Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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The Day the Shredder Died

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shredder

Yes, Scout is as shocked as you no doubt are.

It’s the shredder.

The sun came out for a portion of the day yesterday and the temperature soared to 50 degrees. After mailing a package and buying some groceries, I was ready to tackle the enormous job of shredding. (There are receipts in here from 2009. Need I say more?) I plugged it in, turned on the television and merrily shredded away.

Until the shredder died.

It doesn’t work anymore. This particular shredder has been around for many years and it finally gave up the ghost. Let me tell you, the sound of a shredder’s death rattle isn’t pretty. I think I got about ¾ of the way through my pile. And that was just the stuff in the basket. There’s a lot more to be dealt with around here.

Looks like I have to buy another shredder. Isn’t it enough that I hate shredding? Do I have to fork out money for another one?

Nevertheless, I did some shredding after months of avoiding it. So I’m going to give myself a pat or two on the back.

frontdoor

It was so nice yesterday that I had the front door open for a while. It made me happy. Most of the snow melted, Scout was able to move around the corral without contending with slippery ice. All was well. But of course winter has a bizarre sense of humor and we are due for 1 to 3 inches of a ‘wintry mix’ tomorrow. A wintry mix means snow mixed with rain. Which means it will be heavy. Which means I will be pissed off.

I received a little package in the mail from my friend Julie, who lives in Canada. She and a friend were out and about and they encountered a dollhouse/miniature shop. That was a lucky thing for me because she sent me these:

sewingmachine

This adorable sewing machine that is not unlike my featherweight.

knitting

And this sweet piece of knitting. Be still my heart. Thank you so much, Julie. This reminds me that the craft room/office is the only room in the dollhouse that has not been started. Time to get going on it!

And finally, a new scarf is in the Etsy shop:

scarfpeacockblue1blog

Oh so hard to photograph, but this color of silk/bamboo yarn is the most gorgeous peacock blue. It’s a true jewel tone and I’m crazy about it! The silk/bamboo combination is incredibly soft and silky to the touch. Update: Sold.

Happy Tuesday.

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Cheerfully Creative Clutter

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I seem to have taken over the den with all my paraphernalia . (My husband might say that I tend to do this will all the spaces in our home.) From my station in my blogging chair, this is what I see (no editing or staging, of course):

coffeetable1a

The coffee table: A basket full of stacks of books, papers, a Scrabble game. A catalog from a company selling miniatures. A catalog from Garnet Hill. The remote. 2 DVDs. (This week we’ve received preview copies of two movies, Silver Linings Playbook and Argo through the Screen Actors Guild and yesterday we received 3 more that are available for download on iTunes. I think I’m watching some movies this week!) My eyeglass case. My agenda. Quilting supplies: thread, air erasable fabric marking pens, a ruler, an old dog food measuring cup that I use to trace circles on my quilt.

quiltondesk

The desk: the usual things plus two books, an obsession scarf due to be mailed out tomorrow, a quilting hoop and The Quilt. Handquilting a queen-size quilt is an awkward operation. I constantly have to move layers of fabric around in order to get the hoop readjusted and find a way to get my left hand under the quilt. It’s big. It’s bulky. I’ve quilted 3 rows of blocks so far. Yesterday, Scout and I took the day off. We were exhausted. I sat in the chair hand quilting. In the evening, I moved to the sofa. We watched old westerns all afternoon: Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rifleman. And then I watched Ironman in the evening. I’d never seen if before. I like Robert Downey, Jr. He’s never boring.

den

And in this corner: yarn and lots of it. You see what I mean? All sorts of things. Add to that all the stuff on my chairside table and ottoman. I’ll spare you that.

As I looked at it yesterday, I liked seeing the cheerful clutter. Then I wondered what Don would think if he was also trying to exist in this space. The truth is that he would be just fine with it. He always says that he likes seeing creative clutter. He thinks it makes a home come alive.

I think he’s right.

I’m off to visit all the links from yesterday’s post.

And I’m linking this post to Elaine’s Sunny Simple Sundays.

Happy Sunday.

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Ripple-y Satisfaction

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Afghan? Throw? Blanket? What the heck is the correct name? I don’t know, but it’s finished.

sunedgecoffeetable

sunonbackofsofa

This is the closest I will ever get to a chevron. As you know, I’m not a fan of the chevron craze. But for a ripple blanket/throw/afghan, I will make an exception. I’ve done one other ripple throw and it lives upstairs on our bed. That particular ripple design has a gentler curve:

sunbedafghan

sunchair

This one has a more angular ripple and it skips two stitches, creating the charming little opening in the design. I have to say I really like this sort of scrappy look. I had a basic color scheme in mind, inspired by the red and tan in our den, but I added purples and greens and grays and creams as well. Each time I came to the end of a row, I made a spontaneous choice as to the next color and went with it. I also used various yarn weights and textures which can result in a wonky edge, which is why I crocheted a border around the whole thing.

sunfloor

It’s about 4 feet by 6 feet. Perfect for Don and I when we sit together on the sofa. Perfect to nap under. And for me, solo – I used it the other night as I watched “The Rifleman.” I love Lucas and Mark McCain. Ripples are addictive; I may have to start another one. How many ripples can one have? And now I’m reminded of that dreadful Ripple wine we drank in college. I prefer this ripple.

By the way, I used inexpensive yarns from Michael’s and Joanne’s. A crochet project of this size is a huge yarn-eater. The more expensive yarns would be cost prohibitive for this gal.

Drum roll. The obligatory photo of Scout with the throw:

sunscoutafghan

The whole thing has left her in a state of exhaustion.

Yesterday was a big day for the kitchen floor. Not only did I spread the afghan/throw/blanket out on it so that I could get a photo, I moved the table and chairs out of the room so that I could pin baste my quilt:

sunquilt1

Lots of ironing, lots of cursing, lots of moving around on my knees (not so fun at my age). But, surprisingly, it didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would.

sunquilt2

I have a quilt frame out in the shed that I’ve used for basting purposes in the past. I took a moment to venture out there and briefly considered using it again for this. But it’s really long, it’s in the back of the shed and it’s icy out there, so I went with the floor method. This is the perfect thing to do when Don is away. Keeping Ms. Scout out of the kitchen, however, was another story. There were a few sneaky attempts to walk on the quilt.

And I crocheted another obsession scarf for a customer. Where the heck did I get all this energy? You’ll notice I didn’t use it for cleaning closets, organizing drawers, sorting through paperwork and…shredding.

Can you blame me?

Happy Sunday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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