Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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A Priceless Gift

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Friday afternoon, I heard the toot of our mail delivery truck’s horn. Lori, our friendly mail person, always toots the horn when I have a package waiting. She handed off a rather large box. I discovered it was from my friend, Donna. Donna is a fellow blogger who writes the wonderful blog, An Enchanted Cottage. We go back a long way, as Donna was one of the very first bloggers I met when I started blogging back in February of 2008. We have been friends ever since. We have a lot in common, not the least of which is our deeply felt love for all creatures. We are animal lovers, pure and simple. We believe in rescuing our pets, in finding a home for those dogs and cats who are in shelters and have been abandoned.

When I read Donna’s card and note, the tears started. And as I unveiled her gift, they poured.

Donna, who is an artist, created a piece of altered art from my favorite photo of Riley and Scout. Here’s the original photo:

I snapped this picture one day when I was sitting in the living room. It was one of those moments in time that I would have missed had I not had my camera right beside me.

Donna painted out the background and embellished the dogs with her hand painting.

Another view in the late afternoon light on the day I opened it :

Not only did Donna beautifully and lovingly enhance my babies, she matted the artwork and added a favorite quote. And placed it under glass in a beautiful white tray.

Don, who came home while I was unwrapping it, and by the way, Donna sent this to both of us, was stunned. He couldn’t believe someone would do this for us. I couldn’t either. But I know my friend Donna and I know how big her heart is.

I love that quote.

We love and miss our boy. Scout misses him. This moment in time, when Scout gently checked on her brother who was getting increasingly frail, breaks my heart and fills my heart at the same time. And now I have this unbelievably beautiful piece of altered art – this lovingly painted portrait of my beloved children – from a dear, dear friend. It is priceless to me, as is her friendship.

Donna lives in Massachusetts. I live in New York. We often talk about meeting up at some point halfway between our homes. It’s only a couple of hours away. Donna, once the winter weather is past, we are going to do it. That’s my vow.

Thank you.

Happy Sunday.

Goodies: For Me & For The Shop

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Blogging friends, who are true friends, of course, are lovely indeed. Saturday afternoon I went out to the mailbox and found a package from sweet Judy Clark. Yay! A birthday present!

Be still my heart – that little wall pocket (birdies! sweet little house!) is adorable. I remember admiring it on a previous A Favorite Thing post of Judy’s. Bless her heart, she remembered that and sent it to me. See the vintage Singer sewing machine manual on the right? That was in the box, too.

The other item needs a wee bit of explanation. If you recall, last year at this time I started to obsess about the little Nisse made by a Danish company called Maileg. I saw them peeking out at me on several blogs. Finally, right before Christmas, I found a wee nisse in the Garnet Hill catalogue. That started it all.

It was the little guy on the right, who normally lives on my desk in the den.

Several months later, Judy made her own version of a nisse for me – the sweet girl in the center of this photo. And a few months later, Miss Judy sent me the two nisse that are on either side of sweet girl.

Is Judy an enabler? I think so.

Back to the birthday present:

I don’t know how on earth she did it, but Judy found this canvas bag from Maileg.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I am in Nisse Heaven. Would you care to lay a bet as to how many nisse I can acquire?

I warn you, you may lose. I am nisse-crazy.

Thank you, Judy. Judy is a wonderful person and an amazing crafter and seamstress. You should visit her blog and her Etsy shop, which is packed full of her gorgeous creations.

But before you do that, I’ve 3 new scarves listed in my Etsy shop. Yes, I’ve been crocheting like crazy.

Obsession Scarf in Watermelon – wool and acrylic – soft to the touch. Lovely. Update: Sold!

Obsession Scarf in Claret – silk and bamboo – oh, so soft and silky.

Obsession Scarf in Tutti Frutti – wool and acrylic – soft to the touch, a potpourri of yummy colors.

I’ve got more on the hook – stay tuned.

Happy Monday.

What the Heck is in that China Cabinet?

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First of all, why do I decide to do these kinds of posts on a rainy, gloomy day? Don’t answer. The truth is, taking a bright sunny photo in the den would be all but impossible on any given day. Even though there are lots of windows, the big window is tucked under the porch roof, so we don’t get any bright sun until the end of the day. So, using Aperture Priority, I’m attempting to take some fairly decent photos of this cabinet and its contents. (Note: I need a new camera.) And eliminating the television from this photo would entail moving a few pieces of furniture and that’s not going to happen. Trust me, this photo would have been a lot worse if I hadn’t painted the inside of the cabinet a pale pink.

This china cabinet, which is on the petite side, was one of the first things I bought for my apartment in San Diego. I found it in Ocean Beach, my favorite place to hunt for vintage anything. I bought it to house my collection of Fiesta, which I ended up selling a few years later. I love the different tones of wood and the inlays along the sides. I’ll never paint it. You can see the Hendryx birdcage and some of my Roseville on top. Let’s take a peek inside, shall we?

Shelf One

1. aqua bulb bowl – McCoy, 2. my great-grandmother’s syrup jug with pewter lid, 3. platter from my favorite set of of Edwin Knowles china, I wrote about them here, 4. creamer and sugar found in Orange, CA, 5. small dish from my great-grandmother’s set of Haviland China (the rest is still stored at my friend’s house in Detroit. I know.) 6. pale pink depression glass plate that I won in a giveaway 7. French china pitcher, found at Vignettes, 8. French china plate, also found at Vignettes 9. One of my first pieces of McCoy, a lovely green vase (I have 2 of them) 10. hat pin holder, 11. vintage hat pin

Shelf Two

1. McCoy bird dish, 2. McCoy vase in peach/coral, 3. McCoy pot (a present from Brenda) 4. beautiful plate, made in France, that you can’t see very well (from Vignettes) 5. Hull pitcher (a present from Betty) 6. my grandmother’s baby shoe, 7. my pink hobnail vase (found in the neighboring town) 8. a goose egg cup

Shelf Three

1. two teacups from that set of Edwin Knowles china, 2. a bowl and a gravy boat from that same set, 3. a little platter – same set, 4. McCoy vase, another one of my first finds, 5. a beautiful egg cup in my favorite colors, unmarked (I found it at Vignettes) 6. McCoy Arcature vase (one of my all-time favorites) 7. McCoy bulb bowl in aqua, 8. hat pin holder

I think I need some larger plates or platters in the back, don’t you?

I’ll take you on a tour of the kitchen cabinet (also full of china and pottery) on another day.

Thank you for all your beautiful, heartfelt comments on my post about Riley. I can never thank you enough for the compassion and love you’ve sent my way and for the love you’ve sent to Riley. Bless you.

Don’t forget the book giveaway! It ends tonight. Scroll down three posts and you’ll find it.

Happy Wednesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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