Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Cleaning and Organizing

January 3, 2024 at 9:19 am by Claudia

Still going strong! Though I’ve noticed it’s beginning to dry out. The putz ‘village’ has been put away, as have all the little Vintage by Crystal figurines. But the tree is staying – at least for a few days. Which brings me to our weather forecast – we may be getting a lot of snow Saturday night into Sunday. If that’s the case, I’ll probably remove and store all the ornaments and lights and have Don take the tree up into the woods on Saturday. If we get a lot of snow, then Monday will be all about digging out, which would then take us to Tuesday, and that would be pushing it.

As I said to Don yesterday, we desperately wanted snow for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Now? We’re not so crazy about the idea! And as I look ahead on the calendar, it looks like I might be dealing with snow when I have to drive to Rochester. Right now, it looks fairly benign. We’ll see…

We’ve been very committed to our daily walks, so I’m giving us a big old pat on our backs. Yesterday, we were both busy with chores and figured we’d skip it, but later in the day Don decided to go and I joined him. I’m glad I did.

The office/studio was in a bit of chaos yesterday as I decided to tackle the closet. I needed to organize a few things and the closet was full of doll boxes. It was getting ridiculous. When I buy a doll, I tend to want to keep the box (they’re a specific size) in case I eventually want to sell it. And collector dolls, like the Gene Marshall dolls, are worth more when you sell them with the original packaging.

But since the Gene Marshall dolls are inexpensive and I think my little collection is complete, I’m not going to hang on to those boxes. And I don’t need 20 Blythe boxes. So I pulled out lots of them and flattened them for recycling, which involved lots of trips up and down the stairs and then outside to the porch, where we keep the recycling. And I threw out a lot of other stuff, as well. Every inch of space in the closet is being used, but it’s much more organized. I used one of the doll boxes for the Christmas trees that were on the Blythe shelves (I even labeled the box!) And I did the same for the dollhouse trees and Christmas accessories. And the putz houses. Here’s hoping I don’t have dig them out again next year because I inadvertently moved them.  Then I vacuumed every inch of the office and our bedroom.

After that, I sent an Etsy order off in the mail and returned a book to the library – the Michael Connelly, which was excellent. I’ve just barely started Wolf Hall  and will read more of it today.

We had a nice New Year’s Day. We ate our black-eyed peas. My husband was raised by a dad who was from Oklahoma and a mom who was from Texas, so he takes that very seriously. I think it’s a lovely (and healthy) tradition. Black-eyed peas are very good for you. And we watched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which was absolutely fabulous!

Don has to get a shot in his eye today, which always looms over the entire day, bless his heart.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, Christmas, Gene Marshall dolls, office, studio 20 Comments

Happy New Year

January 1, 2024 at 9:03 am by Claudia

One of our overflowing rivers. There’s been so much rain that they’re very high. I took this picture on the way to the library for one of our walks.

I almost didn’t post today, but I hadn’t discussed that possibility with you, so here I am.

Happy New Year!

Yet another gray day around here – we were excited to see little bits of snow on the cars and the shed roof. Sad, but true. Just a smidgen brings excitement because we’ve had NO SNOW. I know: “careful what you wish for!” But it would be nice, especially since the tree and the sparkly lights and ornaments are still going strong. Our beautiful tree is starting to dry out a bit, but there’s still no needle drop, so here it will stay.

We were in bed by 10:30 last night, after watching Dial M for Murder.

Today, I removed the 2023 calendar pages from my planner and replace them with 2024. Very satisfying! A fresh start.

We’ve been walking almost every day, and thought neither of us wanted to go yesterday, we did it. I suppose we’ll do it today, as well.

Today I start the Hilary Mantel Cromwell Trilogy with page one of Wolf Hall.  I’m back to reading more than one book at the same time, as I’m also knee deep into Michael Connelly’s newest, Resurrection Walk.

A low key day ahead for us.

I hope you had a lovely New Year’s Eve! Best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy, peaceful, and joyous year ahead.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: life 30 Comments

Puzzle and Upcoming Readalong

December 30, 2023 at 8:47 am by Claudia

Finished! It’s not the best picture, but we have had dark and dreary skies all week long, so I had to use some artificial light. Sigh.

Will we ever see the sun?

Anyway, I finished it just before dinner time yesterday. I have yet to read the explanation of all the characters and symbols. I’ll do that later today.

I’m writing this early Saturday morning because we have to get some grocery shopping in before Don leaves for his gig.

I’m taking part in another readalong this year. Simon, the same lovely gentleman from England who ran the War and Peace  readalong is not only repeating it for those who missed out – he’s also presiding over a readalong of the Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel. We start with Wolf Hall  on January 1st.

I am not generally a reader or even a fan of historical fiction but when Mantel died unexpectedly last year, I read a lot about her and her books. The raves about the trilogy were unqualified and unanimous. That intrigued me, and I remember vowing to read one of them in the near future. Fast forward to this year when Simon suggested Mantel and I was immediately onboard. Since the chapters aren’t as short as Tolstoy’s, we can’t do a chapter a day, so he’s gone through every book and mapped out a certain number of pages per week. For example, the first week of January consists of pages 1 -33. He also provides a guide to all the characters. I’m really looking forward to it. The book is right by my reading chair in the den and I’m ready.

A couple of months ago, I ordered a couple of hats and a sweater from a wonderful artist in Ukraine. She makes them to order so it took a while for them to ship and then to arrive at my door. This is one of the hats – or helmets, as the Blythe community calls them. Isn’t it adorable? (Chloe is still wearing her Christmas sweater because I realized how adorable she looks in red. And it’s really a winter sweater, right?)

So. Grocery shopping and cleaning are on the docket. I’m also getting anxious to reorganize things in this house. That happens to me every January.

I’m going to store the putz houses and put the Vintage by Crystal figures back in the upstairs cabinet later today. But the tree will be lit and loved as long as it hangs in there.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, books, jigsaw puzzles 25 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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