Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for Fiesta

Fiesta, An Egg Cup & A Movie

March 28, 2019 at 10:41 am by Claudia

You remember my recent post about the Fiesta collection I used to own? And how I lament my decision to sell it? I referenced a Fiesta yellow footed compote that used to sit on my kitchen table back in the days when I lived in Cambridge, MA. That bright pop of yellow and the simple, yet beautiful lines of the compote made it one of my favorite pieces.

Well, reader Kelli reached out to me in the comments, saying that she had that compote and was about to sell it, and several weeks later, here we are.

It arrived yesterday. Isn’t it gorgeous? The timing was perfect – it looks like it was meant to be sitting next to those tulips.

My plan is to put it in the center of the kitchen table when I move the fern back out to the porch.

I’m torn about the fern, which is looking better than it did on the porch, simply because light is coming at it from all sides. But it won’t do well with the air conditioner, which sits in that window. So it does have to go back outside. I’ll have to turn it more often. (As you can tell, I’ve bonded with the fern.)

Anyway, back to the compote. I’m so happy to have one again! Thank you so much, Kelli. Kelli lives in my home state of Michigan. Michiganders are the nicest people! There, I’ve said it.

In other news, imagine my happiness when I saw that a Sleepy egg cup was up for auction on eBay.

Then imagine my shock when I saw the price:

Whoa! I don’t think so.

What makes this frustrating is the fact that I NEVER see Sleepy egg cups come up for auction. And to finally see it, but listed at a ridiculously exorbitant price? Big sigh of disappointment.

There’s a little story about these cups. The one you’re looking at in the above listing is the original design for the cup. There are also Sleepy egg cups out there that look exactly like Sneezy; the same dwarf, same facial expression, only the name is Sleepy, not Sneezy.

Both are collectible: one for its accuracy, the other for what must have been some sort of weird production choice. I’d love to know the real story behind it. Anyway, maybe I should play the lottery today…perhaps I could come up with $400.00. I’m going to follow the auction simply because I’m curious. Will someone actually buy it? Will there be multiple bids? Or will the auction time out with no bids?

You can almost buy a whole set of the egg cups for that amount. In fact, I’ve seen them listed for $350.00.

We had one of our movie nights with Doug and Rick last night. We watched The Misfits, one of my favorite movies. So powerful. The stories about that film! Marilyn Monroe was often late to the set. Arthur Miller, her husband at the time, was the screenwriter. They were in the process of separating. Gable insisted on doing some of his stunts, one of which was in the scene where he gets dragged by a wild Mustang. One day after the filming was completed, Gable had a heart attack and eleven days later, he died. Monroe died the next year. Montgomery Clift (one of my favorite actors) died five years later. I think it was the best work of both Monroe and Gable.  It’s a haunting film, directed by the great John Huston (who apparently was often late to the set because he’d been up all night gambling) and one where I have to cover my eyes at times. The scenes of them roping the wild mustangs are difficult to watch. But the story and the power of that film! The four of us talked about it for an hour afterwards.

And Rick, who is becoming an excellent baker, made a flourless chocolate cake. Oh my heavens! We cheated on our diet, of course. You would have, too!

Okay. Have to go mail the bills.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: egg cups, Fiesta, movies, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs egg cups 38 Comments

A Little Trip Down Apartment Memory Lane

March 7, 2019 at 10:50 am by Claudia

In sorting through a box of photos and memorabilia that my parents had, I found some photos of my apartment in Cambridge. I sent them to Mom and Dad so they could visualize where and how I lived. Some of these you might have seen before because I have a set somewhere, as well.

These three photos are here for specific reasons.

Sorry for the light flash on the photo. I’m taking pictures of pictures because I don’t want to go upstairs and scan them.

The loveseat: That’s the living room loveseat in its original position in my apartment. I needed something that would fit into the recess created by the bay window. It came with two of those patterned pillows. I bought that coffee table for a song when I spotted it while taking a walk up Mass Avenue. I bought the rug, too. It lived in my apartment in San Diego, as well as our house in San Diego. Check out the diamond panes on the windows! Goodness, I loved that apartment. Tons of light. Perfect for plants, which I had everywhere. I had to leave all of them behind when I moved to CA, because you aren’t allowed to bring plants into the state – or at least, you weren’t allowed to back in 1993. My friend Eve, who eventually took over the apartment, kept them.

Fiesta collection: I started collecting vintage Fiesta when I was living in Cambridge. I found it everywhere, but my best source was a woman who ran a vintage shop in Somerville. When she found a piece, she would call and leave a message on my answering machine. No email yet. No cell phones. Just phone calls and messages. Also: no eBay. There’s another shelf of it to the left that is out of the frame. I loved that collection.

I eventually sold it to a collector when we were living in San Diego.

Why did I do that? I suspect we needed the money and I guess I wanted to move on to other things, but I regret it a wee bit. I did pull a few favorite pieces to keep; some salad plates, a huge platter, two coffee pots, a tea pot, and two large mixing bowls, a gravy boat, and a water pitcher.

But now that I look at that photo, why didn’t I save the red bud vase? Or the other mixing bowls (Maybe I did? Maybe they’re inside the other bowls? I’ll have to look.) Or that gorgeous yellow compote on the table?

The answer, I’m sure, is that they were the priciest items and so, I sold them. I can’t remember the total price of the Fiesta I sold, but it was well over a $1000.00. Again, no eBay. I did have a computer by that point, but the only way to sell was to find a user group of Fiesta collectors. That’s how I found my buyer.

The other side of the kitchen had that sink I told you about. And there was also a nice-sized pantry. I made the pillows on the chairs from a vintage tablecloth.

I sat in the chair on the left when I got the message that my brother died. I remember that very clearly. My friend Annette, who died last year, ran downstairs to comfort me.

In my bedroom, the table/desk: For the life of me, I can’t remember how I got hold of that retro table (which I loved). Did someone give it to me? I had very little money in those days and I don’t remember buying it. I must have left it behind when I moved to San Diego. (Why, Claudia? Why?)  This is the kind of table I have always loved. So what was I thinking? I must have felt that I had no room for it in my San Diego apartment.

I wore that hat everywhere. Big brim, floppy yet stylish. I loved it.

That red chair was part of a set of four that I took out of an apartment I shared with a roommate when we were going to grad school in Philadelphia. I’m not sure if they were actual Thonet or not, but I painted them a bright, glossy red. Sadly, I left them 3 of them behind in Philadelphia because there was no room for them in the apartment I was moving to in Boston – the smallest apartment I have ever lived in. I might as well have lived in a pod.

The Cambridge apartment had hardwood floors throughout. Two big windows in the kitchen, five windows in the living room, three windows in the bedroom, a bathroom with vintage black and white tiles on the floor and a long hallway that was wide enough to house three bookcases. The living room had a lovely non-working fireplace. Eventually, Mary, the owner of the building, died and all the apartments were converted to condos. I suspect that the very elements I loved – the pantry, the kitchen sink, the tile on the bathroom floor, the hardwood floors – were tossed in the upgrade.

Sigh.

There are other photos of the apartment on the blog. Just go to the sidebar and search for “Cambridge” and “apartment.”

A little walk down memory lane. And now I’m going to search for that yellow compote on eBay. Because, when I move the fern to the porch again in a month, it would look perfect in the middle of the kitchen table. Besides, it was one of my favorite pieces.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: antiques, Cambridge, Fiesta 23 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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