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Saturday Bits and Bobs

December 19, 2015 at 9:13 am by Claudia

12-19 office before

Office. Before. As you can see, everything is as we left it when we hauled the IKEA boxes upstairs.

We’ve decided to hold off on painting, perhaps because I hate  painting, which might explain why we haven’t done the much-needed repainting of the kitchen. Every year, I plan on doing it. Every year, I don’t.

Anyway, we’ve decided to see how everything looks once we put the desk, chair and lamp together and move things around. But Don isn’t feeling well, so there’s no hurry.

On top of that, I finally hauled out the little white pre-lit Christmas tree and set it up.

And the lights aren’t working. Crap.

Maybe Christmas isn’t in the cards for us this year? Just kidding. But it does seem as if I’m getting messages from the universe to slow down and do very little.

A couple of things to mention:

•  The email version of yesterday’s post went out about five hours late. I don’t know why this is happening, but it’s a Feedburner thing and I spent more hours than I would have liked to yesterday trying to figure it out. The thing is, I could pay for an email delivery service for the blog, but I already pay for enough to maintain this little piece of real estate, thank you very much, and since I have a nice amount of subscribers and I post every day, the amount I would have to pay is just something I would rather not do.

For those of you who subscribe via email, if you don’t get the post between 11 and 1, Feedburner is lagging behind and you should just hop on over and visit the blog directly. You know I post every day, with very rare exceptions. And why not come here directly? It’s prettier here than in the email, anyway.

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• This book is excellent. This is the first in a series of books featuring Detective Simon Serrailler. They take place in the fictional cathedral town of Lafferton. Susan Hill is an amazing, detailed, and thoughtful writer. There are at least five other books in the series and I cannot wait to get them all. I’m about 2/3 of the way through this one and I’m taking my time simply because the experience is so pleasurable.

• I promised you some links to the blogs of miniaturists who have entered the Creatin’ Contest. Their work is amazingly detailed and I can only dream of doing what they do.

From Pepper at MitchyMooMiniatures.

From MiniModPod.

From Brae at Otterine.

From Minibase.

From Nancy at Nancyland.

From I See Cerulean. More details here and here.

And even though Elizabeth at Studio E couldn’t finish her entry due to the loss of her mother, this post – dedicated to her mom – gives you an idea of what she’s doing and it’s amazing.

As I find more entries, I’ll post the links for you.

• I took some pictures of the article in The Dolls’ House Magazine:

12-19 article1

12-19 article2

12-19 article3

The photo of the fireplace is also featured on the Table of Contents page. That gosh-darned plastic fireplace that I wasn’t going to use, but one day pulled out of a box in a fit of desperation to slap some white paint over its original blah beige because I needed  a fireplace. Another one of my photos of the fireplace is one of my most pinned photos.

Who’d have thunk it?

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: blog, books, Ikea, The Dolls' House Magazine UK 32 Comments

Permission Granted

December 13, 2015 at 9:51 am by Claudia

12-13 eggcups

Just because I wanted to.

I call this “Eggcups on Parade.” I’ve taken the same kind of picture of the eggcups that are lined up on the mantel upstairs in the studio.

They’re sort of jaunty, aren’t they?

It’s a very low-key weekend here. No Christmas decorations yet and I am perfectly comfortable with that. Because of the ankle, I haven’t even ventured out on the porch to hang the lights, but I’ll do that soon, because I love seeing the lights at night and we tend to keep them up and lit long after Christmas.

12-13 attheready

On the coffee table and at the ready: my morning Peet’s French Roast, the card that Cathy included when she sent that wonderful pottery, a reference book on Roseville Pottery, the book I am going to start – Susan Hill’s The Various Haunts of Men –  as soon as I finish the one I’m reading on the Kindle, and my reading glasses.

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This is the book I’m reading on the Kindle – it’s an eGalley of a book that will be coming out here in the States in January. It’s already a bestseller in Europe. I’ll review it soon, but I can say that it’s an absolutely charming read, all about the power of books in a small town in Iowa.

I have to work on a scarf order today, as well. And it looks like we’re in for some rain.

Low-key and pressure-free are just fine with me. Just as I felt a few years back when Don was working away from home on Christmas and I decorated with only the small white tree and a wreath or two, I’m experiencing that same ‘liberated’ feeling. There can be too much pressure to create a certain level of holiday celebration. We see that on television, in the stores, and certainly here in blogland. But for many, the holidays are hard to get through for any number of reasons.

Obviously, it’s hard for me this year. So I’m giving myself permission to just be  this year. To quietly celebrate with Don and Scout, and to feel no pressure to do what is ‘expected’ at Christmas.

What a lovely, calming feeling it is.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: books, Christmas, reading 44 Comments

A Mini Tour of the Roseville & Blog Housekeeping

December 7, 2015 at 9:35 am by Claudia

12-7 don and scout

I took this a couple of weeks ago and posted it on Instagram. It occurred to me that you might like to see it.  Do I even need a caption?

12-7 roseville in cabinet

Since I’ve been obsessing and researching and doing a wee bit of bidding, I thought I’d begin to share the Roseville Pottery I have with you. It’s scattered around the house. We’ll begin with the interior of the china cabinet in the den.

The green cornucopia is in the Magnolia pattern. It was a gift from Sonja, a reader of this blog.

Next to it is the small vase in the Peony pattern. I won this for a great price at auction, along with the candlestick next to it, which is in the Gardenia pattern.

At the end of the first row is a vase in Snowberry.

In the back, a pillow vase in Zephyr Lily, also a gift from Sonja.

And next to it, a blue vase in the Freesia pattern.

I love this stuff. Can you tell I’ve been looking at a lot of it on eBay and Etsy? The pieces on Etsy tend to be listed at a higher price. eBay pieces are sometimes outrageously priced, but many start low and the opportunity for a steal is there. It depends on the timing, whether the auction ends during the work week or on the weekend, and, of course, the desirability of the pattern itself. The harder-to-find patterns go for much more.

I was on an informational site the other day where all the patterns were listed. Among the points covered were current availability and popularity. I got a kick out of discovering that my favorite patterns weren’t that popular at the moment. Good! That leaves me with a slight edge…maybe.

Some blog housekeeping:

• A reader watched one of the videos of Don and Dan playing their music and wondered how she could download the music. Right over there on my sidebar is a widget that says Where to Buy Don’s New CD. Click on it and you’ll be taken to the website and you can download to your heart’s content. Thanks for liking his music!

• I’ve rethought the categories in my navigation bar: Cottage Living  now includes Cottage Home Tour, Garden, Studio, and Small House Living; Craftiness  includes all my DIY posts and Feeling Stitchy. I’ve started a new category called Collecting, which, so far, includes McCoy Pottery and Egg Cups. And there’s a category called On the Road, where I’ve provided instructions on how to find all my On the Road posts.

I like this arrangement, which reflects my life and passions rather nicely.

• The winner of a copy of Dig Two Graves  is Linda! Linda, I’m sending you an email. Congratulations!

• Don’t forget to visit my post Sharing a Sweet Moment, where I rhapsodize about Marie Callender’s Frozen Desserts. If you leave a comment, you might just win a $100 Visa Gift Card!

And there you have it.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: blog, books, china and pottery, collecting, Don, Scout 18 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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