Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • The Beacon Hill Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

On This Wednesday

February 27, 2019 at 9:59 am by Claudia

This particular shot is filed under “If I take a picture of it, I may be motivated to do something.”

See all that excess glue (on the right) that I need to remove? Tedious.

It’s upstairs, too. It’s everywhere. Whoever assembled this wasn’t too concerned about it. But I am.

Filed under “What you find when you pull a piece of pottery out of a cupboard.” Hello, acorns!

Today will be all about watching Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee. I’m trying to get this post written before it starts. I even took a shower already! Because I fully intend to park myself in front of the television for the duration.

Between that and McCabe’s book, which I’m still reading, I’m all set.

More snow coming today, though it doesn’t look like it will be more than a couple of inches. Still…I’m over it. I am more than ready for spring. As it is, we’re celebrating this Friday because it won’t be February. It was not a good month for us, to put it mildly. I know March is unpredictable, but it isn’t February, so it’s already an improvement.

Nothing else is new. Thank you for your nice comments about the book. It was a nice surprise!

It’s very cold here and even colder in the upper Midwest – stay warm!

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: dollhouse, McCoy pottery, miniatures 28 Comments

A Book

February 26, 2019 at 10:17 am by Claudia

The wind went on well into the early morning hours. Even Don, who usually says he likes the wind, was over it. Relentless. But this morning, after a fairly good night’s sleep, I awoke to very cold temperatures, a sunny sky, and no wind.

Thank goodness! What a difference that makes!

A couple more Oscars things: if you haven’t seen Olivia Colman’s acceptance speech, find it online. It was perfect. Real. In the moment. Charming. Self-effacing. Her honest and heartfelt gesture to Glenn Close was the perfect salve for that moment. She’s amazing.

And if you haven’t seen her in Broadchurch, you must. Especially season one. That’s when we fell in love with her work. She’s extraordinary.

Also: if you haven’t yet seen Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper singing Shallow  from A Star is Born, google that, as well. And Better Midler singing The Place Where Lost Things Go  from Mary Poppins Returns. And Spike Lee leaping up into Samuel Jackson’s arms.

The best.

Okay. I recently received an email from a fellow miniaturist alerting me to the fact that I was listed in the index in a book about miniatures published last year in Great Britain. Several of us had photos in the book. I suspected it was related to the article about Hummingbird Cottage that was in Doll’s House Magazine, a UK publication. They hadn’t asked our permission, but it is from the same publisher and in my case, it’s just one photo, so I’m okay with it. (They’re sending me a copy of the book.)

In truth, I’m rather chuffed that I’ve been published in a book!

I ordered it from Amazon last Friday (because patience isn’t one of my strong points) and it came yesterday.

Sure enough, the photos inside the book are from Doll’s House Magazine and span about five years of articles and tutorials. (My article was published in 2016.)

My name is in the index and also in a list of thank yous at the back of the book.

Just one photo, but here it is:

Pretty neat! Even though I said “fellow miniaturist” above, I never really think of myself as a miniaturist. Just someone who loves to refurbish and decorate dollhouses. However, I have built a dollhouse and have constructed miniatures, so I guess I qualify. But just barely.

It’s a neat book, full of photos and text and many helpful tutorials. I can’t wait to dig into it.

The whole thing was a delightful surprise and just might help to push my tush upstairs to my desk and the forlorn dollhouse that is waiting for me to work some magic.

Happy Tuesday.

 

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures, movies 38 Comments

The Day After

February 25, 2019 at 9:18 am by Claudia

Oh heavens. More sleep deprivation. I was thrown off by staying up late to watch the Oscars and then when I got in bed, the high winds were so loud that I couldn’t sleep. I’m exhausted. Two nights in a row with not enough sleep makes me virtually incapable of doing anything for the rest of the day. Well that’s a slight exaggeration, so let’s edit that to “doing anything of any complexity.”

Most of my predictions as to the Oscar winners proved to be correct, but there were some surprises. When Olivia Colman (a favorite of ours) won, Don and I turned to each other and gasped out loud! Everyone was so sure that Glenn Close would win. We found ourselves simultaneously thrilled for Colman, yet feeling badly for Close’s very public loss. We were torn. But Close was gracious, as always, and Colman was delightful. We’ve long been fans of her acting chops. And her performance in The Favourite  was brilliant.

As I’ve said before Green Book  is one of the few nominated movies we haven’t seen. But its win last night for Best Picture was controversial. I’ve been reading up on that this morning.

Thrilled for Roma  and Alfonso Cuarón. I still think it should have won Best Picture, but the fact that it won Best Foreign Film probably cancelled out that possibility.

Thrilled for all the groundbreaking Black Panther  wins. And for Spike Lee to win his first Oscar (not counting his honorary Oscar.) His joy was infectious. Thrilled for Rami Malek, who was pretty damned incredible as Freddie Mercury. And for Regina King – I haven’t seen the movie yet, but she is a consistently wonderful actress.

Loved Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper singing Shallow.

And Bette Midler. (My favorite dress of the evening, by the way.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts off the top of my head.

I thought the ceremony was quite good – I’m thinking they don’t really need a host!

The wind is still howling.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: movies 38 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 708
  • 709
  • 710
  • 711
  • 712
  • …
  • 1847
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

The Dogs

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

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2026 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in