Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Another photo of the rose. I’m absolutely sure it’s been pummeled by the deluge we’re receiving. Very heavy rain, wind, flooded culvert and street, sump pump continuously cycling on and off – it’s a crazy morning. In fact, the rain woke me up a bit before 5 am, which was too early for my taste!

This is a Nor’easter. The worst of it should be out of here by around 3 pm. In the meantime, it’s dark outside and the bird that was singing this morning has stopped. Perhaps she’s as tired of all the rain as I am.

We watched Field of Dreams  last night on TCM. It’s one of my favorite movies. Both of us were crying. It’s especially poignant now that James Earl Jones is gone. Everything about it is impeccably done. Pitch perfect. Tonight? Bringing Up Baby.

Green, green everywhere. Much of the green in this picture will transform into coneflowers, but there are hostas and day lilies, as well. The hosta at the top of the photo was here when we moved in. Everything else was planted by me.

Speaking of which, we will celebrate 20 years in this cottage at the end of August. That seems impossible! We moved in on August 31st, 2005. We had no cable and we couldn’t watch television so we had no idea that Hurricane Katrina was ravaging Louisiana. It was such a shock when we finally saw footage. We felt badly that we had no idea what was going on, but on the other hand, there’s something to be said for being off-grid and incommunicado. I could use a whole heck of a lot of that right now.

We mowed the corral and back forty yesterday. Today will be about chores that I put off when I can be outside. And maybe some basic repair work on the dollhouse.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

From a distance, my lovely little rose bloomed. It’s near the chicken wire fence and I didn’t want to step on the ground cover to get closer. This will have to do, until I can use my long distance lens. (I was in my pajamas at the time – no time for the big girl camera.) It’s a lovely rose.

I haven’t been adding anything new to my Etsy shop so there are only a few things available. In fact, I hadn’t had any orders since last summer. But then, in the space of a week, I had two orders which really surprised me. I had to scramble for packing supplies. The reason I bring this up is to discuss Etsy raising their fees, which is impacting all sellers on that platform. I have heard a lot about this from other sellers – Blythe customizers, those that sell miniatures – and all of them have had to either increase their prices to cover the fees or have moved to other platforms. The sale earlier this week caused me to lose money. I made less than the cost of the item, which was $20. I cleared around $16. This is ridiculous. They even charge a fee for ‘shipping’ even though they don’t ship the item. I do all the packing, as well as taking it to the post office. I provide the tracking number. What shipping? This is a stark change from my prior sales. I’m really not replenishing my stock and I don’t have a business that really relies on Etsy, so the impact is minor – but still annoying. Imagine how this impacts sellers that have a large inventory of items. I know that some Blythe customizers will list a doll and say that it will be less expensive if paid directly to them via PayPal, but if the customer prefers Etsy, the price will have to be higher to cover the fees. I raised the prices of my remaining stock, but I just might close the shop temporarily and say I’m on vacation.

Why do corporations have to get greedy? Don’t even bother answering, my friends. It’s a fact of life.

I have ordered a few times from miniatures(dot)com before they close. Prices were slashed and it seemed a good time to invest in a few supplies.

I got a great deal on these doors. I had planned on using them in the Beacon Hill, but the door openings are narrower and not as tall, which makes me want to smack Greenleaf, the company that makes the Beacon Hill. I suppose I could try to enlarge the door openings, but that is a difficult proposition when the house is already assembled.

So, I’ll hang on to them for another project. Sigh. Into the stash they go!

I’m debating whether to mow a bit today. It’s going to rain tomorrow and the corral is looking overgrown.

First, more coffee.

Happy Friday.

Stay safe.

 

 

We hadn’t seen our frog friend, Phileas, in a few days and Don was sure he was gone. But on Memorial Day, he appeared. As we sang to him, he swam toward us, hopped up on the ground, and looked up at us. He actually came  to us. It was amazing. And he stayed there the whole time we sang. I could have reached out and touched him but I didn’t. It seemed too intrusive.

Later, I walked down there to check on him and he was sunning himself on top of the culvert pipe.

Yesterday, I saw him on top of the pipe again.

He’s a friendly frog. I looked him up – he’s a Green Frog. That’s the name of this particular frog. Even my phone camera identified him as a Green Frog.

I spent part of that day pulling weeds and pruning here and there. I noticed this morning that the wild roses are just beginning to bloom, and that means the catalpa won’t be far behind.

We mowed the front lawn yesterday. Then we had lunch and promptly fell asleep for a half hour or so. We’re due for some rain tonight and tomorrow, so we’ll hold off on any more mowing for a few days.

Pru on Memorial Day.

Gosh darn it, she’s adorable.

I’ve moved the modern dollhouse into the bedroom. It’s once again sitting on top of the bookcase. I thought Don wouldn’t want a dollhouse in that room, but much to my surprise, he was all for it. He likes the clean lines of that house. It almost looks like a piece of art. I’m glad it’s there, because it was taking up too much space in the studio, space I need to work on the Beacon Hill and the doll I’m going to paint.

Today, we go grocery shopping. Boring, but very necessary!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.