Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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The ‘New’ Mirror

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Did you notice anything new in this photo from Where Bloggers Create?

You’re right if you guessed the mirror hanging on the stairway landing. Actually, it’s not new. I’ve had it for years. My mom and I saw it in a little antique store in Rogers City Michigan (my parents used to live there) and she bought it for me. Somehow or other, during the move to this house, it ended up in the infamous shed. Don rescued it and said we should have it in the cottage. He was right.

I had forgotten how pretty it is. (Hi, Riley!)

I love the floral design on the frame and the etched glass. It’s very old. I like very old things.

I remember wrapping it up and carrying it home on the plane. Thanks, Mom!

Some of you saw the word ‘surgeon’ and assumed I was having my surgery tomorrow. I’m not. I’m just meeting with the surgeon. If only it was tomorrow. I have no idea when they are going to schedule it but I am pushing for ‘as soon as possible.’ It’s like jumping into cold water; I just want to jump in and get it done with.

We’re heading into a heat wave here. 95 degrees tomorrow and Friday with a heat index of over 100. Yikes.

Vintage School is in Session

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While perusing some of my favorite blogs recently, I saw a post from my friend Lori, the owner of Vignettes. The theme was the cloche, but I spotted something in the background that made my pulse quicken.

Photo: Lori Chandler, Vignettes
That sign in the background, behind the cloches – the one that says “Miss Keybo….School.” That’s what caught my eye. Hey, nothing gets past me! I left a comment asking about it and Lori immediately got back to me with details and dimensions. I didn’t need it but I sure wanted it. And I knew the chances of seeing something like it again were next to none. Lori had it packed and shipped the next day. I left for Chicago with a casual, almost throwaway, mention of a package that might come while I was gone, hoping Don wouldn’t say “Lucy…you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
It was sitting on the porch when we pulled in the driveway on Thursday.
It’s mounted on wood. The words Contra, Great, Small, One Line, Two Line, Three Line, Four Line are above the keys. And there are little hooks on each key.

This was obviously a teaching tool and I did a little research. I found Miss Burrowes listed in The Woman’s Who’s Who of America for 1914-1915. Katherine lived in my hometown of Detroit, Michigan and was a music teacher. She eventually opened her own music school. She “invented appliances pertaining to the Burrowes course of music study, a method for teaching music to beginners by means of songs, stories, games, blackboard work, chart work, competitive drills and mechanical devices, as well as pianoforte music; some of the appliances are Miss Keyboard’s School, a device for teaching notation and sight reading (patented 1904)…”  The entry goes on to list other inventions and music compositions. At the end it says: “Recreations: Reading, Concerts, Theater. Favors Women’s Suffrage.”

Don’t you just love it? I imagine students had to identify the note and then do something like hang a “C” on middle C. Or play certain tagged notes on a keyboard.

Obviously, we like words and graphics around here. I found the old Hymn board several years ago.

I really, really love this. Don likes it, too. At some point I might hang something from one of the hooks but not yet. And it will have to be just right.

Looks like the birds are singing the notes on the scale at the bottom of the sign.

Isn’t it fabulous??? (You can tell I’m excited, can’t you?) I love finding something that I’ve never seen anywhere else, that is unique and perfect for our cottage.

These photos were taken at different times on a sunny day. It always amazes me how light can change something’s appearance. Or somebody’s.

Oh, and I’m fighting a losing battle at the moment. I wrote a recommendation for a former Boston University student of mine who was applying to graduate school in Speech Pathology. Happily, she was accepted by the school she most wanted to attend. As a thank you, she sent me a box of these:

These are the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.

Drat.

I can’t be rude, can I? I must eat them. It’s the right thing to do.

Forgotten Treasures, Dollhouse Update

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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!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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