Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Les Boites Des Vignettes

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Hello – hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day. We spent part of it with musician friends and had a great time. School started in our neck of the woods today and Scout couldn’t be happier. Two school buses to bark at! When the first bus stopped and she started barking, we all shouted “Hurray! The noisy bus is here!” And by all, I mean Riley, Scout, me and Don. I know…we’re nuts.

I’ve been playing around with an idea – something I’ve wanted to try for a while. You know I consider myself crafty in some areas but not so much in others. Yet I am inspired daily by all the wonderful creations I see out here in blogland. So this idea was percolating and then I received Lori’s present.


My little sheep needed a home. and off I went to Michael’s. I bought a very inexpensive unfinished box (well, actually 4 boxes.)


I painted it a creamy color, including those glaringly bright brass hinges.

Then I added some favorite things:


The French text on the left, the french soap label and the tag came from my friend Mary. The text looks like it is from an old prayer book and it fit perfectly in the indentation on the lid. I used one of my French stamps for the tag. I threaded some flowers through the opening on the hinge and tied them in a little bouquet with some vintage seam binding. I also added some flowers to the text.


A little crown that Meri sent me was painted, slightly shabbied and glued on what was the top of the box.


A shell or two was added.


Let’s move Sophie (yes, that’s her name) in.



What do you think?


I have her on my bookcase in the studio. I have all sorts of ideas floating around in my head for other little boxes. I shall call them ‘boites’ – how about “Les Boites des Vignettes?” Yes, that is what I shall call them. Such fun!

Flora and Fauna Around MHC

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Do you see the dark brown clump of leaves in the center of this photo? This morning, I let Scout outside and she took off like a bat out of hell because she thought these leaves were a bunny rabbit. Granted, they were outside the ‘corral’ where bunnies often can be found munching. She did the same thing 2 more times. The irony is that on the other side of the fence on the far side of the corral there was a real bunny, cottontail and all, munching on the grass. Scout was oblivious.

Let’s take a little tour of the grounds:


These are the honey bees that live in our Catalpa tree. They appear every year and never bother us. This year, there are more than ever – I’ve never seen so many. No colony collapse here and that’s good news.


Goldenrod is appearing all over on the edge of our property. Beautiful…but ah-choo!


The bees sure like it.


I think this might be purple loosestrife. It’s pretty and is not invasive in our yard, thank goodness. Do you see the heart shape?


Poke Weed – its growing everywhere. The birds love it.


Stitching update: I’m finding this very relaxing and goodness knows I need some of that right now. I took a cue from Rebecca Ringquist, who uses a piece of fabric to back the sampler. So I added a piece of the fabric shown and then added to strips to the sides. I might add more or I might add some lace or crochet on the top and bottom. We’ll see.

Autumn is almost here. I’m more than a bit sad to see summer leave, probably because I missed spring and part of summer here at the cottage. The crisp, cool air the last few mornings and the spiders appearing with regularity inside the cottage tell me it’s time to say goodbye to Summer 2010. I hope you’re enjoying summer’s last hurrah!

NOTE: Garden of Daisies just left a comment that enlightened me. Goldenrod is often confused with Ragweed as a cause of allergies. But it is Ragweed, not Goldenrod that is the culprit. I can breathe easier – thanks!

Crooked Blinds & a Little Trip

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:: Do you ever have mornings like this? I come downstairs every morning, greet the doggies, let them out, start the coffee. I open the blinds in the den and the living room. Then I tackle the roman blinds in the kitchen. I try my darndest to get them straight and I finish – absolutely sure that they look perfect. And then I see this.

Drat.

:: The other day, husband and I took a little drive to a town on the Hudson River. We used to visit this charming town a lot when we lived further south, but rarely get there nowadays.

The view as we parked our car.


I love this stone archway with a pot at the top of the arch which is right on Main Street. And this little bench is next to it.


Husband remarked that people’s backsides were a lot smaller when this was built. Sad but true.

On the way back to the car, we always pass this abandoned gas station.


The pump is a perfect Jadeite green, isn’t it? And the brand name of the gas? Flying A Gasoline. I wonder if I could spirit this away in the dead of night… I want it.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. We awoke to cool, crisp air this morning. I think I detect a bit of autumn in the air!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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