Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Crazy Weather & Vintage Finds

August 11, 2021 at 9:32 am by Claudia

We have an excessive heat advisory today and tomorrow. The heat index could go as high as 112° today. Yikes. I guess we’re not mowing the lawn today. Luckily there was a light rain falling this morning which has since ended and the gardens have been watered naturally. I’ll head out to the porch after I finish this to make sure all of those pots are watered as well.

If any of you here in the States have been watching The Bridge  and want to see the final season (which has been unavailable for some reason until now) it’s now available on Amazon Prime via Topic, a channel that carries a lot of international movies and series. We were about to start another European series when I happened to see The Bridge, Season 4 on the screen! Huzzah! I’ve searched for it a few times a week for what seems like ages in hopes that it would magically become available. I know I’ve said this before, but both Don and I think The Bridge  (Danish/Swedish) is one of the finest series we’ve even seen.

This is the way Red Chair wraps a purchase. I really love the elegant simplicity. Anyway, here are my purchases wrapped, and my unwrapped purchases are below.

On the left, a vintage French yogurt container (you know I love graphics) and on the right, a vintage café au lait bowl. I now have three, so I’ve got a collection. Why the heck I didn’t buy several of them when I was at the flea market in Paris, I’ll never know. Don envisions several colorful bowls on that little shelf I have in the kitchen – the shelf currently occupied by McCoy and some old stoneware containers with neat graphics. Don has a good eye, so I’m going to do that very thing as soon as I get a couple more of these bowls.

I haven’t painted in several days – too many other things going on. I’m going to start a new painting today. By the way, I’m in contact with the owner of the Beacon Hill and we’ll probably drive there on Tuesday to pick it up. They’re away at the moment and she has to work on Monday.

Am I insane to take this on? Soon there will be a wall of dollhouses surrounding my desk in the office. My very own dollhouse-cubicle. Every once in a while, I wonder if I’m just plain crazy.

Okay, my friends. I’m off to do a few things around the house before it gets too hot.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, France, miniatures, vintage 19 Comments

Hudson

August 10, 2021 at 10:29 am by Claudia

We had a little adventure yesterday, always welcome after a year and a half+ of staying home. It was a gorgeous day with a blue sky and big fluffy clouds. We headed north on the thruway, then crossed the Hudson River on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, and arrived in Hudson. We did a lot of walking and as the day went on, it got really hot; 90 degrees and humid. So we were pretty tired at the end of the day. Nevertheless, it was a fun day!

Some photos for you. This will be a picture-heavy post.

The beautiful old Hudson Opera House. (Wear a Mask signs in the windows.)

Beautifully restored buildings everywhere on Warren Street, which is the main drag.

A gate between buildings. Isn’t is gorgeous?

Out of necessity and, in the end, quite naturally, we had our first meal out since the pandemic started. Healthy food, prepared with masks and gloves on, and wonderfully tasty. We sat outside. We couldn’t have found a better place for our first, somewhat cautious, meal.

This vintage dollhouse was displayed in a window, but the shop wasn’t open. They were selling it for a donation of $600, which would be earmarked for Hudson non-profits.

Outside an art gallery.

Inside my favorite shop which is full of mostly French antiques: Red Chair on Warren.

It’s full of beautiful antiques; furniture, garden pieces, jewelry, and lots of china, porcelain, and old silver. The owner has impeccable taste. I used to read about her shop years ago when she was located in New Hampshire. She’s been here at this location for about 10 years, if I remember correctly. Last time I was there, I dashed in while Don was waiting in line at the DMV and purchased a couple of vintage café au lait bowls. I bought two little items that I’ll share with you tomorrow.

This! I don’t know where it came from, but isn’t it stunning? Can you imagine this as a kitchen island, or simply as a display piece in a home? Goodness!

After a couple of hours, we were really hot and tired – most of the antique shops weren’t air conditioned and yours truly was over it. We made a stop on the way out of town at the Antique Warehouse. I follow them on IG and was ready to find a new dresser for Don and a couple of other things that we needed.

Nope. It was huge, and full of stuff. Some of the pieces were beautiful, in fact, many of them were beautiful. A lot of them were just ‘stuff.’ But it wasn’t organized well, and different areas were different shops, but not clearly defined as such. It made me a little crazy. And it was way overpriced. The shops in downtown Hudson tend to be overpriced as well, and they trend toward lots of mid-century modern. But since this place was out of downtown proper, I expected more equitable pricing. Nope. And it wasn’t air-conditioned, so by that time I admittedly had little patience.

