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 Christmas

It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

December 30, 2013 at 9:17 am by Claudia

In a small act of defiance:

Mondayfinalbokeh

Another Christmas photo. Because, for us, the Christmas season is still here. Try as I might, I can’t understand removing all traces of Christmas as soon as that particular day ends. What?? It seems so abrupt, like pulling a rug out from under someone’s feet, or dangling a beautiful treat in front of someone’s eyes and just as it gets close enough to be fully experienced, it’s gone. Poof!

To me, the Christmas season lasts until New Year’s Day. To others, it lasts even longer – until Epiphany. And last night, as we were watching the Kennedy Center Honors and admiring our beautiful tree, we decided it will stay up until at least this Friday, which will be January 3rd. I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tree. I’m in no hurry to get rid of Christmas. This is one of the reasons I wait until the second week of December to decorate. I want to experience the holiday season fully and if I chose to decorate too early, I’d run the risk of getting tired of it all much too soon.

Of course, I know very well that everyone has different traditions. But, to me, the holiday season doesn’t end abruptly at 12 am on December 26th. I can only remember a couple of times in our almost twenty years together that we took down our decorations before the New Year and that was because we had to leave our house for work out of town.

Didn’t like it.

Though I am tired of all the Christmas decorating posts, however beautiful, that have been going on since right after Thanksgiving. So I promise to post only this one photo!

We had a lovely visit with our friend yesterday with stimulating conversation and lots of laughter. It ended much too soon. As always, when someone we know and love sees the house for the first time, it was dark and rainy. Go figure. When we first moved into the cottage, we were treated to a visit by Don’s brother and his wife. We were so excited to share our house and our beautiful property with them; they had been such a source of support for us as we made the move into home ownership. They drove up here from NYC, where they had been staying on business, and it rained torrentially. A rain the locals ended up dubbing ‘a hundred years rain.’ You could barely see anything for the rain. It didn’t stop until they had left to return to the city.

It’s happened repeatedly since then. What can I say? It’s strange, but true.

Practicing some close-ups of the dollhouse (forgive any specks of dust you might see):

dhchair

dhshells

dhwickerchair

dhfireplace

dhredsink

dhsofa

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: Christmas, dollhouse, miniatures 70 Comments

Scout on Christmas Morning

December 26, 2013 at 8:42 am by Claudia

Amidst the whirlwind that is Scout when presents are involved, Don took these photos with my iPhone.

xmas1

xmas2

Eyes on the treats inside of that new water bowl. Bowl = boring. Treats = OMG!

xmas3

She can’t contain her excitement. (She has a new collar. Pink with hearts. And a matching leash.)

xmas4

xmas5

xmas7

xmas6

The whole thing was exhausting. I mean, all those presents and treats and mom and dad singing and dancing?

It’s almost too much for a girl!

I hope you had a wonderful day. We sure did. We took the day at our own pace, drank some coffee, ate a leisurely breakfast, opened presents, played around with said presents, took a walk in the very cold afternoon,  drank some hot chocolate, made a wonderful dinner, slow danced, and then topped it all off with Top Hat on TCM. Fred Astaire has long been my favorite dancer/actor/singer (I think I just might know everything there is to know about him) so that particular movie was the icing on a wonderful Christmas cake of a day.

Today will be slow-paced, full of books and reading and coffee and hot chocolate and leftovers and that pleasant relaxed feeling that comes after a lovely holiday. We are blessed.

How was your Christmas?

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: Christmas, Don, Scout 27 Comments

A Christmas Surprise

December 25, 2013 at 8:09 am by Claudia

We took a walk late yesterday afternoon. After a week that started with 63 degree temperatures, all the snow had melted, save for a few mounds here and there. When we returned to the house it was about 5 pm. Don went out to the car around 6 to grab a present that he needed to wrap. A bit of time passed as we ate dinner and got ready to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Around 8 o’clock, Scout needed to go outside, so I opened the kitchen door to let her out and stood there for a minute, not believing my eyes. Somehow, in that little pocket of time, with no warning, snow had fallen and covered the ground. Light, fluffy, about half an inch or so.

I shouted to Don, “Don! Come Here!”

I wouldn’t tell him why.

He arrived at the door, did a double take, and shouted “Snow!”

Then we cheered and hugged and said “It’s a White Christmas!”

A wonderful Christmas Eve surprise.

We ran outside to take these pictures:

christmasevehouse2

christmasevehouse3

The perfect amount of snow. We have a White Christmas.

Your last Holiday Bokeh shot:

candlebokeh

Merry Christmas to you and yours

from Claudia, Don and Scout

Filed Under: Christmas 84 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • …
  • 77
  • 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