Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Full Circle

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Just a short one today as I have to head into the city to coach for a few hours. Then I’ll be done until after Christmas.

I got a bunch of these trees for next-to-nothing at Michael’s the other day. So I added them to the McCoy mix on top of my music cabinet. That’s the only bit of Christmas (besides the decorations in the dollhouse) in the den.

A crazy weather day yesterday: heavy rain for 24 hours, flooding (not here, thank goodness), fog and mist, and a high of 60 degrees. On Winter Solstice. Today it’s windy and colder, as it usually is when a front leaves the area.

Back story: This is a gorgeous all-mahogany Martin guitar that Don had for many years. During a tough time for us financially, Don sold it to an old friend who is a musician out in Los Angeles. He never felt right about it. He missed it. Unbeknownst to me, at one point a few years back, Don wrote to his friend asking her to contact him first if she ever wanted to sell it. Fellow musicians had told him many times what a great guitar it was, what a great sound it had. He was playing that guitar when he recorded his CD with fellow musician, Dan Bonis.

A little over a week ago, she contacted him. She wanted to buy a Gibson and offered to sell the Martin to Don. We talked it over – it’s not an inexpensive guitar – but it was clear to me that Don felt passionately about the guitar, felt regret about selling it in the first place, and now he had the opportunity to get it back. He’d sold it to help us out during a tough time. He deserved to have it back.

And so it arrived yesterday. Full circle.

And I got to hear him play again, for the first time in a long time, last night.

It’s all good.

Happy Saturday.

What to Do?

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At the last minute, I went along with Don to a charming local shopping area where he often photographs people. He wanted to use up his film so he could replace the current Polaroid Back on his Crown Graphic with one that is easier to use. But he couldn’t change it out until he finished the film.

It was raining. Constantly. That made for a soggy day, but I have to say I saw first hand the attraction that camera has for passersby. So many questions about it. So much interest! And we had a great conversation with a guy who is a former model. He’s led such an interesting life. I told him he was a Renaissance Man. His photo is on Don’s IG feed.

Anyway, this little market has two antique shops that I have been visiting for years. Off I went. In the largest shop, which is housed in an old barn, I found a $10 vintage flower print.

I love these prints, circa 1940s – 1950s. I have one in our downstairs bathroom and I’m thinking of putting this one in the upstairs bathroom. It’s in great shape. The hanger on the back is for hanging it like this, but now that I look at the signature, I think it might be intended to hang horizontally.

Hmmm.

In the other shop I found…

More Neccos! There were only four rolls of the traditional Neccos left, so I snapped them up. Then I grabbed some chocolate Neccos.

The jar is getting pretty full.  But there is room for a few more.

And because I felt guilty about only buying candy (do you ever do this?) I threw in a $10 piece of McCoy.

It wasn’t marked as McCoy, but yours truly recognized it right away. It has crazing everywhere but no chips. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased any McCoy.

But the item that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind is this:

If you follow me on IG, you’re already familiar with it. I was gobsmacked by this one.

Wouldn’t this be the most perfect display piece for my egg cups? I counted the cubbies. There are 86 of them. I have about 60 egg cups.

But we really don’t have the room and I really shouldn’t spend the money.

But I cannot stop thinking about it, which is leading me to measure a couple of spaces in our house to see if somehow I could squeeze it in. The windows and light that we have in our cottage are wonderful, but they guaranteed we don’t have a lot of wall space. Add to that the slanted half walls in our attic-type rooms on the second floor and you see my dilemma. Plus, we have the dreaded baseboard heating which guarantees that every piece of furniture stands out from the wall.

This house is jam packed.

But will I ever see such an amazing piece again? I swear that it’s calling my name.

So I’m going to measure the wall in our office where the Nuttings are hanging. That seems like the best bet. Anywhere else would require changing another piece of furniture out and then where would we put that  piece?

I really feel like I will regret it if I pass this one up. I wish I could have photographed it head on but it’s tucked back into a corner of the store.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Happy Tuesday.

 

A Bit of Green and a Splash of Aqua

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A sign of hope and green things emerging from the ground. My early-bird day lilies, always the first to bloom, are edging their way out of the ground. Oh how I long to get out there and clean up the gardens! But I know, after over 16 years of living in the Hudson Valley, that it’s just too darned early. So I must be patient.

And frankly, I’m still too under the weather to actually do  anything out there.

I looked for signs of the daffodils that are on the edge of the woods, but there aren’t any at the moment. For now, leaf mulch must be kept in place to protect the ground and the plants from any sudden freezes.

I have some tax work to do today (filing an extension) and I need to get some groceries, but it’s slow going, as I had a cough-filled night. Thankfully, I slept in, so I’m not feeling too ragged.

It’s sunny out there. Birds are singing. Hopeful signs of spring.

Sadly, I’m not in any shape to march tomorrow and I’m disappointed about that. But I’ll cheer the marchers on and watch MSNBC’s coverage.

I played around with some of my McCoy yesterday. Most of these pieces were scattered throughout the den and I suddenly thought they might make a bigger impact if I placed them on the music cabinet. Since my chair faces this cabinet, I’m enjoying this big splash of aqua. Smile-worthy.

Gosh, I love collecting.

Okay. Have to get a move on, and by ‘move’ I really mean ‘crawl.’

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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