Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1031 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Daffodils & Espresso

April 30, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Due to the freakish and unexpected snow and ice that hit my gardens and plants as they were already coming out of the ground, some things haven’t bloomed and I don’t think they will this year. For example, my yellow daffodils that live on the edge of the woods. I check them out every day.

Nothing.

But my other daffodils – the ones that are in the big garden bed – don’t come out of the ground as early as the yellow daffs, and I was hoping against hope they would bloom for me.

4-30 daffodils

They have. I must admit giving a little squeak of happiness when I saw them. They’re so delicate and pretty.

Getting these shots required some precarious balancing on my part. Worth it.

4-30 daffodils2

Slightly different angle, different setting. These were planted long ago by a previous resident. Thank you!

We mowed the front part of our property yesterday – what we call ‘tag-team’ mowing. Since our front yard is very expansive, one of us will do about 4 long passes, then the other will take over, etc. Since we alternate, it doesn’t get nearly as tiring. We can only do this, of course, when both of us are in residence. We still have to attend to the Back Forty, but it rained all night last night and the grass will be really wet, so we’ll probably wait until tomorrow.

Don: Stop Right Here!

A couple of items arrived in the mail the other day. The little kitchenette has some updates:

4-30 espresso&stool

The light wasn’t entirely cooperating with me, as it was just about to start raining, so it’s a little less crisp than I would like, but you get the idea.

Expresso for the resident, as well as a stool to sit on while drinking coffee and munching on cookies. I love that pop of lime green on the stool.

I’m working on something else, which should (fingers crossed) be finished today. If it is, I’ll take some pictures for you. I’m very excited about this little project. I got so excited yesterday, I could barely contain myself and I have to wait until June 24th to reveal it to Don.

Deep breath, Claudia. You still have some more projects to finish before this can be considered finished.

I love miniatures.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

If Only

April 29, 2016 at 9:09 am by Claudia

4-29 about to be lilacs

So close. I expect them to pop any day now.

My plans to head into NYC were changed when the director of the project (whom I have never met) decided he was going to ‘pull back’ on the accents the actors were using, so he wouldn’t need my help. That’s fine, though I lose some potential income. I laughed a little, however, because asking an actor to pull back on a dialect or accent without telling them specifically what to change or how to change it is problematical. You have to give them specific sounds to change so that they’re not put in the awkward position of having to ‘soften’ something. Oy.

I worked on miniatures for a bit yesterday afternoon. Today? Mowing day. At this time of year, the grass grows so quickly that we have to keep on top of it.

4-29 about to be lilacs2

Yesterday, we were on a trail walk. Don starting talking about how wonderful it would be to live in a small town where the pace of life was slower, where you knew everyone and shopped for your food daily, where children could play outside and be safe; basically, where you could hide away from the horrors and politics and stress and pressure of the world.

I said “That’s Three Pines! That’s why everyone who reads Louise Penny’s books about Three Pines says they want to move there.” (I’ll add Mitford, as well.) I described Three Pines to him, hidden away in Quebec, not on any map, a haven for all, with spotty cell phone and internet coverage, if any. A bistro, a bookstore, a bakery, a general store, and a green in the center of town where children play.

We’ll leave the murders that are the basis for the plots out of the picture.

I second him on that wish. In the meantime, we can limit our time online (we do), we can limit our exposure to 24-hour cable news, we can choose when and how to engage. We were saying that we often think it would not matter one iota if we ever knew about most of the stuff we read online or hear on the news. Much of it just sparks more fear, more worry, more stress. There’s something to be said for the bliss of not knowing. (I’ll add that of course I believe that being informed about certain things is necessary and important – you know that.)

Sometimes, I have a strong desire to live off-grid somewhere, or move to a small town in Italy, where the pace of life is entirely different than it is here. Heck, my mother was Canadian – if Three Pines really existed, I’d be moving there.

Ah well.

Today marks six months since my father died. A bittersweet day. That, and the realization that Scout would never lie in my ‘tunnel’ again led to me starting the day in tears. Mowing is just the thing I need today!

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

TSP: Splashes of Red and Orange

April 28, 2016 at 9:11 am by Claudia

Don: You know the drill. Keep Out!

There were only two items in the mailbox yesterday; two boxes designated for the Top Secret Project. As it happened, Don wasn’t home so I didn’t need to sneak them into the house.

First up: I ordered a couple of items from Brae’s Etsy shop. Brae, if you remember, is the brilliant miniaturist who blogs at Otterine. Brae told me she was throwing a few extra items in the box along with the order. She’s a gem. Here’s what I ordered:

4-28 pillowsfromBrae

I fell in love with these wonderful pillows that were made by Brae. That shot of orange in the modern print is perfect for the sofa, don’t you think?

4-28 boxwoodfromBrae

And these lovely potted boxwoods, also made by Brae. I love the way she’s aged the pots. These have been on my Etsy wishlist for a long time, so when I decided to order the pillows, I added them as well. I’m thinking one will be on the front porch/deck – maybe both of them.

Here’s what she added to the package.

4-28 rakefromBrae

This wonderful bamboo rake, which is now residing in the Roof Garden on Hummingbird Cottage

4-28 bottlesandmagnifyingglass

Bottles of wine and a magnifying glass – wonderful!

4-28 asianprint

And this print, taken from a calendar, which I would love to use as artwork in a future project. (Yes, I’m already planning one.)

Thank you, Brae!

The other box was from a company in England, Tumdee Dollshouse Miniatures. Love the name ‘Tumdee’ – it sounds so whimsical!

4-28 redguitar

Could you die? Oh my goodness. Don would love a life-sized version of this guitar. It came in a mini guitar case, but the case is out of scale, so I’m stowing it away. I’m going to hang the guitars on the wall, I think.

And the other item, which turned out to be a bit disappointing, was a microphone.

4-28 microphone

The stand is fine, but the microphone itself is huge. I am sort of a stickler for things being in scale, or as close to scale as possible. It matters to me. I’ve seen another microphone out there that is more accurate in terms of scale but it’s really expensive and I’m not going to pay that much money for it. So, I’ll have to figure out what to do. (It’s looking more like a megaphone to me than a microphone!)

4-28 loungeoninsta

Yesterday’s instagram photo – isn’t this cool?

4-28 lounge

Gosh, I love this project!

Next project – the desk/work table. I’m going to start on that today. I’m debating whether I will stain the wood top or paint it aqua (a color Don really likes). I might paint it because I’m thinking the other side of the room, which is the recording/working/singing area needs a shot of color.

Here’s my big challenge, trying to make something like this:

solid_state_logic_726488x1_nucleus_daw_controller_1289916196000_741439

This is from B & H Photo/Video’s site. FYI, it’s the Solid State Logic DAW Controller. I’m using this just as an inspiration photo. I need to build a tabletop version of something like this, so it looks like the resident musician is mixing and doing all sorts of technical stuff with his recordings. Any ideas on how to construct this, fellow mini lovers? Any ideas would be MOST welcome!

If it’s too difficult, I’ll have to come up with another idea. But I’d sure like to pull this one off.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Daffodils & Espresso

If Only

TSP: Splashes of Red and Orange

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives