Blocked and ready to send to my Best Friend Since Junior High. It was not called Middle School in those days. I much prefer Junior High. “Middle” sounds like a sort of limbo, but “Junior High” sounds like one is right on the edge of experiencing the wonders of High School. Why did the powers-that-be feel the need to change it? Leave well enough alone, I say.

We had more snow last night. I’m not kidding. We’ve had 5 major snowfalls since December 26th. I did manage to escape the house yesterday. I broke out of our icy prison and ran errands. It sounds mundane but after being stuck here for several days, it was heaven. I hit Michael’s, Lowe’s, the supermarket, the Vet’s and the yarn store. Then I chopped away at more ice on our driveway. This weekend we are supposed to have below zero temps. We’ve changed the name of Mockingbird Hill Cottage – it’s now Ice Station Zebra. (Remember that old movie?) Here’s one positive – in one of those conversations you have while shoveling snow, my neighbor told me that when the snow pack stays around for a long time, it’s bad news for ticks. And that’s good news for us.

You know I adore my sister, Meredith. Besides being a wonderful person, she is a mega-talented knitter, crocheter and now, weaver. She bought a loom a year or so ago and she has been creating such gorgeous stuff. Look at this scarf. (I stole this from her blog.)

She has an extremely busy life, with two teen-age boys, her work as an Occupational Therapist and caring for my parents who live just a few miles away. The loom is set up in her bedroom and gives her the perfect excuse to retreat from the craziness in her house and create. You know I’ve mentioned setting up an Etsy shop….well, Mer and I are thinking seriously of setting one up together. We’d carry handmade items as well as vintage. And you’d have a chance to buy her gorgeous woven creations. And maybe some of my scarves…or whatever else I can dream up.

Random On Wednesday

January 19, 2011 at 6:14 pm by Claudia

:: Letitia has taken to wearing my ratty old parka and snow shoveling hat (faux fur, of course.) Perhaps that’s because I’ve been wearing it a lot myself lately. Of course, I don’t wear the flower when I’m outside in the snow. Yesterday was just a horrible, terrible weather day. Snow came down and turned to sleet, then turned to freezing rain, which turned to ice. All the trees and plants are coated with it. Our driveway, which slopes down to the street, was completely iced over this morning. Oh joy. Don salted it and about an hour later, there we were, hacking away at the ice. It’s a long driveway, so excuse me while I pause for a moment to curse. I’m also dealing with sinus/allergy/whatever and feel a more than a bit under the weather. Thank goodness I didn’t have to be in the city yesterday or today. I wouldn’t have been able to make it.

Spring cannot come soon enough.

:: After trying a new recipe for Oatmeal Cookies yesterday, I wasn’t sure I liked the results. Today, however, they taste great. But during the time I thought the cookies were a bust, I quickly scoured the pantry to see what else I had on hand to make another batch. Ah, molasses. So I baked this favorite of ours:

These are “Ben’s Favorite Molasses Sugar Cookies” from The Bake Sale Cookbook, which you can get here. I may not like to cook, but I do like to bake. And I have a sweet tooth. Which is why I don’t bake very often.

:: I’ve just finished another obsession scarf. I haven’t blocked it yet. It’s for my best friend, Laural. Since she doesn’t read this blog, I don’t have to worry about her seeing it. Debi and Karen, I had to special order the yarn for your scarves and it just got in today. Hopefully, I’ll be able to break out of my prison house tomorrow and pick it up from the yarn shop.

:: I’ve decided I’m going to post something about the dollhouse every week. That way I will be forced to keep plugging away. It’s been completely primed. Now I have to paint the outside and figure out what I want to do with the rooms. I’ve been pouring through my catalogs and am getting ready to order baseboards, crown molding, window trims, spindles and railings for the staircases….if I let myself, I could go nuts. Working on this dollhouse is tricky because it was already assembled when I found it on Craigs List. Usually, all the painting, etc. is done before assembly. Since I can’t do that, I have to work in very tiny spaces and it isn’t easy. The dollhouse came with this door:

I don’t particularly like it and it doesn’t close. So, I bought another door.

What do you think? I like it much better. It’s a bit larger than the other one and that means I might have to do some sawing…any tips from my mini friends on the best way to do it? By the way, that plant and urn came from my friend Jayne of Tallulah – Belle Originals. She sent me lots of wonderful things for my dollhouse – she’s incredibly generous.

I’m off to drink hot chocolate and blow my nose.

Forgotten Treasures, Dollhouse Update

Crochet, Weaving, Dollhouse & Snow (Again)

Random On Wednesday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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