Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1691 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Sweet Tooth & Ralphie

June 22, 2010 at 9:18 pm by Claudia

Meet my enemy, waiting for me around every corner, tempting me:

The King Size Drumstick available at my neighborhood 7-11. He tempted me today as I sat here on my sofa like a slug…I could hear his voice calling to me. He used a clever ruse. He knew I had absolutely no exercise today and whispered in my ear that the several-city-blocks-long walk to 7 -11 would be good for me. Then he said that while I was there I could get money from the ATM so that I could get more quarters from the bank tomorrow for my laundry. Oh, and I could get an A & W Root Beer.

I gave in. There are now 2 of these in my freezer. These may be the reason I have not lost weight here in San Diego even though I am walking most every day. But they’re so good.

Now I want you to meet my new neighbor, Ralphie:

Look at that face. Look at those eyes. My next door neighbor here at the apartments is my husband’s friend of many, many years Adrian. He is part of the acting company this summer. Adrian lives in Los Angeles and is wonderful with dogs. He has been part of a program where dogs that really need training and rehabilitation live with foster parents for a while so that they can eventually be eligible for adoption.

Ralphie is ten years old and for most of his life he was ignored, isolated and had no social skills at all. He didn’t know what it felt like to be loved. Adrian took him in and rehabilitated him but when he proved to be a little difficult the agency wanted to put him down. My friend would have none of it. He knows it takes time to try to erase ten years of neglect. So he adopted him.

I must tell you he is the sweetest boy. He laps up any and all attention. It is as if he is making up for the past ten years. When I’m in my apartment with the door open and the screen door closed, he comes and stands there…staring. He wants to play. Today he had a tour of my apartment. I’m crazy about him.

I tell you it makes my blood boil when I hear what is done to innocent animals. I don’t understand doing that to an animal who only wants to love and be loved. Ralphie’s story reminds me of my Riley’s story. Although Riley was much younger when we adopted him, he suffered the same neglect and has issues because of it. I call him our boy with special needs. Riley, like Ralphie, just wants to be loved. And we do love him.

Thank goodness Ralphie found his loving home.

Shells, Rocks and Some Thoughts

June 21, 2010 at 1:02 pm by Claudia

From my trip to the beach last week: 2 more heart-shaped rocks and a lot of shells. I especially love these two. The shell at the bottom of the photo is embedded in another shell and that is another little shell to its left. The sea glass in the top right hand corner has something in it. I wonder what that is? It looks a bit like chicken wire!

:: I’ve been visiting all the wonderful studio spaces showcased in Where Bloggers Create. There are over 450 of them this year! At first, I randomly visited some – then I started from the top alphabetically. I’m now on F. I have a feeling this will take a while! I am so impressed with the creative uses of space. And creativity knows no boundaries, I’ve found; artists grab whatever space they can from a tiny closet to a big room to the outdoors.

:: My favorite movie was on TCM last night in honor of Father’s Day: To Kill a Mockingbird, with perhaps the best fictional Dad ever. It was nicely scheduled between my afternoon rehearsal and the evening performance. Thank you TCM! I think I know every inch of that movie by now. Do you remember the gorgeous soundtrack? When I saw Gregory Peck do his one-man show (a gift from my husband) a montage of his film roles was used as the introduction before Mr. Peck came out on stage. They saved To Kill a Mockingbird for the end of the sequence and when I heard the theme music, I started crying and couldn’t stop. We all rose to our feet as Gregory Peck came onstage and I was bawling like a baby. I’m sure the people on either side of me thought I was a bit nuts. I can’t help it, I’m sentimental that way.

:: I have to share something that happened from the Where Bloggers Create event. As part of my post, I showed a photo of some framed items on my wall. One of them was 4 photos of my brother and I visiting Santa at a local store named Muirhead’s when we were little. Celeste of Celestina Marie Designs left a comment saying she recognized those photos – she had some, too and she immediately identified them as from Muirhead’s. Some emails followed. She grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, as I did. She told me what elementary, junior high and high school she went to. I went to the exact same schools. Turns out she grew up a few blocks away from me and she was only 2 years behind me in school! We played on the same playgrounds, spent hours in the same bookmobile…what are the odds? She lives in Texas now and I live in New York – and we connected through this blogging world. That was truly amazing!

