Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Decking the halls (and the tree)

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Some favorite ornaments on the tree and off:

A bowl of goodies on the coffee table

I’ve had this ornament for years and years – a little ceramic deer that I got in my early 20’s

My little, teeny wooden Santa next to some much bigger ornaments

This dog on a pillow ornament is always the last we put on, in honor of our late and so beloved boy, Winston.

Isn’t this a beautiful ornament?

This one has been around a long time. My church choir director made it and gave it to me in high school. I hope you can tell it spells out “Claudia”

Pink vintage loveliness

More vintage beauty

Our tree – I’ve since added more of the wonderful large cream bottle brush ornaments because I love them so and because they are carried in the shop!

More later!

Decorating

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Yesterday, we went to our usual Christmas Tree place and picked out our tree. It is quite lovely. The branches have settled a bit and tonight we will decorate it. The den smells of pine, my favorite scent. I have a pine scented candle, pine scented soap and I used to use pine scented bubble bath. I say used to because I can no longer find it. When I was living in Philadelphia and going to grad school, I would buy this wonderful Austrian pine bubble bath from Wanamakers. I used it all the time. When I moved to Boston to teach, I found it at Caswell Massey, if I remember correctly. That particular brand of pine bath eventually was impossible to find, and I used another brand. Now I can’t find any pine bubble bath. If you have a lead on one, I’d love to know about it.

Today I started decorating a bit around the house. I love the holidays, don’t you?


I’ll post more tomorrow.

Changes

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We bought our Christmas tree today, and put it up in the den. We’ll wait a day for the branches to settle and tomorrow we’ll decorate. The room smells lovely…my favorite scent – pine. I regularly burn pine scented candles in the house. I love pine scented bubble bath. I used to use this wonderful pine bubble bath from Austria when I was in graduate school. I lived in Philadelphia in those days. I was able to find it in Boston when I moved there – I think Caswell Massey carried it – but I haven’t been able to find it since. I miss it so much! If anyone has any tips on a great pine bubble bath, please let me know.

I’ve been anxious to put Christmas decorations up earlier than usual this year because I really want to stretch this Christmas season. Right after the New Year, I am going to San Diego to be a guest voice/speech teacher for a semester. This job is in the program in which I taught for 8 years. The woman who replaced me when we decided to move east is taking a sabbatical for the semester and the Theater and the University’s training program want me to stay through the opening of the summer Shakespeare Festival. Since my husband and I both freelance, this is a great opportunity, especially in our current economy. We had planned to go out as a family, but the apartment where I will be staying is basically one large room and two adults and two big dogs would be too much. So my husband and dogs will stay here at the cottage.

So I am grateful for this job, but I will have to be away from my husband and my dogs for a long time. I will get home for a week in March and again in April, and Don will come out to see me, but I will miss my home so much! I am a nester. I love my home, my cottage. And my dogs? What will they do without their Mom?

Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for this opportunity. I know that teaching again will be rewarding, and coaching Shakespeare is always exciting. But I find myself getting teary quite often lately.

And my blog? I will still keep letting you know about Mockingbird Hill Cottage, and I plan to write about how to take a run of the mill furnished apartment and decorate it so that it becomes a haven while away from home. There are lots of vintage shops and antique shops, as well as famous flea markets to explore and treasures to be found.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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