Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Monday: Errands and the Shed

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After heavy rain all day yesterday, a little bit of sun is most welcome. Both of us were running errands yesterday and it was a soggy mess. But I have to mail another Etsy purchase today, so I had to get supplies. It was one week ago that I first went to Target and found some neat little Christmas things while I was picking up packing supplies.They were gone as of yesterday. Most of the Christmas lights are gone, as well. The little sweaters? Gone. The sweet little deer? Gone. I saw one little parka ornament, but since Kathy sent me some from her Target, I didn’t need to buy it. (Well, to be frank, I don’t need to buy any of those ornaments, but they’re cute and they’re cheap!) I was amazed, as always, that by December 3rd, most everything has been picked over.

Came home, packed the vase I’m sending out today, and then I read for quite a while. Don made an apple pie. We watched 42nd Street  last night.

Today, I’m off to the Post Office, then the yearly clean up of the porch begins. Time to dump out the contents of the pots, and begin to move them all into the shed for the winter. The shed needs sweeping, the snow blower and lawnmower need to exchange places and I need to find the bin that holds the bedroom a/c unit. The cushions on the chairs and the glider also have to be brough inside.

This will be accomplished over the course of a few days. Don will help with the heavy stuff. When I’m done, I’ll hang the Christmas lights from the porch railings. I can’t wait – those lights are such a cheery sight out here on a road with no street lights. That’s why I leave them up for a couple of months beyond Christmas. They’re a little beacon of light to those passing by.

We’re going to get our tree on Wednesday or Thursday.

I decorated the girls’ cubbies by adding some cheery scrapbook paper to the rear wall in each cubby. They’re all different and I’ll show you some time this week, but today I decided to treat those of you who might be less than entranced by the girls a day off.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Fog, Christmas Decorating, and the Shop

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This morning. It rained yesterday and this morning was quite foggy. I love a foggy morning!

We still haven’t taken the a/c units out of the windows, but we’ll do that this week. And it’s time to clean up the porch, empty the pots, rearrange a bit of the shed and store everything for the winter. So that’s the agenda for this week, along with getting our Christmas tree and hanging lights on the porch.

We already have our gifts and have opened them, of course, but that will not make a whit of difference as to celebrating Christmas. Lights, ornaments, decorated dollhouses, girls in Christmas sweaters, and Christmas music playing on the radio – all of it is joyous and also, in the best way possible, an escape from the world. And we need that right now. For a month or so, we can do our best to let go of worries and just be. I am fully onboard.

Today, I’m going to dust the dollhouse interiors and do some decorating.

Blythe Headquarters is also undergoing a subtle transformation:

The trees and the little deer are from Target. You an’t beat that store for inexpensive but tasteful decorations. Each shelf has a its own Christmas tree.

I sent off another package yesterday to a buyer who purchased two of my McCoy pieces. Got back home, knowing there wouldn’t be any more sales for a bit, only to get a message from Etsy later in the day that I’d sold another McCoy vase. So I have to go out tomorrow to get more packing material. With pottery, you have to be very careful. Everything needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap and then the box needs to be filled with padding and paper. I need more tissue paper, brown paper, and a couple more boxes.

I’m grateful for the sales, of course. I added a few items yesterday that are non-McCoy; a rare Susie Cooper demitasse set, a large Roseville vase which is exquisite but a bit too big for my cabinet, two antique hatpin holders (they’re gorgeous but have been hidden away in my china cabinet) and – oh yes – one McCoy planter in aqua.

The Roseville is rather expensive because it’s large and in excellent condition; the Susie Cooper pattern used in the demitasse set is on display at the V & A museum in London. If they don’t sell, I’m okay with that.

Anyway, shopkeeper Claudia is taking the day off today to indulge in play.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Pottery and Parkas

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Happy December! Next week, we will pull out the decorations, find the perfect tree, and hang the lights on the porch railings. I’m getting excited. There’s nothing I love more than seeing the tree lights from my chair in the den. What a difference it makes in our living room and in my mood!

I’ve now sold 9 pieces of McCoy. I went to the post office yesterday to mail 2 more boxes and thought to myself: good! – now I hope there’s a little break ahead because I’m running out of packing supplies and I’ve been to the post office 4 days in a row. Later that afternoon, I got an alert from Etsy that someone had purchased 2 pieces. So I packed them up last night and it’s off to the post office again this morning.

Remember my quick trip to Target last week for boxes and tissue paper and packing supplies? Somehow my cart veered off into the Christmas decorations section of the store. There I found what I had been looking for, some more of those Christmas sweater ornaments that I transformed into wearable sweaters for the girls. But something else was there, as well; little winter parka ornaments.

They came with attached ‘skis.’ Since they were only $3, I figured what the heck? I’ll see if I can make this into something the girls can wear, if only for a photo op.

These ornaments are glued together, so I carefully pulled the skis off and was able to remove most of the glue from the parka. Then I separated the front closing. Again, pretty easy, but the glue was harder to remove. And then, the neckline and the bottom of the parka had to be dealt with. I was hesitant to mess with the glue on the ‘zipper’ area because it was so near the edge of the fabric. But they do fit and it’s easy to style them as closed.

Here’s Mabel modeling one. Some arm positioning helps keep it closed, though on the white parka, the glue isn’t really a problem. I also bought a gold parka and a dark gray parka. These little ornaments are such fun for Blythe dolls. I think Barbie doll lovers use them, too.

I have to modify the new batch of sweaters and, hopefully, I will have enough for a holiday photo of all the girls. Fingers crossed.

Katie got to model the first attempt at adapting the parka.

Time to warm up my mug of coffee in the microwave.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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