Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

McCoy Monday

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In my second installment of McCoy Monday, I am highlighting one of my very first pieces of McCoy Pottery.


This is from McCoy’s Arcature line – it was made in or around 1951. The columns on either side of the bird are hollow and can be filled with water and used as a vase. Personally, I don’t think it needs any other adornment, the fabulous bird in the center is pretty enough for me. I’ve written before about my love for anything with birds. Fortunately for me, McCoy used a lot of birds in their designs. This 3 dimensional bird is especially pretty.


Isn’t it sweet? I’ve fallen in love with this piece all over again. And an added benefit: as I pull these out to photograph, they get dusted and cleaned!

Have a great Monday! I’m cleaning out the closet in the office/music studio/spare bedroom that has all my stuff in it (fabric, crafts, dialect tapes, yarn – you name it.)

The Long Drive Home

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I’m back from Long Island, where I worked at this charming old Summer Stock theater. Yes, it is in a remodeled barn, just like in a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney movie. This theater has been around since the 40’s. Columbia Pictures used to send their young actors out here for the summer to sharpen their skills and a young Robert Duvall (who was a friend of the owner’s children) used to perform on its stage. The playhouse is situated in the little town of Bellport.
Bellport’s main street is full of charming homes like these:




All the houses have picket fences. Sigh. I imagine the town is even more charming in the spring and summer.

However, this town isn’t that far from the exclusive and wealthy Hamptons. There was an antique shop just down the road from the theater and I stopped there on my way out of town. Most of the things were very expensive and too formal for my taste. I wandered to the back of the store and saw some McCoy. There was a sign on the display that said ‘50% off.’ Now, I don’t know if you remember this particular piece, but I have a shallow dish with a bird on it – 2 actually. One of my pieces was a gift, but the other I bought on Ebay for maybe $20.00. The shop’s display had the same dish, but in yellow/green. Imagine my shock when I looked at the original price – $150.00. Huh? I thought the sale tag said $22.00 but was informed by the owner that it was $72.00. Oh my gosh – talk about inflated prices. I wonder if anyone would actually pay that much money for a piece of McCoy? You know I love my McCoy, but not that much!

My journey home coincided with rush hour. I had to cross 2 bridges, the Throg’s Neck and the George Washington. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles leading up to each bridge with a delay of about an hour to cross the George Washington. Then backups for miles in New Jersey, and more backups on the thruway. My foot ached from hitting the brake pedal and I thought I just might lose my mind. A 3 hour trip turned into about 4 1/2 hours. I was so happy to get home. Dear husband had dinner waiting, the dogs were happy to see me and we settled down to watch Medium. I think today will be a stick-around-the-house kind of day. Have a wonderful weekend!

A Neat Blog and Dollhouse Priming

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Do you know Vintage Sue? You should. She is the Queen of Junker/Flea Marketers. I love her blog where she shares her passion for junking as well as her adventures as the mother of two feisty and wonderful children. She is also hilarious! Sue has another blog called Vintage Sue Box Treasures where she offers different size boxes full of her finds as well as Friday Flea Treasures. On one such Friday, Sue offered some vintage curtains in a fabric I loved. They arrived the other day in a box decorated by Sue.

One side of the box was decorated with this vintage pattern envelope. So cute!


These are the curtains – there are two panels. I may make a valance for the windows in the den or I may use the fabric for something else entirely. I just love vintage fabric. Can’t help it. Sue also included a quilt cutter or two and these:


Thanks so much, Sue!


Priming continues on the dollhouse – a little bit at a time. And in the keeping it real category, here is the mess on the kitchen table:


Luckily, Don loves a creative mess – I am the one who yearns to clean this up. It is a good lesson in letting my ‘everything must be in its place’ tendencies go for a while. Because the cottage is so small, there really is no place to hide this away. So be it!

I am off tomorrow for 2 days on a coaching job. This time it involves a new touring company of Beauty and the Beast. They are rehearsing way out on Long Island, which might as well be another state. Even though we are all under the umbrella of the Greater New York City area, it is over 3 hours away. So, armed with mapquest, I will be driving on out there Thursday morning and will be back Friday evening. Have a great day or two.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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