Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for Christmas

Mini Modern

December 3, 2018 at 10:49 am by Claudia

Don is off renting a pickup truck to bring a wee bit more Item 4 (gravel) to our house. In all the work on the driveway, we didn’t realized how wet the area that leads from the drive to the kitchen door would get. And that spells trouble when it gets icy. Since we enter the house through that door and our oil and propane guys use that path as well, we figured it would be a good idea to take care of that ASAP.

It’s warmer and sunnier today so it’s a good day to tackle it – but it’s very windy. It seems as if we can’t have a sunny day lately without it being windy.

Yesterday, though sleep deprived, I worked on the modern mini tree and the green tree, as well. I was going to try to add ornaments to the green tree without gluing them but, after bringing it downstairs in the late afternoon and trying to position it in the dollhouse, my frustration grew as ornaments kept falling off. At that point, I was running on fumes, so I stopped for the day.

I’m gluing them on today. The princess pine, which is a moss, isn’t at all stiff, so it won’t support the ornaments without some help. I’ve had the tree for several years now, so why not glue them in? It would make next year a lot easier!

Some photos of the modern tree in the modern dollhouse. Remember, I’ve done next to nothing with this dollhouse because I haven’t been motivated (though I’m getting there) and wasn’t at all sure what direction I wanted to take. But here it is:

I just threw that rug in there for some color on the floor.

I managed to cut the thick wire that formed the trunk with my wire cutters and then I inserted it back in the base, added some glue, and it’s done.

I have some things to add to the room and I’ll do that soon and take some more photos. The dollhouse is in the hallway upstairs and that area can be dark. And dollhouses are just plain difficult to photograph anyway. You’re basically aiming the lens at a dark hole.

After we deal with the gravel, I’ll work on the other tree and decorate Hummingbird Cottage.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, dollhouse, miniatures 28 Comments

Vintage-ing & Mini Tree Decorating

December 2, 2018 at 10:32 am by Claudia

Both of us woke up way too early this morning, but what can you do? I’m right on the edge of becoming testy, so I’m going to work overtime not to be so. I finished Susan Hill’s latest and now have to make the decision as to what to read next. A quality problem.

Other than that, this is what I’ve been doing – Yesterday, I decided that I would go to the local antique shop that I had planned to visit earlier in the week, but cancelled when I realized I needed to buy outdoor lights at Target. This little multi-dealer shop is very charming. My favorite dealer (the one who sold me the egg cup cubby cabinet) has a booth there. She has booths at three different antique shops, by the way, two of which I’ve been to very recently.

I’ve been wanting to find more putz sheep to add to my mantel shelf over my desk, and though I see them rarely, when I do see them it’s usually around Christmas or Easter. My search had been fruitless so far, but I had a feeling that if anyone carried some putz sheep, it would be this dealer.

As I was drinking coffee and scrolling through IG, I saw that she had two new posts up, both of which concerned her booth at the shop I wanted to visit.

One of them had photos of putz sheep.

Serendipity. And also interesting that she just added the sheep on Friday, so I wouldn’t have seen them had I gone earlier in the week. I scooted on over there and grabbed them. They’re in great condition.

I initially picked two of them and left one behind, but in true Claudia fashion, I felt badly for the one I didn’t pick, so I went back to the booth to retrieve it. I worried it would be lonesome. They’re old, they’re German and I love them.

This one has a bell. It also has a little bow on its tush, which I’ve never seen before.

I added them to my shelf upstairs in the office.

Smile. I love my little sheep. And my Lamb Chops. And a felted sheep that I have in my bedroom. And another fat sheep in the office. So does my sister, who also collects sheep.

If I had limited the damage to the three putz sheep, I would have been fine. But a stroll through the shop revealed other impossible-to-resist treasures.

This striking egg cup, which is actually more of the ecru color of aged ironstone, with a lot of crazing that you can’t see in this photo. I really love it.

This little vintage putz house.

Isn’t it charming? How could I resist?

And this Roseville baby’s plate, something I’ve wanted for a long time. It was so reasonably priced that I had to buy it.

It’s very heavy.

It now lives upstairs in the cabinet that holds some of my Roseville.

After that little treasure hunt, I came home, took photos of everything because I’m a blogger, and then started in on the decorating of mini Christmas trees, which turned out to be frustrating for a while until I figured out how to do it. Glitter now covers every surface upstairs. I’ve vacuumed twice. I know I will be finding it everywhere for a long time. I had to launder my clothes, which were covered with glitter.

This is why I normally avoid glitter like the plague.

But here is the mid-century modern tree, in progress.

I cut off a lot of the branches at the bottom, but I also want to cut the wire spine of the tree. I have wire cutters, but they’re made for much thinner wire, so I’ll probably make a trip to Lowes in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I decided I needed to glue the ornaments on this tree because they kept falling off, causing me to curse out loud several times.

The ‘pine’ tree that I made is another story. I don’t want to glue anything on that tree.

I’ll figure it all out.

And finally,

I ran outside to get his picture of the house with outdoor Christmas lights.

Gosh, I love them.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: antiques, Christmas, collecting, dollhouse, miniatures, putz sheep, sheep 46 Comments

Natural Beauty in Late Autumn

December 1, 2018 at 10:12 am by Claudia

The porch lights are up. It actually takes no time at all, about 15 minutes or so. (I’m not even going to bother with cleaning the railings until spring.) The lights were such a cheery and welcoming sight as we arrived back home last night from Rick and Doug’s. As we drove up to Don’s parking space near the shed, we saw the buck again. And he stayed there, very still, until the car lights were off and we walked toward the house. Two sightings now of that beautiful animal.

While I was outside yesterday, I grabbed my camera. I like to remind myself that there is beauty in the bleak landscape. It just takes seeing the landscape through the lens of my camera to realize that every season has its beauty.

The milkweed pods have burst open to release their silk parachutes.

Here’s one that still has seeds. Soon they will be transported by winds, or simply drop right where they are, guaranteeing that more milkweed plants will grow next spring.

I think they’re beautiful.

The burning bush has finally lost its red leaves leaving these beautiful berries behind. The berries are toxic in large quantities to humans and animals, but they are food for the birds. I’ve never read that they are toxic for birds. I’ll trust the birds, who know, to make that decision.

I’ll be finishing Susan Hill’s latest sometime today. Then the question is: do I read another James Lee Burke or start the Louise Penny? Penny is the only author I do this with: I often postpone starting the book because I know it will be such an exquisite pleasure to read and that, once it’s done, I’ll have to wait another year for a new book in the series. So I hold off.

Delayed gratification.

I have a feeling I’ll be holding off. We’ll see.

I’m going to work on the mini trees today, as it’s foggy out there with rain coming later in the day.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: books, Christmas, garden, Louise Penny, reading 20 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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