Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Finally Relaxing

August 27, 2021 at 9:54 am by Claudia

From our foggy, dewy, soon-to-be-unbearably-humid garden. One more day of this crap and then we’ll have some relief.

This may be my favorite of the many zinnias blooming in the garden.

Also seen this morning, exiting after having flown into the center of a morning glory:

Love seeing the pollen on his legs.

I’m going to try to weed whack this morning before it gets too hot. Don is going to do a bit of mowing.

I’m just now relaxing after a very stressful and packed two weeks. It feels good. I officially started one-on-one coaching for the movie with a session yesterday afternoon.

I can now attend to some things around here – I haven’t painted in about 3 weeks due to a combination of things; needing a break, the whole Beacon Hill dollhouse trip, the initial email from Jim and then two weeks of wondering if I would get the job, discovering that the Beacon Hill smells musty, researching what to do about it and working on that when I wasn’t working on my interview for the movie job. And life.

Hopefully, I’ll get back to painting tomorrow when the temperature drops and the excess humidity leaves. Once again, we have a heat advisory today. August has been hellish, weather-wise.

Drum roll: yes, I’m going to say it now. I’m looking forward to Fall. Maybe August is what it is in order to have our bodies and minds accept and even welcome the seasonal change. It sure is this year.

Getting close to finishing The Woman in Blue  by Elly Griffiths. I have the next one in the series in my TBR pile. I find that even though I have lots of other books I want to start, I end up choosing the next Griffiths because I’m hooked.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: bees, books, flowers 14 Comments

Friday

August 20, 2021 at 9:14 am by Claudia

We made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s on our way back from Pennsylvania. Don wanted to grab a few things and I jumped at the chance to buy some inexpensive flowers.

It’s been a very tiring week. Very. Lots going on. I’m really looking forward to kicking back a bit. Though I do have to grab a few rain-free hours this morning to do some mowing. It rained yesterday and was incredibly humid. It’s going to rain and storm this afternoon, tomorrow, and Sunday – due, in part, to the hurricane moving up the east coast. Oh, joy. Another hurricane.

Anyway, I’m tired. Don is tired. We just need to hang out for a couple of days and I guess that’s guaranteed given the weather headed our way.

I didn’t do anything more with the Beacon Hill yesterday. Still trying to fix some things or at least, figure out how  to fix them. I’ve looked at a lot of other finished Beacon Hills and realize that the foundation under the bay windows and kitchen windows is missing. So I’ve downloaded the instructions and I’m going to try to figure out the directions for those areas of the house and see if I can duplicate them with some wood or board. Then there’s the porch, which is glued in so well that I’m afraid I’ll break something if I try to take it apart. That’s something I’ll start to address this weekend. And I just might go to Lowe’s and buy some primer. Slapping on some paint will be very therapeutic.

How can it be almost the end of August? I swear, time moves so quickly!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: dollhouse, flowers 18 Comments

A Driveway Bouquet

August 16, 2021 at 9:13 am by Claudia

We mowed the front lawn yesterday and I weed whacked, as well. With so much way-too-hot and humid weather in the past 10 days, we were behind. We’re still behind; the corral and back forty have to be mowed, as well, but at least the front of the house is looking neater.

In the middle of our driveway was this little bouquet which sprung up from the gravel:

It’s in the middle, so we don’t drive over it. Almost as if it knew the perfect place to be.

So, we’re tired today. Don is running some errands. I’m blogging. And then we’re going to take it easy as we’re driving to Pennsylvania tomorrow; actually, a town right outside Philadelphia, my old stomping grounds. The dollhouse seller and I have communicated and have come up with a plan to do this exchange safely. And the dollhouse will be on the porch, so we won’t have to go inside.

Yikes. A big old dollhouse is coming to the studio! I’ve already cleared a space on the work table. Dove Cottage has been moved to the sewing table where it used to be before Don gave me the worktable as a birthday present. Eventually, I’ll have to figure out where Dove Cottage will live, but we’re not quite there yet.

I’ll share pics of the Beacon Hill with you. It’s painted a rather bright yellow, the porch seems to be on crookedly, so that will have to be fixed, the shutters need to be repositioned, and the rooms are all painted dark colors and not very well painted, at that. I think I’m going to have to do what I did with Hummingbird Cottage – paint it all white, inside and out. That will be a base coat and then I’ll go from there, choosing wallpaper and a color for the outside. We won’t get back until late in the day, but hopefully, I can get some pictures as the sun floods that room in the afternoon.

Anyway…an adventure tomorrow. Bless my husband for being willing to do this. We have to use the Pilot, which I’ve never driven, and I wouldn’t want to do this alone. So my big, tall, strong husband will be at my side and we’ll take lots of quilts to cushion the dollhouse for its journey to our little cottage.

Am I crazy? Yes. But then, you knew that.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, flowers 24 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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