Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • The Beacon Hill Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
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    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
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Mabel Gets Dressed

March 24, 2013 at 8:30 am by Claudia

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Mabel was looking dusty. Her glossy black finish seemed a little less than spiffy.

She wasn’t happy. She complained. Rightfully so.

So I, not a seamstress by any means, grabbed some fabric. I encouraged Mabel to help, too. I measured and cut and then Mabel took over with her nifty straight stitch.

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I found some vintage suede ribbon in a pretty shade of blue and made ties for each end.

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I like it. Mabel likes it. But something needed tweaking and I let that idea simmer overnight.

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There! Mabel’s initial in more of the suede ribbon.

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Today’s egg cups:

On the right is the very first egg cup I ever received. It was given to me by my godparents when I was a little girl. It was made for Fanny Farmer candies – part of an Easter series. I held onto that egg cup for years and years. It wasn’t until we moved out east that I found out there was a whole world of egg cups out there.

One of the first egg cups in my newly begun collection was the one on the left – also made for Fanny Farmer. And readers, here’s the best part: It was made by McCoy! McCoy and an egg cup – what a great combination!

And no, I don’t like soft boiled eggs, though my mother surely served them to me in my first egg cup. I remember that distinctly. Especially when I was sick.

More tomorrow.

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: egg cups, singer featherweight 60 Comments

A Favorite Thing #29

March 22, 2013 at 8:00 pm by Claudia

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Welcome to A Favorite Thing #29. I’m so glad you’re here.

Before we start, I want to remind you that being a part of this weekly get together doesn’t entail a lot, but it does require a few things of you.

  1. Your post has to be about a Favorite Thing.
  2. You need to link back to this blog.
  3. It’s only polite to leave a comment on this post. If you were at a real party, you would certainly thank the hostess, right? I’ve been guilty on this point a few times myself, as I was linking to a party, usually because I was in a hurry. I won’t make that mistake again. So leave a comment. I don’t want this to become a place where people simply link up to get hits and never stop to say thank you.
  4. I also fervently hope that you will visit everyone taking part, as best you can, on any given week. I know that it takes time. You have a whole week. I visit everyone and I have a good idea of who is commenting and who isn’t. If you want people to visit your link and comment, then you should return the favor.
  5. And finally, this is a way to meet new and old blogging friends and share our stories. I have always wanted this party to be small and intimate. I do not mean this to be an impersonal way to get hits on your blog. There are already enough parties like that out there in blog land.

Most of you, bless you, are really wonderful about visiting everyone and I thank you for that. Your generous spirit makes this a lovely weekly event. I aim to keep it that way! Okay, end of not-so-gentle reminders.

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Highlights from last week:

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Ann, of A Sentimental Life, shared some beautiful vintage Easter cards and her lovely cloche and vignette with us. Ann loves McCoy Pottery as much as I do and I love seeing hers on display.

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Susan, of Ash Tree Cottage, has been making miniatures for her dollhouse. Look at her wonderful minis!

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Diane of An Extraordinary Day, shared an easy Grapevine and Burlap Easter Egg Wreath Tutorial. Isn’t it lovely?

As always, thank you for sharing your favorite things with us every week.

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I’ve been sharing my Vintage Egg Cup collection with my readers this week. Each day I’ve chosen 2 or 3 egg cups to highlight. So, in keeping with that, my favorite thing this week is:

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Left: A bunny on a pretty blue egg cup.

Center: One of my absolute favorites, a Painter Bunny with palette and paintbrush. painting an egg.

Right: A sweet white bunny holding an orange egg cup.

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!


Filed Under: A favorite thing 46 Comments

Chatty On A Friday

March 22, 2013 at 8:49 am by Claudia

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• Some unwelcome snow requires a cheery addition to the kitchen. I made a garland to hang on the cupboard. (I have the same garland in my shop.) I think I will make some more and change out the colors according to my whim of the moment. Right now, as I write this, the morning sun is shining on the cupboard and it’s as if a spotlight has been aimed right at the garland. Ahhhh.

• ‘Chatty’ reminds me of a doll from my childhood – Chatty Cathy. Remember her? I never owned a Chatty Cathy, but I had friends who did. It was a kick pulling that string and hearing her talk. Did any of you own one?

• Scout thanks you for all your kind comments on her post. She knew you would understand. At the moment, she’s in the tunnel having her ‘I just got up after a long night’s sleep, went outside to take care of business and now I’m sleepy’ morning nap. Writing a blog post leaves her physically and emotionally spent.

• Don thanks you for your kind words, too. We managed to fax all the necessary paperwork yesterday – not easy with our slightly wonky fax machine. But it’s done and now he’s waiting for the script to arrive. Since this is for American Experience, the script will be part narration, part documentary, part re-enactment. We’ve seen a photo of the man Don is portraying and he looks a lot like him. The producers must have loved seeing Don walk in the door for his audition!

Yes, I wish I could tag along. But, as you know, we freelance and to say our budget is tight would be a huge understatement. A round-trip flight to Prague? No. Have to pay the mortgage. It’s okay. I’m so excited for Don that it doesn’t matter.

• Blogkeeping: I wrote about the demise of Google Reader last week. I set up Google Reader quite a long time ago but I didn’t really use it. I tend to follow blogs in a variety of ways. I have my blog roll, which can be accessed in the menu under my header. I also bookmark lots of different blogs. There’s the blog update through Google Friend Connect (Blogs I’m Following) that can be accessed when I sign into Blogger. And then there are the blogs I discover through other bloggers’ blog rolls. Yikes. It works for me.

So, a couple of things: The blogs that you follow through Google Friend Connect are different from those you follow in Google Reader, though you can also opt to read them via Reader. I don’t know what plans Google has for GFC. As far as I know, they haven’t announced any plans to discontinue it. So don’t panic about that. If I find out differently, I’ll let you know.

I have never really liked Google Reader except as a way to see what blogs have recently posted – that’s why I hardly ever used it. For me, the blog reading experience is about seeing the whole blog. I’m a very visual person. I want to see the design, the header, the sidebar. Most bloggers work very hard to create the look of their blog and I want to honor that. Also, as I have said before, if a blogger depends on ad income, she will need me to click on her blog directly – not through a reader. And then there are stats – how many visitors, etc. Visiting a blog directly can matter a great deal to that blogger.

It’s the same reason I don’t subscribe to blogs via email subscriptions. To me, a post loses all its life when it’s transformed to an email. But, that’s just what works for me. I know that many of you subscribe to this blog via an email subscription or a reader and I’m grateful that you do! I know that lots of you prefer the convenience of those options. And it’s important to offer those options to our readers, as everyone has their own particular preference as to blog reading. We’re all busy and a reader can be a convenient way to get all the updates from your favorite blogs. The same for emails.

There are other RSS Readers out there that are ready and willing to help you transfer your Google Reader feed. I remembered this week that I had set up an account at Bloglovin several months ago and then promptly forgot about it. I decided to see if I could transfer my Google Reader feed easily to Bloglovin. Short answer: yes. It couldn’t be easier. Bloglovin does it for you. You get this message:

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Basically you click on import reader and it’s done. What I like about Bloglovin is that the interface is very user friendly and when you click on a particular post, you get the whole blog, design and all. Plus, if you are interested in discovering new blogs, you can search in a particular category.

I’ve added a Follow This Blog with Bloglovin widget to my sidebar, so if you are interested, click away!

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Ah. More egg cups. More bunny rabbits.

Left: A cute little bunny peeking around the corner of an egg house.

Center: Another bunny hanging around outside of his little house.

Right: One of my favorite bunny rabbits – because she reminds me of Scout. Same huge pink ears, same facial expression. She’s my Scoutie Egg Cup.

More to come.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: blogging, blogging tips, Don, egg cups, etsy, Scout 39 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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