Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Giving Thanks & Two Parties

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My husband and I were talking the other day. I’ve mentioned once before in this blog that there is a certain level of stress in this household lately. As freelancers, work is very, very slow right now. How to handle it? What to do? Husband said: “Just say thank you.”

Gratitude and thankfulness for every little thing that I notice during the day makes a difference. It is too easy to complain or worry. If I express gratitude, however, I feel lighter, happier and expectant. I expect good things. This is something I know in my heart but have to be reminded of occasionally. So thanks to my husband for his gentle reminder. And thank you to all my wonderful blogging friends. You have enriched my life more than you know.

There are two other things I wanted to mention. I am going to be taking part in this little party every Friday.

Jill at Gypsy Brocante is hosting a party every Friday between September 25th and November 27th where we will post something vintage that is black. What a neat idea! I have two items in mind already, but I will have to scramble for more. You can join by going to Jill’s blog – I also have a button on my sidebar that will take you right to Gypsy Brocante by clicking on it.


Remember Kelee Katillac’s cause? We all decorated scarves for our pets for Design Gives Back. Many pets are being given up in these tough times and Kelee’s goal was for enough of us to decorate scarves to bring in $2000.00 to contribute to the Foreclosure Pets Fund. I am happy to say we met the goal and Kelee is celebrating with a party on September 30th. Please visit her blog for details. Every link back to the blog will add $3.00 to the fund. You have to send your link before September 28th. Kelee is making a video and will post all sorts of pet photos. Join us!

Painting a Table & Missing Followers Gadget

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I see the Followers Gadget is missing again. It was there this morning but when I signed on about noon it was gone. My dashboard says I have followers, but when I click on the number the page is blank. I tried deleting the gadget and then adding it again – nothing. This seems to be an ongoing problem with Blogger and is getting very annoying. I’ve checked other blogs and their gadgets seem to be missing, too.


On to more pleasant things. I have this little table that I have had since I was teaching at Boston University. You can see a bit of it in this photo. There is a little back story on this table. When I started teaching at BU, I was very poor, having just left graduate school. My salary was not very much as I was just starting out. Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the country. Translate all this to: I didn’t have much and I could afford nothing. The Theater Department had 2 Prop Rooms – one in the main theater and a small one in the classroom building. The smaller room had all sorts of cast-offs donated by faculty and students that were used for acting projects. I needed a little table for my office and found this one in the shop. When I moved to a larger, rent-controlled apartment in Cambridge, the table somehow left my office and appeared in my apartment. And it has stayed with me ever since. (Disclaimer: I repaid that loan by donating some pieces to the prop room when I moved on to San Diego.)

Although it is a bit wobbly, I would never get rid of it because it is full of memories of that time in Boston. But I have been staring at it for a while thinking it needed something. You can see that it is tucked in right next to the piano and the piano is mahogany. Too much dark wood. As I am not about to paint the piano, I decided to paint the table.


Simple – but I think it lightens things up a bit. This part of the living room tends to be dark. Now I am going to paint two tables in the den. I keep wanting “lighter” here at MHC. By the way, this is paint I already had on hand – I used it for the kitchen island.


Speaking of the piano, it sounds so much better!

A Pretty Birdcage, A Pretty Sound & a Birthday

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Now, that’s a birdcage! I’ve had this photo (from Vignettes) for a while – I took it right before I left San Diego. This rusty, gorgeous piece was easily over 5 feet in height and 4 feet wide. I had to include it for my friend, Donna, who loves a good birdcage. I would have bought it for you, Donna, but as you can see it was already sold.

I have a few photos from California that I haven’t shared yet. Every so often, I’ll post one or two.


I love this bench. Oh yes…I would have happily taken this baby home. Alas, I was flying and this wouldn’t have fit in the overhead compartment. I miss Vignettes. I do.

After some investigation, we think the alarm went off because of a moth. When we took off the cover, a dead moth fluttered to the ground. I am happy to report that all was quiet last night.

Today the piano gets tuned!! I won’t say how long it has been, just know it has been too long. It is so out of tune that I can’t bear to play it. My husband says he misses the sound of the piano and the life and energy it brings to our house. As do I. So today my sweet piano will be tuned and I will play again.

Finally, Happy 90th Birthday to my wonderful father-in-law, Lee!! I love you and wish I was out in sunny California helping you celebrate!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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