However, I did find one stunner:

This antique dollhouse. Oh my heavens, it is beautifully made.

The dollhouse was in a very dark corner of the warehouse, so picture taking was challenging. You can see the very tall ceilings, the stairs and hallway. Only four rooms but big ones.

The front looks like it slides into two grooves on the edges of the dollhouse interior. Check out that charming detail around the window!

The details are so charming!

Oh my. Actually, I think the price is pretty fair on this piece considering it’s quite old, in good condition, solid, handmade, and one-of-a-kind. If I had lots of space and more money than I do have, I would have bought it. But I never seriously considered it.

However, it’s still in my head. I don’t know who made this, but it sure was a love-filled gift for a very special someone.

All in all, a lovely day.

I reached out to the woman selling the Beacon Hill this morning, but I haven’t heard back from her yet. Hopefully, we can make a deal – Don seems to be willing to make this trip, God bless him. I don’t deserve him. Truly. I’ll keep you updated.

(The porch on that Beacon Hill is on crookedly and there may be more that needs to be redone. But that’s what I did with my first dollhouse, Hummingbird Cottage, so I can do it again.)

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: antiques, dollhouse, On The Road, vintage 28 Comments

Serendipitous Finds

February 24, 2020 at 10:21 am by Claudia

What? 58 degrees today and sunny? Oh my.

We had a lovely day yesterday. We drove to Phoenicia, which is a tiny little town up in the Catskills. We took a rather hilly route and consequently learned that the CR-V doesn’t do so well anymore on that kind of terrain. Next time, either a different route or my car. But it was a lovely drive. The scenery is still winter-stark, but then again, I got to see houses that would normally be hidden by leafed out trees. Phoenicia is funky, known for its strong arts community, fly fishing, and tubing down the river.

Our first stop was at the Phoenicia Diner, which is very well known around here. This was our first time and it was packed. The food is delicious. More on all of that tomorrow.

It felt like we really got away to a completely different place. It turned out to be one of what we call our ‘road trip’ adventures, where wonderful and unexpected things happen just by our being open to the experience.

When we drove into Phoenicia proper after we ate at the Diner, one of our stops was an antique shop. To be frank, there wasn’t much there that interested us, but there was one thing. A stainless steel kitchen island that most likely came out of a restaurant. It’s definitely restaurant quality. I noticed it immediately and called Don over. He, being the cook, fell in love with it. The depth was fairly narrow and it seemed as if it would fit nicely in our kitchen. The price was great. So we measured and measured again, mostly to see if it would fit in the CR-V. It did.

Here it is:

Don loves it. The height is perfect for my very tall husband. There’s lots of prep space. We have very little counter space here. This gives us so much more! We can easily move the Fiesta compote off the top in order to use the entire length of the island. Also: much easier to clean than the first island, which periodically had to be repainted and it was a pain in the tush.

It’s also what I call “airier.” We can see through it to the cupboards. It’s not a heavy piece of furniture like the previous island, which was in reality a sideboard. And it isn’t too small to be a functional island, which our sweet French Bistro table was. It also echoes the chrome on Stella. We have to get used to it as we’ve both bumped into it this morning but we’re really happy with it. An unexpected find on our trip yesterday.

The other unexpected finds were those two vintage picnic basket tins. These were found in a shop that, again, had absolutely nothing that we found interesting but did have four of these tins stacked in the display window. I assumed they were for display purposes only, but they were for sale. We got a really good price for the two we bought and were already envisioning them on the shelf below the counter. They’ll provide much needed storage. I knew immediately that the island would need softening. Those sleek lines would need some vintage additions to fit in with our pottery and plant filled kitchen. I think we’ve managed to do that with the tins, the antique crate – which we already had – and the bright yellow compote on the top.

We were not expecting to buy anything but brunch, but we couldn’t pass these up. Serendipity!

The other side of the kitchen this morning:

Still haven’t painted the wall. Heaven knows when I will.

Yes, our kitchen is funky.

I’ll share some photos from our little journey tomorrow.

Oh, almost forgot! When Don went out to the car yesterday, he saw one of our groundhogs! Groundhogs hibernate for the winter, so this was a surprise, and it’s certainly the earliest we have ever seen one. Did he just come out to check on the weather? I don’t think it was Henry. It was the guy who lives next door and runs back and forth between our houses, because as soon as he saw Don he took off for our neighbor’s shed.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: antiques, dollhouse, kitchen, kitchen island, vintage 60 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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