Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Some Light for my Monstera and Reading

at by

As requested, a photo of the new set-up in the living room. It’s very simple, really. We moved the table over to the somewhat dark corner, and the monstera, which had previously been in that same dark corner, is now directly under the window. A couple of the leaves are ready to be removed, but I never like to remove them before it’s time. If I think they’re still living, they stay. I’ve also found a way to hike up the leaves that are nearly touching the coffee table. So, it looks better than this photo indicates. I know the light will make a huge difference. The monstera stopped producing split leaves because it wasn’t getting enough light. I also trimmed the aerial roots, which were longer than I knew. They had even found their way to the cracks between floor boards! Since the plant was back in the corner next to Don’s chair, I never saw the roots going crazy. The rubber plant is getting about the same amount of light that it did when the table was under the window, so it will do just fine.

I’m getting close to finishing the latest Louise Penny, which is excellent. I expect nothing less. The plot is fascinating and Penny writes with a combination of compassion and an unflinching awareness of the brutality in the world. It is precisely this blend that makes every one of her novels so powerful.

What next? I’m not sure. I have lots of TBR books upstairs (and downstairs, for that matter) that I’ve been thinking of. I also want to reread one of my favorite authors: Canadian author,Robertson Davies. I read all of his books, especially his trilogies, well over 30 years ago and I’ve been craving the chance to read them again at my ‘advanced’ age. If I keep thinking of some book, it’s definitely a sign that I need to read it. Also want to read Underland  by Robert Macfarlane. It’s a work of non-fiction about our planet and I’ve had it on my pile upstairs since last year. Time to read it. I’m in the queue at the library for the new Deborah Crombie, but I expect I won’t be seeing a copy of the book for a few weeks.

Don just made pancakes, which I love, but usually immediately regret eating because I get sleepy afterwards.

Still – I ate them.

He also made an apple pie yesterday which we will partake of this afternoon.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday

at by

First, the really good news. Our friend Adrian, who is suffering from heart failure, was officially approved for a heart transplant. He’s in a hospital in Los Angeles, and all candidates for a heart transplant have to go through days and days of testing, after which the data is gathered and analyzed. The final step is to present it to a committee/group of experts (I think there around 40 of them) who then decide whether to approve the transplant. Adrian was approved. I don’t know where he is in the queue, but I do know there are people ahead of him.

Lots of prayers going on around here.

And now to my fun world:

Lucy is modeling new suspender pants from one of my favorite customizers and designers – Dakawaii Dolls. Naoka lives in Japan. I love, love, love her dolls but, unless someone puts a stack of money in my hands, I can’t afford them. They’re exquisitely done and in a style that no one else has. She put this pair of pants up for sale on Etsy and I decided to buy them. And I don’t know how she does it, but she doesn’t charge for shipping and the package arrives very quickly. Naoka’s clothing style is sort of slouchy and casual. My only other piece of her clothing is that gray, hooded coat that I love so much.

Lucy is the perfect girl for this kind of look. Isn’t she cute in this?

Do you know that when Lucy arrived in the mail, her head was not connected to her body? I’m not kidding you. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I wrote to her customizer immediately and she was shocked. She even showed me photos of her in the box that she had taken right before she sent her out in the mail. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to get the head back on and her neck joint was one I wasn’t familiar with. In fact, I hadn’t changed any neck joints yet, nor had I opened a head. I worked and worked on it, screamed more than a few times, and finally got it attached, though it was always a bit wobbly. Eventually, when I started replacing neck joints on some other girls, I changed Lucy’s out, as well. It works so much better now.

Back to the unattached head. I have to believe that it was opened up in customs. Did they think she was filled with contraband of some kind? There’s no way it just came apart, as the head was screwed shut. I think they took her apart and then didn’t know how to put her back together again. Definitely the strangest thing that’s happened in this hobby. Lucy hails from Ukraine.

I changed Imogen into overalls and thought it just might be the time for a small group photo.

They look like they’re about to get into some mischief. Imogen, especially, looks guilty. And that Bertie, with his little beret! What is he thinking?

Backstage:

I use a few different methods to prop up the girls, but a good old-fashioned wooden skewer works best on the wood floors and picnic table on the porch – also on our little stretch of sidewalk. I insert the pointed end into the crack between the planks. Best of all, I’ve had a bag of these skewers in my kitchen drawer for years, so it’s free. For more complicated poses, I use some implements made for Blythes. Next time I use one, I’ll show it to you.

I’ll slowly be redressing all of the dolls over the next several days, so you’ll get more photos.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Checking in on the Mini Studio

at by

It all started with wanting to move the antique table that is in the living room over to the left, so I could move my monstera plant under the window. It needs more light than it’s been getting. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but I guess I was fixed on centering that table under the window. That lead to me moving it to the corner, Don holding on to the monstera so it didn’t tip over, and lots of wrangling of plants and furniture. (This also led to a clean out the following moring of that corner, which is right next to Don’s chair. The domino effect.) In the course of moving the table, one of the mini Adirondack chairs fell on the floor and broke apart. Adding that little mishap to the fact that I really needed to clean the interior of that dollhouse led to me carrying it over to the kitchen island yesterday, where I worked on it for a few hours.

Moving it to the corner is going to keep it out of direct sunlight, which is a good thing. And it’s now closer to Don, which he likes.

I glued the various parts of the chair back together, dusted, cleaned, re-glued some pieces that I made for the mini studio and gave it some love. As I started in on all of this, Don disappeared upstairs. When he came back down, he handed me a piece of copier paper with a photo of the late, great John Prine and asked if I could hang it on the wall. He managed to reduce it to the right scale, as well. He’s so darned adorable.

So here’s a little tour, since we haven’t done that for a long time.

The exterior of the studio. Sorry it’s on the kitchen island but it was raining yesterday and I couldn’t take it outside. The chair on the right is the one I had to repair. I built this studio from a kit, by the way.

Another view. I made all the board and batten siding.

Inside. I made the fireplace in the corner, truly one of my happiest mini achievements.

I built the kitchenette counter and the desk/tables. I miniaturized Shanna’s sketch of Scout, made a frame, and hung it on the wall. Scout had just passed away, my dad left us a few months before that, and I was so heartbroken that I had a hard time motivating myself to finish this for Don’s June birthday, but I did. I knew Don would love to see Scoutie featured.

I figured mini-Don would need a little area where he could make coffee and have a snack. There is a back story on every one of these items, and you can find that under Dollhouse/Miniatures on the navigation bar.

There’s John, just above the sketch of Scout. I mounted the photo on cardboard. I’m not totally happy with it and was thinking of redoing it, but Don is thrilled with it, and that’s all that matters.

Rest in Peace, Scout and John.

And Rest in Peace to Burt Bacharach. I loved everything he wrote, starting with my first encounter with Walk On By  when I was a kid. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Thus began my love of songs written in a minor key. Haunting, beautiful; it drew me in and I became a fan.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives