miniatures — Page 48

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.

The Piano

December 28, 2018 at 11:10 am by Claudia

A busy morning so far!

Don has been gently pushing me to get the piano tuned and to have whatever needs to be repaired attended to. I’ve known since the last time it was tuned that some repair was needed and it was just not a top priority. He took over and called a local guy who tunes and repairs pianos for a lot of professional pianists and this morning, he came to check it out.

All of what you see here has been removed and taken back to his shop. He found the same things in need of repair, as the previous tuner. The hammers need filing, the dampers need adjusting, screws need tightening – the keys had what was called a ‘shallow key dip’ because of that and the action will be much better when all is repaired. He’ll bring it back in about a week and put it all back together. Then he’ll tune it.

That serial number tells me that it was made by Chickering (an American company based in Boston) somewhere between 1940 – 1943. Chickering was one of the finest piano makers in the country for decades and the pianos were incredibly well made. Abraham Lincoln had a Chickering. Adam (the piano tuner) told us that pianos of that era were so much better than any of the Asian import pianos made nowadays. The import pianos are cheaper, but the quality is lacking. I remember that the man who tuned our piano when I was young made an offer to buy the piano every time he tuned it.

So. I’m lucky. My grandmother bought this piano. Both she and my mother played it. Every time I went to my grandparents’ house, I played it (banged on it when I as little). Eventually, my grandmother had it moved to my parents’ house so I could take lessons. My brother and sisters played it. My uncle and aunt – who played beautifully, by ear – played it during family Christmas Eve celebrations. It’s priceless. So, even though it’s somewhat costly, it’s worth it. It needs some love. And I need to play it more. I’ve sat down to play once or twice lately but it was so badly out of tune that I couldn’t handle it.

Thanks for prodding me, Don.

Also this morning, some house moving:

I moved Don’s Studio (with his permission) out to the upstairs hallway where it sits on top of the linen cabinet. This real estate was previously occupied by the modern dollhouse, which has been moved to the bedroom.

Now I can actually see it and work on it!

I’m going to start sorting through things in the office today, a bit at a time. I have 4 big Trader Joe’s bags full of books that will be donated to the library. Right now, they’re in the car and they’ll stay there until we have a non-rainy day. Right now, it’s pouring out there and I don’t want them to get wet.

I’ve started the Louise Penny. I’m about 80 pages in. I’m going slowly so I can savor every word.

Happy Friday.

An Extraordinary Find

December 21, 2018 at 10:51 am by Claudia

If you follow me on Instagram, you’re already familiar with this story. But heck, it’s so great that I have to share it with you here!

I had a list of errands yesterday and I planned on starting the ‘loop’ with a visit to one of my favorite antique emporiums to see if they had any vintage ornaments left; not that I really need any, it was just an excuse to visit. Then I’d tackle the bookstore and Michael’s and return home.

One of the first things I saw was an amazing tramp art house. Handmade, of course, and simply fascinating. It wasn’t practical for me and it was expensive – though, as a one-of-a kind piece of folk art, it was worth the price. You can see a photo of it on my IG feed. As I headed in and out of booths on the first aisle, I looked up – something I often forget to do – and saw this:

What???

Half off? Half off of an already ridiculously inexpensive price?

I continued on my perusal of the booths, my thoughts going back to the dollhouse, posting a photo on IG asking if I should buy it, heading back, looking at it again, walking around some more – you get the picture.

It was perched very high up on a ladder that had been placed horizontally to form a shelf. In the meantime, messages kept coming in from my initial post on IG basically in the form of “Get it!” “Are you nuts? Get it NOW!”

Finally, I asked one of the ladies at the counter if it was possible to get it down because I was very interested and wanted to see inside. She had to haul out a tall ladder and, as I expressed worry that it might fall on her, a man who happened to be walking by volunteered to help. We finally managed to set it on a counter.

Frankly, I expected it to be one big room, an empty space. This is what I saw:

Are you kidding me? This is exactly what we had in the Craftsman house we rented when we were living in San Diego.

There are two small rooms as well. Doors that open and shut beautifully. Shutters that work.

Arched doorways that frame the entrance into the two rooms from the living room.

A front porch.

It’s solid as a rock. Whoever made this knew what he/she was doing and it’s beautifully made. It’s very old – I’d guess it was made in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Needless to say, I bought it. It’s big – bigger than it looked when it was perched way up high – about 22 inches wide and about 15 inches deep.

It wouldn’t fit in the trunk. I couldn’t maneuver it into the back seat. (Dad, I’m so grateful that I have the use of your car, but this is about the millionth time I’ve wished you had gone for four doors instead of two.) After a wee bit of panic, I managed to get it on the passenger seat, with the seat back reclining at a sharp angle. I had to turn it on its side. As I drove home, I kept holding onto it so it wouldn’t bump against the gear shift.

I brought it home and immediately created this little scene on the porch. The ‘snow’ is flannel from my stash. The trees and wreaths are from my stash.

I’m in love.

Someone made this for a loved one: a daughter, a grandchild, a niece or nephew. It killed me to think of it sitting there, marked down, when at one point someone played with it and loved it. So much love was put into this dollhouse. It needed to be rescued.

Do I have the room for it? No. But I’ve already thought about putting it on top of the china cabinet in the den or on a table in the living room next to the big white armoire. Right now, I have it on the blue bench that sits there, but I’d like it on something that’s offers more support. It’s big and heavy and solid as a rock and I don’t want it crashing to the floor.

Everyone keeps saying, “I can’t wait to see what you do to it.” But the truth is, I’m not going to do much. This is someone’s creation – hours of work were put into making it. It’s a piece of folk art. I’ll give it a gentle cleaning, of course. But Don and I have already decided it’s going to be a summer home or cabin – rustic in nature. I don’t want to transform it in any way other than with furniture and accessories. The basic structure will remain the same. It seems a sacrilege to change its natural beauty. I have such admiration for the person who built this. I want to be its caretaker and honor it.

Since Don found out yesterday that one of the presents he ordered for me is in China, of all places, and hasn’t even left the country (he thought it was shipping from Arizona.) He was very upset. I suggested that this could be a present from him. I texted a photo of it and he immediately said yes! I know he was relieved.

It’s currently perched right here by the entrance to the den.

I had to add some lights, of course! It’s the holiday season.

To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement. When things get put away after Christmas and I have more space, I’ll take better photos. Right now, every available surface is in use.

As I am constantly reminded, timing is everything.

Interesting side note: the dealer that I love (the one I got the egg cup cubby from) has a booth in this shop. She commented on my IG post, saying that she had had her eye on it! Looks like I got there just in time!

Happy Friday.

Sunday Morning Heading into the New Year

The Piano

An Extraordinary Find

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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