Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Air Quality, A/C, and the Office/Studio

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The air quality has improved but it’s still at the orange level – unhealthy for sensitive groups. Looks like tomorrow will be back to normal, including the rain that is coming. One or the other lately: dangerous air quality or lots of rain. Can I choose something in-between, please? Or don’t we get that option?

We got the air conditioner. I sighed as we spent money we really didn’t want to spend. This time I went with an LG because I didn’t want to go with the only other option, a GE that was the exact same model we just got rid of. That unit was a problem from the beginning. Since I’d done my research (including what store had it in stock) we drove there, walked in the store, put the box in our cart, went though self-checkout, and were out of there in less than 10 minutes. We came home, I put it together, and now it’s in the window working beautifully. After several days of coping with high temperatures and humidity, it felt so good to have the house cool again. And it’s quieter than the other one, as well.

An neater and cleaner desk. I have to sort through that pile of paperwork on the left.

Must. Get. Going. On. This. Project.

I moved Dove Cottage to the top of the music cabinet.

It’s hard to take pictures in here. Since it’s densely populated by all of my stuff, Don’s musical instruments, a chair, lots of surfaces, etc., I can only back up so many steps. And I have to torque my body to get into little corners.

Don has a gig today about a couple of hours north of here. We need money, he hasn’t worked in over 4 years, I’m not working, blah blah blah, so he wrangled some bookings this month. He hasn’t sung in public like this for a while. I hope it goes well. It involves a lot of driving – though Don likes that. I’ll have some time to myself but within a couple of hours, I’ll miss him. I’m currently wondering if I should try to mow a little today (with a mask on.) It may be my only opportunity for a few days as rain is on the way,

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Office/Studio: Done

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Smoke yesterday and today. I don’t know about tomorrow yet, but the air quality is ‘Unhealthy.’ We kept the windows cracked, but just barely. We’re going to go get an air conditioner today because it’s hot in this house and, of course, even hotter with the windows shut. We’re getting out there early today and we’ll wear masks.

Despite my out-of-whack sinuses and allergies – I mean, 3 days of rain, storms, high mold and mildew counts and then, immediately into an air quality warning and smoke – I somehow managed to finish working on the office. I cleared out the closet (a huge trash bag full of stuff), rearranged the shelf under the work table, cleaned off the desk, organized everything, found a better spot for my easel, etc. But it was hot up there and I had to take a break during the morning session because I felt a bit woozy.

I took a shower and turned on the heating pad. Much to my surprise, I went back at it later in the day and finished everything. There are still things to be sorted but it’s much better now. I finished it off by vacuuming the room. Now, Don says he’s inspired to clear off his desk. (Fingers crossed!) I’ve more puzzles to donate and some stuffed animals to donate to a charity.

I’ll take another pass at it in a few months.

Thought you might like to see the putz sheep again, since they were overseeing my work.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

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.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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