Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Letting The Light In

April 11, 2014 at 8:32 am by Claudia

I’ve been working outside the last couple of days and it’s been wonderful but tiring. The fresh air, working for hours….I’m not used to it! Yesterday I cleared some of the saplings that sprout up around this property and are usually too close to already established trees. Then I started on the dreaded battle with the brambles/wild roses that take over our property, sometimes strangling the small trees that I do want to flourish.

My hands are full of wounds from the prickers (thorns.) We always called them prickers when I was a kid. Anyway, I’m going to have to continue this battle over the next few days. Yikes.

Then Don and I worked on the trail that we established several years ago in our woods. In the past few years, we let it languish. No more. We cleared branches, brambles, edged the paths with limbs that we found here and there on the floor of the forest. We love taking walks there, especially when the canopy of trees in full leaf creates a quiet getaway. We’re going to mark the trail and add some little touches that make it ours.

Lots of work. Exhausted. But happy.

Now, onto my potting shed in the dollhouse:

dhskylight

Notice anything new?

Yes! I’ve added a skylight.

A potting shed needs a source of natural light, don’t you think?

I came up with the idea a couple of weeks ago and then I ordered the window, along with the pots and potting soil. It sat here for several days until I made the decision to go for it. Since the walls of the dollhouse are MDF, they are a little tricky to work with. The only other time I used a keyhole saw on the dollhouse was when I enlarged the opening for the front door. And it wasn’t easy!

But I was determined to do it. The window came with a template for the opening, so I used a pencil to trace the template on the roof of the shed. I grabbed my drill and made a couple of holes that eventually gave me an opening in which to insert the saw. Don braced the house for a bit and kept asking me if I wanted him to help with the sawing, but stubborn girl that I am, I said no. I quickly realized I needed to move the dollhouse to the floor where I could work more easily. Then Don left me to it as he took Scout for a walk.

I wondered if I was making a mistake but my gut told me it would work. So I kept sawing. And finally, there was a square opening for the window. Would it fit? Yes, and with no adjustments necessary!

dhskylight2

Ah. Much more conducive to creative work in the shed!

I am very excited about this modification. In fact, I have a skylight in my studio upstairs, so it seemed only fair to install one in the potting shed. (And the owner asked me to. Very nicely.)

Oh, wait until I get to work on the roof garden!

dhplanters

I also added some flowering bushes to the urns by the front door.

Love.

I hope you’re enjoying the fact that Spring has sprung and that you’re able to spend some time outside, my friends.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: decorating, DIY, dollhouse, Don, nature 37 Comments

A Gift – All The Way From Australia

April 10, 2014 at 8:53 am by Claudia

Remember when I told you that something was coming in the mail for the dollhouse? Something a special someone had made? Just because?

It came in the mail yesterday. All the way from Australia.

dhbed2

Yes, you’re right. You can’t miss it. It’s that incredible bed! (Pardon me while I take a moment to scream with happiness.)

Do you believe this?

Let me tell you the story. My friend Norma, who is a very talented miniaturist, lives in Australia and we have been blogging friends for quite a while now. (She once sent me a stuffed koala bear when I was working temporarily in San Diego. That post is here. ) I’ve said it before on this blog; dollhouse and mini bloggers are amazingly generous people. They are willing to share their advice and their tutorials and are always ready to answer a question. When I first got the dollhouse, a couple of bloggers sent me some pieces to help me get started. Just because.

Norma sent me an email after reading a post in which I mentioned that I still needed to find a bed and said that she would like to make me one. My jaw dropped. Could I pay her, I asked? No, was her answer. She simply wanted to design a bed that would suit the bedroom at Hummingbird Cottage.

We had a conference about style and fabric choice. I chose a toile and decided to go for pink. And Norma took it from there. She sent it out in the mail last week – on Monday. I’ve been watching the mail like a hawk ever since.

dhbed1

Yesterday, as I was raking outside, Lori, who is our mail carrier, stopped and called me over to her vehicle in order to have me sign for a package. Was it from Australia, I wondered?

Yes!

I ran into the house, shouting “It’s here!!” I’m not kidding.

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Norma made all of the bedding. It’s exquisite.

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The lace is gorgeous. The fabrics are wonderful. The bed is perfect for this attic hideaway. (The owner loves pink.)

She also included a few other treasures. I don’t have photos of all of them yet, but I’ll share the ones I managed to get.

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That’s a box of macarons from Laduree.

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A tea towel for the kitchen.

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And another.

There’s even more but I have to get out my macro filter to take some sharp close-ups. Coming soon.

I’m thrilled with this new addition to the dollhouse. But even more thrilling and heartwarming is the fact that Norma took the time to do this for me. This is a treasure, pure and simple, made with love and heart. Another beautiful story for the dollhouse, which is full of things that many of you have sent to me. They are what makes the dollhouse a true and loving home.

Thank you, dear Norma. I can’t stop looking at it. Bless you.

By the way, I have wanted to do something with the potting shed and, with some trepidation, I finally did it yesterday. That’s a teaser, my friends. More tomorrow.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: dollhouse, Fellow bloggers, friendship 59 Comments

Dollhouse: More Work On The Potting Shed

April 9, 2014 at 8:22 am by Claudia

The Potting Shed at Hummingbird Cottage has a few new additions, with more on the way.

dhpottingroom1

We have some pots and a watering can and potting soil and…a potting bench that I made yesterday.

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It’s made from two shutters I had in my dollhouse stash and some spindles that I cut down to the size I wanted.

I could have made it taller, but I didn’t want everything to be the same height. Besides, if the owner is at all like me, half the time she’s potting things on the fly; here, there and everywhere.

dhpottingroom4

Oh. My. Goodness. Potting soil. Could those bags be any cuter?

There’s much I plan to do with the shed and the roof. I have lots of ideas! But the details will have remain a secret for now. I will tell you that it’s going to be a rooftop retreat for the owner, a place where she can grow plants and vegetables and sit in the sun.

I wonder if she appreciates all that I’m doing for her?

This dollhouse is a work in progress, of course, but I think I might do a series of posts in the near future that show its journey so far. Before and After. What do you think?

And of course, next week I will do my annual Easter/egg cup round-up. I do it a bit differently every year. I’ll do my best to tell you a little a bit about each egg cup – where I got it, what I know about it, that kind of thing.

The sun is shining, it’s going to be in the sixties and I’m going to do some work outside today! Hurrah!

Did I tell you how happy I am to have my husband home?

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: decorating, dollhouse 40 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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