Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Guardian Angel

July 9, 2008 at 2:11 pm by Claudia


This Victorian framed print is now mine as the result of a winning auction bid. As always, there is a little story behind the find. When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a old print very much like this one. It hung over the bed I slept in when I visited. It showed children on the edge of a cliff and a Guardian Angel kept them from harm. I loved it and spent many hours looking at it when I was a kid. I’ve looked for one like it off and on for years. There are many different Guardian Angel prints and there are companies that carry reprints of them, but for some reason I never ordered one – perhaps I was looking for an original, I don’t know.

So we now come to the other night where we were previewing items in the auction and, lo and behold, there it was. Now, I am not absolutely sure this is the exact same scene, but if it isn’t, it is awfully close. I was determined to bid on it. This was a long auction on a sweltering, humid night – I was there with my co-workers at the shop. Wouldn’t you know it, at the exact time I left the building to get something from the car, it came up for auction. Luckily, my friend bid for me and it is now at home on my wall. I also got two small tables – a bedside table for the guest room, and a turquoise painted table for the den.

This framed print is quite large – larger than it looks in this photo – and I wasn’t entirely crazy about the frame. I also wasn’t sure what my husband would think of it. Interestingly enough, he likes the print, but is crazy about the frame. He persuaded me to hang it at the bottom of our staircase (at midnight!) and it looks fabulous, especially when the light from the skylight hits it. He’s right – the whole thing has a graphic appeal – almost sculptural.

The best thing? I think of my Grandma every time I look at it.

Filed Under: antiques, auction 5 Comments

Back, but still coughing

June 2, 2008 at 5:15 pm by Claudia

Well, I’m feeling much better, still coughing with chest congestion, but the worst is over. While I was stationed on the sofa in the den, I watched the 3 starling babies get bigger and bigger. I was sure I would see at least one of them fly out of the nest, but they managed to pull off their escape without a witness. My husband and I were left with huge amounts of bird excrement to clean up – on railings, on the furniture, on the porch floor. When we noticed, almost immediately, the parents starting to build a new nest in the same place we had to say no more. We love the miracle of birth, but we are also denied access to the porch for a long period of time while the parents feed the babies and protect the nest. Our dogs cannot go on the porch – and they get really down. So we made the decision to board up all the openings to the eaves – something we wanted to do three years ago. It was all done before any major nest making started and I’m sure our starling friends will find a new nesting place. They do seem shocked though and fly back a couple of times a day to make sure we haven’t opened up the hotel for them.

I managed to finish the painting and refinishing of my cabinet. I used the wonderful tips from Cindy at Romantic Home. Thank you Cindy! I’m very pleased with it. I’m not sure how well the photos show it, but I used an aging technique and it worked well.

Now I have to turn to the less exciting, but necessary painting of our side and front doors. I’m glad to be back blogging!

Filed Under: auction, birds, DIY 2 Comments

Busy, busy!

May 12, 2008 at 9:27 am by Claudia

It has been very busy here since I returned. Much time spent mowing our grass. We live on very uneven and hilly ground, so pushing the mower takes a lot of muscle and endurance. Since I’ve just spent a winter sitting and not moving, I need to GET IN SHAPE! I’ve also been working in the garden, lugging bags of mulch and compost to various destinations in our yard, digging holes, planting, cleaning the house and working at the store. I am tired! I’ve also begun work on this:

I bought this cabinet at auction for $5! Its very dirty, and the paint needs to be stripped and there are dirty cat footprints on the side; but my plan is to strip it, repaint it and shabby it up a bit. It will become the cabinet our television rests on and the cable box, dvd player, etc. will be on a shelf inside those doors.

I started stripping it yesterday and it is much harder than I thought to get that paint off! I am using a citrus stripper, supposedly healthy, but maybe the terribly strong chemical strippers work better? Anyway, between scraping away on this cabinet and putting down mulch and planting my new lilac bush, Mothers Day was busy.

My dear husband suprised me with a beautiful brunch, flowers, and cards from each of the dogs and him! I also received a wonderful box of chocolates. I hope all mothers had a wonderful day. I called my Mom, who hadn’t received my card yet, and told her what a great Mom she is. I also called my sister and my niece, great mothers, also.

This week I plan to drive down to see my niece and her kids. They are getting ready to move to Amsterdam this summer! Her husband’s employer is transferring him there for two years. What a fantastic experience for them! We will miss them but hope to visit.
More later.

Filed Under: auction, garden, mothers day 2 Comments

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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.

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

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