Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Favorite Thing #31

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afavoritething

Hello, everyone! Welcome to A Favorite Thing #31. I thought we had a pretty nifty turnout last week, considering it was a holiday weekend. Let’s look at some highlights:

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 Angie of Oopsie Maizie shared a wonderful project that she made with her kids: birds made of salt dough with nests made from shredded paper lunch bags, molded to a bowl and then mod podged with the addition of some pieces of yarn. Isn’t that adorable?

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Mary of A Breath of Fresh Air shared her love of texture with some gorgeous photos.

And, though I don’t have a photo to go with this post, Susy of The Feathered Nest wrote beautifully of her friend Rachel in a post entitled, Thursdays with Rachel. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, I urge you to. You will be happy you did.

This week:

minipottery

I’m favoriting (I made up that word) my modest collection of miniature pottery. I just started collecting some of these pieces last year and I really love them. As most of you know, I am nuts for pottery and china and I have it all over the house. I’m also nuts about everything mini, so these little pieces didn’t have a chance once I saw them. Some of them were purchased by me and others were sent by dear blog friends.

Now it’s your turn!

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do. It’s also nice if you leave a comment here, as well.

Enjoy, my friends!

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Small House Attic Bedroom, A Bath & A Prague Update

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When I speak about small house decorating and the lack of wall space we deal with here at the cottage, I’m not kidding! The downstairs has lots of windows, which we love, and not so much wall space. The upstairs? Well, you can see from this photo that the roof lines are sharply angled. It makes for a charming attic bedroom look; but oh, how I’d love to have a bit more vertical space. Same for the other bedroom/office/husband’s studio. Those windows are on the petite side, too. If I had a dime for every time I’ve bumped my head on the ceiling, I’d be a wealthy woman!

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I added these two Chinese watercolors to Don’s side of the bed. They’re his. He bought them when we were courting and he was staying in the actor apartments at the Globe. As you know from my posts while staying there, those apartments desperately need a personal touch.

I see my hand in most of the decorating around here. When we first moved in together, I was the one with all the stuff. Don had been on the road as an actor for years and had very few possessions. So, after painting all the bedroom furniture while he was away with his blessing, I also wanted to make sure he had something that was his here. The watercolors, which are on rice paper, are truly beautiful.

In other news, someone had a bath yesterday:

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Scout: Again with the iPhone? I’m like a drowned rat here!

She sure smells better. We were long overdue and since a bath requires a forty minute round trip drive to the Dog Wash and warmer-than-winter-temps, it took a while before we could successfully complete this task. I emailed this photo to Don, who is pleased to know his daughter will be sweeter smelling when he arrives home next week.

Speaking of Don: On Wednesday he did some more sight seeing and ventured to the grounds of the Castle. It was very cold and windy but he was determined. Before he left, he told me he would love to be able to perform one of his songs at a coffee house or open mic night in Prague. As he was exploring the grounds of the castle, he saw a young woman and her son and the woman was carrying a guitar on her back. Fortunately, she knew a bit of English and they spoke about music and guitars and it turned out she was to be the host that evening for an open mic night! Serendipity. So Don went there, borrowed her guitar and sang one of his songs. The other performers all sang in Czech – Don was the only one singing in English. He said the audience was really attentive and wonderful. Now he can say he’s performed in Prague!

Yesterday, he filmed all day and he will again today. He loves every minute of it. They are filming on the grounds of an old hospital which is no longer in use and there is no heat. The wardrobe staff hurries over with a big old down coat for him to wear in between shots. He’s having a great time.

I’m on Act 3 (out of 5) of Twelfth Night. The hand quilting on the bed quilt top is nearly done! Two more evenings should do it.

Happy Friday.

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The Problem With Doing Paperwork In The Kitchen

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My kitchen table is that catch-all we all have: a place for incoming mail, things to be sorted and, occasionally, the place I spread out and work. Yesterday, I was all set to start work on Twelfth Night, so I headed to the kitchen. Along the way, I noticed some cobwebs way up on top of the pantry, where we have an old bread tin and a basket on display.

Well, that simply had to be dealt with before I could start work on the text. So I grabbed my long handled duster and eliminated the cobwebs. The next thing I knew, I was climbing up on my stool, taking everything down, cleaning the top of the pantry, and washing the bread tin.

pantry

But what about all the pottery that is displayed on top of the kitchen cabinets? You know, those places that are out of reach and somehow never get dusted?

Well. Now that I was aware of just how dusty things could get up there, I had to take action.

Yep. I was soon climbing on counters, retrieving my pottery, vacuuming the tops of the cupboards, washing the pottery.

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While the pottery was drying, I sat down and started Act 1 of Twelfth Night. About halfway in, I returned the pottery you see in this photo to its proper home and grabbed some more from the other set of cabinets. Same drill.

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I continued my work on Act 1 in the middle of my own particular stage setting consisting of vacuum, attachments, stool, duster, table filled with books and paper, pottery drying in the dish rack and Scout sleeping beside me.

That’s what happens when you try to do paperwork in the kitchen. Too many distractions.

Today I tackle the top of the hutch. And Act 2. But first, I have to run some errands.

Don’s having a great time. Yesterday, he had costume fittings and got his hair cut. It’s short. The look reminds me of old photos of George Orwell. He also met the rest of the cast and had lunch with the director. And explored Prague. He thought he would start filming today, but he has the day off. So he’ll have at least one more full day to sightsee. Lucky Don! Then it’s an early call on Thursday and filming all day.

Skype is wonderful. We can see each other and chat a couple of times a day and I love that. He is having a great adventure and I love that, too.

Happy Wednesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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