Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Light and Dark

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On Monday, I went out to get the mail late in the afternoon and what I saw made me run in the house for my camera.

Such an extraordinary sky! Dark combined with golden light. Gosh, I love it!

Someone asked me if we got snow or rain and no, we didn’t. A front moving through, I think.

I sent out three packages on Tuesday. Yesterday, three more pieces were purchased! So I guess I know what I’ll be doing today. I’m quite pleased that I’ve sold six pieces of McCoy. I listed a few additional pieces yesterday afternoon. I keep walking around the house looking for other things to sell and I’ve found a few. But there are pieces of McCoy I am not yet ready to sell because they’re my favorites. And I’m not going to sell any Roseville. No egg cups either, though I did sell my duplicate Snow White. I didn’t need the duplicate any longer, so I was able to release it into the world.

Some butter pats, maybe.

This is the remaining inventory (only so you get an idea of what I’m selling – all of you are quite familiar with my McCoy…) It isn’t always easy to choose what to let go of.

Mostly pastels but one midcentury McCoy piece in a dark green. One of the very first pieces I purchased.

I’m really enjoying Tom Lake  by Ann Patchett. Her prose flows so effortlessly and it’s a great story. The fact that the plot involves a summer theater and my home state of Michigan is an added bonus!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Friday Thoughts

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This morning’s sunrise. This was the view out our back window. However, I went outside to shoot this, rather than shoot through the smudgy window. Isn’t it gorgeous? We do get the best views out this window and from the window in the upstairs half bath. Last night’s sunset was glorious, too, but that view is from the front of the house.

We are having unseasonably warm weather. That will change tomorrow. So I’m going to enjoy one more day of warmth and potted flowers in bloom on my porch. The cement job looks great. Don put the skim coat on yesterday. Finished!

During all my ongoing reading, I’ve also been rereading The Deptford Trilogy by one of my all-time favorite authors, Robertson Davies. I just finished the second book in the trilogy, The Manticore. Now, it’s on to the final book, World of Wonders. I first read these books well over 30 years ago. Maybe even 40 years ago? I haven’t read them since and I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to revisit them. Davies was a brilliant writer. I’m also reading My Name is Barbra, Barbra Streisand’s autobiography. I’m not a regular reader of biographies; I much prefer fiction. But her style is very chatty and it’s like having a conversation with her – a very accessible and compelling read.

I’m contemplating selling my first dollhouse, Hummingbird Cottage. Should I? The dollhouses take up space here and though I love it, I’m not as invested in it these days. I would sell it without the furnishings, I think. But how do I price something like that? It took 6 years off and on to repair, refurbish, and decorate. I don’t know, maybe it’s a fruitless idea. It would have to be a local sale and I can’t imagine there are that many prospective buyers.

I won’t sell the vintage houses; even if I wanted to, Don would never let me! And I’ve got the Beacon Hill to work on. Plus, Dove Cottage is here and Don’s Mini Studio.

I’m also going to sell some of my McCoy pottery on Etsy. I have so much of it! There are pieces I’ll never sell, but there are plenty that I was happy to acquire at the time but am fine with selling. I’ve been washing them and thinking about how to photograph them. That will take up a great deal of time, but having done this in the past with the scarves I used to sell, I’m fairly sure I can handle it. I’ll let you know when they’re posted on Etsy.

Letting go of anything is hard for me, but as I grow older (another birthday next week) I realize I need to let go of those things that I can willingly release.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

 

Autumn Beauty

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Moody skies, zinnias, and fall color. There was quite a bit of wind over the weekend, so there are huge catalpa leaves on the ground all over the property. Time for Don to rake again.

Speaking of Don, I woke up in the middle of the night coughing. When this kind of thing happens in the middle of a deep sleep, it usually takes me a while to realize that I need to get up and clear my throat and suck on a cough drop. Usually, Don sleeps through it, but this time it woke him up and he couldn’t get back to sleep and now he’s very sleep deprived. I feel terrible! Usually, it’s a snore that keeps me awake. Anyway, he always, always has a better attitude about it than I do. I apologized to him this morning, and he said “It’s find. The coughing woke me up, but my brain kept me awake.”

Anyway, I’m going to do my best to help him through the day. Mainly by being quiet, so he can grab a nap or two.

I finished The Running Grave  by Robert Galbraith – all 945 pages of it. I think it’s the best yet in this series. I quite literally couldn’t put it down. So many twists and turns and beautifully detailed characterizations. It’s still in my brain this morning. Rowling is such a gifted writer – to produce a book that is, let’s face it, very long, but so well written that one reads page after page after page without stopping because it flows so beautifully. She is brilliant.

If you are not familiar with this series, it’s written by JK Rowling but the author name she originally published under was Robert Galbraith. If I remember correctly, she chose the name so as not to be linked with the Harry Potter series, but the news that she was the actual author leaked pretty early on. You should definitely read the books in order because the recurring characters undergo a lot of changes and knowing and understanding their journeys is pivotal. This is #7 in the series.

And now, I’ve just begun reading Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die, the newest book in the Thursday Night Murder series.

What would I do without reading? It’s been the one constant in my life and has, quite literally, saved me.

Two weeks from yesterday I am going to attend Wonderland of Play/BlytheCon in New Jersey. It will be held in Jersey City,  about a two hour drive from my house. Before Covid hit, there were various BlytheCon celebrations yearly; BlytheMadrid, BlytheConUK, Play and Party Prague, etc. These events bring together Blythe artisans and Blythe lovers and I’ve witnessed how amazing they are in my IG Blythe feed. This may be the only time I get to go to one, so I grabbed a ticket back in February and on November 5th, I’ll be meeting a lot of friends and artists in person. (I’ll be wearing a mask, but I’ll take it off for photos.) Lots of people I know are going, favorite vendors will be there, and it will be wonderful to be with fellow Blythe lovers who understand the hold this doll can have on a person.

I’m starting to get excited.

Okay. I need to zap my now cold coffee in the microwave.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday,

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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