dollhouse — Page 75

Living in a Dollhouse, Morning Glories, Reading

September 22, 2015 at 9:26 am by Claudia

The morning glories have been slow in coming. One flower will appear every few days. Only one. While I would love to have a profusion of morning glories, I sort of like this one-at-a-time business. It heightens the pleasure, the beauty.

I was surprised, therefore, to see three new flowers yesterday. That’s a first for this summer.

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Three new beauties and one from the day before.

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This one. Equally beautiful.

When our friend Adrian was here, he was very charmed by our cottage. When he said, “It’s like a dollhouse!” I smiled and thought, well there you go! I never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. We live in a dollhouse. (A dollhouse that contains other, smaller dollhouses.) I have a feeling that if any of you were to stop by for some tea and scones, you’d say the same thing.

I like that. Oh lord, we get so frustrated by lack of storage space, by having no usable basement or attic or garage. We say, “This house is too small!!” And it is. But, then again, it’s gosh-darned charming. And after having thoroughly cleaned it in preparation for Adrian’s visit, we look on it with fresh eyes and fall in love with it once again.

We really concentrated on the guest room/office/studio which ends up being a catch-all room for everything that doesn’t have a ‘place’. Don took on that room, as he’s the one who uses it the most, especially in the winter months. He did a bang-up job. It looks great.

It’s autumn. The nesting instinct has one again hit me smack in the face.

9-22 two mgs

By the way, I’ve finished Come Rain or Come Shine by Jan Karon (which is being released today) and am now happily immersed in the world of Three Pines via The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny.

There’s a review of Come Rain or Come Shine on Just Let Me Finish This Page today.

I’m hoping to get some work done on the Top Secret Project this week. Wish me luck!

Happy Tuesday.

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She’s Strangely Competitive

September 15, 2015 at 9:05 am by Claudia

It was bound to happen.

Upon reading yesterday’s post, Caroline had a request. She wanted some ‘As Is’ photos of her house. Pronto.

No matter that I wasn’t feeling well, that I was constantly blowing my nose and sucking on lozenges. She would not be deterred. Finally, simply to put an end to constant chatter coming from Hummingbird Cottage, I got out the camera.

Here you go. Caroline’s house. As Is.

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9-15 dh ottoman

9-15 dh porch

9-15 dh bedroom

9-15 dh fireplace

9-15 dh studio

9-15 dh coffeetable

9-15 dh kitchen

9-15 dh parrish

Actually, Caroline and I had a couple of spats yesterday. I was under the weather, tired, and not very patient. She was in a strangely argumentative mood.

The first was over Maxfield Parrish. She said, and rightly, that she had her very own Maxfield Parrish print before I did. I agreed. However, I had to remind her that without my long-held love of Parrish’s work, she wouldn’t have known about him. I was the one who suggested Parrish to her. I told her all about his work as a painter and illustrator. Consequently, she grew to love his work. Since Caroline had more money in the bank than I did at the time, she bought the print and I hung it for her.

The second was over the watermark on my photos. She thought that it should read: Hummingbird Cottage. I explained that the watermark has less to do with the subject matter of the photos, i.e., her cottage, than with the blog itself. She pressed further. No, I said, the watermark has to do with the name of the blog (and the photographer), not the name of your house. And yes, the name of the blog is the same as the name of my house.

As you can imagine, this got Caroline thinking about creating her own blog. Have at it, I said. But when she realized how much work was involved in maintaining a blog, she backed off. She’s far too busy for that, she said.

Crisis averted.

• On another note, if you followed the wildly popular blog, Young House Love (they stopped blogging just about a year ago,) you might be interested in this podcast interview with them. I listened to it yesterday. It’s about an hour long, but if you have the time, I think you’ll enjoy it. Much is said about the quality of life, where blogging leaves off and real life begins, and the sometimes frustrating exercise of trying to please a demanding blog readership. They are admirable people.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Tuesday.

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Midweek Check-in

September 9, 2015 at 8:57 am by Claudia

Two new tires on old car. Check.

Inspection on newer car to be done today. Almost check.

Dollhouse photos submitted to British magazine. Check.

Two nights in a row of too little sleep. Check.

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But it’s sunny and beautiful outside and the flowers are still blooming. I miss seeing birds in the birdbath. Every year about mid-August, I notice the lack of activity out there and it makes me sad. I get such pleasure from watching them frolic in the water. I feel like a mom whose kids have left the nest. Come back, little birds! (It should be the title of a play.)

9-9 roses

The Lady Elsie May roses are doing well. I cut them back severely this spring. There were so many dead canes that the whole bush needed a haircut. Now, I have to decide what to do about its neighbor – the Julia Child rose. It had leaves this year, but no rosebuds. Do I get rid of it? Or do I give it one last chance with a haircut?

9-9 journalfromtammy

I’ve been the lucky recipient of a couple of gifts lately. Tammy, one of my longtime blogging friends who lives in Kuwait, sent me this beautiful journal that she made, along with a crocheted heart. Isn’t it lovely?

Thank you, Tammy!

And Barbara sent some goodies for the Top Secret Project. DON: Stop here!

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Some teeny-tiny baseball cards from L. Delaney.

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And a mini record album, complete with record – Abbey Road, of course. Barbara must have read my mind. I’m going to have a turntable in the studio, along with a record album collection. This Beatles album is the perfect start. As you know, Don is a huge Beatles fan.

The album is also by L. Delaney. I’ve ordered from her before and she has a wonderful Etsy shop.

Thank you, Barbara!

By the way, the article about the dollhouse will most likely be in the January issue. I’ll let you know more about it in a few months.

Happy Wednesday.

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Living in a Dollhouse, Morning Glories, Reading

She’s Strangely Competitive

Midweek Check-in

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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