Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Tweaking an Old Display Shelf

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As the days turn crisp and cool, I’ve moved back into my old blogging station – the den. I was using the yellow chair in the living room for several months as that was where Riley was and I needed to be right by his side. As I sit here this morning, sipping on Peet’s French Roast, shawl wrapped around my shoulders (it’s that nippy!) my eye keeps landing on this little wall vignette. (I bought the Lost Lamb print from Debra of Common Ground.)

For those of you who are newer readers of this blog, I tweaked this display shelf a few months back. It started out like this:

I really liked the carved edges of the shelf – sort of scallopy – but I didn’t want to use the mirrors. So I painted the shelf, did a little distressing and then cut scrapbook paper to fit over the glass. Very simple. But what a transformation!

It’s amazing what a coat of paint and some leftover paper can do. This shelf displays my newish miniature pottery collection. What is it about all that is tiny that I love? I am immediately drawn to miniatures. And since I love pottery and have tons of it here in the cottage but have limited space, these smaller pieces seem like the perfect thing to collect.

I want more.

They are not easy to find. But that’s the challenge, isn’t it?

I’m linking this post to my pal Brenda’s Tweak it Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.

Yarn and Hot Chocolate

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Hurrah for cooler weather! We had big, scary storms here on Saturday evening. Yet another huge limb from one of our trees came down. There was volatile weather all around our area – NYC had a tornado! That’s a rarity. Anyway, the storms finally cleared out all the oppressive humidity. Thank goodness.

Leaves are falling. Already. Yikes.

Readers of this blog know about my love for hot chocolate. I will admit that I’ve been pushing the boundaries of acceptable hot chocolate drinking weather. Somehow, the minute the yarn comes out, a signal is sent to my brain and I find myself craving a fix. Ghirardelli’s – Chocolate Mocha. Yummy.

The yarn? That’s an Obsession Scarf in the making. It’s autumn. Time for new scarves in the Etsy shop.

The perfect understated English title for a garden book: A Gentle Plea for Chaos, Reflections from an English Garden.

What can I say about the weekend? It was rather uneventful except for our trip to Urgent Care Saturday morning. It seems to be the year for tetanus shots here at the cottage. I gently urged Don to check our gutters as that big old storm was due later in the day. There he was, up on the roof, trying to clear one of the downspouts, when he cut his finger on a rusty piece of metal. We cleaned it out but after the sort of conversation that goes back and forth between “Do you think I really need to get a shot?” and “Maybe I should get a tetanus shot to be safe” we decided to err on the side of caution. (I had to get one earlier this year when I cut myself on the rusty wires on my old wicker rocker.)

We’re covered in that department for the next ten years.

On Friday we had to have the car inspected. We knew we had to get two new front tires. Then we crossed all our fingers and toes hoping that our almost 12 year old car would pass. After the tires were replaced, oil was changed and wiper blades were replaced – it passed. Sigh of relief.

More zinnias. Remember the spider web and the beautiful yellow and black garden spider of a few posts back? The day after I wrote about her, I went outside to see how she was doing. Gone. No trace of the web, no trace of her. When I initially searched for information about her, I read that these spiders set up a web and stayed there for a long time, unless a predator was nearby. So there must have been some sort of predator nearby. (I hope she didn’t think I was a predator!)

Anyway, I sort of miss her.

I picked up Riley’s ashes on Friday. More tears. I seem to cry most every day.

Have a Happy Monday.

What Makes a House Feel Like a Happy Place?

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On Thursday, a guy from our cable company came out to check our modem. When he entered the kitchen, he stopped and said, “This is a happy place. The place feels happy. I can tell – this is a happy house.”

I was surprised and delighted. He visits a whole lot of houses and he gets an instant impression when he walks in the door. I forgot about that conversation until I read my friend Jen’s post about her happy house. That got me thinking about it again.

When we first walked into this house with our realtor 7 years ago, we were struck by how light it felt. I don’t mean just the quality of light, though that was wonderful. I mean a lightness of being. So many houses we had toured felt heavy and weighed down. Maybe it was the decoration or lack thereof. Maybe it was the personalities that lived in the house. Maybe both. But this house was different.

Since I believe that home is refuge, a safe place, a nest, I decorate with that in mind. I want to enhance that light feeling. Cozy, welcoming, vintage, slightly and not-so-slightly worn objects abound. Everything has a story. Color is everywhere. I don’t do any of this with a huge plan in mind. I just decorate with what I have. With what I love. Don and I have gathered together the things we love. They are an essential part of this house, this home. Nothing cost very much. Nothing was curated (a word I am fast getting tired of.)

We have been under a great deal of stress lately. We’ve had our share of sorrow. So when a visitor says, “This is a happy place” I feel very grateful. Grateful that this house exudes that feeling of happiness even when things are tough. That this gentleman felt happy and relaxed as soon as he entered our kitchen. That we have created a happy home here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

This house makes me happy. I’m sure glad it makes others happy, too.

When you walk into a house, what is it about it that makes it feel like a happy place to you? Please share!

Happy Sunday. (I used the word ‘happy’ 12 times in this post.)

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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