Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Dove Cottage at Christmas

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We’ve been getting snow/rain/sleet/snow/rain/sleet and it’s supposed to last until tomorrow. It’s messy and rather ugly out there, not to mention dangerous. This is not the pretty snow that we had recently. Next week, hopefully, will be just snow. Don is disappointed that it’s raining and not snowing. They’re calling this a nor’easter. I’m calling it a pain in the tush.

A quick little tour of Dove Cottage at Christmas:

The owner had to move the furniture around to accommodate the tree.

As you know, I make these trees, starting with a cheap bottlebrush tree as the base. I glue pieces of lycopodium, which is a preserved pine, to the base. It’s very time consuming and a mess, as I get glue all over my hands. But much better in the end than a bottlebrush tree. I try to be as realistic as possible with my miniatures so that kind of tree wouldn’t work. As a small decoration, yes. You can see that I have a couple of small tabletop bottlebrush trees in the room, just like I have here at my life-sized cottage.

Sorry for the glare on the wallpaper. Light quality is very tricky in the winter. There’s a small bottlebrush tree on the island, too, but it’s hard to see here.

And on the front porch – a wreath on the door.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit the Lake Cottage.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Mini Decorations

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Over the next couple of days, I’ll share the Christmas decorations in the dollhouses with you. Nothing much has changed, but it’s fun taking pictures every year.

First up: Hummingbird Cottage.

Christmas is celebrated in the den on the second floor. There just isn’t enough room for a tree in the living room. Caroline hasn’t finished yet – there’s still a box of Shiny Brites on the stool.

Downstairs in the living room, a couple of Christmas touches:

Two bottle brush trees on the hearth.

(Note the back of the heads of Lily and Wren in the front door window…I forgot they were there when I took the picture! An interesting look at scale – those little dolls seem so tiny next to the Blythes, but they’re huge in comparison to the dollhouse.)

A wreath hung on the newel post.

I’ve decorated Dove Cottage and Lake Cottage (the vintage house in the den) as well.

As in real life, I don’t do a lot of decorating. In the case of the dollhouses, I make the trees and add a few touches, but I don’t like to spend a lot of money on miniatures I can only use once a year.

I just finished The Twist of a Knife, the book by Anthony Horowitz. I enjoyed it. It’s an easy read and it reminds me of an Agatha Christie mystery. I’m hoping to get an email from the library saying a book I ordered has arrived. Fingers crossed.

We’re getting more snow tomorrow – maybe 3 inches? And then we’ll get some rain. Next week, we might get 5 – 8 inches. Yikes! Of course, that can change, but we just might have a white Christmas.

Happy Birthday to my dear cousin Eileen, who reads this blog. I love you, Eileen.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Nature, Miniatures, and Spoiler Alert

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Yesterday was a full-on amazing nature day.

Spectacular sunrise with a pink sky as far as we could see. A spectacular sunset. Two murmurations of starlings on our property that were truly magnificent and glorious. At one point, I looked out the back window in the kitchen and there was a huge hawk standing on the ground eating something. I’ve never seen a hawk land on our property and stay there for at least ten minutes. Don said he was eating big, fat worms. It was amazing to watch – all of this was happening as we were talking to someone on the phone!

Wow.

Turning to miniatures, I’ve been trying to find a vintage-looking stove other than an Aga for quite a while. Almost impossible to find. Then a friend reminded me of the Hallmark Keepsake ornament from 2004, which you can still find on eBay. It’s very Christmasy and loaded with things I don’t want (and have already started to remove) but it reminds me of our stove. It’s 1:12 scale, or pretty close to that. It arrived in yesterday’s mail. It’s plastic, of course.

This ornament was designed to be plugged into a Christmas light strand and there was a fragrance pack tucked into the rear of the stove – sort of an apple spice scent. You plugged it in and you could smell cookies baking. I think there was a light in the oven, as well. It will need some work, as I’ve already removed the salt and pepper shakers, cookie sheets, and mugs, so I’ll have to repaint the top of the stove. I know of at least one other miniaturist who has worked with this ornament, so I’m going to check out her stove, which I believe she has since sold. I also have to cut off the electrical cord.

But I think this will look great in the Beacon Hill, don’t you?

Spoiler Alert  opens nationwide today! Go see it – it’s a wonderful movie with beautiful performances by everyone. Jim and Ben will make you laugh and break your heart at the same time. Sally and Bill are brilliant, as one would expect. And you can see me!

I’m so proud of this and my little contribution. My work with Ben paid off as he aced the dialect, and I managed not to embarrass myself in my scene. Who would have thought I’d be acting again, on screen, after 30 years?

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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