Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 391 — Life in our little cottage in the country

Day Three Hundred Sixteen

January 23, 2021 at 9:09 am by Claudia

I spent some time yesterday working on the dollhouse. I filled in some gaps in the walls with spackle. Today I’ll sand them and I might even start the wallpapering process. I also played around with the new plates and put them in the hutch. Those white eggcups that I got in Paris are out of scale, so I’m going to remove them. Or I could pretend they’re little desert bowls.

Playing with furniture and accessories is such fun. I consider it my reward for all the time spent renovating the dollhouse. There’s lots to do yet in this house, but once I finish the wallpaper in the bathroom, as well as the flooring and windows, I’ll move this to the desk and start building the Beacon Hill.

Yikes.

I have some new information about the comment we found so objectionable. Two more comments with the same text have appeared, plus one supporting the original comment. I am now convinced they are coming from bots who are commandeering IP addresses. Interestingly, almost all of them are coming from Canadian IP addresses. Anyway. This happened before during the 2016 election. I’ve deleted and blocked them all and will continue to do that, since they are deliberate attempts to spread disinformation. I deleted my original response because I no longer want to give any responses or “air” to this nonsense, because that’s what they want. Do you mind if I delete your responses, as well? If you do mind, let me know and I’ll let them stand, but they won’t make sense now that the original comment has been deleted.

Thanks, everyone.

Very, very cold here today. No snow on the horizon but it’s definitely winter!

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Day Three Hundred Fifteen

January 22, 2021 at 10:38 am by Claudia

Good morning!

It’s currently sunny outside! Huzzah! We’re expecting snow squalls later in the day, so I don’t expect it to last, but I’m grateful that it is sunny now.

Okay. The gorgeous John Derian puzzle is finished:

This was taken late in the day yesterday. It’s my favorite, so far, of all the puzzles I’ve put together.

Enclosed in the box was a small print version of this puzzle. If I frame anything, I’ll frame that. I’ve never framed the puzzles I vowed to frame last year and now, months later, I realize I have no desire to. I now realize that idea is unrealistic – at least, for me. We already have a lot of art on our walls and there’s not room for large framed puzzles. So, it’s about enjoying the process, letting it sit on the kitchen table for a few days in all its glory, and then taking it apart.

On Inauguration day, two packages arrived in the mail. The long-lost package from Spain arrived! In it is the work of Sofia of Twelve Times More Teeny on Etsy.

Aren’t they beautiful? I have some of Sofia’s work in Hummingbird Cottage and I knew I wanted to order from her again. These will go in the hutch in the English Cottage aka Dove Cottage.

And speaking of Hummingbird Cottage, the grand dame of all my dollhouses, Caroline was thrilled to get a new table and chairs for the kitchen. You’ve seen the table, but here are the chairs.

In consultation with Caroline, a decision was made to order chairs with higher backs, a French Country look. I like these much better than the smaller chairs that were here previously. I have yet to style this table but I will. These are from an Etsy shop called Tiny Dwelling. Lovely work – and the owner of the shop has a lot of interesting items in stock.

And yesterday, the dollhouse wallpaper finally arrived! So I will be upstairs in the studio working on the dollhouse this afternoon.

Housekeeping note: I’ll be brief, because I’ve said this many times before. I had a comment from a Trumper yesterday. You can see it on yesterday’s post. Before I saw it (I had been working on the puzzle) other readers saw it and challenged that commenter. And a few of you replied to that comment later in the day. Anyway, I responded. You responded.

You know the rules. Anyone supporting that man and his administration is not welcome here. Period. I would not welcome that person in my home. And MHC is also my home. I’ve left the comment up, but I’ve blocked her. And I’ll continue to do that when necessary. Thankfully, it happens rarely.

I can do that because it’s my blog. A personal blog owned by me.

Also: someone left a comment a couple of weeks ago suggesting what I should and should not write about (this concerned politics.) She mentioned that I might be concerned about ‘offending my readers,’ which, in reality, meant her.

The obvious answer: No, it doesn’t concern me. I am a careful writer and work hard to be articulate and honest. but I’m not in this for numbers or lots of followers. This is my blog. I pay for it. I maintain it. You get to read it for free. I’ve been writing it for almost 13 years. It has always been about my life and that includes my opinions. You can disagree with me, which this person did, and for the most part I will leave the comment up and respond to it, unless the commenter attacks me or says something so offensive that it has to be deleted.

I don’t tell other bloggers what to post. During the course of my many years of blogging, I learned very early on that imposing my opinions on other bloggers about their subject matter was not a good idea. (And I have strong opinions!) If I don’t like someone’s content, I can (and do) move on. But I don’t tell them what they should and shouldn’t post, whether on a blog or on Instagram. Neither should anyone presume to tell me what I should and shouldn’t write about here.

I don’t take kindly to it.

I see that all the time on IG. People peg accounts as purely about decorating or books or whatever and when that the account holder speaks out about an issue, they are offended and say “I don’t come to this account for (fill in the blank).”

Oh, you’re telling that person what they can and can’t post? That they have to be what you want them to be? I think not.

Okay. I have to reiterate these things at times. But I promise not to do it too often. (I’m not sure I succeeded at being brief.)

Moving on.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Three Hundred Fourteen

January 21, 2021 at 10:16 am by Claudia

I slept well last night. I even slept in.

That’s what happens when goodness, competence, compassion, integrity, and honor come back to the White House.

What an extraordinary day.

We were glued to the television for the whole thing, only taking a break for a bit in the afternoon. I’m too overwhelmed with joy and peace this morning to address everything I loved about the inauguration. I can’t get my brain around it all and I’m in a blissful state this morning that doesn’t include a lot of clarity, just happiness.

I will say that I am so grateful that the Arts are back in the White House. The brilliant young poet Amanda Gorman knocked my socks off. She is a national treasure. The previous occupant of the White House didn’t read, didn’t listen to music, didn’t care about music, dance, theater, film, poetry. He was bereft of joy. To engage with the Arts, you have to be willing to be transported, to be challenged, to think, to ponder, to transform, to expand. Thankfully, the Biden White House has restored what was missing.

I’ve spent my entire life in the Arts. I grew up around artists who were expansive and smart and witty and willing to learn. My life has been blessed by my relationships forged from the community of theater artists, as has Don’s. We miss that right now, of course, as there is no work for us. But we are buoyed by our memories of the joy that comes from working together to create something. Those fellow artists become family and remain so long after we’ve parted ways. We have been talking about this very thing lately – how fortunate we are to have known and worked extraordinary artists, and how much we miss working in a collaborative and exciting way.

It’s enormously important to have validation of the Arts coming from the White House. Especially now, when so many are out of work.

That’s what struck me this morning.

So many wrongs that are already being addressed via Executive Order. Thank God.

For now, for today, I just want to bask in the glow of yesterday. I bet you do, too.

It finally happened. The despot is gone. Long live decency.

Here’s a puzzle update. I should finish it today.

Enjoy this day, my friends. We’re in good hands.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day Three Hundred Sixteen

Day Three Hundred Fifteen

Day Three Hundred Fourteen

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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