Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 964 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Petite Gifts

November 18, 2016 at 9:09 am by Claudia

A few weeks back, Denise (a longtime reader of the blog) wrote me and asked me for my mailing address, as she had something she wanted to send me. I’m always taken by surprise when that happens, and of course, grateful that anyone would want to send me anything.

Denise alerted me that she had sent the package last week, so Don stopped off at the post office and brought it home. She wrote a lovely note in which she said she had been the full-time caregiver for her mother, who passed away two months ago. She was now ‘paring down and simplifying the home we shared.’ How hard that must be, grieving and sorting through things, everything evoking a memory.

She said that she had known that she wanted to send this gift to me.

I opened the box and gasped when I saw the contents:

11-18-petiteprincess1

Petite Princess furniture! I’ve written about it on the blog many times. It was made by Ideal and was sold from 1964 to 1968. I was a big fan when I was a girl and asked for it for my birthday and Christmas, but Mom was having none of it. (See? I wanted something ‘dollhouse’ even then.)

I found a couple of pieces several years ago that I used in the dollhouse; two dressers and a lamp.

These pieces were Denise’s when she was a girl.

As I told Denise, each time I unwrapped something, I gasped. Don was here at the time and I kept gasping and he said, “Wait until everything is opened and then show me.” (I think my gasps were interrupting his concentration.)

Above, the dressing table, seat, and three tables. Wouldn’t every little girl want a dressing table like that one?

11-18-petiteprincess2

Gasp! The piano! What can I say? It’s gorgeous! (Denise told me the piano is her favorite piece.)

11-18-petiteprincess3

Gasp! A lovely curved sofa and another dresser.

11-18-petiteprincess4

Gasp! Another coffee table and phone and some lamps (the bird lamp is the same as the one I have in the dollhouse), another table, statues, a lamp and some paintings. And there are more accessories, too – statuary, vases, dishes with fruit, tiny glasses – amazing petite beauties.

That Denise would think of me as she, still in mourning, sorts through things in her home moves me beyond words. This is a treasure trove and I am so honored that she would pass it on to me.

Thank you, Denise. I will take good care of it, I promise.

It’s Friday. Yesterday, I thought it was Saturday for half the day and then I thought it was Friday for the other half. Now it actually is Friday. Soon I will have to start working on the text for Comedy of Errors, which starts rehearsals in mid-December. Yes, what seemed so far off is now fast approaching.

Don has told me he will be out and about most of the day. I know what he’s up to, he’s going birthday present shopping!

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

On The Farm

November 17, 2016 at 9:25 am by Claudia

Has anyone else found their sleep to be somewhat erratic lately? I’m betting that’s the case. This morning I woke up at 4 am and never went back to sleep. And for some reason, I keep thinking it’s Saturday.

As I was sipping my much needed coffee this morning, I saw a gnat flying by my mug and the next thing I knew, there he was floating on the surface. I rescued him with my finger tip and placed him on a piece of paper, but I thought he was a goner. Then I dumped my coffee and brewed a fresh cup. To my amazement, the gnat survived and walked off the paper and is presumably somewhere around here. I’ve also rescued two flies in the last two days, which is an ongoing thing around here. They don’t live long and I don’t like to see them spend that time trapped in the house vainly trying to get outside where they belong. So this year, I turned over a new leaf and stopped ignoring them. Now, I rescue them and deposit them back outside.

Speaking of all creatures great and small:

11-17-horses

We visited our friends at the boarding farm yesterday. Very, very affectionate boy.

11-17-horses2

This little girl is so sweet. She eats out of my hand.

11-17-horses3

As soon as I walked in the direction of this corral, these three guys trotted on over.

11-17-horses4

He cracked me up. Reminds me of Mr. Ed. He is also a sweetie pie.

11-17-horses5

11-17-horses7

These guys are all rescues. Isn’t that wonderful? The were impatiently waiting to be led into their stalls, which means dinner time.

The two horses in the first two photos belong to a local woman who boards them at the farm.

11-17-horses6

We gave them treats and chatted with the owners who love telling us about each horse; the personalities, the hierarchy, the rescue stories.

We are trying to contact the rescue group who took in our two elderly horse friends. They’re doing well, we know that much, and their previous owner has traveled up to see them. If they allow us to, we’d like to make an appointment to visit them.

I just finished a wonderful mystery by a new author, Emily Littlejohn. It’s called Inherit the Bones. I’ll review it next week on the other blog. It’s the first in a series, which is exciting.

We’re watching episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Netflix. It makes us happy, and we can use a big dash of happy right now. I forgot what a brilliant physical comedian Van Dyke was/is. There have been a few episodes where we have laughed so hard we had tears rolling down our faces. Brilliant work. Ann Morgan Guilbert, who played next-door neighbor Millie, died recently. I had the good fortune of working with her on a show when I was living in California. She was a talented, lovely, and very funny woman.

Some thoughts on Susan Branch and her post yesterday. I’m a person who tends to respond emotionally to a situation. My heart is on my sleeve, more often than not. That’s good and it’s also bad, depending on the situation because there are times I regret responding immediately. I wish I could be a little more, not detached, but analytical? Is that the word? What Susan wrote was so well thought out, so logical and so heartfelt that it really made me think. She comes at it from another angle and it makes so much sense! I’m going to read the whole thing again today.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Reading As Escape

November 16, 2016 at 9:27 am by Claudia

11-16-moonrising

I try to get good photos of the moon. I do.

But I don’t have the right kind of lens, don’t have a stretch of level ground on which to plant a tripod, and it gets so dark around here that the ‘night’ setting on my camera really doesn’t do it. Ah, well.

Yesterday was a rain-filled day and it wasn’t the drizzly kind of rain we’ve been getting, but a very good soaking rain. It was dismal out there, but much appreciated. I drove to the bookstore for reading therapy. