Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Sunday In the Kitchen

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It’s Sunday morning and we’re heading over to Rick and Doug’s for some yummy French Toast. We’ve all been busy lately and haven’t seen each other in a while and they’re going on a trip next week, so today it is.

A couple of things from the kitchen:

This sign above the kitchen sink. It was hand made by someone I found through blogging. Darned if I can remember who now (if I find the name, I’ll add it here.) Another blogger that I followed had one made and I loved it, so I put in my request.

We really love it. We sometimes forget it’s there as it’s high above the sink.

And this sign:

Sorry, it’s a cloudy day today. You can see from these two photos how greatly the yellow on the kitchen walls can change during the course of a day.

When we moved in here, I knew I wanted a vintage sign for this section of the kitchen wall. It would have to be long and horizontal. We looked and looked but never found anything we could afford. Vintage signs – at least the large ones – are expensive. One day, while working in Heidi’s shop, I was looking through a catalogue and found this. Made to look vintage, but new. It may be a reproduction of an actual brand. Frankly, I’ve never bothered to look.

I decided to go for it. We’ve never regretted it. We really love it.

Okay. Got to get moving!

Happy Sunday.

 

Saturday Art Work

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I have been chatting with Don as we had our second cup of coffee this morning and I’m running late! The good news: I slept a bit longer this morning. It’s amazing how much difference an extra hour makes. I have never been one of those people (lucky them!) that can function well on too little sleep. Nope; even when I was a kid. I can get by for a day or two, but five? No and no and no.

Oh, and I got frustrated with trying to reapply my nail polish yesterday, most likely because I was so darn tired, so I took it all off. I’ll get back to it one day.

Living room art, part 1.

Our vintage lithograph of the RMS Aquitania. The Aquitania was part of the Cunard line, built in Scotland and launched in 1913 on a trip from Liverpool to NYC. It was an luxury ocean liner but was conscripted for use during both World Wars. In fact, it was due to be retired in 1940, but then WWII broke out and it was enlisted once again. It was officially retired in 1950. It was part of  Cunard’s 3 ship fleet; the Mauretania, the Lusitania, and the Aquitania. The Aquitania was the last of the four-funnelled ocean liners. You can clearly see the funnels in the lithograph.

We found this in a local shop and Don fell in love with it. I fell, too, but he was the one who talked me into buying it. I’m so glad we did. The brass plate at the bottom says “Cunard Line.” It was made by Cunard for travel agencies advertising the glamour of transatlantic travel. Since the Aquitania was only used for the war effort after 1940, we can safely say this is, at the very least, from the 30s.

Finding this piece finally solved my problem of what to hang over the piano. I tried several solutions but this one took. The frame matches the color of the piano, it’s substantial, we love the colors and it makes us happy. It doesn’t hurt that the blues are also in the McCoy and the red is in also in the lamp shade.

Next to that is my Hymns board, found not long after we moved here in a now-defunct antique shop in Beacon. I had always wanted one and I especially loved that this one was an off-white. I don’t display anything on it, preferring it to be clean folk art, which speaks for itself. It’s very old.

To the left, the gallery of our beloved dogs. The artwork, including the sketch, is by Shanna. The photograph is mine, transferred to canvas. I have another beautiful painting of Scout by another blog reader that I have yet to frame. That’s on my to do list.

There’s more in the living room but there was just too much glare this morning. I’ll get to it soon.

Happy Saturday.

Nails And The Painting Thereof

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I’ve been playing with paint:

This was taken just after I applied the polish and before I cleaned up the edges.

Every once in a while, I flirt with nail polish because I love the look of it. Only in winter, mind you, it’s not at all practical in the spring when I’m in full gardening mode. I saw this shade at the grocery store and bought it on a whim. I really like it, but I eventually encounter the same problem I always have: it chips. Unless one doesn’t have to do any work around the house, takes obsessive care of their finger and hand movements, and has it done professionally, it isn’t going to last that long.

I’m already planning to remove it all this morning and put on a fresh coat. And eventually, I’ll get sick of it and that will be it for a while. I do paint my toenails in the summer, but that’s always been the case.

For a couple of years about 11 years ago, I had someone apply acrylic nails to my nails and got them done every two weeks. I’ve never liked my nails, which grow exactly like my mom’s did – the sides of the nails angle outward instead of a straight vertical, making it impossible to grow my nails to any length. Plus they’re smallish. The acrylics became a pain in the tush and I started to worry that they were ruining my natural nails, so I stopped.

Does anyone out there wear nail polish? If I’m foolish enough to continue this for a while, do you have any tips for me as to the brand of polish and top coat you use?

Changing the subject, I started The Night Circus, but I’m so sleep deprived at the moment that I’m not reading it today. I’m barely into the story and when I’m sleep deprived my perceptions are off. This is not a mystery which flows easily for me, it’s a different genre that I have to read carefully. It would be too easy for me to give up on it. So I’ll look at a couple of magazines today, instead.

Don is off to NYC this morning for an audition.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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