Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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The Day after Christmas

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Happy Boxing Day! I hope you all had a wondrous holiday. We made a special dinner on Christmas Eve and watched The Christmas Story. Love that movie. Christmas Day was lovely; we exchanged gifts in the morning after eating some of my Annual Christmas Coffee Cake. I only make it once a year. It is the best coffee cake I’ve ever had and I guard the recipe with my life. Later on in the afternoon we went over to Heidi’s for dinner. We always have a fun time with them and yesterday was no exception. Now that I’ve given Heidi and her daughters their presents, I’ll show you Obsession Scarves #3, 4 and 5.

I think they were a hit. They sure are a lot of fun to make. Heidi gave me the largest vintage pin cushion I’ve ever seen. I took a photo of it next to one Betty made. And Betty’s isn’t small.

The red fabric is sateen-like and the felt leaves are beautifully faded.

Among my presents from Don are 2 books on photography that I wanted. I’ll share more about them in another post. I have grown to love photography so much and I want to learn more about aperture and f-stops and ISO and all of those things that can be very intimidating. Hopefully, I will be more skilled by the time I save up for a new camera. By the way, I keep getting emails like this from B&H:

See the bottom row? The one I want is on the right. I tell you, B&H has somehow read my thoughts. They are taunting me once again.

I ran out to the store this morning to stock up on provisions. We are just about to be pounded with a major snow storm. In fact, as I write this, the snow has begun. It’s blowing sideways. The amount predicted keeps changing, but we are in for at least a foot or more. We’re hunkering down. Tomorrow looks to be a day of shoveling. And more shoveling. Wish us luck!

Baths, Photographing Trees & Presents

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Oh lordy. Today is dog bath day. I’ve mentioned before that this is a major undertaking. Unlike those of you who blithely give your dogs a bath in your own home, we must journey several miles away to a dog wash. Scout and Riley are fairly large, extremely hairy dogs. Riley hates getting a bath. I repeat: Hates It. Lifting him into the tub will accomplish nothing but the spectacle of a big, wet dog escaping and then running around the house, shaking every part of his body. At the dog wash, we can put on his muzzle, secure him to the tub, and wash away…all the while telling him what a good dog he is. He gets clean, we don’t get a fear bite, and all is well. Scout, on the other hand, loves getting clean. She’s a girl, through and through.

We put this off until we absolutely have to. We have to. Afterward, both dogs will be exhausted. The next 10 days will be about chasing tumbleweeds of dog hair around the house. Hopefully, by Christmas all will be in order again.

We got our tree on Saturday. Yesterday, we decorated it. I’ll have some photos later in the week, though I always get frustrated trying to take photos of the prettiness I see in front of me. Last year, I googled ‘photographing Christmas trees and lights’ and read all sorts of advice, but the running theme through all the posts seemed to be that it is next to impossible to take a successful photo of a lit tree unless you are a professional photographer with lots of equipment. This year I will adjust my expectations.

Once again, I have been blessed with treasures from my friends. When my friend Elizabeth and I got together in New York, she gave me a little present.

You know I’m loving that dress form. What was inside?

Homemade caramels. Oh boy. They are scrumptious! Thank you Elizabeth!

My friend Betty wrote me a note around my birthday saying she had something in her house that kept reminding her of me and she had decided to send it to me. It came on Saturday.

Gasp! Yes, indeed – it reminds me of me! Is this not beautiful? Here’s the other side:

I’ve done some research. This pitcher was made by Hull and the pattern is Sunglow. Uh oh. The collecting urge is starting again. How many kinds of pottery can I collect? If you were in my home right now, your answer would be: ‘Apparently, a lot.’ I cannot help it. I know. I’m hopeless.

Hey, I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I never did drugs. I’m a vegetarian. This is a relatively harmless vice, don’t you think?

My new obsession? Saving my pennies for a new camera. (Sssh! Don’t say anything about it to my current Canon. ) I love my camera. I just want to be able to do more. I really love photography and it’s time to step it up a notch or two. Or three.

I’m just putting it out to the universe.

The Morning After

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As I sit here this Friday morning, sipping my coffee, looking for new blog posts and finding very few, I thought I should step up to the plate and post something. I realize you are all busy. However, this is my morning ritual. I drink coffee and read and comment on blog posts. Today is no different than any other day for me – yesterday was – but not today. Can you see that I might be going through blog withdrawal? Not a pretty sight.

Oh lordy, did we eat yesterday! The day started off with my fabulous (if I do say so myself) French Toast. Don contributed Fakin’ Bacon – tastes like bacon but isn’t. Then dinner….you can see by the menu that the MHC household ate well. To be frank, we overate. I cannot resist mashed potatoes…or stuffing…or my Grandmother’s biscuit recipe. Or anything on that list, to be honest. You know we are vegetarians, hence the quotation marks around “Swedish Meatballs” – again, not really meat.

Don usually does the daily dinner cooking here because he likes to. I like to bake. It works out nicely. But yesterday was a special occasion and I made the mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits and pumpkin pie. I also coordinated the timing on everything, a task made more difficult by two dogs who insist on being in the thick of things. And today? Leftovers. Umm-mmm good. We are grateful.

I was out and about the other day and found this sign:

It’s made of very thick cardboard. The gold letters in ‘Lady Duff’ are raised. I’m a sucker for this type of art deco lettering and I had to bring it on home to the studio. At the moment, the sign is living right next to Letitia – she is, after all, wearing undergarments.

I hope your Thanksgiving celebrations were filled with good food and good company, my friends.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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