Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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“New” Additions & A Little Rant About Social Media

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If you follow me on Instagram, you know that Don and I visited Milne Antiques yesterday and purchased the pew and the hanging cabinet. This was not without a lot of thought for our budget and for our space – I asked Rebekah to measure the pew before we made the decision and had a pretty good idea where I was going to put it. Don had the same idea, so we were in agreement.

I say all this because I wrote a slightly funny and dramatic IG post (I am  a writer and an actress, after all) about how I’d been thinking about those two pieces and that we are on a budget and where will we put them??? (That’s the dramatic part.) I did the same kind of post with the vintage dollhouse and the egg cup cubby. 99% of readers get it and love it. But, I got a comment from one person that urged me to think about why I buy things when I don’t have the money or the space.

Excuse me?

I never said anything about not having the money. I used the word “budget.” Obviously if we didn’t have the money, we wouldn’t make the purchase. And equally obviously, if we didn’t have the space we wouldn’t buy it.

We paid with cash, I might add.

It ticked me off and I responded, but then I thought the better choice was to just delete the comment and not get into something with this person who I don’t know and who doesn’t know me or my husband. Just as I sometimes have to do on the blog.

What is it with people who feel they can ‘tsk tsk’ you on social media? This rarely happens to me, thank goodness, but I know it happens a lot to those who have a large presence online, whether on a blog or on IG. People make comments that they would never express to your face. Anyway, it was misinformed and rude.

Just need to vent a bit on this one. We rarely eat out. We rarely go to the movies at a movie theater.  We rarely go to Broadway shows because they’re too expensive. (And we work on Broadway!) Except for our trip to Europe and our journey across America the summer before, both of which happened in the past year and a half, we’ve never taken a vacation together the entire time we’ve been a couple. We’ve only traveled for work. That would be 24 going on 25 years. We don’t get new cars. We drive them until we can no longer drive them.

Our home is everything to us: two nomads who moved from place to place during their adult years, moving from one job in the arts to another. That’s the nature of our work. To finally have a nest to feather that is ours and not another rental, a nest that we’ve created together, is something we never take for granted. There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t thank God for our little cottage. Not one. We’re in our 14th year of living here. We love it. So I won’t apologize for finding more things to feather this nest or for thinking, as everyone does when faced with fitting something new into a room, about where I’m going to put it and what might be moved to accommodate that. (Or for making sure we have the money to pay for it.) It’s part of my creativity. I express myself that way. And Don and I always make those decisions together.

End of rant. Sorry, but not sorry, because I had to put in words. Writing puts things in perspective.

So, let me show you what we’ve done. The photos aren’t the best, partly because it was late in the day yesterday when I took them, and partly because it’s snowing/raining outside today and it’s quite gloomy out there.

The vintage dollhouse got moved to the den. This is where I originally envisioned it and I love it here.

I think it stands out more here. You can see it from the living room. It’s folk art and putting it on top of the cabinet highlights that fact.

Then we moved the blue bench that was next to the big white wardrobe cupboard in the living room. Since we’d measured the space, we knew the pew would fit there.

We’re going to move the white cupboard closer to the door, but that’s a big job so it will have to wait a few days. I want some space between the cabinet and the pew so we can see the carving on that side. Don likes that it delineates the den and the living room.

I may even pull it out from the wall a bit. The reason the two sides are different is because it was clearly attached to another pew at one point. The pew came from a church in Kingston, which is north of us and was, at one time, the capital of New York State.

I’ve always wanted a pew, but they’re usually quite long and we don’t have the space for that. Plus, the weather here is too harsh, so I would never put it outside. This is perfect. And seeing how it sits directly opposite our antique Hymns board, it seems like a match made in heaven. (Yes, I know…groan!)

I’m not sure if the McCoy bird dish will stay there, but I wanted something bright there. I like it so far.

We haven’t decided where to hang the cabinet. It’s large and deep and it needs the perfect space. But I came up with this combination, which I rather like. I like having the option to have it sitting on something and the contrast between the painted wood and the maple of the cabinet makes me smile. Plus, this corner in the office was unfinished. We hadn’t done anything with it. Now it looks much more interesting and intentional.

So there you have it. Changes at the cottage. But pieces that will appreciate in value. Assets, as Don says. And pieces that bring warmth to our house, that are part of our story.

As you know, everything here has a story. And everything, except for the snow and sleet on the ground right now, makes us happy.

Happy Sunday.

Antique Shopping

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As we sit here on this sunny Saturday, aware that snow is on the way overnight, I happened upon this photo from Paris.

I don’t know if I ever shared it with you. So quintessentially French, don’t you agree? I remember seeing this woman looking a statue for the longest time. When she moved on, I snapped her picture. Older, fashionable, the long skirt, that ever-present Parisian wardrobe must – the scarf, and that red beret, matching her red sunglasses.

Oh, how I wish we were there right now. I miss it so much! I often look at my photos. I find them comforting.

Not much to report here. We’re hanging out, reading, playing and watching movies. We’re awaiting warmer temperatures – which happen to start today! We’re going to see temps in the low forties. Hallelujah!

Yesterday, I dropped all my book donations off. Then I took a little drive to Milne Antiques. I haven’t been there in so long and I felt guilty. Milne is the place where I found all the vintage French and English pots last year and where I found the “Please Put Book Back After Using” book holder that I have on the wall in the den. Oh, and the handmade child’s bookcase that lives in the upstairs hallway.

