Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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The Decorating Continues

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Beautiful weather here in San Diego, I will give you that. The last two days have been sunny and warm, and even warmer weather is coming this week. In the middle of running errands today, I made a quick stop at the beach. Oh that ocean air, it makes my shoulders drop and the tension starts to leave my body. I have to go back soon; today I didn’t have long to linger. I’ve been shopping for the apartment and slowly it is becoming more cozy. I have more photos – keep in mind it is hard to get a good photo in here – there is usually not enough light.

This sofa, while not ugly, has foam cushions that have no support. At all. Using my trick from back home, I took off the back cushions and substituted more of the lumbar cushions from IKEA. That felt better. However, my lower back kept hurting. The cushions underneath my derriere were just as bad. A trip to Lowes took care of that. I put a board under the cushions and the problem is solved.

This sweet tole tray was a bargain at one of my favorite antique stores. I thought it would be both practical and also break up the solid black surface of the coffee table.

A little canvas print from Target. It replaced the photo of an actress playing Hedda Gabler at the theater. I coached that production several years ago. It was a good experience but I don’t want to look at it every day.

I bought the vintage runner at an antique shop, as well as the pink dish. I thought the runner would break up the vast expanse of WOOD on this dresser. The letters came from another shop. Photo of husband and dogs, and other photo of dogs came from home.

This little framed print was a gift from Heidi. Since it is about vowels, its perfect for me. That is pink velveteen ribbon around the outside edge of the frame.

Close-up of one of two pink dishes I bought in an antique shop. 2 for $5.00!

I’m trying to buy things that will fit right in at Mockingbird Hill Cottage when I leave here. I have more photos, but don’t want to overwhelm you in one post.

More later.

A few decorating tweaks

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I returned to Linens ‘N Things recently and found this lovely matelasse-type coverlet. Since the quilt I had on our bed was showing a bit too much wear, I decided to replace it with this. The color in the photo is a bit off – it is more of a pale aqua. Of course, I chose it because it complements the ripple blanket that I crocheted last winter.

I fell in love with these colors. The pastel hues reminded me of my McCoy pottery and you know how much I love McCoy. The finished blanket did not go with our quilt, but we used it anyway because its heavy and warm. I just kept it off the bed during the day – now I can use it as part of the whole “look” of the bed.

After residing on the porch all summer, the wicker rocker has come inside for the winter. I’ve changed out the outdoor cushions for the ones that came with the rocker. I love these cushions; they are reversible – striped on one side, flowers on the other.

Oh, this rocker is so comfortable that I see some reading and knitting in it’s future. After I had cleaned it up and brought it inside, I noticed that the pattern on the cushion was awfully close to the fabric I had used to cover the piano bench – long ago. How perfect!


Believe me, when I decided to buy the rocker, the similarity in fabric design never entered my mind.

I’m now preparing to paint the living room and all the trim. This little cottage was, I think, flipped. The paint job on the walls and trim shows it – just one coat and all of it, trim and walls, in a flat finish. I painted both the bathrooms last year and have been putting off the rest of the downstairs because I don’t like painting all that much. But it must be done. I was going to use a pale green on the walls and the same off-white on the trim that I am using throughout the house. This morning, however, my husband and I re-thought it and are now leaning toward a pale yellow that we can use in the living room and the kitchen. I’m struggling with the shade of yellow. This room gets a lot of sunlight and I know yellows can be tricky. Any suggestions? I sure appreciate any you might have.

More later.

Flea Market Fun and Scout cute as the “Dickens”

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The weekend has come and gone. Saturday found me working at the store as usual. Don started the raking process (thank goodness!) and we summoned up the strength to remove all window air conditioners, put them in their individual bins and cart them out to the shed. Check. One other job done. Oh, and I put a coat of primer on the front and side doors and frames. Yesterday was a bit too cold to paint, so I will use the seemingly vast amount of time tomorrow between voting and actual election results to put on a couple of coats of paint. It is supposed to be fairly warm here tomorrow, always good news on Election Day.

Sunday morning I got up at the crack of dawn – actually before the crack of dawn – to don several layers of clothing and go with my two pals from the store to a Flea Market. It was COLD. We did have a lot of fun and my store owner friend got lots of great stuff – including some wonderful vintage Christmas items. I snagged some vintage Christmas ornaments (because I love them so much) and a wonderful hand-made sewing box. Its shaped like a heart and when opened has a storage area and spindles for spools. Love the decal on the top. Only $5!

This particular Flea Market was the kind that had a little bit of everything – antiques, new stuff, food, fresh produce. We were there for the vintage items, but this display of fresh produce was very colorful.

I love these particular colors together – wouldn’t they look great in a quilt?

Last, but not least, see what happens when my husband and I have a little free time?

Yes, we dress up the dogs. Scout deals with it better than Riley, but she doesn’t look too pleased in this photo, does she? I thought she would look fetching in my shawl, bundled up to fight the elements. She looks rather like a little street urchin, some character in a Dickens novel. I imagine her walking through the streets of London, asking for alms, or some gruel.

Of course, this didn’t last long. She’s such a good girl and she sat there and put up with our costume drama, but I could tell her inner monologue was screaming, “Get this ridiculous thing off me!” So it was removed rather quickly and all was back to normal.

Have a great day and VOTE tomorrow!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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