Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for Blythe dolls

Fledged

May 31, 2023 at 8:23 am by Claudia

I have a gift: Right after I discover baby birds in nests, they fledge the next day. Is it me? It happened with the robins and it happened yesterday with the Carolina wrens. If you remember, in yesterday’s post I wrote that they were very busy flying back and forth to the nest, feeding the babies. But now I think they were urging the babies to take off. Later in the morning, I went outside to water the pots and seeds. Don’s car was gone so I could see the nesting area pretty clearly. No activity. I waited a while, then I tested it and walked to the ramp leading to the shed. Nothing. I went inside the shed. The nest was behind the Cottage sign on the window box, right outside the window. I walked toward that window and saw the nest. Empty.

There’s the sign and there’s the nest. Keep in mind that it’s much smaller than it appears in this photo. But there’s the little hole in the nest where the babies were.

Sob. I’m a little depressed.

I almost went in the shed the day before yesterday to peek at the babies, but for whatever reason, I didn’t.

Godspeed, little ones. Enjoy the world.

Ella.

One of my Elly Griffith books is waiting for me at the library. The other, which is the one I need to read first, hasn’t arrived yet. Hope it comes in today.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: bird nest, birds, Blythe dolls 16 Comments

Books & Barbies

May 28, 2023 at 7:54 am by Claudia

I had a much better night of sleep, thank goodness. And I took a nap yesterday afternoon, which helped. In true Claudia style, I did a lot of chores to keep me busy. I cleaned the bathroom thoroughly (and you know how much I hate that particular job) I watered everything outside, washed the towels, and weed whacked the property. Then I had some lunch and took that nap.

Another beautiful day today. Memorial Day weekend is not my favorite as it’s the first ‘summer weekend’ of the year and every motorcyclist in the area decides to take a ride down our road, engine roaring. It drives me nuts. Sometimes I can tune it out, but it was a bit of a challenge yesterday, especially since I really needed that nap. Ear buds in, music loud…and I eventually slept.

I love getting back to Elly Griffiths again. Really enjoying The Night Hawks  and I’m fairly close to the end. Her newest book is out and I’ve reserved it from our library system. I’ve heard rumors that the new book is the last in the series – is that true? Sob. I know Griffiths has another series. Has anyone read those books? What do you think?

I’ve been following some Barbie accounts on Instagram. Boy, has Barbie changed! Some of them are quite inventive in their use of photos and text. A couple of them make me laugh out loud. But I’m fascinated by the newer Barbies. Warning: another rabbit hole. No, I won’t I’ll be collecting them, but I might purchase one if there are any that are reminiscent of the now-vintage Barbies I grew up with. Did you have a Barbie? Mine had what was described as a platinum bubble hairstyle. Kay, my friend who reads this blog, was my fellow Barbie lover and we played with our dolls for hours.

Speaking of dolls…

Mabel and Katie explored the Great Outdoors yesterday.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, books, reading 51 Comments

Storage for Little Things

May 25, 2023 at 9:05 am by Claudia

Reader Leora asked how I organize the clothes for the girls. Let’s just say that I loosely organize their clothes.

Thanks to my generous husband, I have two decorative suitcases that I use. They’re really his, but when he heard me complain that I was running out of storage space, he promptly donated them to the cause. First, he gave me the red suitcase, and then later – as more and more things needed storage – the brown one. Let me also take a moment to express my thanks for a husband who not only tolerates the dolls and all their stuff, but actually likes them. A lot. The den, which is already crowded, has now become the home for the shelves displaying the girls and their suitcases. (We already had a sofa and a chair, several tables, two dollhouses, bookshelves, a stand for the television, and a china cabinet in here when the first of the girls arrived.)

The red suitcase interior:

Let me say that this can get messy quite quickly. It needs a bit of sorting, but this is the basic configuration. Pants, overalls, etc, in the upper left hand corner. Directly below, coats and jackets. Next to the coats – sweaters. Above the sweaters – tops and t-shirts. To the right – dresses. Below the dresses – skirts. And to the right – more dresses. But as I look at this, I see a dress among the sweaters and that will not do! So I’ll probably do a bit of straightening up today.

The brown suitcase: On the left – clothes for the BJD dolls (Wren and Lily) Below them – three stands, which are used for displaying the dolls when taking photographs. (I also use wooden skewers – in fact, I use them the most.) Above them – a stray deer hat meant for the Blythe girls. Above that – all of the Christmas sweaters. Interspersed among all these things are various boxes, mostly from shoe sources, which I’m sure I could throw out at this point. You’ll also see tights, tote bags and handbags, ribbons for their hair, a ziplock full of socks, and a the tin that my Fossil watch came in, which holds…

Shoes and boots. This isn’t large enough to hold all of the footwear. Fortunately, at any given time, the dolls are wearing 17 additional pairs of shoes/boots, so I don’t have to invest in a bigger container.

I also have three little cases that hold things like extra hands for the girls, eye chips, the tortoise shell glasses, a couple of wigs, and hats, hats, hats.

None of this is ideal, but I already have an office full of dollhouses and art supplies and I share it with my husband who has a LOT of guitars and amps. So I really can’t use that space at the moment. This seems to work nicely. I have the big suitcases right in front of the china cabinet. The little gold cases sit on top of a pile of books over in the corner.

I also have that charming cabinet for the girls that I got in an antique shop. I have yet to fill it with anything, but I’m going to add a clothes rod and put some accessories in the two drawers.

Yesterday, I gathered up my courage and unbraided Nina’s hair. Would she still have curls? Would I hate it and have to re-braid it?

The answer:

Oh my god! It’s gorgeous! She’s stunning. I’m going to trim the length just a bit – already started – but I love, love, love this. I can also pull the sides back and clasp them at the back of the head, have long braids, etc. Lots of possibilities. It’s made of mohair and it’s incredibly soft.

Nina came with a taller body – an OB 24, rather than the OB 22 a lot of my girls have. That means she’s 2 centimeters taller. Since she’s taller, I couldn’t fit her on a shelf, so I had to reconfigure the shelves. I’ll finish that up today and take some photos.

Sorry – an all Blythe related post today.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: Blythe dolls 26 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • …
  • 101
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

The Dogs

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

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2025 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT