Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for miniatures

Cool!

at by

It’s raining today and the temperature is almost 20 degrees lower than yesterday. Huzzah!

We were so over the heat and humidity of the past 4 or 5 days. Don couldn’t do much photography work, I had to stay in due to allergies – although I obviously went out to water all the plants – so I’m blessing the rain this morning.

I haven’t done anything more on the dollhouse, but I did buy a couple of pieces of mini furniture. I am very picky about chairs and sofas because so many of the ones I see out there are awkward and wrong. The cushions are too big, the pleats at the bottom are way too wide, the pattern on the fabric is too large. They don’t look real. What I find lacking in some dollhouses I see is attention to scale. It’s impossible to get everything exactly to scale, but I really do my best to make everything look real and to have nothing that’s ‘off.’

I’ve had a couple of modern sofas handmade by artisans and I really love them. One of them is in Don’s Studio. The other is in the modern dollhouse that I purchased last year (and have yet to decorate.)

I found one manufacturer that I liked when I was redoing Hummingbird Cottage.

They made this sofa that’s in the den. Perfectly to scale.

Side note: I’ve always been unhappy with that copy of To Kill a Mockingbird  that’s on the table. It’s too big. It looks like a coffee table book instead of a hard cover novel. Note to self: must find one that is in scale. This is an older photo and I’m not even sure if the book is on the table anymore. It may be on the shelf.

And they made this chair in the living room.

Also one of my favorites.

Then I didn’t see their handiwork for a long time and assumed I wouldn’t be able to use them again. Recently, I was on a website and there they were! I ordered this sofa.

Since I’m thinking of an English Cottage look for this little house, I thought this might work. It looks English to me. I also ordered a duplicate of the one in the Hummingbird Cottage den, simply because I love it so much and what if they stop making it, horrors! I need to have another one on hand.

From another source on eBay, I ordered this chair:

Maybe for the bedroom?

I’m not sure. I just liked it and wanted it in my stash.

Realistically, I probably won’t do much of anything on the house until we return from our trip. As the days get chillier, working on the dollhouse will seem more and more appealing.

Change of subject: Have you seen the documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RBG? It was playing in theaters and is now being aired by CNN (they might be airing it this Sunday, check your listings) and it’s available On Demand/CNN. It’s simply wonderful. I learned so much more about her and, if possible, I’m even more of a fan than I already was. Extraordinary. I recommend it highly.

Okay. It’s Friday. I have to accomplish something around here and it will be in the form of laundry and cleaning.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Little and Big Things

at by

The humidity continues but it is supposed to break sometime today or tonight.

Please?

Since I stayed indoors yesterday, I got a lot done around the house. Remember, I’m always more efficient when Don isn’t here and he was in the city yesterday. Also – my part of the deductions is finished, Don’s in the middle of putting his part together and we will be done on time. Ta dah!

My friend Barbara, a reader of this blog, recently contacted me and asked if I wanted her Arthur dollhouse kit, as she had never used it. If you remember, I need replacement parts for my rescued dollhouse, which is an Arthur. Yes, I said! So she sent them off to me and the other day I went to the post office and there was a big package from Barbara.

All of the Arthur components. Yay!

Being Barbara, she also added a few little gifts.

A beautiful painting that looked kind of familiar. As I turned it over I saw this:

Wallace Nutting! Perfect.

On a side note, if you look to the right, you’ll get an idea of the globs of glue I need to remove from this dollhouse.

A sweet stool with pretty flowers on the seat.

And two charming plates.

Thank you so much, Barbara! For everything!

Yesterday, I started to address the glaringly empty mantel/shelf that is over my desk. It used to hold many of my figural egg cups.

Here’s what I came up with:

The beginning of shelf full of sheep. There are four putz sheep and one little sheep, most likely from a nativity scene. (Putz sheep were also used in nativity scenes.) The one in the middle is the official Lamb With a Party Hat that I bought in California many years ago. I made a hat for her and she became the logo for this blog.

I look forward to collecting more sheep and adding them to the shelf.

Our Big News

Here’s what’s on the docket for October. We celebrate 20 years of marriage on October 12th. Considering we didn’t meet until we were in our forties, 20 years is quite a big deal for us. This year has been both incredible and heartbreaking and we want to finish it off on a positive note.

So…we’re going to London and Paris with a stop in Edinburgh and we’re in the midst of planning it right now. We’re going to make our flight reservations tomorrow. We figure we’ll be gone about 2½ weeks, maybe a bit longer. We’re so excited!!!

We have been discussing this for a long time, trying to pin down where exactly we want to go. Last week we suddenly changed the itinerary to Paris and Venice, which would also be wonderful. But we ended up changing it back to London and Paris. If we can afford another trip in the future, we’d love to do Venice, Budapest, Prague, etc. This morning we firmed up a lot of details, now we just have to sit down tomorrow and figure out travel times, how many days in each city, and book the flights.

It’s a big, big deal for us as we don’t have a lot of discretionary income and this may end up being a one-time-only sort of trip. If so, we figured London and Paris were the places we simply had  to visit. A romantic anniversary in Paris sounds pretty darned wonderful.

Since this is coming out of my inheritance, I thank my mom and dad for this opportunity for Don and I to travel to Europe together.

We’d love to hear where you’ve stayed, what you suggest we see, any tips on reasonable hotels, etc. I haven’t been to London since 2001 and that trip was with my students and it was planned for us. The one thing that Don and I want to do is explore the cities and walk a lot. Yes, we want to see certain well known tourist attractions, but our main focus will be on discovering little side streets and cafes and the architecture and beauty of each city. And we’ll see a couple of plays while we’re in London, as well.

Cannot wait!

Happy Thursday.

 

 

 

Is it Thursday Already?

at by

Is it Thursday already? The weeks seem to fly by.

Some random photos of the house, taken yesterday afternoon:

My rather cluttered office with the box containing a new modem still unopened after 3 months.

Vintage plant stand (found at my neighbor’s barn sale) in the office. Those two plants – the pothos and the spider plant – were once tiny little grocery store plants that I bought to put in my apartment in Hartford. They have grown so much since then and they’re hassle-free. This little corner houses extra pots and potting soil, waterers and saucers.

Don’s mini studio. That fireplace remains one of my favorite creations – I’m still chuffed when I look at it.

And a look at the piano, a piece that is so filled with family memories that it will always be priceless.

Though it desperately needs a tuning. I can’t even stand to play it, it’s so out of tune.

Coming soon.

Don had a jam session with some local musicians last night and he got to play his dream electric guitar. It’s on his “I’m saving up for it” list. I want him to get it because it’s in my favorite colors, turquoise and white. There’s a picture of it on his Instagram account, which you can find here. His IG account name is: @donsroadtrip.

Tonight? Either Mudbound  or Lady Bird.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives