gifts — Page 13

Mother Nature is Playing With Me

October 22, 2015 at 8:58 am by Claudia

10-22 leaves

In the middle of my hours spent with the leaves, a rake, and a tarp, I thought I saw something.

10-22 tiny yellow flower

A yellow flower. On closer examination, a yellow day lily. What??

10-22 tiny yellow flower 2

The particular plant hasn’t bloomed in about 2 – 3 months.

Mother Nature is playing with me. An early frost, dead plants, and then this.

10-22 tiny yellow flower 3

It looks like there might be at least another blossom waiting to open.

What a treat! Especially in the middle of raking an endless amount of maple, black walnut, and giant catalpa leaves. I must have filled the tarp up 9 or 10 times. Then Don came home later in the day and filled a few more tarps. The leaves were deposited on the edge of the woods, where they will decompose and nourish the soil.

Tired, of course. But we got a lot done.

10-22 clematis

This is what the clematis looks like late in the season. Beautiful, don’t you think? Like little feathers swirling in a circle.

Later in the day, the UPS truck pulled up with a box for me. I have a separate twitter feed for Just Let Me Finish This Page and I follow a lot of writers and publishers. One day a few weeks ago, I really can’t remember when, Random House tweeted that they were having a contest in conjunction with the publishing of Ruth Reichl’s newest book, My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life.

Reichl was the Restaurant Critic for the New York Times for a number of years before moving on to the Editorship of Gourmet magazine. When Gourmet suddenly folded, she found herself trying to deal with an enormous sense of loss. She coped by going into her kitchen and doing what she loves – cooking. The book chronicles that year and offers up all sorts of recipes, as well.

Well, I quickly entered the contest, then promptly forgot about it until I received an email the other day telling me I was one of the winners.

10-22 ruthreichl win

Goodness! I received a copy of the book – can’t wait to read it – and six tins of a special edition Ruth Reichl Apple Crisp tea by The Republic of Tea, and three mini cocottes (damn that autocorrect – it spelled it as coquette – it’s cocotte as in casserole) from Le Creuset.

Wow! I rarely win contests, so this was a wonderful surprise. I’ll be having some Apple Crisp tea this afternoon. A big thank you to Random House!

Happy Thursday.

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Oh My!

October 3, 2015 at 9:36 am by Claudia

We all need a little unexpected treat now and then, don’t we? This, as you know, has been a bit of a worrisome week for us; especially for me, the Chief Worrier at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. So when Don came home from the Post Office on Thursday with a package for me from my friend and fellow miniature enthusiast, Barbara, I started smiling, which I suspect hasn’t been happening all that much of late.

Barbara had recently been to a miniature show and had asked if she could send me a little something she found there for me. Of course!

It turns out Barbara had also been setting things aside for me, so when I opened the box I gasped at the treasure trove inside. Actually, I’m sure I gasped more than once.

This is a picture heavy post. I hope you don’t mind. But with minis, if you simply group them together in one photo, they become indistinct. Besides, I wanted to play with an idea I’ve seen on Brae’s blog. She often uses scrapbook paper to back a temporary scene in which she displays new minis. Since the Top Secret Project is relatively unencumbered by furniture at the moment, I found a piece of scrapbook paper and tried my hand at photographing things in this new way. Eventually, I want to get a room box that I can use for just that, as well as playing with miniature scenes.

Don: Stop Right Here. Go No Further!

10-3 mini tin

First up, a lovely little tin. (KristinaBears/Etsy)

10-3 mini tray

And a tray. (Miniatyrmama/Etsy)

10-3 mini trunk

A beautiful wooden trunk, which opens like this:

10-3 mini trunk (open)

(From VictoriaMiniLand)

10-3 mini beads-pottery

Beautiful beads which can function as mini pottery.

10-3 mini crochet throw

A beautiful crocheted throw.

10-3 mini foodstuffs

Yummy food.

10-3 mini fabric

Fabric.

10-3 mini rugs1

Rugs.

10-3 mini rugs2

And more rugs.

10-3 mini fiesta vases

Two beautiful vases.

10-3 mini fiesta pitchers

Eeek! Two Fiesta pitchers. (I have some real-sized ones in the cottage.) I used to collect vintage Fiesta and that collection evolved because I initially fell in love with the Art Deco look of the pitchers. The pitchers and vases were made by I.G.M.A Artisan Janice Crawley. Gorgeous.

And for the Top Secret Project:

10-3 mini guitar

A beautifully made guitar! Oh boy. (Made by LALittleArtist on Etsy.) I think I’ll be ordering another one…this is far better than the ones I’ve been looking at online.

10-3 mini beatles posters

Beatles posters. Don is going to love these!

10-3 mini beatles albums

And Beatles albums! (from LCMinatures/Etsy)

Some of these treasures will go in Caroline’s house. Some will be saved for a future build. Some, obviously, will go in the Top Secret Project. I will almost certainly use a couple of the rugs there because recording studios often have rugs to help with the sound.

Oh my goodness. Barbara: you have spoiled me. Thank you for your incredible gift. I showed Don a lot of it, though not the items for the TSP. He gasped, too!

I don’t deserve it all, but I am thrilled, nonetheless.

As if you haven’t seen enough photos, I’ll show you where I put some of these pieces in Caroline’s house.

10-3 fiesta on shelves

For now, the Fiesta pitchers are on these shelves. That may change.

10-3 pottery in hutch

The blue vase is in the cabinet in the den.

10-3 tray on bed

The tray is on the bed.

10-3 throw on sofa

The throw is on the sofa in the den.

10-3 vase on table

And the green vase is on the coffee table.

10-3 den

Looks awfully cozy in there, doesn’t it?

I had such fun opening each little gift, then photographing them yesterday and finding places for some of them in the dollhouse.

Thank you, Barbara.

Book Review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today: Simon Brett’s cozy mystery: Mrs. Pargeter’s Principle.

Happy Saturday.

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The Porch in September

September 25, 2015 at 8:19 am by Claudia

I was cleaning the porch railings yesterday, which prompted me to sweep and do some general clean-up. So I took some pictures.

I used to buy mums in the fall, but the reality is that I have more than enough pots still in bloom. In fact, all of them are still in bloom.

So, I save myself some money and enjoy the riot of color and pretty blossoms that are already there.

9-25 porch_

See what I mean?

9-25 bench

But there are fallen leaves everywhere. How did that happen?

9-25 leaves

The sugar maple is already shedding its leaves.

9-25 porch scaevola

The hanging pots of scaevola are still thriving. They last from early spring until the first frost.

9-25 porch rocker

I brought the wicker rocker down from the bedroom, where, frankly, it took up too much room – I could never get my dresser drawers open without having to move it. It’s been replaced by Grandma’s chair. I’ll put the rocker in the shed for the winter because it gets awfully wet and snowy on this porch.

It’s pretty, isn’t it? However, the back needs to be reinforced and I haven’t done that yet (it’s only been over a year), so it’s unusable if you want to sit back, relax and actually rock.

9-25 impatiens

9-25 pinkbud

I’m going to try and sit on the porch and read every day while I can. With the advent of Fall comes the looming onset of Winter. So I want to take advantage of this lovely extra room of ours while I can.

Lovely reader Sharon sent us a package. And by us, I mean me, Don and Scout.

9-25 treats from Sharon

Some wonderful egg cups for me, as well as a little pitcher. Healthy treats for Scout and Hershey’s Almond Kisses for Don.

You’ll noticed they’ve been opened by someone. (I keep finding little foil bits around the house.)

Thank you, Sharon, for your thoughtful gift. Scout and Don thank you, as well!

Book Review of The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny on Just Let Me Finish This Page today.

Happy Friday.

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Mother Nature is Playing With Me

Oh My!

The Porch in September

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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