Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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The Pink Cabinet

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I know I’ve mentioned this before, but you do know that emails of the blog posts come from a separate email address, and that I have no way of responding to you when you choose to comment via a response to the email? I still get a lot of comments that way – and I read them – but I can’t respond to them. So, if you really want a direct response, come to the blog and comment here. If you simply want to write to me and don’t care whether I respond or not, then have at it.

I say this today because I got a response like that from Claudia in Oklahoma about a month ago. I came across it the other day, when I was cleaning out my inbox. Claudia was responding to a post about Vintage by Crystal; she had fallen in love with Crystal’s whimsical spun cotton creations. And she asked how I displayed them. (I hope you’ve found a piece that you love, Claudia!)

So I went upstairs and took some photos for you. Keep in mind that my Santa that sits on a bell and my Butterfly Rider are displayed right here in the den. But everything else is upstairs in the office.

They’re in my pink cabinet in my little hideaway at the top of the stairs.

I’ll take you on a little tour.

The top shelf holds several pieces of Roseville Pottery, including a child’s plate. On the right is an antique napkin holder inscribed with “Claudia.” My friend Lynne gave that to me.

The middle shelf holds several pieces of cream-colored McCoy Pottery, as well as a pottery deer (maker unknown). In the back is a pink cardboard candy box that holds letters my grandmother exchanged with her youngest sister, Rhoda, when Gram was attending nursing school in Barrie, Ontario. I’ve read many of them. Rhoda died at the age of 15 in the flu epidemic of 1918, along with an older sister, Maggie. Grandma never got over that. And from what I’ve read, Rhoda sounded delightful – full of life, funny, and kind. I wish I’d known her. And Maggie. Both gone long before I was born.

The Friends framed motto was a gift from my friend Lori, who owns Vignettes in San Diego. The pink powder puff was hand made by a blogging friend from long ago, who, sadly, no longer blogs. The Swarovski crystal bunnies came from Barbara. On the left, a Vintage by Crystal creation that looks like my mom when she was a little girl. On the right, a Valentine girl.

The bottom shelf holds copies of the magazines and book in which I was published. On top are little trinket holders that I love. Next to them are two chocolate boxes; one from Harrods in London and one from Laduree in Paris. And a little Paris/Eiffel Tower medallion I bought several years ago from Vignettes. Another piece of Roseville (the hard to find, an even harder to afford Cherry Blossom). Behind it, four vintage glove boxes. And then more Vintage by Crystal.

The elf is a Christmas ornament and not from Vintage by Crystal, but everything else here is. The two bunnies were my very first purchases.

So, that’s how I display them. I don’t do seasonal displays as a rule; rather, I prefer to have things out where I can see them all year long.

I have eight pieces by Crystal and – yes – I succumbed once more during yesterday’s blog sale. I’ll show you that when it arrives. I hope this helps, Claudia! I hope you see this post.

I love all the pieces I have displayed in my three china cabinets, but I must admit, this one is my favorite. It’s my ‘private’ cabinet, tucked away in our office. It’s painted a pale pink, it sits perpendicular to my desk, and I can see some of my favorite treasures when I’m working there. On top of the cabinet are my dolls and a poster for Anastasia. In fact, I went upstairs yesterday to work on the dollhouse and take these pictures, however, I ended up simply faffing the inside of the cabinet. I added that paper that backs the bottom shelf.

I’ll go stare at it some more today. It makes me happy. And I’ll share some more views of my little corner of our office in the next couple of days.

It’s Easter time. Yesterday, I started to post a little round-up of egg cups on Instagram. The first? Bunny-themed egg cups.

Adorable.

Happy Friday.

Oh So Satisfying

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The temperature hit 60 degrees yesterday. I had all the windows open, as well as the front door. Light was streaming into the cottage and I decided that this was the day to tackle the wardrobe/cabinet in the living room.

I found it at an auction many years ago. It’s huge, has interior shelves, and I love it. $100.00! One of my favorite “steals.” It has such style. It has furnished us with storage that we wouldn’t have otherwise, which is why I got it in the first place. Over the years, it became the repository for office supplies, jewel boxes and CDs (from the time that Don was recording his songs), telephone books (do we really need them anymore?), binders holding every script I have worked on since we moved here – stacks of them, old theater contact sheets, old bills, paycheck stubs…you name it.

You have to be in a ruthless mood. I was – a strange combination of ruthless and happy – so I tackled it. First, I used some Murphy’s Oil Soap on both the pew and the coffee table. Then, armed with contractors bags, which are huge, I started throwing things away. Three contractors bags later, I was done. Well, not quite. I had to wait until Don got home to ask him about his blank CDs and his masters for some of his recordings. He sorted through those and then we were done.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity of an almost empty cabinet to remove the McCoy from the top and push it to the left about 3 inches, so there could be some space between the cabinet and the pew.

And now the door shuts again. I had been propping the child’s chair against the cabinet to keep the door closed.

Now there’s a little air between all three pieces.

And you can see some of the carving on the pew. And it’s easy to pull out from the wall if you want to see more.

Such a satisfying day! I’ve long known I had to tackle the cabinet. I just kept putting it off. But the addition of the pew, along with my need to see some of the carving detail, which necessitated moving the cabinet, is what clinched it.

Even warmer today with possible rain, then back down to the mid-forties tomorrow, which is still positively balmy considering what we’ve been through this winter. No complaints from me.

I woke to the horrific news from New Zealand. I will never understand how such hatred can exist. My heart is with you, New Zealand.

With hopes for an end to hate with the realization that we are all one,

Happy Friday.

Biting the Bullet

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Say goodbye to this little loveseat. Actually, say goodbye in 8 – 12 weeks. We just bit the bullet and ordered a new loveseat – or apartment sofa, as it seems to be called nowadays. I’ve had this little baby since about 1990, so that makes it nearly 30 years old. It wasn’t that well made to begin with, and it’s been, how shall I say it, well used. I had it for years. The first time Don came over to my apartment, we started kissing while sitting on that sofa, Scout and Riley used to jump up on it, especially Scout. It was her place for years. Now Don uses it on a daily basis. But the wood frame at the center of the front of the sofa is cracking. Sometimes I hear it crack some more when we’re both sitting on it, which we do every morning.

So it was time for an upgrade. We ordered through a company that has an online presence, one I’ve been familiar with for several years. It’s made to order, hence the big lead time.

But we did it! We hardly ever buy anything new, but we do buy new sofas and beds. The other sofa in the den needs to be replaced as well. It’s about 25 years old. But it will have to stay as is for a while. We only sit on it in the evenings, so it can hang on a bit longer. Money is tight, but as I watched that crack in the wood getting deeper, I knew we had to make a move.

But goodness, I ended up having at least 10 swatches sent to our house. We spent at least three weeks trying to decide. Then we found another fabric and material that we liked two days ago, so we had our consultant take photos of it because we didn’t want to wait for the swatch to be sent. It’s, shall we say, a more vivid color. Fingers crossed that it works here. We’re pretty sure it will.

Then this morning, after too little sleep again, we sat down and looked at other options with other companies, and we ended up coming back to our original choice.

Now, I’m exhausted. We’ve been awake since 4:30 am.

I always freak out a bit when we make a large purchase.

Don said there are so many memories tied up with the current loveseat that he can’t get rid of it. So it will go in our storage space. I’m sure that we’ll end up getting rid of it someday, but he just can’t handle the idea of trashing it right now. He’s sentimental, that guy.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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