Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Just Click Your Heels

January 29, 2014 at 8:57 am by Claudia

It’s no secret that I love the color red.

When I was a little girl, I would come home from the Bookmobile carrying a pile of books with red covers.

There are pops of red all over my house. I have red shades in the kitchen, a red bench with red and white and tan cushions. I have a chair in the living room with red and white checked cushions, a little lamp with a red shade. In the den? A red and green and tan floor rug, red pillows on the sofa and a crocheted throw with lots of red in it.

I’ve somehow managed to make red work with the sherbety McCoy colors that I love so much.

Red is also a big part of my blog design.

Being a ‘Winter’, I look good in red, especially deeper, richer reds.

And oh boy, do I love a pair of red shoes. When I look back at my life in shoes, some of my absolute favorites were red. A few years back, I bought a pair of MaryJane type shoes in red. I bought them online, so it was a bit of a risk. They never fit right. I was so disappointed! And as I have grown older, comfort is my first requirement in a pair of shoes. Arch support and cushioning and comfort; that’s what I go for.

Yesterday, Don and I went on an errand. We were looking for a frame or two. So we drove south to Michael’s where we found two out of the three frames we were looking for. I suggested that we go to HomeGoods (in the same shopping center) to look for the third frame. Right next door to HomeGoods was a shoe store and I remarked to Don that they looked like they carried what I call ‘healthy shoes.’ Comfortable, designed for ease, well made, etc. He suggested we go inside. Since I am constantly complaining about not having enough shoes that fit (my feet have grown a size in the last few years,) he was thinking that maybe I could find some snow boots that fit. My boots are too small, yet I wear them every time I shovel. Quite frankly, spending money on boots doesn’t thrill me and I keep hoping I can make it through this winter using my old boots. So boots? Not on my Want List.

Then I saw these:

redshoesclose

Insert sound of Choirs of Angels.

Oh my goodness.

They had them in my size.

They are made in Italy and they have cushioning like you wouldn’t believe. They have great arch support. They are beautifully made. (And they also make me even taller than I already am.)

Don made me get them. I would have said no because they weren’t on sale. They weren’t at a deep discount. Too frivolous. Too many other things we could use that money for.

He wouldn’t listen. He said that he loved them and that I clearly loved them. And that I needed shoes that fit. That made me happy.

redshoelove

These shoes make me happy. They make me smile.

They’re my favorite shoes, ever.

I feel guilty for buying them. Every time I start to say something about that, Don shushes me. He says, “Just say I love my new shoes and I deserve them.”

So okay. “I love my new shoes and I deserve them.”

But what about the money we spent?

Sssh. “I love my new shoes and I deserve them.”

donredshoes

Don took this photo with his iPhone. While I’d love a pair of red cowboy boots, they aren’t the most comfortable things for me to wear with their narrow toe box, so I guess these are my version of red cowboy boots.

Who would have thought I’d be writing about a pair of shoes?

But they’re red shoes.

Enough said.

By the way, I have a couple of sponsored posts coming up in the next week (both for things I recommend highly), as well as two book reviews – somehow all of these commitments ended up having due dates around the same time. Just giving you a heads up.

Link to Spring Step’s website, where you can order the shoes.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: life, red 119 Comments

Lunch at Tina & Noble’s House (Circa 1760)

January 28, 2014 at 8:56 am by Claudia

tablesetting

We spent a wonderful afternoon on Sunday with our friends Tina and Noble. Tina, you will remember, is the creator of our party hats and Scout’s sheep costume. Noble is an actor who I was lucky enough to meet when we worked together at Hartford Stage. Tina and Noble, like us, love old houses. But while our house, built in 1891, seems old to us, Tina and Noble’s house was built in 1760. Before the American Revolution.

This was our first visit to their home and we were simply amazed by it’s age and patina, as well as the way Tina and Noble have decorated each room. Tina, like me, is a collector. She collects china and paintings and countless other treasures. Gorgeous antique furniture is everywhere. There was no way I could take everything in, but believe me, I tried to. Someday I will take more photos with something other than my iPhone and share them with you. (Sorry for the somewhat blurry photos.) Huge old fireplaces grace the rooms. The ceilings have weathered beams, original to the house. When it was built, living was confined to the top floor and the lower floor, the basement, was where the animals were kept. Now, the kitchen is there along with a sitting room – the 1760 version of a great room. Even now, two days later, my brain is filled with images of the rooms, and I want to go back there and see more of the details. Simply stunning. Tina and I talked about how we have completely different styles of decorating, but in each case, the style suits the house. I see some antiquing with Tina in my future.

tinaattable

Tina made a Pistou, a thick vegetable soup made with a paste, that was hearty and fragrant and perfect for a winter afternoon. There was crusty bread and, of course, wonderful conversation. What a pleasure it was to dine at their home! We’re going to have to step it up on our end….Tina is an incredible cook! We’d better come up with some good recipes for their next visit.

Isn’t that china pattern in the first photo beautiful? I fell in love with it. Their house is small, with only one closet, and Tina has come up with some ingenious solutions for storage. Maybe I can interview her about that for a post someday. Or better yet, I’m trying to get Tina to start a blog. She writes beautifully and the story of her house and its renovation and the way she has decorated the rooms and enhanced the beauty of their beloved home would be fascinating.

Don’t you think she should start a blog?

It’s bitterly cold here, there’s snow on the ground, we’re still waiting for the bed. I’m not sure yet when it’s coming. Winter has become oppressive and I keep hearing that February is supposed to be very snowy. Don won’t be here to help me shovel, so that’s not good news.

The tail end of last night’s sunset:

endofsunset

Glorious.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: antiques, friends 57 Comments

January Christmas Critter Felt Along Linky Party

January 26, 2014 at 6:00 pm by Claudia

Hello, everyone! It’s time to share our January critters – have you made yours? If you’ve been following along, Dawn and I have decided to introduce two new felt critters every month for 2014. If you felt along with us, you’ll end up with 24 Christmas Ornaments by the end of the year. Maybe you could have a little tree where you display all your ornaments. Or maybe they would be fun for a young child to collect. However you want to use them is just fine.

januaryornaments3

At the beginning of the month, we introduced two ornaments, the owl and the bear and those are the ornaments we will be sharing in this week’s Link Up. If you are just joining in, the patterns are available for download below:

Click here to download Woodland Bear Ornament Pattern

Click here to download Woodland Felt Owl Pattern

Now, it’s time for our new patterns for February!

februarycritters

February’s ornaments are the Cardinal and the Sheep.

Barnyard Sheep Felt Pattern

Click here to download the Sheep Felt Pattern

Make sure you open the zip file by clicking on it – then you will see the pattern!

To download the Cardinal Pattern, visit Dawn’s post by clicking here.

We’re so excited to see your creations!

This party will remain open for five days, so even those of you who have yet to make your January ornaments will have time to create them and link up.

Thanks so much for joining in!

Edited to add: If you don’t have a blog and you want to link up, you can link your photo through your Facebook page. Dawn has written a great tutorial and has included it in her post here.

ORNAMENT CLAUDIA

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: Christmas Critter Felt Along 30 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.

Thanks for stopping by.

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The Dogs

The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

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