I didn’t plan on buying anything as we’re on a strict budget now; I just wanted to stop in. Rebekah, the owner, is in England right now, supervising the packing of a container of finds that will be heading across the ocean soon. But Jasmine was there and we had a nice chat.

Some photos of my favorite things from yesterday:

This large cement garden fixture with a bunny rabbit leaning back to relax made me smile. I’m didn’t even bother looking at the price! It’s from the collection of Allan Katz, famous expert on Folk Art/Americana. He lives in Connecticut, not all that far from us.

This wall cabinet, from France? Oh my heavens! I really love it. I’m still thinking about it today. Here’s the interior:

I can’t stand it, I want it so much.

Moving on to my other favorite piece. If we had a foyer, I’d have grabbed this immediately.

This petite church pew. Look at that carving on the side! The gothic design! Oh, my goodness!

Another view. Be still my heart.

By the way, the two huge stone deer that you see in the background are also from Allan Katz.

This shop kills me! Even though I was familiar with a lot of the inventory, there’s always stock that’s fresh and new.

And wait until that container arrives with all sorts of antique garden pots!

It felt good to get out and have a conversation with someone other than Don. It gives him a break and, god knows, he deserves it.

Today is sunny so far. Fingers crossed!

Happy Saturday.

A Little Trip Down Apartment Memory Lane

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In sorting through a box of photos and memorabilia that my parents had, I found some photos of my apartment in Cambridge. I sent them to Mom and Dad so they could visualize where and how I lived. Some of these you might have seen before because I have a set somewhere, as well.

These three photos are here for specific reasons.

Sorry for the light flash on the photo. I’m taking pictures of pictures because I don’t want to go upstairs and scan them.

The loveseat: That’s the living room loveseat in its original position in my apartment. I needed something that would fit into the recess created by the bay window. It came with two of those patterned pillows. I bought that coffee table for a song when I spotted it while taking a walk up Mass Avenue. I bought the rug, too. It lived in my apartment in San Diego, as well as our house in San Diego. Check out the diamond panes on the windows! Goodness, I loved that apartment. Tons of light. Perfect for plants, which I had everywhere. I had to leave all of them behind when I moved to CA, because you aren’t allowed to bring plants into the state – or at least, you weren’t allowed to back in 1993. My friend Eve, who eventually took over the apartment, kept them.

Fiesta collection: I started collecting vintage Fiesta when I was living in Cambridge. I found it everywhere, but my best source was a woman who ran a vintage shop in Somerville. When she found a piece, she would call and leave a message on my answering machine. No email yet. No cell phones. Just phone calls and messages. Also: no eBay. There’s another shelf of it to the left that is out of the frame. I loved that collection.

I eventually sold it to a collector when we were living in San Diego.

Why did I do that? I suspect we needed the money and I guess I wanted to move on to other things, but I regret it a wee bit. I did pull a few favorite pieces to keep; some salad plates, a huge platter, two coffee pots, a tea pot, and two large mixing bowls, a gravy boat, and a water pitcher.

But now that I look at that photo, why didn’t I save the red bud vase? Or the other mixing bowls (Maybe I did? Maybe they’re inside the other bowls? I’ll have to look.) Or that gorgeous yellow compote on the table?

The answer, I’m sure, is that they were the priciest items and so, I sold them. I can’t remember the total price of the Fiesta I sold, but it was well over a $1000.00. Again, no eBay. I did have a computer by that point, but the only way to sell was to find a user group of Fiesta collectors. That’s how I found my buyer.

The other side of the kitchen had that sink I told you about. And there was also a nice-sized pantry. I made the pillows on the chairs from a vintage tablecloth.

I sat in the chair on the left when I got the message that my brother died. I remember that very clearly. My friend Annette, who died last year, ran downstairs to comfort me.

In my bedroom, the table/desk: For the life of me, I can’t remember how I got hold of that retro table (which I loved). Did someone give it to me? I had very little money in those days and I don’t remember buying it. I must have left it behind when I moved to San Diego. (Why, Claudia? Why?)  This is the kind of table I have always loved. So what was I thinking? I must have felt that I had no room for it in my San Diego apartment.

I wore that hat everywhere. Big brim, floppy yet stylish. I loved it.

That red chair was part of a set of four that I took out of an apartment I shared with a roommate when we were going to grad school in Philadelphia. I’m not sure if they were actual Thonet or not, but I painted them a bright, glossy red. Sadly, I left them 3 of them behind in Philadelphia because there was no room for them in the apartment I was moving to in Boston – the smallest apartment I have ever lived in. I might as well have lived in a pod.

The Cambridge apartment had hardwood floors throughout. Two big windows in the kitchen, five windows in the living room, three windows in the bedroom, a bathroom with vintage black and white tiles on the floor and a long hallway that was wide enough to house three bookcases. The living room had a lovely non-working fireplace. Eventually, Mary, the owner of the building, died and all the apartments were converted to condos. I suspect that the very elements I loved – the pantry, the kitchen sink, the tile on the bathroom floor, the hardwood floors – were tossed in the upgrade.

Sigh.

There are other photos of the apartment on the blog. Just go to the sidebar and search for “Cambridge” and “apartment.”

A little walk down memory lane. And now I’m going to search for that yellow compote on eBay. Because, when I move the fern to the porch again in a month, it would look perfect in the middle of the kitchen table. Besides, it was one of my favorite pieces.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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