Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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On Tuesday

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It wasn’t 3:00 when I took this photo. It was just a few moments ago. We temporarily stopped the clock because the bonging on the hour was waking us up.

As you can see, there’s a bit of snow outside, but much less than predicted. You’re thinking: oh great, no problem for Don and Claudia. Not so fast! It’s been sleeting for hours and will continue to do so, even though predictions said we’d have very little. So it’s quite dangerous out there. And miserable.

Since neither of us feel well, and there’s nothing we can do about it while it’s still happening, we’ll stay right we are, thank you very much!

I planned to do some more deep cleaning in the newest dollhouse yesterday, but frankly, I felt so crappy that I didn’t. Instead, I sat around, listened to Christmas music, read, and chatted with my husband. I think it’s sinus stuff. We’ve been up and down and all over the map in terms of weather this month. Warm, cold, rain, snow, sleet – everything. So I suspect my sinuses are complaining.

Thank goodness for the cheery lights on the Christmas tree! They really make a difference. Too bad we can’t have Christmas trees and twinkly lights all year round.

By the way, if you’re a fan of Vintage by Crystal (two of the figures in the photo are her designs) she’s having her Christmas blog sale today at 11:00. You have to visit the blog, then email her and let her know what you’d like. But you have to move quickly! Her blog address is vintagebycrystal (dot) blogspot (dot) com.

Happy Tuesday.

Chatty Friday

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Goodness, it’s gray and cloudy out there – both yesterday and today, with rain coming this evening. I started to work outside yesterday, but I was only out there for about 2 hours. I’m not used to working outdoors as I tend to be sedentary in the winter, and the air was that kind of damp that cuts right through you. But, I made a start.

We’ve been watching a groundhog who isn’t Henry. I see him on our property daily; he’ll investigate the places in which Henry and that scamp, Nigel, have resided. He’ll dine on some grass. He’s the same guy who periodically jumps up on the overturned wheelbarrow to see what’s going on. And invariably, he runs around the chicken wire fence at the back of the ‘corral’ and heads toward our neighbor’s shed. Does he live there? Does he live here? We’re not sure. But we’ve named him Joe.

My latest treasure from Vintage by Crystal arrived yesterday. Here it is:

She’s called Bedazzler. Talk about whimsical! I love everything about her; the base with the glitter, crepe paper and flowers, the egg with gold ‘grass’ inside, the little girl wearing lavender and yellow, holding a wire hoop of chicks and stars, sporting a hat with a little yellow chick.

Isn’t she the best? I’m in love with her.

On book reviews: I never answer comments on a book review post. I have to count comments in order to determine the winner, so any extra comments, like those that don’t have anything to do with the review itself, or a reply from me (which also counts as a comment) confuses the issue and makes it much more difficult to get a count. So if you have a question for me, please send it in an email. The address is under the envelope icon at the top of the sidebar. Or leave it on another post other than the book review. Then I can respond. In the future, I would appreciate you limiting your comments on these posts as they are meant to indicate whether you want to be part of the giveaway. Thanks, my friends.

Yesterday’s egg cup theme:

Wooden egg cups with faces. The man and woman on the left were sent to me by a reader of this blog. Those eggs are salt and pepper shakers. The sailor in the middle was a birthday gift from my girl, Scout. And the little girl on the right with the knitted cap was also a gift from a blog reader.

I’m surely blessed by all of you!

I’m reading another Ian Rankin mystery, Rather Be The Devil. I ended up liking my first venture into Rankin’s books very much indeed. I’m reading these out-of-order, which isn’t ideal, but for now, it’s the best I can do.

We watched The Florida Project  last night on Amazon Prime. A simply stunning movie. We were initially interested because we like Willem Dafoe and he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. But we really had no idea what it was about. I put it right up there with Roma. It’s so real and the performances – mostly by people who had never acted before – are so honest that it seems like it’s a documentary. It’s an important film.

And Dafoe is amazing.

We couldn’t stop talking about it afterwards. I’m still thinking about it this morning.

Beverly Cleary is 103 today!

Happy Friday.

 

The Pink Cabinet

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I know I’ve mentioned this before, but you do know that emails of the blog posts come from a separate email address, and that I have no way of responding to you when you choose to comment via a response to the email? I still get a lot of comments that way – and I read them – but I can’t respond to them. So, if you really want a direct response, come to the blog and comment here. If you simply want to write to me and don’t care whether I respond or not, then have at it.

I say this today because I got a response like that from Claudia in Oklahoma about a month ago. I came across it the other day, when I was cleaning out my inbox. Claudia was responding to a post about Vintage by Crystal; she had fallen in love with Crystal’s whimsical spun cotton creations. And she asked how I displayed them. (I hope you’ve found a piece that you love, Claudia!)

So I went upstairs and took some photos for you. Keep in mind that my Santa that sits on a bell and my Butterfly Rider are displayed right here in the den. But everything else is upstairs in the office.

They’re in my pink cabinet in my little hideaway at the top of the stairs.

I’ll take you on a little tour.

The top shelf holds several pieces of Roseville Pottery, including a child’s plate. On the right is an antique napkin holder inscribed with “Claudia.” My friend Lynne gave that to me.

The middle shelf holds several pieces of cream-colored McCoy Pottery, as well as a pottery deer (maker unknown). In the back is a pink cardboard candy box that holds letters my grandmother exchanged with her youngest sister, Rhoda, when Gram was attending nursing school in Barrie, Ontario. I’ve read many of them. Rhoda died at the age of 15 in the flu epidemic of 1918, along with an older sister, Maggie. Grandma never got over that. And from what I’ve read, Rhoda sounded delightful – full of life, funny, and kind. I wish I’d known her. And Maggie. Both gone long before I was born.

The Friends framed motto was a gift from my friend Lori, who owns Vignettes in San Diego. The pink powder puff was hand made by a blogging friend from long ago, who, sadly, no longer blogs. The Swarovski crystal bunnies came from Barbara. On the left, a Vintage by Crystal creation that looks like my mom when she was a little girl. On the right, a Valentine girl.

The bottom shelf holds copies of the magazines and book in which I was published. On top are little trinket holders that I love. Next to them are two chocolate boxes; one from Harrods in London and one from Laduree in Paris. And a little Paris/Eiffel Tower medallion I bought several years ago from Vignettes. Another piece of Roseville (the hard to find, an even harder to afford Cherry Blossom). Behind it, four vintage glove boxes. And then more Vintage by Crystal.

The elf is a Christmas ornament and not from Vintage by Crystal, but everything else here is. The two bunnies were my very first purchases.

So, that’s how I display them. I don’t do seasonal displays as a rule; rather, I prefer to have things out where I can see them all year long.

I have eight pieces by Crystal and – yes – I succumbed once more during yesterday’s blog sale. I’ll show you that when it arrives. I hope this helps, Claudia! I hope you see this post.

I love all the pieces I have displayed in my three china cabinets, but I must admit, this one is my favorite. It’s my ‘private’ cabinet, tucked away in our office. It’s painted a pale pink, it sits perpendicular to my desk, and I can see some of my favorite treasures when I’m working there. On top of the cabinet are my dolls and a poster for Anastasia. In fact, I went upstairs yesterday to work on the dollhouse and take these pictures, however, I ended up simply faffing the inside of the cabinet. I added that paper that backs the bottom shelf.

I’ll go stare at it some more today. It makes me happy. And I’ll share some more views of my little corner of our office in the next couple of days.

It’s Easter time. Yesterday, I started to post a little round-up of egg cups on Instagram. The first? Bunny-themed egg cups.

Adorable.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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