Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Mini Decorations

December 14, 2022 at 9:21 am by Claudia

Over the next couple of days, I’ll share the Christmas decorations in the dollhouses with you. Nothing much has changed, but it’s fun taking pictures every year.

First up: Hummingbird Cottage.

Christmas is celebrated in the den on the second floor. There just isn’t enough room for a tree in the living room. Caroline hasn’t finished yet – there’s still a box of Shiny Brites on the stool.

Downstairs in the living room, a couple of Christmas touches:

Two bottle brush trees on the hearth.

(Note the back of the heads of Lily and Wren in the front door window…I forgot they were there when I took the picture! An interesting look at scale – those little dolls seem so tiny next to the Blythes, but they’re huge in comparison to the dollhouse.)

A wreath hung on the newel post.

I’ve decorated Dove Cottage and Lake Cottage (the vintage house in the den) as well.

As in real life, I don’t do a lot of decorating. In the case of the dollhouses, I make the trees and add a few touches, but I don’t like to spend a lot of money on miniatures I can only use once a year.

I just finished The Twist of a Knife, the book by Anthony Horowitz. I enjoyed it. It’s an easy read and it reminds me of an Agatha Christie mystery. I’m hoping to get an email from the library saying a book I ordered has arrived. Fingers crossed.

We’re getting more snow tomorrow – maybe 3 inches? And then we’ll get some rain. Next week, we might get 5 – 8 inches. Yikes! Of course, that can change, but we just might have a white Christmas.

Happy Birthday to my dear cousin Eileen, who reads this blog. I love you, Eileen.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, dollhouse, miniatures 30 Comments

Nature, Miniatures, and Spoiler Alert

December 9, 2022 at 9:14 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a full-on amazing nature day.

Spectacular sunrise with a pink sky as far as we could see. A spectacular sunset. Two murmurations of starlings on our property that were truly magnificent and glorious. At one point, I looked out the back window in the kitchen and there was a huge hawk standing on the ground eating something. I’ve never seen a hawk land on our property and stay there for at least ten minutes. Don said he was eating big, fat worms. It was amazing to watch – all of this was happening as we were talking to someone on the phone!

Wow.

Turning to miniatures, I’ve been trying to find a vintage-looking stove other than an Aga for quite a while. Almost impossible to find. Then a friend reminded me of the Hallmark Keepsake ornament from 2004, which you can still find on eBay. It’s very Christmasy and loaded with things I don’t want (and have already started to remove) but it reminds me of our stove. It’s 1:12 scale, or pretty close to that. It arrived in yesterday’s mail. It’s plastic, of course.

This ornament was designed to be plugged into a Christmas light strand and there was a fragrance pack tucked into the rear of the stove – sort of an apple spice scent. You plugged it in and you could smell cookies baking. I think there was a light in the oven, as well. It will need some work, as I’ve already removed the salt and pepper shakers, cookie sheets, and mugs, so I’ll have to repaint the top of the stove. I know of at least one other miniaturist who has worked with this ornament, so I’m going to check out her stove, which I believe she has since sold. I also have to cut off the electrical cord.

But I think this will look great in the Beacon Hill, don’t you?

Spoiler Alert  opens nationwide today! Go see it – it’s a wonderful movie with beautiful performances by everyone. Jim and Ben will make you laugh and break your heart at the same time. Sally and Bill are brilliant, as one would expect. And you can see me!

I’m so proud of this and my little contribution. My work with Ben paid off as he aced the dialect, and I managed not to embarrass myself in my scene. Who would have thought I’d be acting again, on screen, after 30 years?

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Filed Under: Beacon Hill Dollhouse, dollhouse, miniatures, nature, Spoiler Alert 30 Comments

Monday

November 7, 2022 at 8:22 am by Claudia

This morning. It’s still unseasonably warm out there – lovely, of course – but tomorrow will bring colder temperatures, so we’ll do our best to enjoy today. It was actually a little too  warm yesterday – 76 degrees. Both of us mentioned that we were ready for colder temperatures.

Remind me of that in a month or so.

Today will be a self-imposed ‘No news’ day. I’m nervous enough about the election, but there’s nothing I can do now but VOTE. We are voting tomorrow, though we could have voted early. But Don likes the ‘event’ of voting on Election Day itself and since we don’t have any conflicts, that’s what we’re going to do.

There’s so much I could say, but you know how I feel and what I believe. The GOP lacks a moral compass of any kind at the moment. Voting for one issue – like inflation, which is happening globally – when the party you think will rescue you from that doesn’t have a plan and voted against the Inflation Reduction Act is the proverbial “not seeing the forest for the trees.”

Our democracy is at stake.

Anyway, my plan is to stay away from Twitter today. (We’ll see how that goes.) I’m sure some news will find me, no matter how hard I try to avoid it. But I’m going to retreat into puzzle land and start a new book. And play with some dolls.

I’ve found that whenever I’m feeling blue or worried, grabbing one of the girls, dressing her in something fresh, then taking a photo of her lifts my mood. So that will probably happen today.

Speaking of which, I found two of the girls upstairs in the studio:

They look confused. They’re probably wondering why they don’t fit inside, because shouldn’t my world be all about them? They’ve told me they’re going to supervise when I start to work on the Beacon Hill.

Looks like it might get crowded in my little space.

Hang in there, everyone. Vote.

#Roevember.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, dollhouse, miniatures 19 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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