Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Rescues (And Birds at the Birdbath)

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Vicki asked if I would share a photo of the antique dollhouse. Here it is. This was taken the day I found it in a local antique shop – December 21st of last year. I dressed it up for the holidays. There you go, Vicki!

And a side view. The shutters open and close. What a labor of love this was. I wonder if it was made for a child or simply for the satisfaction of constructing a miniature? What’s the back story on the house itself? I knew it was a steal when I bought it for $75 on sale, but I also couldn’t bear the thought that this heavy, well-made, one-of-a-kind house was sitting in a booth with a big ‘mark down’ sign, abandoned and alone.

I tend to do that with certain things. I endow them with human qualities. That dollhouse was immediately ‘sad and lonely’ and needed to be adopted. By me.

I did the same thing with this little beauty.

I saw her in an antique shop several years ago. She was sitting on a child’s rocking chair in a booth. Each time I went back to the shop over the course of several months, she was still there. She was wearing a beautifully handmade dress with lovely shoes and a bonnet. She was a little worse for the wear, but that made her even more lovely.

Someone had loved this baby doll.

We had next to no money on hand at the time and I was getting ready to go to San Diego to coach for 10 weeks. I think she was about $50 or maybe less, but, nonetheless, even that was too much. I couldn’t buy her.

Off I went to SD, but I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Finally, when I had received a few paychecks, I emailed the antique center, told them my story, tried my best to indicate what booth she was in and asked the big question: was she still there? The person on the other end said he knew exactly what doll I was referring to and yes, she was. I paid him right then and there. Then I asked if he could hold onto her until I returned home. Yes, he said. And that is how this little darling came to live in our cottage.

My beautiful doll with two left legs is also a rescue. More on her another day.

Two Finches Taking A Bath:

They were at the birdbath again yesterday. It’s been very hot. I’ve seen bees drinking the water, birds, hornets – you name it.

Finally, Happy Birthday to my beloved mom. She would have been 92 today.

Happy Wednesday.

Playing House

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I’d been thinking about doing something with the antique dollhouse for about a week. Yesterday, I pulled it down from its perch on top of the china cabinet in the den and moved it to the kitchen table.

I ran up and down the stairs several times, gathering up whatever I had on hand in my stash. That isn’t a whole lot, by the way, because 1) dollhouse furniture can be expensive and 2) I don’t have much storage space.

This little lovingly handmade house has one big room and two tiny rooms. Getting to one of the rooms is almost impossible (but I’ll do it at some point). All the interior walls are made of dark wood. So, it can get really dark in there.

I had an idea to find something I could use as wallpaper on the living room wall that faces me when I look inside the house. But I would only attach it temporarily, as I have qualms about doing anything permanent to the walls. It is, after all, a piece of folk art as well.

Here’s what I came up with:

I purchased the chair and the sofa a while back. The vase was in my stash. Barbara gave me the console table. She might have given me the rugs, as well, but I’m not sure about that.

The wallpaper was a duplicate of some I have on hand for a future project. I forgot I had it in my stash, so that was a wonderful surprise!

The pitcher was a gift from Barbara and the painting was something I received in a swap.

I look forward to getting books for the shelves as well as tchotchkes.

The hooks were in Hummingbird Cottage but they kept falling off the wall. I decided to use them here.

See that room to the left? The only way to get in there is via the doorway and a door that opens into the room from the other even smaller room. I’m planning on that being the bedroom, so I’ll have to find a bed that I can maneuver into the room from the doorway. Yikes.

That other, really tiny room will be a kitchenette. It’s almost all doors and windows, so again – yikes. There’s no room for a bathroom.

My take on this little antique house is that it’s a family getaway – a cottage or a cabin – that’s been in that family for years. Rustic elegance. Smallish kitchen, just enough to refrigerate a few items and/or boil some water. One bedroom. (Maybe the bathroom is in some unseen outbuilding?)

It was awfully fun playing house and I look forward to adding more.

(The server that this blog is on is a wee bit slow this morning – at least for me. If it’s slow for you, hang in there. It will be fixed.)

Happy Tuesday.

 

 

A View From The Pew

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I thought you might enjoy this view. Monty, still sporting his holiday garland, the pew, and off in the distance, the vintage dollhouse.

I see evidence of snow melt out there. I can tell the height of the snow has shrunk. Huzzah! The big piles that grew from shoveling will take longer, but eventually, they’ll be gone, too.

During our second cup of coffee this morning, I read the Mary Oliver poem I posted yesterday to Don. Then he read a poem by William Carlos Williams about Spring. In that poem Williams describes the brown and dead looking landscape perfectly. And we agreed that it’s hard to imagine my garden emerging from all that brown, dry, seemingly dead landscape. Or wildflowers emerging. Or daffodils pushing up from the ground. The rebirth that never fails to stun us with its beauty.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon with Rick, Doug, and Doug’s daughter, Alecia. She’s headed back to Japan today (where she teaches at a university) and we wanted to see her one more time. I got to know her last year, but Don was in NYC at the time, so he didn’t have that chance. They got to spend some time chatting together yesterday. As always, great conversation, lots of laughter, and time with Sam. We all went outside and threw his ball for him as he raced back and forth on the snow.

Then we realized that it looked like Don’s gas tank was leaking. Gulp. So Don drove over to his mechanic’s station and I followed. Turns out, it’s a leak from the line that goes from the gas cap to the tank and it only happens when the tank has been topped off. But we’re going to get the line replaced today.

All of this took up much of the day, so I will answer your comments from yesterday’s post this morning, right after I finish writing this post.

Contemplating sorting through all the stuff in the white armoire/cabinet in the living room. There’s much that can be tossed. And after it’s tossed, it will be easier to move the cabinet a few inches to the left. We’ll see if I get around to that.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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