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You are here: Home / Archives for Ikea

Saturday Bits and Bobs

December 19, 2015 at 9:13 am by Claudia

12-19 office before

Office. Before. As you can see, everything is as we left it when we hauled the IKEA boxes upstairs.

We’ve decided to hold off on painting, perhaps because I hate  painting, which might explain why we haven’t done the much-needed repainting of the kitchen. Every year, I plan on doing it. Every year, I don’t.

Anyway, we’ve decided to see how everything looks once we put the desk, chair and lamp together and move things around. But Don isn’t feeling well, so there’s no hurry.

On top of that, I finally hauled out the little white pre-lit Christmas tree and set it up.

And the lights aren’t working. Crap.

Maybe Christmas isn’t in the cards for us this year? Just kidding. But it does seem as if I’m getting messages from the universe to slow down and do very little.

A couple of things to mention:

•  The email version of yesterday’s post went out about five hours late. I don’t know why this is happening, but it’s a Feedburner thing and I spent more hours than I would have liked to yesterday trying to figure it out. The thing is, I could pay for an email delivery service for the blog, but I already pay for enough to maintain this little piece of real estate, thank you very much, and since I have a nice amount of subscribers and I post every day, the amount I would have to pay is just something I would rather not do.

For those of you who subscribe via email, if you don’t get the post between 11 and 1, Feedburner is lagging behind and you should just hop on over and visit the blog directly. You know I post every day, with very rare exceptions. And why not come here directly? It’s prettier here than in the email, anyway.

51-7SmfR9lL._SX335_BO1,204,203,200_

• This book is excellent. This is the first in a series of books featuring Detective Simon Serrailler. They take place in the fictional cathedral town of Lafferton. Susan Hill is an amazing, detailed, and thoughtful writer. There are at least five other books in the series and I cannot wait to get them all. I’m about 2/3 of the way through this one and I’m taking my time simply because the experience is so pleasurable.

• I promised you some links to the blogs of miniaturists who have entered the Creatin’ Contest. Their work is amazingly detailed and I can only dream of doing what they do.

From Pepper at MitchyMooMiniatures.

From MiniModPod.

From Brae at Otterine.

From Minibase.

From Nancy at Nancyland.

From I See Cerulean. More details here and here.

And even though Elizabeth at Studio E couldn’t finish her entry due to the loss of her mother, this post – dedicated to her mom – gives you an idea of what she’s doing and it’s amazing.

As I find more entries, I’ll post the links for you.

• I took some pictures of the article in The Dolls’ House Magazine:

12-19 article1

12-19 article2

12-19 article3

The photo of the fireplace is also featured on the Table of Contents page. That gosh-darned plastic fireplace that I wasn’t going to use, but one day pulled out of a box in a fit of desperation to slap some white paint over its original blah beige because I needed  a fireplace. Another one of my photos of the fireplace is one of my most pinned photos.

Who’d have thunk it?

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: blog, books, Ikea, The Dolls' House Magazine UK 32 Comments

Quite the Day

December 16, 2015 at 9:01 am by Claudia

We made the trip to IKEA yesterday, after I dug through my shoes (most of which are now too small for me) to find something I could wear that wouldn’t irritate or press on my still-tender ankle. The nearest IKEA is an hour and a half away from us, so we’re talking a total of three hours drive time. It’s an all day event, which for us is always a challenge because we have to consider Scout’s needs.

We walked through, I wrote down all the stock numbers/locations, and had lunch. Don had his favorite Swedish Meatballs and I had the Vegetarian option. And some chocolate cake for dessert. I was walking slowly and being very careful, but I have to tell you, by the end of the day my ankle was complaining loudly.

No reveals for a while. We have to paint the room and assemble everything.

It was quite the day. I came home and later that evening, the news that my parents’ ashes are being taken out to sea today coupled with Scout’s troubles and my worries about her – well, I simply lost it. A major cry. Then a bath, as prescribed by my husband, and bed.

Needless to say, I’m wiped out today.

We’ve lit a candle for my parents and it will burn all day long.

I want to share some gifts I’ve received recently over the course of the next couple of days. My longtime blogging friend Linda sent me a package which was a surprise and a delight. Linda and I share the collecting bug and both of us collect egg cups, McCoy, and miniature pottery. I guess you could say we happily enable each other. Inside the box were birthday and Christmas presents:

12-16 shawnee gift

Two Shawnee miniatures to add to my collection! Aren’t they lovely? Linda has the best luck finding these treasures! These beauties were my birthday present.

Then a sweet Christmas present:

12-16 sheep

This adorable sheep to add to my collection.

And, what’s this?

12-16 caroline'sgift

Caroline got a gift!

12-16 cupandsaucer

A beautiful Paris cup and saucer. She’s thrilled!

Thank you, Linda!

Linda’s beloved cat Charlie, who is the same age as Scout, had a scare yesterday, so send some prayers his way, okay?

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: animals, collecting, friends, gifts, Ikea, Scout 36 Comments

Tuesday Bits

December 15, 2015 at 8:32 am by Claudia

12-15 sunrise

This morning’s sunrise. Purple and gold.

Yesterday was an time-suck of a day, trying and trying to get through to NY State of Health, which administers the Affordable Care Act here in New York state. The deadline for enrolling is today. Whether due to high demand or a faulty phone system or both, every time we tried to call, we would go through all the commands and be put on hold, terrible 70’s movie soundtrack music playing in the background, only to be cut off. Over and over again.

I was a wee bit panicked because we had to add some information – like the fact that I’m starting to get Social Security this month (Yikes!) and that Don will be changing the policy next June when he is eligible for Medicare (Double Yikes!) – and that had to be done with a person on the other end of the line. Finally (and take my advice – this often works) I tweeted them. As I looked down the list of tweets and replies, I saw that many, many, MANY people were having the same problem. They finally responded, asking me to leave a Direct Message with our phone number, etc. and they would have a Rep call. And lo and behold, they did.

I find the whole thing exhausting. (This is not a political discussion by the way. I know many people who are finally able to get health insurance after many years without it. And it’s the law of the land.) Anyway, it isn’t easy for freelancers like us, because they want to know where we’ll be working in 2016 and we have no idea. So whatever number they come up with isn’t accurate and then we’re supposed to keep them informed about changes in our income, and it’s a pain in the tush, because we forget to. We ended up having to pay a penalty on this year’s taxes because our income changed. And we’ll have to do it next year, as well.

I’m very happy one of us is getting Medicare next year. I never thought I would say I was looking forward to it, but I am. Even under the Affordable Health Care Act, we pay a lot of money every month for insurance – more than we can afford.

Enough of that.

This arrived in the mail yesterday.

12-15 rosevilleclematis2

I snagged it for $9.99 on eBay.

It’s the Clematis pattern. I really like it.

Interesting side note: Don really likes Roseville Pottery. He likes it even more than the McCoy. He likes it so much that he wants this piece on the coffee table in the living room, where he can see it from his chair.

12-15 rosevilleclematis

The other side.

I am in love with this stuff. But I have to back off from eBay for a while.

Thank you for all the comments yesterday on the magazine article. You guys have watched the dollhouse evolve over the years, step by step, piece by piece. You have an investment in the whole process. And to be perfectly honest, knowing you were out there, anxious to see updates and cheering me on, was often the push I needed.

So thank you.

Happy (IKEA) Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: collecting, Ikea, life, Roseville pottery 28 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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