Have a great day.

Where Bloggers Create 2

June 18, 2010 at 5:05 pm by Claudia

Welcome to my teeny, tiny studio! I took part in the first party a year ago and am thrilled to be taking part again. I am creating this post far from my home as I work in San Diego for 10 weeks, so I will be visiting my studio right along with you. Since I’ve been far from home since April, I can’t take updated photos. I will do my best to explain what has changed along the way.

My jaw drops in awe when I see some of the gorgeous, big spaces many bloggers have. And I would be telling a lie if I said I was perfectly happy with my space and had no need for a larger one. I will have one someday. (Just letting the Universe know.) In the meantime, I love my little space.

We live in a tiny two bedroom cottage. With two big dogs. The second bedroom became our guest room/office/music studio. Where in the world would I be able to create? One day, my husband and I had a light bulb moment: the upstairs hallway. Yep, that’s my studio. Let’s start the tour.

As far as I’m concerned, the studio starts with this window at the top of the stairs. I used a vintage dresser scarf to create the valance and clipped it onto a curtain rod.

The window sill has little jars full of buttons.

At the top of the stairs, there is a little niche. I used to have an old trunk here. The day I realized that my sewing table would fit perfectly in this niche was the day the studio was born. I made the skirt from a Simply Shabby Chic shower curtain I had used when I was staying in San Diego last year. It’s attached with velcro – easy! That pretty fabric hides a lot of stuff.

See the skylight above my workspace? Love the natural light that fills this space.

Lambchop is my muse. I love her.

Here is a more up-to-date photo. I bought this lovely slip cover for my plain old office chair. It definitely pretties up the space. The shelf is an old mantel I had for a long time – it was propped up in a corner of our bedroom. Since it is narrow, it turned out to be the perfect shelf for this space. A coat of paint and I have the perfect splash of color in the studio.

A closer look at everything that surrounds my sewing table:

I took an old, plain bulletin board and transformed it with sheet music, paint, antiquing gel and some appliques.

Many of these little touches come from fellow bloggers. I love this blogging community!

As you face the sewing table, there is a little wall to the right. Photos are of my wedding day and of my brother and I visiting Santa Claus when we were kids, along with Mom and Dad.

Now you turn a corner and on the right is a bookcase I found at The Christmas Tree Shop. I wrote a post about my adventures trying to get that thing to fit together when I discovered it had come with two left sides!

It’s full of craft and decorating books as well as lots of theater books (that’s my profession.) The photo is of my sister and me.

Pincushions made by my blogging friend, Betty.

Since you see the cardboard backing of the bookcase as you go up the stairs, I prettied it up.

On the left is my design wall. I covered insulation boards with batting and nailed them to the wall. That’s my craft/cutting table which, thankfully, takes up very little space. I’ve made some changes to this part of the studio recently. I took down the quilt and added these:

Photos of family and friends

I made a chalkboard for the kitchen last year. Since I had an extra board and left over paint, I thought I would make one for the studio. I drilled two holes in the top and hung it with twine. I write words that inspire my creativity.

Trims, lace, crochet, one of the hearts I make

Tools in a vintage McCoy Vase

I have been drifting away from quilting and moving in new creative directions. So I have some new plans for this space. I’ll take down part of the design wall and look for a hutch or china cabinet that I can paint white. It will hold some of my supplies (the rest are on shelves in the guest bedroom closet) and will give me a whole lot of new decorating options!

My studio extends to the kitchen, where I work on my dollhouse. There just isn’t enough room in the studio. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Here is where I blog with my blogging partner, Scout.

So you see, you can take a tiny little alcove or a hallway or a closet and make it your creative space. You really can. I call this “My Happy Place.” Now, if it only had an air conditioner…

Thanks for stopping by! I can’t wait to see all the other wonderful creative spaces out there. Visit Karen’s blog My Desert Cottage to see more. Thanks, Karen!

I’m also linking to Pink Saturday.

Sweet Tooth & Ralphie

Shells, Rocks and Some Thoughts

Where Bloggers Create 2

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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