Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • The Beacon Hill Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy

I’ve Been…

April 7, 2013 at 8:33 am by Claudia

sundayshakespearebooks

Researching Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. My personal favorite of all his plays.

sundaytextwork

Comparing notes, checking meter, looking up obscure word meanings, while this girl is at my side:

sundayscoutie

A freshly bathed, sweet smelling, silky coated girl. My pal.

sundaykitchenisland

Changing the display on the kitchen island. Will it stay? Not sure. But our favorite rabbit cookie jar was in a corner and I wanted to see it every day.

sundaysupplies

Stocking up on supplies: darning needles, sewing machine needles, fabric. Must have everything ready to go to Hartford in less than two weeks.

sundayquiltonbed

Working every evening on this. I have about one hour’s worth of hand quilting left and the top will be finished. I couldn’t resist putting it on the bed yesterday. I have callouses on my fingers, I’ve pricked myself more times than I can count, my back is sore from continually hunching over, but the end is in sight.

sundayquiltclose

Getting ready to start in on the binding. Happy that it’s almost done. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but I love it like a child.

doninperiodcostume

Skyping with this guy, here in his period costume. Distinguished, no? He’s been having the time of his life in Prague, sightseeing every spare moment, meeting new friends and colleagues, acting on film (which he loves), making the most of this gift, this wonderful opportunity. We miss him but he’ll be home tomorrow.

Happy Sunday.

signature2

Filed Under: china and pottery, Don, quilting, Scout, Shakespeare 65 Comments

A Favorite Thing #31

April 5, 2013 at 8:00 pm by Claudia

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:

IMG_20130330_204545-1

 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?

Linen+towels

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!

signature2



Filed Under: A favorite thing 20 Comments

Small House Attic Bedroom, A Bath & A Prague Update

April 5, 2013 at 9:43 am by Claudia

bedroom

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!

chineseprints

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:

wetscout

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.

signature2

Filed Under: decorating, Don, Scout, Shakespeare 48 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 1406
  • 1407
  • 1408
  • 1409
  • 1410
  • …
  • 1850
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Searching?

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!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2026 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in