Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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A Bit of Everything on Saturday

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4-23 hartfordstage

I’m back home after a long and satisfying day working on Anastasia.

When I pulled in the driveway around 8 pm, Don had dinner waiting, bless him. What a guy! He also spent the morning putting in our new mailbox. When the guys were here working on our culvert, they had to pull the mailbox out of the ground and when they put it back in, it was too low in height. Our wonderful post person, Lori, had to lean way over to open the box. As the mailbox itself was incredibly rusty after almost 11 years of service, Don replaced the whole thing. And he mowed the lawn.

First things first: today is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. And April 23rd is also considered to be his birthdate, though we can’t know that for sure. Since a great deal of my work has to do with Shakespeare as I gradually work my way through the canon, I couldn’t let this anniversary pass without saying – once again – that I think Shakespeare was the greatest writer ever to walk this earth. I never tire of his work. No matter how many times I’ve worked on a particular play, I learn something new. He understood the human heart. He understood good, greed, temptation, passion, joy, love, jealousy, hate – everything we humans feel and fall prey to. He understood the metaphysical. He was simply a genius. Thank you, Will!

4-23 redrobinfarm

I posted this on Instagram the other day. When we were out and about on Primary Day, I saw this in our local antique barn. Oh, my heavens. It’s a dollhouse – or rather, a doll barn – called Red Robin Farm. Those doors slide open and the inside is a barn with stalls for animals. The roof lifts off.

I did a little research and this building was manufactured by an American company – Converse, based in Massachusetts – in the early part of the twentieth century. There were varying sizes of these buildings. It looks like this one was one of the largest.

If I’d had an extra $265.00 on hand, I would have seriously considered this beauty. It’s in great condition. Made of wood.

But I must tend to other things, like this little project:

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As you can see, I have yet to deal with the front porch or the trim around the bottom of the building. And I suppose I have to put a roof on, though I don’t want to.

Decisions, decisions. Will I get it done in time for Don’s birthday on June 24th? I have ordered a few more components, but I need some sort of work table that is a bit taller than the temporary farm table I have in there at the moment. I need to figure out how to make a sound board. I’m ordering a couple of stools and I need a coffee maker. What else? A large rug to absorb sound while recording. Lots and lots of vinyl records. I want to make some sort of shelf to hold the records – something I can hang on the wall.

Can I do it? Cross your fingers.

Happy Saturday.

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On the Road and Mini Roseville Pottery

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Greetings from Hartford. I headed to the city yesterday afternoon, as I have an all-day rehearsal ahead of me and trying to get here during the morning rush hour would have been a futile and frustrating endeavor. As it was it took me longer than usual to reach Hartford due to evening rush hour traffic.

I spent most of the evening watching the news coverage of the untimely death of Prince. Shocking. Much too young. And so continues a year of untimely deaths in the music world.

Before I left, Caroline asked me to take some pictures of her newest finds. As I was packing and running around the cottage, I told her I had to do it quickly. (I don’t know where her camera is, but surely she can afford one?)

4-22 miniroseville

Oh my goodness!

I’m trying to curb my immediate reaction, which is pure jealousy.

On the left, Peony. On the right, Iris.

I have a few pieces of Peony, but not a one in Iris. I asked Caroline where she found them, but she refused to reveal her source. We watched the movie Spotlight  the other night – maybe she thinks she’s a reporter?

Spotlight, by the way, was excellent. The Martian, on the other hand, was not. (Why, I wonder, was every astronaut, every employee of the Johnson Space Center, and every reporter impossibly young and beautiful? And that was the least absurd aspect of the movie.)

But back to the mini Roseville.

4-22 ontheshelf

Caroline quickly rearranged her shelf to add the Peony piece to the mix. You can see the Blu Tack that secures each piece. That will have to remedied at a future date. I had no time to deal with that as I had to get on the road.

4-22 onthecabinet

She placed the Iris vase on top of the cabinet, but didn’t really like it there. She has since moved it to the mantel.

I’ll get a picture of that when I get back home.

(Thanks to reader Mickey who sent me a link to this shop, SP Miniatures, where I found more of the Jeannetta Kendall miniature Roseville pottery!)

And now it’s time to get ready for rehearsal. This will be the first time I’ve seen the cast since the announcement that Anastasia is going to go to Broadway. Very, very exciting!

Happy Friday.

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Mini Gifts for Caroline (I’m Not Jealous. I’m Not.)

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I guess it’s no secret that Caroline has a boyfriend. This is rather a big deal because she likes to stay unattached. She has a busy schedule. She’s fiercely independent. She earns a good salary and bought her house a few years ago. She travels. She likes her own company.

She’s kept the whole thing fairly quiet (she’s very private.) I respect that, having been through much the same thing when I first met Don.

However, yesterday she called out to me and asked me to drop by Hummingbird Cottage. She wanted to show me something. She was clearly excited. I’d venture to say she was almost giddy.

He had given her a present, seemingly out of the blue. “Look!” she said. “He gets me!”

4-16 minirosevillefromadmirer

Oh my goodness! Bravo! He definitely gets her.

I can see why she was so excited. Two beautiful pieces of Roseville in the White Rose pattern. I have one piece in White Rose. Caroline now has three!

They’re beautiful.

I watched as she walked around the living room, searching for the best place to display each piece. The shelf that holds four pieces of Roseville is rather crowded, so she needed to branch out.

4-16 peachrosevilleontable

She moved some things off that little blue table and replaced them with the salmon colored jardiniere. She thought, and rightly so, that it worked with the rug and the Aubusson pillow on the sofa. Beautiful, Caroline. (She does have good taste, doesn’t she?)

Now for the vase.

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Ah. The mantel. It looks lovely there. (We won’t go into my jealousy over Caroline’s mantel. It doesn’t speak well of me.)

A closer look:

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I love it. In fact, (yes, the green-eyed monster is rearing its ugly head again) I’m rather coveting that vase. Note to self: must check out White Rose patterns on eBay. STAT.

I tried to get a good photo of the living room this morning so I could show you how the Roseville is placed throughout the living room, but the light is lacking. I’ll get one this afternoon. I have to say that the Roseville adds a lovely, warm, vintage touch to the room.

This guy sounds like a keeper.

Happy Saturday.

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