gifts — Page 30

Monday Morning Musings

November 8, 2010 at 11:23 am by Claudia

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments on Don’s singing. (If you haven’t yet seen the video, scroll down to the previous post.) He’s read them all and is very touched. In answer to your questions, yes, he does sing around the house and he has indeed written songs for me. Love songs. They make my heart go pitter-patter. Allow me to brag a bit: Don writes and sings his own songs and is currently working on 2 different CDs of his music. He is a wonderful entertainer and a songwriter who writes from his heart. He’s also one of the best actors I have ever known. Maybe you’ll get to hear him sing someday!

The movie was filmed 2 years ago in New Orleans. We haven’t seen it yet. It has been shown at some film festivals, but truth be told, I don’t think it got very good reviews. It has been released in France (the director is Olivier Dahan who directed La Vie en Rose.) It may go straight to DVD here. Bob Dylan did the music for the movie. Bob Dylan heard my husband sing his song! So far, there isn’t a recording of the soundtrack….but you can bet Dylan fans are clamoring for one. Oh, and the beard was fake, by the way. They built it around Don’s goatee. The goatee whose absence I didn’t notice when Don shaved it off a few weeks ago.

Okay. On to other things. I want to share a photo of this vintage shoe bag made from a feed sack that I bought on Etsy. (The usual problem with shooting in this corner of my studio applies. It’s narrow and dark.)

It’s hanging between my cabinet and the mini-design wall. It will eventually be filled with treasured notes from blogging friends and fun things for creating. Here’s a close-up of the fabric design:

Love, love this cheery fabric. I had some creative time in the studio on the weekend. I’m working on a couple of gifts and thinking up some new projects. And doing things like hanging my Mockingbird Hill Cottage badge on the cabinet door.

I really have grown to love the cabinet as is. Since so much of my little space is pink, aqua and white, I’ve decided a little less matchy-matchy is in order.

I know many of you have been published several times, but me? Just once. It’s still new to me. So I went ahead and did what I’ve wanted to do all along. I framed the cover of Romantic Homes with my mention in “Setting the Sites.” The frame is vintage. I kind of like seeing it on display in my little work area. Ignore the ugly duster – I always seem to miss something when I take a photo. Don is an enabler, by the way. Now he’s urging me to hang things on the doors. He truly doesn’t mind me taking over this space. As far as he’s concerned, the more creativity on display at MHC, the better.

My friend, Beth Leintz of Gathering Dust, wrote me after seeing photos of my afghan-in-progress and offered to send me some yarn she found at an estate sale. She thought it would fit perfectly with the color palette I’m using.

It does! She also sent along one of her beautiful tags with a sweet note on the back. Thank you, Beth!

It’s a very cold and windy day here in the Hudson Valley. My potted plants on the porch bit the dust last week when we had two hard frosts in a row. Winter is on the way. Not sure how I feel about that, but then again, winter doesn’t care.

You Guessed It: More Rambling

October 28, 2010 at 5:00 pm by Claudia

:: The dogs are not happy with me. The weather has been so rainy that they haven’t had their walk in a few days. Today is much nicer. However, when we take the dogs for a walk, we have to load them in the car first. That involves helping Riley into the car by lifting his rear end up and into the car. No can do with my much-better-but-still-fragile back. Don is out right now but we’re hoping we can talk him into walking the dogs when he gets home. Update: they’ve been whisked away by their Dad and will be happily walking down a country road in a few minutes.

:: I did get out today. I was going a bit stir crazy here at MHC. I bought some more inexpensive (cheap) yarn for my crochet project.

It’s supposed to be a scrap ripple stitch afghan. However, since I donated all my extra yarn to the Salvation Army last winter as the result of a frenzied closet purge, I was sadly lacking in any yarn. And I’m on a strict budget – to put it mildly. So I trotted off to Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and bought a bunch of different colors that go with the red in our den. Crochet is a yarn eater – much more than knitting – and since we will end up tossing the afghan around the den on a regular basis, I’m fine with inexpensive yarn.

:: I brought our vintage ice cream maker in from the porch. A friend of ours gave it to us when we were living in San Diego. Now it has a new home on top of my kitchen hutch.

I love the rustiness and the chippy aqua paint. Don gave it a thumbs up saying that we needed some ‘rough edges’ in the kitchen. (He’s got style, that guy.)

:: A lovely blogging friend, Sharon of My Life at Pansy Cottage and Garden, sent me the sweetest gift.

Isn’t this pillow adorable? I was so touched by Sharon’s present. Sharon, we have it sitting on our red-checked chair in the living room. I’ll take a photo of it and post it soon. Sharon has a wonderful shop full of pillows and aprons that she has designed. Thank you, my friend.

:: Mom’s home. She’s exhausted but happy. The kittens are punishing her, of course, by ignoring her. We’re hoping that this will work out and that Assisted Living can be avoided if at all possible. I will keep you posted.

:: My annual photo of the house bathed in the autumn light:

Have a wonderful evening. I will be watching game #2 of the World Series. Don’s sister was lucky enough to be in the stands last night. I bet she had a great time!

Unexpected Blessing in the Mail

October 1, 2010 at 2:14 pm by Claudia

I don’t make it a habit to post twice in one day. However, I had to share something with you that just happened an hour ago. If you’ve read the earlier October 1st post, you know we were dealing with a leak in the kitchen yesterday caused by a combination of too many leaves in the gutters and torrential rains. Tending to that took a few hours. Thank goodness we were home.

I’m going to be honest. I had an argument with my father last night that kept me awake for about 3 hours in the middle of the night. The worries about my mother continue. I have a dog (Riley) who seems to have lost control and periodically poops in the house. This morning, after keeping him outside for a long time, I relented, let him in and he promptly pooped on the floor. We are dealing, as are many of you, with financial worries. This morning, I sat down and cried my heart out for a while. I just needed that release.

No sooner had I done that than I heard the toot of our mail carrier’s horn. That means a package has been left down at the mailbox.

The box was from my dear friend, Donna of An Enchanted Cottage. Donna is one of the first bloggers I was privileged to meet and we have been friends ever since. She is a lovely person with a heart of gold. She also loves all animals, as I do and we bonded initially because of that shared love. She also has a beautiful home. Donna’s father is fragile, so we have that worry in common, as well.

I found this inside the box. Donna had enclosed a card, which couldn’t have been more perfect.

If you read Donna’s blog, you know that she has a cat. She also has chipmunks and a squirrel named Sammy that hang out on her property. She is the Chipmunk/Squirrel Whisperer. Look what I found:

Beautiful notecards with gorgeous cherubs. I’ve written many times about my love of cherubs. My beloved cherub painting is hanging on the wall of our bedroom. These are beautiful, aren’t they? There was one more package, taped so tightly that I must admit I had no idea what it was.

Yes, I gasped. Two beautiful saucers in the Spode Claudia pattern! I mentioned this pattern at the very end of a previous blog post – my friend Jill had alerted me to its existence. I thought it looked like a perfect pattern to collect. Someday. I kept the photo Jill sent me on the desktop of my laptop. Every once in a while I would look at it. I don’t know where Donna found these, but I’m here to tell you they are beautiful. Even my husband remarked on how lovely they are.

Beautiful crazing. And I love that mark – “Spode’s Claudia.” I didn’t know that Spode loved me so much!

This gift, arriving out of the blue, for no reason other than my friend knows I’m having a hard time right now, was perfectly timed. As if on cue. I am so touched and grateful. Thank you, dear friend. I am blessed.

Monday Morning Musings

You Guessed It: More Rambling

Unexpected Blessing in the Mail

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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