Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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A Bird and an Egg Cup

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This morning, I heard the carolina wren singing and I opened the blinds to see him standing in front of the trailer. After Don and I watched him sing, both of us so happy that he’s back, we noticed that both  of them were on site.

I grabbed my big girl camera to take some shots with my telephoto lens. I haven’t used it in so long that the battery quickly died – but I managed to get a couple of shots.

If you look closely, you’ll see he’s got some nest-making material hanging from his beak.

Peeking out from inside his reclaimed home.

We are over-the-moon that they are back again. Spring. Carolina wrens. A nest. Shoulders dropping. Happy.

I also got something special in the mail yesterday. It was a great deal on eBay. As you know, my egg cup collection is pretty big and the figurals that I love so much are harder to find these days. So I rarely buy a new cup and when I do it’s usually a more traditional egg cup. Once in a blue moon, I look at the listings on eBay. I did just that a week or two ago and I saw a lovely little Spode egg cup.

The pattern is Chelsea Bird.

I was taken by the design of the cup; that flower and the wonderful combination of spring green and a deep, rusty red. That’s a pheasant on the inside, which I’ve since discovered is the predominant feature of that Spode pattern.

But my delight quadrupled when I saw that there were two dragonflies and a bug on the inside the cup.

I think that’s a dragonfly…

Beetle? Something else?

And the other side of the exterior:

It’s quite detailed and tiny. Those special touches on the interior make it a treasure.

It was only $12.00 – a steal. Spode made this pattern from the late 1800s until 1927 or 1928. So we know it’s at least almost a hundred years old – probably older.

I really, really love it.

It’s sunny right now, but it will be chillier today. And then we have rain starting tomorrow.

I’m so glad that spring has sprung.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Sunday Update

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Thanks for your well wishes for Don. He is in pain, but he’s sure he didn’t break anything. If this goes on much longer, he’ll have it checked out. We’ve been icing, etc. I’m taking care of him. But keep him in your prayers, okay?

I went over to our neighbors’ property yesterday to try to shovel their driveway. Unfortunately, the snow is like a block of ice, so I had to chop at it with the shovel and then clear some of it in layers as best I could. They have a long curved driveway. Sadly, I didn’t get too far. It was too hard on my back and my neck.  I managed to clear enough so they could at least pull in off the road.

Then I texted Laura and explained what was going on – Don’s injury, my back – and she immediately responded with sympathy and a “Don’t worry! We’ll take care of it!” We have good neighbors.

I finished this yesterday. It was extremely difficult and a real challenge. I loved it. This isn’t the best photo, but it’s beautifully designed.

And, amazingly, a Blythe outfit that went missing in the post arrived yesterday. It came from Russia and arrived in the US in November, where it sat on a barge for a long time and we gave up hope. Then it showed up in Chicago, where it also sat for almost 2 months. But it dropped off the radar again, so Olga refunded my money. This past week, she wrote me saying it looked like it had resurfaced again. Go figure! This time, the delay had nothing to do with Russia but with the USPS. It took 103 days to get here.

Maeve is today’s model:

This is as close to a cat as Maeve will get since Mom is allergic. Olga – pippydolls on IG – makes beautiful clothes. And she has been such a great communicator during all of this. We became friends.

Today, we’re laying low here at the cottage. With all the melting and then temps plunging down to single digits at night, it’s slippery out there. But it’s going to reach 45 today, so once that happens, I’ll venture out to put out the trash, etc. I won’t let Don do it.

The egg cups arrived safe and sound. Country Living did a great job of packing and protecting them. They’re back home in the cubby and on the shelves.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Puzzles and Egg Cups

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Dickens puzzle in progress. I spent a fair amount of time on it yesterday. It’s very engrossing, which is what I need now.

We ventured into the neighboring college town and I bought some boxes and bubble wrap and tape. Since we live in such a small house, I’ve learned not to hang on to boxes because we just don’t have the storage space. We recycle all that cardboard. I did have a bit of bubble wrap on hand, but I needed more. Then we came back to the house and I proceeded to wrap each egg cup in bubble wrap, placing sheets of it between the layers of egg cups. Country Living sent me a UPS label and today I’ll drop it off for shipping. I have to say that that the woman I’m working with couldn’t be nicer. She completely understands my worries about the egg cups in transit and during the time that CL is doing the shoot. Since this is what she does for a living, I think all will be well.

A lot of the ice on the trees and plants melted yesterday and more will melt today. But in the meantime, it’s gray and foggy out there.

We’re watching the Olympics, as we always do, and are grateful for the distraction. I’ve been a bit distracted myself by my worries about the weather and the need to package up the egg cups and send them off so they arrive in time for the shoot. Once I drop them off today, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief.

I’m gearing up to do some work on the exterior of the English Cottage. I want to seal the stones with Mod Podge and then add some mortar. The process will be messy, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I realize that the stones will look more realistic and aged that way. I’m excited about it.

Okay, my friends. I have to get going.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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