Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for porch

C’est Fini. For the Moment.

August 7, 2017 at 9:36 am by Claudia

My plan to work on Act 4 yesterday was shelved when I decided I would rather get everything organized in the kitchen, finish painting the trim and get all the crap off the table. I’m not a person who can leave a mess behind. Some people have no problem with that, but I’m someone who cleans and straightens up before I leave town. I did assign Don the bathroom; heaven knows when he’ll take care of that. Most likely, when he knows I’m two hours away and headed home on my day off. Same with washing the sheets. I will wash them before I leave and I think I can rest assured that he’ll leave them as is until absolutely necessary.

Not the best picture as it’s dark and rainy today, so I had to take it with the lights on so the yellow looks darker than it is, but you get the idea. Still have to re-mount the roman blinds and hang a few things here and there.

Anyway – all done! For now. We’ve decided that we want to paint the entire kitchen yellow, which isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds because we have lots of windows and trim and all the cupboards and a door that will be painted ivory white. And the ivory white I’m using is lighter and brighter than the current paint color. That’s just fine with me as I’ve never liked the paint color in this house, which is the same in every room, save the two bathrooms which I painted not long after we moved in. This house was flipped and I am absolutely sure that the flipper had every wall sprayed in this same blah color – not white, not beige, but somewhere in between. In a flat finish. When was it ever wise to paint a kitchen in oil-based paint in a flat finish?

We’re coming up on 12 years in this house and I’m finally getting around to painting the kitchen, which I’ve been threatening to do for years. I doubt I would have started painting, knowing me, but then we fell in love with the vintage stove.

And I’ll do anything for that stove.

The process will take a long time. I’m going to do it a section at a time and I’m headed off to Hartford for five weeks, so there’s that.

Again: dark, rainy, the floors look darker than they are but here’s the table. I find I’m really liking it. Don tells me he had no trouble cooking last night and the pots and pans and baking supplies are in another cupboard now that is much closer to the stove. The crate under the table holds miscellaneous items, including dish towels, some rarely used utensils, etc. I think it will work. Eventually, we’re going to replace that microwave with a smaller one in white. (I’ve never liked this one, but it came with the house, so we accepted it.) I’ve also never liked the black stove and the black dishwasher. The dishwasher doesn’t work. It’s never worked. Right now, we’re storing supposedly essential kitchen items in there. But we never use them. So they’re getting tossed and we’re getting a new dishwasher. In white. None of this will happen immediately, but with the paint, the new dishwasher and the vintage stove coming, we’ll have a mini makeover.

Oh, and I hate the tiled countertops.

You can see how the yellow changes depending on the light, the time of day and whether I have to resort to turning on the overhead pot lights.

The other item I purchased on Saturday was not a need, but I fell in love with it, so it came home with us. It’s almost impossible to take a good picture in the den because there are windows on three walls and it tends to stay dark in there until late in the day.

 

This table. Fell in love with the shape, the paint color – everything. I had no idea where it would go but this seemed like the right place and Don agreed. Excuse the laptop cord, but hey, this is real life. This is also pretty accurate in terms of the color. I had to close the blinds to get it that way.

And for those of you who asked, here’s the former island on the porch. I haven’t really done anything with it yet. No time.

It does look pretty there.

As you will see, it’s facing the entrance to the porch.

I have to find some place for the bench that was there – it’s currently shoved over to the left.

What do you think?

To sum up: Photos, but none of them very good. But there you go. It is what it is.

Okay. Acts 4 and 5 today and then Tuesday and Wednesday are for shopping and laundry and packing.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: cottage, kitchen, porch, vintage, vintage stove 34 Comments

Missing My Husband, Garden, & Little Z

May 20, 2017 at 9:42 am by Claudia

It’s a good 15 degrees cooler today than yesterday. I must confess, I did a lot outside yesterday, culminating in mowing the larger part of the lawn. This is tiring on an average day, but yesterday, it was extremely  tiring. Maybe because it was warmer and humid? I’m not sure. But I had to stop more than a few times and hydrate myself and rest. I felt frustrated by the whole endeavor, though I did finish. I’m not one to back off of chores like this and the fact that it was harder than usual ticked me off.

Anyway, after it was all done, I came into the house, took a shower, plopped into a chair and a wave of missing Don completely engulfed me. It’s been over 2 months now, with a month and half yet to go, and I felt overwhelmed with loneliness. And I knew I couldn’t call him because he was in the middle of rehearsals, so I had to wait until later in the day to speak to him.

Most days, we both handle this pretty well. But there are some, like yesterday, that are too much. We often say, “If we could just give each other a hug, everything would be better.” Not being able to do that is just plain hard.

Today is a new day and I’m better, as I knew I would be.

So far, I see three poppy buds. There will be more. And you can see that the catmint is just starting to bloom.

Forget-me-nots in the Memorial Garden.

I received an item in the mail yesterday that lifted my spirits. It was addressed to Aunt Claudia.

From Little Z.

We spoke briefly last night. He hadn’t had a nap and he was tired. After a little back and forth, he said, “I can’t talk because it’s raining.”

Oh, that boy! He makes me laugh.

Happy Saturday.

 

Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden, Little Z, porch 36 Comments

Prettying Up the Porch

May 3, 2017 at 9:02 am by Claudia

Weather, weather! Cold, windy (very windy), more wind today, heavy rain due on Friday and Saturday. And, a frost advisory for tonight!

So, I’m holding off on buying plants for pots and urns and hanging pots until this passes.

I planted the morning glory and zinnia seeds yesterday, but forgot that moonflower seeds need to soak for 24 hours, so I’ll be planting those today.

And I put together the other Adirondack chair – this time, it only took about forty-five minutes. Since the bench cushion arrived yesterday via UPS, everything in that little sitting area is now ready for some photos.

Hello, pretty Adirondack chairs! Since our porch is covered in bluestone and also slopes downward a bit, finding a place to set up the other chair was a bit tricky. Then, later in the day, the wind was so strong that it actually collapsed (but not in a bad way) with a loud bang – now I know that they really do fold up for storage!

The chairs are from The Christmas Tree Shops. The cushions are from Home Goods. The little table was a  last minute find from Marshall’s.

The funky, rusty glider with its new clothes…I really love this look.

The bench cushion was ordered from Plow & Hearth. Finally, a bench cushion that actually fills the entire seat! The cushions on either end are from Home Goods and the one in the middle is from Marshall’s.

Everything was inexpensive – including the chairs. It was time for some sprucing up. I started with  a plan to find a bench cushion for the glider and some pillows to match. Then I saw the ad for the chairs, and so I had to buy more cushions and the little table.

It’s bright and colorful and I love that. The house color is muted, the bluestone is grayish. A lot of the other furniture is very weathered teak. We need some pops of color!

An impulse buy from Home Goods, but one I’m happy about:

This plant stand, which also folds up for storage. I’m looking forward to filling this up with some lovely plants.

I want to share another great find from The Christmas Tree Shops:

These great urns, made of fireclay. I had an itch to find some antique urns, but who knows how long that would take and/or how expensive they would be! Then, I saw these outside near the entrance to the store and I bought one and stuck it in the cart with the chairs.

Then I couldn’t stop thinking about them and I bought three more. They are only $16.99 and have a nice, hefty weight. I haven’t planted them yet because of the weather but soon.

The gray version, which picks up the gray in our shutters. One on the funky patio, one next to the kitchen door. Aren’t they great?

Once I plant some impatiens in the hanging pots and fill some other pots with flowers and plants, the porch will be ready to go!

Don has been following along via texts and he loves it, which makes me happy.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: porch 62 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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