Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 393 — Life in our little cottage in the country

Day Three Hundred Ten

January 17, 2021 at 11:06 am by Claudia

Just a quick update today as I’m getting to this late.

Why?

Because we were on FaceTime with this guy:

(You know how much I love him when I post this even though it contains this picture of me.)

We were solving mysteries.

The mystery of The Bank Vault that Won’t Open (A vault that works as a bank and has a touch pad. He got it for Christmas.) It wasn’t opening and we had to solve the mystery. SOLVED: It needed new batteries. Mere did the drawing of the bank vault.

The other mystery: Which dog, Hank or Bear, threw up in the crate last night. UNSOLVED. I recommended that they label it a Cold Case.

Since Z insisted that detectives use notebooks, Mere got one from her stash and here Z is adding details to the case of the Bank Vault that Won’t Open.

This was a lovely, long and wonderful call and it made our day, so I wasn’t about to leave early and write a post.

Hopefully, I’ll get this one in before the deadline for the email version of the post.

The puzzle is proceeding nicely.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day Three Hundred Nine

January 16, 2021 at 10:05 am by Claudia

Feeling rather crappy today and yesterday. It feels like a bad cold, but since I’m never in contact with anyone, it’s sinus masquerading as a cold. Anyway, this too shall pass. But I’m a wee bit whiny and I’m grateful my husband apparently doesn’t mind my whining and comforts me, nonetheless.

Have I told you how much I love him?

Yesterday was sort of a fog, though I did get some things done.

Highly satisfying. Also zen-like, which I really appreciate at this moment in time.

I stained the miniature desk that I made from a kit a while back. I had to bring it downstairs to get a photo. It’s been dark and dreary for days and days and it rained all last night so it’s still dark and dreary. Gray days and a sinus thing = an unhappy Claudia.

It still needs a bit of touch up. For those of you who think I have great light in the studio – I don’t. Only two little windows that get good light at the end of the day, and only if it’s a day with some sun. If I could convert the kitchen into my studio, I’d do it. But I can’t. Anyway, I brought it down here to photograph it this morning and noticed some areas that I’d missed. And I’ve already put a coat of paste wax on it. I’ll figure it out. I don’t mind it looking a bit spotty as it’s supposed to be old.

I also saw a photo of a real-life version of this type of desk in blue this morning and I immediately wondered if I should paint it. But I painted a lot of things blue in Hummingbird Cottage and I’m trying to fight that instinct and add some stained wood pieces in this project. I don’t want every dollhouse to look the same. I see a lot of that out there. On the other hand, I also see a lot of wildly imaginative work going on in the dollhouse world, most often by young people. That is fabulous!

I still have to order hardware for the desk. That will involve some searching on the internet because I don’t like what I see in my catalogue from miniatures (dot) com.

I’m not reading Winter Solstice yet, though that will be next. I’m reading Cruel Acts by Jane Casey, a terrific writer of police thrillers. I realized a week or two ago that I’d completely missed out on her two latest books, so I ordered this one. Casey is Irish by birth but she now lives in London and her stories take place there.

Okay. My energy is flagging.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Day Three Hundred Eight

January 15, 2021 at 10:25 am by Claudia

Late yesterday afternoon, I suddenly got it and moved around some pieces and it all came together. What a relief. Now, of course, comes the rest of the puzzle, which still has a lot of those off-white pieces and a complicated butterfly design.

I will forge ahead.

We watched the last episode of Pretend It’s A City last night. Fran Lebowitz has over 10,000 books – another reason I admire her. She talks about that in an earlier episode when she references looking for a new apartment and needing something large enough for her books. But in this last episode, she talks about books and reading. Throughout this series, Don kept turning to me and saying “You’re like that!” I am, even down to the same quirky sense of humor.

We’re going to watch the whole thing again because Lebowitz speaks quickly and we sometimes missed what she was saying. I also love how delighted Scorsese is with her, often laughing heartily.

One other thing to point you toward: Don shared Jeff Bridges’ website with me today. It’s extraordinary. Besides being an Oscar-winning actor, he’s an artist, a photographer, and a musician. He draws and hand writes his posts. The entire site is so imaginative, so creative. In case you don’t know it, Bridges is fighting cancer right now. Yet, he still shares his wisdom and music and passions. I’ve always admired him; he’s a good person. A loving soul. Here’s the link.

Thanks, Don, for sharing this with me.

We’re counting the days until the 20th. It seems endless on one hand, but it’s only five days. Hearing Biden’s proposals yesterday was a breath of fresh air. Smart, compassionate, honest. He’s already been more of a leader in the past few weeks than OM was in four years.

I’m hearing a bird sing right now. I’m always rather shocked when I hear a bird sing in the dead of winter, but most days, I do. It seems like a special message just meant for me. That may seem silly, but that’s how I feel. I always thank the birds for sharing their song with me.

Looks like another gray day. This morning was very, very foggy. Don and I were saying that we’d love an entire day surrounded by fog. Sitting here in our cozy cottage, with the rest of the world muted would be lovely. Just for one day.

Hang in there, everyone.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Three Hundred Ten

Day Three Hundred Nine

Day Three Hundred Eight

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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