Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Lots of Paint

August 21, 2026 at 8:52 am by Claudia

The basic outline of the art studio is taking shape. There are lots of touch ups to do, but since the walls will be covered with art (hopefully) and it will be full of ‘stuff,’ I’m not too concerned with perfection.

It took many coats of white paint to get it to this stage. It could use another coat, and the ceiling needs more paint. But my patience with painting wore thin and I stopped for the day.

We mowed the front lawn on Wednesday morning, It was very humid. I was supposed to be putting the mower away after mowing the edge of the corral. Don had gone inside. I ended up mowing the corral, too. Typical. I pushed it a bit too much. Don’s words to me when I entered the house: “I know what you did.”

Yep! He’ll sometimes say “Lucy….!” in a Ricky Ricardo voice.

We took it easy yesterday, though I did shoot a video of our end-of-the-summer gardens. I added music to it and posted it on my YouTube Channel. You might like it. Here’s the link. It’s so pretty, if I do say so myself!

We watched Casablanca last night. No words. Truly one of my top five movies. We can’t stop talking about it even though we’ve seen it many, many times.

It’s a beautiful day today and I plan on enjoying our property and our porch.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: Beacon Hill Dollhouse 14 Comments

Mini Monday

August 17, 2026 at 9:30 am by Claudia

This Eastern Swallowtail loved the thistle – as do the bees. I swear, that beautiful butterfly drank from every blossom. He was there a long time and didn’t seem to be afraid of me. Don had already observed how many bees were attracted to the thistle as well, and there’s one in this photo. This is a screenshot from a little video I posted in my stories in my main IG account.

I mowed the lilac side of the lawn yesterday and weed whacked. I also cleared out the entrance to the culvert drain pipe which had been blocked. Why? Because the county came by one day and re-dug the culverts – too much, according to me – and then left behind all the debris (consisting of tree roots and branches.) All the heavy rain we’ve had pushed everything toward the entrance to the pipe that runs under our driveway. The culvert is not our responsibility but this is about the 6th time I’ve had to clean up after the county has made an ‘improvement.’ You would have heard some cuss words coming from that general area.

Do you remember this cupboard?

I got it for about $5 when miniatures (dot) com went out of business. It originally came with fleur-de-lis designs on the sides of the cabinet and drawer. Not my cup of tea, but I knew it would be good to have in my meager stash. I’ve had it sitting on the first floor of the Beacon Hill for a while. You can see that I put a coat of paint on it to cover up the designs. But that’s all I did.

On Saturday, I decided to transform it. And I just dove in – which is my favorite way to do this type of thing.

I wanted it to look like my favorite kind of furniture – old and weathered with multiple layers of paint. I’ve always envisioned the owners of the house loving folk art and antiques.

Here it is in the hallway. I staged it a little just for fun. Right now, I have some books in there, but I’d love to have a collection of crocks on the shelves. I think that would be fun.

I’m really pleased with the results. In fact, I love it.

One more mini thing:

I have this tile on hand and I’m wondering if it might be a good choice for the studio. Easy clean up, no worry about the floors. I might paint the walls white so that the artist can display paintings-in-progress on the walls. (I didn’t glue it down yet.)

Okay. This has turned into Mini Monday, I guess.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: Beacon Hill Dollhouse, butterfly, flowers 18 Comments

Corners of the Cottage

August 15, 2026 at 9:18 am by Claudia

Around the cottage on a Saturday morning.

I think I might do this kind of post on Saturdays. After having written a long post on Friday, I often don’t have much to say the next day. But photos taken from bits and pieces of the cottage might be fun. And it injects fresh energy into a Saturday morning.

Did you know I have a YouTube Channel? I share a bit about my collections and the cottage and the dollhouses. But lately, I’ve been doing weekly posts on the process of renovating the Beacon Hill. You can hear my voice and get a sense of my successes and struggles. There is more there than there would be in a standard post here.  “Claudia the Chronic Collector” and here is the link.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Beacon Hill Dollhouse, cottage, dollhouse, Dove Cottage 24 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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