Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Mowing, Raking, and a New Miniature

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Happy day, then a day of penance. I don’t really believe that, but it sure seemed to be the case yesterday.

Don took on the task of raking leaves and we had tons of them all over the driveway and upper parking area and in the corral. On the front lawn, too, but I took care of some of that. Don raked for a few hours and then moved all the leaves in to a big pile by the shed. While he was doing all of that, I mowed. I was going to mow the secret garden, which has been wet and soggy for a few weeks. I figured I couldn’t wait for it to fully dry, so I mowed. And then I thought I’d do the upper part of the lawn on the side of the house.

But then I looked at the grass and it was getting long, so I mowed a third of the lawn – the part that’s always the longest. I took a short break. Maybe I should tackle the middle section? Alright, I’ll just do that and leave the rest for another day. You know where this is heading – I ended up mowing the entire lawn. I haven’t done that in a long time. Usually, Don and I mow together, but since he was already raking, well…there you go. I also knew it was going to rain today.

But our reward was a dinner of crabbiless crab cakes, which had been slated for our anniversary, but Don was tired and we decided to save it for yesterday. Oh my goodness. Delicious.

Today is a day of rest for both of us.

Remember my telling you that I needed an inspiration piece for the dollhouse? It arrived the other day.

It’s a Knole sofa made by the extraordinary miniaturist, Joanne Shimakawa. A guy I know who is a longtime collector was auctioning off pieces from an estate and this was one of them. I ended up getting it for a good price – it was one of those auctions where, towards the end, one person is bidding against you. I raised my bid by a mere $10 and much to my surprise, the other bidder dropped out. I couldn’t believe my good fortune!

This sofa is so exquisite, so detailed. I simply cannot conceive of having this kind of skill. There’s even tiny piping. I felt the same sort of delight when I found the sofa that now lives in Dove Cottage. I’m not exactly sure where I’m going with the Beacon Hill – there is quite a bit of repair to deal with first – but I’m thinking ‘spare and elegant.’ Dollhouse lovers are collectors and there is always the temptation to cram the rooms full of amazing miniatures. I get it – I often have that urge, as well. But my budget is limited and this time around, I’m going to consider that a plus, not a minus.

It’s currently sitting in the living room of the Beacon Hill, but I’ll soon be moving it to a safe place, as the rooms with dark walls are being primed.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Checking in on the Mini Studio

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It all started with wanting to move the antique table that is in the living room over to the left, so I could move my monstera plant under the window. It needs more light than it’s been getting. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but I guess I was fixed on centering that table under the window. That lead to me moving it to the corner, Don holding on to the monstera so it didn’t tip over, and lots of wrangling of plants and furniture. (This also led to a clean out the following moring of that corner, which is right next to Don’s chair. The domino effect.) In the course of moving the table, one of the mini Adirondack chairs fell on the floor and broke apart. Adding that little mishap to the fact that I really needed to clean the interior of that dollhouse led to me carrying it over to the kitchen island yesterday, where I worked on it for a few hours.

Moving it to the corner is going to keep it out of direct sunlight, which is a good thing. And it’s now closer to Don, which he likes.

I glued the various parts of the chair back together, dusted, cleaned, re-glued some pieces that I made for the mini studio and gave it some love. As I started in on all of this, Don disappeared upstairs. When he came back down, he handed me a piece of copier paper with a photo of the late, great John Prine and asked if I could hang it on the wall. He managed to reduce it to the right scale, as well. He’s so darned adorable.

So here’s a little tour, since we haven’t done that for a long time.

The exterior of the studio. Sorry it’s on the kitchen island but it was raining yesterday and I couldn’t take it outside. The chair on the right is the one I had to repair. I built this studio from a kit, by the way.

Another view. I made all the board and batten siding.

Inside. I made the fireplace in the corner, truly one of my happiest mini achievements.

I built the kitchenette counter and the desk/tables. I miniaturized Shanna’s sketch of Scout, made a frame, and hung it on the wall. Scout had just passed away, my dad left us a few months before that, and I was so heartbroken that I had a hard time motivating myself to finish this for Don’s June birthday, but I did. I knew Don would love to see Scoutie featured.

I figured mini-Don would need a little area where he could make coffee and have a snack. There is a back story on every one of these items, and you can find that under Dollhouse/Miniatures on the navigation bar.

There’s John, just above the sketch of Scout. I mounted the photo on cardboard. I’m not totally happy with it and was thinking of redoing it, but Don is thrilled with it, and that’s all that matters.

Rest in Peace, Scout and John.

And Rest in Peace to Burt Bacharach. I loved everything he wrote, starting with my first encounter with Walk On By  when I was a kid. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Thus began my love of songs written in a minor key. Haunting, beautiful; it drew me in and I became a fan.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lake Cottage: Christmas Edition

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Okay. I managed to get some new photos of the Lake Cottage. This involved dragging a heavy wooden chair that normally lives in the kitchen to the den. I used the big-girl camera for everything except a shot of the tree, which happens to be placed at the back of the miniature living room – a very dark corner. So I shoved my iPhone in the room, hoping I was aiming at the right place and kept taking pictures until something passable appeared.

A few photos of a dark interior on a dark day.

But here we have a brighter photo of the exterior.

The living room. I haven’t really done anything to it since I first grabbed some pieces of furniture and accessories that I had on hand. I did my best to fill the bookshelves and supplied a cozy chair and sofa for the owners to sink into as they sit in front of the fire. The only new piece is the Arts and Crafts side table by the sofa. I purchased that at a miniature show. Looking at these photos has made me want to do more with the interior – at the very least, add some more books and rugs.

This little house is funky. The two rooms next to the living room are very small. I can barely get my hand into the one that is by the front door. I often think about trying to add a bed – but how? I do have some ideas. But the only way you’d get to see it is in a picture shot from outside the front window.

The kitchen – or kitchenette – has hardly any room either. I have added a piece exactly like the kitchen island in Dove Cottage. I bought it because I knew it would fit. It’s still in its raw wood stage.

I also think I could stick some “tile” down on the wood floor. It, like the wallpaper in the living room, would be installed with something temporary. It wouldn’t be glued in. The door is a bit too wide (wider than the front door!) and out of scale, but opening that door temporarily might offer another view of the bedroom for a photo shoot. Now, to figure out where I could put a little stove, because the left wall contains another door to the living room. There’s barely any wall space available.

The tree. It used to be in the modern dollhouse where it worked perfectly. It’s not what I would have initially chosen for this house, but after looking at it here, the glittery silver is much better than a dark evergreen tree. It stands out more.

It needs a skirt. I’ll work on that.

One good thing about this mini photo shoot: it’s inspired me to do a bit more with this beauty of a dollhouse.

Okay. I referred to the book about Dorothy Kilgallen yesterday. I want to add that it’s not perfect. It definitely needed better editing. At times, a word is omitted. The author sometimes repeats himself. But he has really done his research and none of those things have had an impact on my reading enjoyment.

Time to get going. The last January 6th Committee meeting will be televised today. It’s at 1 pm.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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