miniatures — Page 67

Trash, Books & Minis

May 14, 2016 at 9:01 am by Claudia

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I know a good trash can is a necessity in a kitchen – in ours, we need one that is really secure, since various critters fly inside our house during the summer months. We had one for years that was made by OXO and it was great; except for the lid, which had structural flaws in its design. Eventually, no matter how careful we were, the plastic portions would disintegrate and it wouldn’t work. OXO was very helpful, sending us replacement lids throughout the years. We must have had at least 6 different lids. But the flaw actually got worse, and the latest replacement fell apart in less than two months.

So we bit the bullet yesterday and bought a new one. Not the most exciting thing to buy, but a necessity. We rewarded ourselves by going out to breakfast and stopping at the bookstore.

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I picked up Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty – a memoir by Diane Keaton (I am a huge fan) and then I got a discount copy of The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. I read her newest novel, Broken Monsters, a few months ago and really liked it.

I also ran into Michael’s to get some plastic storage bins for my minis – right now, they’re all over the place.

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And I found this mini table – I like the color and the lines.

Then we came home. Driving up and down a busy highway full of stores and strip malls isn’t really our cup of tea. We were relieved when we got back to our little cottage.

All this running around meant I didn’t get the seeds planted in the Chicken Wire Fence Garden, so I’ll do that this morning. And by the time we got back home, I realized that I had to pick my health plan before the end of the day, so that became a priority.

But there was a little package waiting for me in our mailbox. It was from my pal, Linda.

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Oooh! The egg cup on the left is Harlequin by Homer Laughlin (in my favorite color) and the egg coddler is a lovely one from Royal Worcester. Thank you, Linda! We both collect egg cups, by the way, so we are definitely enablers.

She also sent along three mini record albums for the TSP, but I am unable to get a good shot of them this morning. I’ll remedy that later in the day.

We might get more rain later in the day, so I’m going to attend to gardening and potting later this morning.

Happy Saturday.

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It’s Nice To Be Spoiled Every Now And Then

May 12, 2016 at 9:56 am by Claudia

Greetings from the land of mulching, and mulching some more, and soaking morning glory seeds, and planting impatiens. I did a bit too much yesterday (big surprise) but the garden beds are looking so much better. It was worth it!

As to the mystery plant, I’m still leaning toward spirea, but reader Ann suggested chokecherry and when I looked it up, well – it could very well be a chokecherry. The way to determine that is to watch and wait, and if it eventually develops berries, then I’ll know the answer. And since chokecherry is a tree, I would have to remove it. So let’s hope it’s a spirea – they are both from the same family, as it turns out.

The day before yesterday, a package from Barbara arrived in the mail.

She mentioned that she found a wonderful site on Etsy that sells fèves. Fèves are little trinkets that are made to be put in a King Cake, which is baked on Epiphany. Whoever ends up with the fève is King for the day. I didn’t know about any of this, but I’ve since explored the shop and I am enchanted by these little mini figures. Barbara thought they would be perfect for dollhouse miniatures – and they are. They’re from France.

Some photos of the little fève vases:

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Right around this time in the picture-taking, I thought I’d throw in a penny for a size comparison.

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They are made from porcelain and are hand painted. Simply exquisite.

I’m over-the-moon about this shop – it’s called ValueARTifacts. I already have a wish list going. These pieces are so well made and the are perfect for dollhouse projects.

Also in the box:

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A can of Pringles (not a fève) – that will go in the TSP.

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And some muffins!

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An overhead shot of one of the vases in the TSP. Don’t you think the colors are perfect in that space? And heaven knows, I can’t fill that shelf unit entirely with record albums, though I do have a few more on the way via Etsy.

Oh, I almost forgot the other item in the box:

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This piece of Roseville. Barbara wasn’t sure if it was a legit piece (it is) and it has a tiny chip on the base. As you know, I care not one bit about little chips, so I am thrilled to have this join my Roseville family. It’s the Bleeding Heart pattern. Love those graduated Art Deco-like handles!

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The other side.

I’ve had curtail my Roseville buying lately, as any extra funds I have are being used for the TSP. Thank you, Barbara, for everything. You spoil me!

But, I have to admit, it’s nice to be spoiled every now and then.

Speaking of spoiling, the other present I received from Don on Mother’s Day was Adele’s new record album, 25 – yes, on vinyl. I love it.

Happy Thursday.

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Bunnies, Henry & the TSP

May 9, 2016 at 8:44 am by Claudia

I took the day off yesterday. Frankly, I was having a very hard day, which started the night before, as I anticipated the arrival of Mothers Day – the second Mothers Day without my mom and the first in 21 years where I was not a mom. It was also marked three months to the day since Scout left us.

All in all, a very hard day for me, with tears the night before and lots of tears in the morning. My extraordinary husband was there for me throughout, surprising me with flowers and cards in the morning and a lovely book of essays on Beautiful Older Dogs.

He understands. He will go through much the same thing on Fathers Day – his first without Scout.

I simply wasn’t up to writing about my feelings yesterday and I know you understand.

The rain has stopped. We are supposed to have a very nice week ahead, so that means mowing and planting seeds and fixing up the porch are on the docket. I need to get outside and do something, to get my mind off loss and heartbreak and just do something physical.

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I painted the TSP’s deck. (I’ve told Don not to check out the blog for an indefinite period of time.) It’s gray with two coats of varnish.

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Thought you’d enjoy a bird’s eye view of the TSP.

Henry (our groundhog/woodchuck) has been back in business lately. (Whether it’s actually Henry, or Henry II or III, we don’t know.) No babies spotted yet. We also have several bunnies on the property.

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Henry (from the living room window) likes dandelions. We watched him come up to the house and deliberately, yet delicately, eat each individual flower. He has apparently signed on as my personal weed whacker.

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One of the bunnies.

The other evening, I watched Henry nibbling on grass over by the corral. He kept eating as he slowly walked toward the ramp to the shed. In the meantime, a bunny appeared, having come down the path from the woods, blithely hopping toward the same ramp. As the bunny stopped, he looked up and saw Henry and did that thing that animals do – he froze in position. Meanwhile, Henry kept moving toward the shed, eyes downward as he nibbled on the grass. He was less than a foot away from the bunny when he suddenly looked up and discovered that bunny smack dab in front of him. He did a double take. The bunny did a double take.

And they both ran off.

Better than television.

I’ve posted a book review on Just Let Me Finish This Page – another winner from Robert Dugoni, In the Clearing. Please stop by.

Happy Monday.

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Trash, Books & Minis

It’s Nice To Be Spoiled Every Now And Then

Bunnies, Henry & the TSP

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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