Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1609 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Fantasy

August 18, 2011 at 10:24 pm by Claudia

This is my piano. Many of you have seen it before on this blog. It was my grandmother’s piano. It’s a Chickering and it has a wonderful sound. It used to have ivory keys until they became chipped and cracked. When I had it moved to San Diego, I had the keyboard replaced.

My grandmother, my mom, my brother, sisters and various aunts and uncles played on this piano. It has a wonderful history that makes it priceless to me.

So why do I have crazy desire to paint it? (My grandmother rolled over in her grave as I typed those words.) It’s mahogany. The grain of the wood is pretty, but it is so dark. My grandmother had mahogany furniture, my mom had a mahogany dining room set – I grew up with dark wood. I’m not a big fan. Our living room is fairly light and airy. And then there is the piano.

But when I see photos like these (from Pinterest):

Source

Or this one, a favorite, that has been on my desktop for a few years,

Source

I want to grab a brush and some paint and go for it. Perhaps with some of that expensive chalk paint I’ve been reading about all over the blogosphere.

Upright pianos seem to take to being painted, don’t they? Maybe spinets and consoles (like mine) don’t adapt as well.

I’ll probably never do it. But I want to. What are your thoughts? Is painting a piano unthinkable to you? Or are you someone who would say ‘Do it!’

I keep hearing the words of my grandmother and mother in my head. And they are not pretty.

The winner of a copy of Just My Type is Mercedes Scott. Congratulations! Send me an email with your address and I will forward it on to TLC Book Tours.

Random on Wednesday

August 17, 2011 at 9:44 am by Claudia

:: Greetings on a foggy Wednesday morning. The sun has just popped out as I write this. After several extremely gray and rainy days, it is most welcome. I am ashamed to tell you how overgrown our yard is due to the rain and the fact that I can’t use the weed wacker until Monday. The doctor has ordered me not to lift anything heavy for 4 weeks, severely cramping my style. I can’t lift Riley when his hips are bothering him or help him up and down the stairs. Can’t weed wack. Can’t move furniture. I did slip up a bit the other day when a dead limb from this maple fell to the ground. I immediately went out to the yard to clean up the mess, toting one part of the limb to a pile on the edge of the property. As I started to lift another section, the voice inside my head yelled, “What are you doing?!?” I dropped it like a hot potato. Sorry, Doc.

:: Scout had to go to the Vet the other day. She had a huge hot spot and yucky stuff in her ears. Allergies and humid summer weather are not a good combination for my dogs. At least Scout, however grudgingly, will let me put something in her ears. Riley? No way.

:: Our hot water heater is dying. Oh joy. This is just one in a series of things in this house that need to be updated or replaced. Our favorite repairman, Gino, who is also our heating oil guy, came over to look at it yesterday morning. The diagnosis is eventual replacement but for now we’re trying to baby it along. Gino is a swell guy. He didn’t even charge me for his time.

I need to win the lottery.

:: After almost 7 weeks without coffee, I grew tired of the endless stupor I seemed to be in every morning. I did pretty well. I really did. But it took me hours to wake up. That’s okay if one is still recovering from surgery, but not when one is trying to actually get something done. I gave it up for two reasons: it wasn’t good for my gall bladder, nor for my slightly high blood pressure. Well, the gall bladder is no more. So I made a deal with myself. One cup of coffee a day. That’s it.

Oh, how I missed it. Thank goodness I still had some Peet’s French Roast in the refrigerator.

:: I had been obsessing about a metallic rattle I kept hearing when driving our car. Don is perfectly capable of ignoring these things but I am not. The car was driving just fine but it is 10 years old. I stopped by our mechanic’s garage yesterday. A loose heat shield. No biggie. Sigh of relief! He’ll fix it when the car gets its annual inspection in a few weeks.

:: Lots of drama and worry continues on the parent front. I seem to spend a good portion of the day on the phone with my dad or my sister. I don’t know what we would do without my sister. Because my parents decided to relocate to Florida ten years ago, Meredith has been the one who has to handle all of the middle of the night phone calls and everything that goes along with aging parents. My crotchety parents are not always as grateful or appreciative as they should be, but I sure am.

:: Look what arrived in the mail! My friend Meri sent us some jumping jacks! I suppose they are really for Don, as it is his collection. Lord knows, I have enough collections around here. Aren’t they cute? I promise another photo when they are hanging in their proper place. A big hug to you, Meri. Thank you.

:: I forgot to address a comment or two on this post. Florida Bird asked if I would post a tutorial on the fabric lampshade. To be perfectly honest, I did a sort of slap-dash job on it. So I don’t feel qualified to guide you through a tutorial. I’m fine with the way it looks, but I have a feeling a tutorial should be a bit more precise than my “grab-some-fabric-and-glue-and-if-it-doesn’t-fit-slap-some-more-fabric-on” way of working on this project. Also, Into Vintage said she was admiring the jar of cookies in the background. Well, they are cookies, just not for us. They’re dog biscuits for Scout and Riley.

:: If you’re interested, there is still time to leave a comment on my book review post. You might win a free copy of Just My Type, a book about fonts. You have until Thursday evening.

Okay. I’ve talked enough. Bye for now.

Book Review: Just My Type

August 16, 2011 at 12:03 am by Claudia

Today I am reviewing Just My Type, a book about fonts, for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

My review: I am fascinated by fonts, typography and graphic design. I had a feeling I would like this book and I was right. What a fascinating subject! Simon Garfield is the perfect guide; he takes us on a journey from Gutenberg to the present. He writes about specific fonts that have influenced our world, various font designers, the way certain companies have branded their advertisements with a special font and the history of typography. Garfield moves easily from a chapter on the history of fonts to a chapter on the newest designs to a profile of a font designer to what he calls ‘Fontbreaks,’ in which he writes about a specific font. This makes for a lively read. I loved reading about font experts; those people who can identify any font or can tell you that a movie set in a specific time period has perfect period detail except for the use of a font that wasn’t invented until years later.

And there’s so much more. Years ago, an average person (like me) didn’t know a whole lot about fonts. With the emergence of Apple, Microsoft and the personal computer with a drop-down font menu, fonts have become something that everyone has an opinion about. I have my favorites and I bet you have yours. Garfield will help you understand why a font may be your favorite and why some fonts are ubiquitous and others fall by the wayside. Fonts can be a passionate subject for some; according to Garfield, there was quite an uproar when IKEA changed their font from Futura to Verdana. Imagine the credits in a Woody Allen movie in anything other than the Windsor typeface he has always used. Impossible.

Garfield writes about his subject matter with clarity and humor. I read the chapters in order, but you could just as well pick up the book and read a chapter at random. Just My Type is entertaining and informative. I highly recommend it.

If you’d like to win a free copy of Just My Type, leave a comment on this blog post and I will draw the name of the winner on Thursday evening.

About the Author: Simon Garfield is the author of twelve acclaimed books of nonfiction. He lives in London and St. Ives, Cornwall, and currently has a soft spot for Requiem Fine Roman and HT Gelateria.

A Fantasy

Random on Wednesday

Book Review: Just My Type

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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