miniatures — Page 45

A Book and Oscar Thoughts

February 23, 2019 at 11:02 am by Claudia

I decided that this little porch needed something. (Actually, I stole the chair from the porch of Hummingbird Cottage.) Every little house needs a touch of spring. Especially after this month!

I did escape yesterday, but after having shoveled snow in order to get out, I was pretty tired. Really tired. (My body is still weak, though much better overall.) So I drove to the bookstore, picked out some magazines and a book or two, and came right back home.

But I got out! That in itself is a huge deal. And now my car has been freed. We’re expecting another ‘wintry mix’ tonight, but it doesn’t sound like too big a deal and tomorrow is bringing a lot of rain and a high of 50, so hopefully, the rain will wash away the rest of the snow (and ice) at the top of the driveway. Then it turns cold again on Monday – with high winds, of course, because that seems to be the pattern here this winter.

I am now officially in spring fever mode, though there’s not a hint of spring in our area. Not one. Doesn’t matter – I want spring.

I’m just about to finish this book, which is quietly beautiful. I recommend it.

Random Oscar thoughts: I’m fully prepared for performances and movies that I thought were less than stellar winning Oscars tomorrow. I told you before that I had problems with BlacKkKlansmen. The true story was interesting, but the tone of the movie was confusing to me, like it wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. The period look of it was almost cartoonish. I understood the statement the movie was making and completely agree with it. The last couple of minutes were the most interesting part of the film, in my opinion. The rest of the film didn’t live up to the finale.

I also enjoyed Vice, but I don’t think it should have been nominated – Christian Bale’s portrayal of Dick Cheney is good, but Cheney is not at all hard to imitate. That and some great makeup and there you go. The movie itself is just okay. It’s a biopic and not a very good one.

I loved Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? I’ve long been a fan of his work and I’d be very happy if he won. Melissa McCarthy was good but I think she could have found more nuance in that role, instead, she chose to use basically one note. Was that her choice? Was it the Director’s choice? I don’t know.

I liked The Favourite very much. All three women were wonderful and the film itself was daring and beautifully conceived.

I loved Black Panther. Powerful and stunning – I’ve seen it twice.

Rami Malek was terrific in Bohemian Rhapsody, though the movie itself was just okay.

I thought Glenn Close was lovely in The Wife, but I don’t think it’s her best work. If she wins, and it looks like she will, it will be one of those Oscars based on a lifetime of work. I had real problems with the script and the directorial choices at the end of the movie. It was rather like a Lifetime Movie and not – to me – Oscar worthy.

I loved A Star is Born and I think Bradley Cooper was cheated when he wasn’t nominated for Best Director. That ticked me off. Excellent direction. Both he and Lady Gaga were wonderful, as was Sam Elliott, who got an opportunity to show more depth than he is usually allowed to given his voice and his persona.

And I absolutely loved Roma. To me, it was the best film of the year. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is stunningly directed, conceived, and acted. It haunts me still and I saw it months ago.

I didn’t see Green Book or If Beale Street Could Talk so I can’t speak about them. I did see Mary Poppins Returns and loved it.

Off the top of my head (purely my personal choices):

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma.

Best Picture: Roma.

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, though he won’t get it. I hope it isn’t Christian Bale, though Oscar has a history of giving the win to someone who portrays a real person – why, I don’t know. That goes for Rami Malek, as well. He was great and we all loved Queen and Freddie Mercury, but I’m not sure if his performance is Oscar worthy. Actually, I’m conflicted about Best Actor. I don’t think there is a clear leader in this category.

Best Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite. Glenn Close will win. Rather like Best Actor, there isn’t a clear winner for me in this category.

Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? But Green Book is a feel good movie and that means Mahershala Ali might win. (He’s a wonderful actor.)

Best Supporting Actress: Not sure on this one. I suspect it will be Regina E. King, as the two actresses in The Favourite cancel each other out.

Everything else? Who knows? I suspect Shallow by Lady Gaga will win Best Song.

I promised you a little recap of my thoughts on the films nominated. We were fortunate to be able to see nearly all of them. Whatever happens, the Oscars are always interesting and we’ll be watching.

Happy Saturday.

The Vintage Dollhouse and Sheet Music

January 3, 2019 at 11:01 am by Claudia

I took the Christmas decorations down yesterday – since we don’t do a whole lot of decorating, it isn’t all that time consuming – and then I moved the egg cup cubby cabinet away from the wall, which is always scary, opened the door under the stairs, and stored everything for another year. Then I moved the cabinet back, which was a bit tricky this time around, but I finally got it in place.

Then I vacuumed like crazy.

(By the way, Don broke a glass yesterday and then I proceeded to break a glass and a bowl. What’s with us? We’re down to three glasses.)

I sorted through the sheet music in our music cabinet. That cabinet was one of the very first things we bought for this house. We got it at an auction. I have a lot more music than I had remembered, some of it from my childhood, some of it from my grandmother (a hymnal, and three songs from Oklahoma, which means the sheet music is from the 40s,) and my first Beatles Songbook, which I got when I was 11 years old. I wrote the names of each of the guys under their photos – in pencil. And look what I found:

Neither of us can remember how this got here and we were shocked and thrilled to discover it! Was it in my grandmother’s music? Doubtful. Was it from my parents? Also doubtful. Was it a gift from someone after we moved to the house? Or did we find it when out antiquing and forgot about it? Either is possible.

It’s getting framed, that’s for sure.

After all the chores were done, I moved the vintage dollhouse onto the coffee table in the den to give it a cleaning. Eventually, the exterior will need an even deeper cleaning but for now, this will do.

I took some pictures.

By the way, the chimney on the roof actually connects to the fireplace. I dropped something down there by mistake and the object ended up in the fireplace.

I put this in the living room to see if the scale worked and it does.

There are arched doorways into the adjoining rooms.

The other two rooms, which are small. And I can only get into the front room from the doorways, so that will be a little awkward!

This is the opening at the back of the house and it’s the only way to get into these rooms. There’s a high, vaulted ceiling. I briefly debated painting the walls, but it would be very difficult. I can’t lay the house on it’s front because the porch is there. I think I’ll put battery operated hanging lights on the ceiling just so I can see more of the room. But that’s down the road.

A corner of the house. Aside from a deeper cleaning of the exterior, I plan to leave it alone. These shutters, by the way, are adorable. They work. They completely cover the window space.

Just playing around. I don’t really have a large stash of miniatures – a few things, but nothing like other miniaturists have. The painting is a mini Wallace Nutting given to me by Barbara. The books were in my stash.

Since I’m currently working (or not working, which is more the case at the moment) on three different houses, and since we are back on a strict budget, I’ll have to take my time. That’s what I did with my first dollhouse. I did what I could, when I could afford it.

My thoughts are still the same with this treasure. Keep it rustic – maybe a little removable wallpaper, maybe not – and honor the work of the creator. Living room, bedroom, kitchen…and we’ll assume there’s an outhouse somewhere nearby.

I really love it.

We have a wee bit of snow on the ground this morning, but once again, it’s not covering all the grass. Still, it was neat to see some snow-covered tree branches this morning.

Happy Thursday.

Sunday Morning Heading into the New Year

December 30, 2018 at 11:27 am by Claudia

A lazy Sunday morning – I’m just now getting to the blog. I woke up late, only because I had trouble sleeping last night. When I opened the blinds upstairs, it was snowing. No snow was predicted and this barely covers the ground, but it was a lovely sight, nonetheless. I like my snow this way: just a bit, big, fat, pretty flakes, and very little coverage. Can we have that all winter long, please?

I made a batch of linzer cookies this year and we are slowly making our way through them before sweets are sharply curtailed at the first of the year. These are vegan linzers and, as a linzer expert, I guarantee you would never notice any difference. If anything, they’re better.

Favorite cookie ever.

We threw out the rest of the coffee cake and I’m just about to toss the rest of the pumpkin pie. We haven’t been eating either, an indication of officially hitting the ‘too much sugar’ mark.

I brought this little sofa downstairs the other day. I want to see what it looks like in the vintage dollhouse to get an idea of the scale. But I’ll have to move the dollhouse in order to check that out and I’m not ready to. I’ll need to move it to the coffee table in the den in order to clean it and take some photos. Maybe tomorrow?

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to see it next to the pots and ‘big’ things in the den. Looks lilliputian, doesn’t it?

I sorted through everything in the pink cabinet in the office yesterday; organized the drawer and the contents of the cupboard. A lot got thrown out. I also cleaned up the desk. The big task – mammoth, really – will be cleaning out the closet. I’m holding off until I take down the Christmas decorations.

The other day, when hanging the Paris sign, we also hung Don’s hat and the signed poster from Escape to Margaritaville above his desk. Someday, when all of this is organized and the room looks settled, I’ll take some pictures.

Most of our conversations of late have been reflective. We’ve been thinking about 2018 and everything it contained: so much joy, so much good, but also heartache and sadness with a bit of anger. The good far, far outweighed the bad, however, and we count our blessings today and every day.

Happy Sunday.

A Book and Oscar Thoughts

The Vintage Dollhouse and Sheet Music

Sunday Morning Heading into the New Year

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives