Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

April

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A very cold, but sunny morning. The temps were back down to the 20s last night.

Spring: You are crazy.

This cold weather will continue for the next couple of days and then the temps will gradually rise. I’m ready for full-on Spring, thank you very much.

We both woke up ridiculously early this morning. I won’t say what time. But we’re determined to be positive and sail through the day with flying colors. Wish us luck!

I did some minor faffing to the original dollhouse yesterday. Over time, changes of temperature cause things to fall off walls, or be jostled in some way or another. I rehung some pictures, a mirror, and a platter. Straightened up the sofas. Dusted the floors (with a paintbrush.) Usually, the dollhouse exterior is facing me when I’m sitting in the den, but I turned it recently – it inspires me for the work that must be done on the rescued dollhouse. It helps to remember all the steps it took to get to the finished product. So, when I turned it and looked closely, I realized some minor adjustments needed to be made.

I also painted a base coat of white on the exterior of my current project. I didn’t want any blue showing when I started the long process of attaching the ‘stones’ to the exterior. My plans yesterday for doing some work up in my office didn’t come to fruition. I did nothing but hang around with my husband, cuddle, and read. That was it. But it was awfully nice.

Someone asked the other day about sources for dollhouse furniture and tips for rehabbing a dollhouse, so it’s time to remind everyone that I have a heck of a lot of posts about Hummingbird Cottage and Don’s Studio under the Dollhouses/Minis tab on my navigation bar. There’s also a Source List, which I just happened to update last week. There’s lots of information for you there.

Okay. It’s Monday. It’s April. It’s sunny.

I’ll take it.

Happy Monday.

Sunday, Sweet Sunday & Goodbye to Anastasia

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“Sunday, sweet Sunday, with nothing to do…” That’s a lyric from Flower Drum Song, and it fits this particular Sunday. Nothing to do, except putter around, which is my favorite thing to do. It’s a rainy, drizzly day, so nothing is going to be accomplished outdoors. But I can play around with the stone on my dollhouse, and read, and listen to music.

I saw this guy outside the kitchen window yesterday and scrambled for my camera:

According to my bird books, he’s a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.

Gorgeous. He didn’t do a lot of pecking, but he did do some preening.

Thank you, little guy, for stopping for a spell on this maple right outside the house.

The fern had to go outside yesterday. I had been noticing large ants on the kitchen table and finally figured out that they were attracted to the Boston fern after doing some quick internet research that said there’s something in the plant that can attract ants. So. Out it went. I will have to bring in inside at night for the next three nights because it’s going down below freezing, but it will go back outside during the day.

The yellow footed compote and the vase of tulips have now moved to the kitchen table.

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Just want to say a word about Anastasia, which is closing today. I have been involved with this show since its beginnings at Hartford Stage three years ago. I fell in love with the glorious music by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and the direction and staging of Darko Tresnjak. Peggy Hickey’s choreography was the icing on the cake, as well as the costumes by Linda Cho, set design of Alexander Dodge, and projections of Aaron Rhyne. Getting to work with Bonnie Panson, one of the best Production Stage Managers I have ever had the privilege to know, has been nothing but wonderful.

Most important to me was, and is, the cast of superb actors, singers, and dancers that have made this show come to life. Everyone has been a joy to work with. Everyone.

But Christy Altomare, as Anastasia, has my heart. Besides being unbelievably talented, an actress/singer who has direct access to her heart and emotions, whose voice soars during Journey to the Past  and brings down the house every performance, she is one of the kindest, most gracious people I have come to know. I adore her. I can’t imagine not hearing her sing that song on the stage of the Broadhurst ever again. Christy is humble. She has time for everyone and patiently stands outside the stage door every night signing programs and posing for pictures. She is the real deal. Working with her and getting to know her (we’ve had many long talks) has been one of the great joys of my life.

I know this is a tough day for everyone involved with the show. Saying goodbye to this magical production will be hard, especially for Christy and John Bolton, the two leads who have been in the show since the beginning, as well as at least 5 or 6 ensemble members who have also been a part of the cast since Hartford.

We always refer to the three words that Christy sings in Journey to the Past:

Home. Love. Family.

That’s how I feel about the cast of Anastasia. You’ve had a great two-year run. Bless you always.

Happy Sunday.

Reading, Movies, Dreaming

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The daffodils are shriveling and it’s time to let them go. Everything else – tulips, alstroemeria – is still going strong. And since it’s a cloudy day, I’m grateful for their lovely splashes of color.

I finished the book I was reading, which I’ll review in a couple of weeks. What next? I’m not sure. I have lots to choose from as my TBR pile grows daily. The question at the moment is non-fiction or fiction? Hmmm…

There’s not much going on here at the moment. Everything is in a holding pattern. Don did put the snow blower away in the shed, and it’s going to be much warmer here today, so I may attempt some porch clean up. One thing that I’m loving is the birdsong I hear each morning. Oh, what a blessing that is! It completely changes the way I greet the day. Soon, I’ll be hearing peepers at night.

Spring, you’re taking a while, but it’s worth the wait.

We watched Dial M for Murder  last night on TCM. Nothing better than Alfred Hitchcock.

Oh, I have to tell you something sort of funny. Yesterday morning, I woke up with the end of a dream still playing in my head. You know, that moment between sleep and waking, when you’re still not fully awake? Well, I heard the words, “Rebecca of Lunneybrook Farm.” Clear as day. And yes, you read that right. In that moment of half-sleep, my brain struggled with what I’d heard. Lunneybrook? That seems wrong. Lunneybrook? And then I woke enough to say “It’s Sunnybrook, not Lunneybrook!” I wonder what the rest of the dream was about?

Dreams are strange things. That one gave us both a chuckle.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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