Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

Robins Stop at the Inn

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Yesterday morning, I looked out the window and noticed a lot of birds flying around. At first I thought they must be starlings, but no. They were robins; I don’t know how many, but I’d say at least 30. They’d swoop into the trees, swoop back down to the ground, drink from the birdbath, and dine on burning bush berries. It was magical. I’d say they were here for an hour and a half.

They were on their way south and stopped at the Hill-Sparks Inn for some food and drink.

I just looked outside again. There’s a few more stopping for a visit.

Anyway, I grabbed my big girl camera and took some photos with my telephoto lens.

The birdbath was a mess; thank goodness there was some fresh rainwater in there.

A few fights over the birdbath.

Completely delightful.

By the way, groundhogs go into hibernation in October. Someone hasn’t got the memo; the big groundhog has been sighted into November. In fact, last Saturday, I opened the kitchen door and he ran past me. I haven’t seen him in a few days, so maybe he’s finally made the move. Lots of chipmunk and squirrel activity right now, as well.

I’m going to go clean the birdbath.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

This and That

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Between the time change and Wonderland of Play, I swear it’s taken me the entire week to recover! Getting used to the time change always takes a few days, of course. And as I live a fairly low-key life these days, a huge event like WOP wipes me out. But it was oh so worth it.

I’ve been doing little chores around the house, one of which was installing a shelf in the office. It’s to the left of my desk between the pink cabinet and the wall. I’ve been messing with it for a few days; first trying to find the studs. They were a little too far away from the wall (a wall shared by the office and our bedroom closet.) This house was flipped and sometimes it shows. So then it was plan #2, using dry wall anchors. The first one worked perfectly. The second was a screw up on my part, I drilled a too-large hole so the anchor disappeared in the wall. Yesterday, I went to Lowes and bought new anchors, a new level (I can’t find the one I had,) some more spackle, and some joint compound for my work on the dollhouse. The shelf is in a narrow area bounded by the desk and the cabinet so it involved some bizarre body positions, but I finally did it.

It’s for my Gene Marshalls. On the left, Hello Hollywood (with a suit designed by my friend Doug,) Love at First Sight, a Simply Gene wearing Mandarin Mood, Iced Coffee, Tea Time at the Plaza, and Warmest Wishes – a special collaboration with FAO Schwarz.

This arrived in the mail:

I was on the waiting list at the library, but since our system involves many local libraries, my number in the queue was way too high. So I bit the bullet and bought it. I’m going to start it today. Speaking of books, I was ready to dive into a new mystery when I went to bed last night. It had great reviews. After 20 pages .I could go no further. The writing was terrible. Sigh.

That’s why Barbra has moved up in my queue.

And one more photo – the girls are fighting over this helmet. It’s Pru’s turn to wear it.

She’s still shoeless because Mom has run out of shoes. More are on the way. I thought this picture might give you a better view of the hat/helmet.

Okay. I’m due to have a chat with Doug this morning, so I have to get going and make that second cup of coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Wonderland of Play, Part Deux

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Today, some random photos and thoughts on the fabulous Wonderland of Play. I was feeling euphoric on Monday and though that’s calmed down a bit, I’m still pretty jazzed!

This is Lisa from Play From Your Heart. She is such a lovely person. That little creature she’s holding is called a Faye. These felted creatures are made by a woman in Japan and they are extremely hard to come by. Periodically, there is a raffle on IG and the winners get the chance to buy one. I’ve missed out every time. On Sunday there was a chance to be entered for the same kind of thing and I forgot all about it, so I blew the chance to win one. Darn it! They are so adorable and hugely popular. Lisa is wearing an adult sized version of the hats they sell.  Her mom makes them.

This is my friend Gwen, who I really, really adore. She’s funny and joyful. This was taken when I escorted her to Play From Your Heart’s booth and she discovered why I was crazy about their creations. She caught the fever and purchased a Carrycot and a hat and a few other things. Later, she went back and purchased some more! As always, I am a proud enabler.

This is Leticia’s booth – Letvon Dolls. She’s from Spain. I really wanted the redhead on the right, but, since I just purchased a doll, no can do.

A beauty from Nanuka Factory. She also makes those little houses.

Another beautiful doll. That’s Naiara in the background. She’s so nice.

The mug for the event, which shows the event logo, modeled after the event doll.

She was designed by SplattergirlUK. Ayin is so talented and, I’m happy to say, a simply lovely person.

While waiting in line with some lovely people. Livvy got the chance to model these MouskeEars, which can be found on eBay. Of course, I’m going to look for some because could she be any cuter????

I can’t say enough how much fun this was. Don keeps saying he is proud of me because he knew I had fears of being too old, and driving a long way early in the morning and then trying to maneuver Jersey City, which is very urban and congested. But I did it. Meeting so many IG favorites, many of them vendors that I’ve purchased from, being in a room full of people who feel just as passionate about this wacky little doll as I do, well…it was a huge blessing.

They get it. I get it. So many of us feel that we can only tell certain people about our love for Blythe dolls. I keep my Blythe IG account entirely separate from my main IG account. There’s no reference to it at all and I don’t post the dolls on my main account because the people on that account cover a wide swath of contacts, including professional theater/work contacts. They wouldn’t understand. Even on this blog I try not to post about Blythes too often. But at Wonderland of Play, we didn’t have to worry about that for one second. What a gift! Meeting my online friends and the vendors I admire was such a gift and knowing that I had permission to PLAY all day long with like-minded collectors? Priceless.

The next Wonderland of Play is next year in Brugge, Belgium. If only.

Speaking of Blythe friends, I desperately needed a new OB22 body for Pru and my friend Dani, from Rio de Janeiro, had an extra, which she brought to the event. On Monday, I changed out her body and she’s much happier now.

Check out the looks from the Ferros on the shelf below.

This was the dramatic sky over our Town Hall yesterday as we voted in our county and town election. Stunning.

Okay. That’s a lot of photos to edit and post, so I’m signing off.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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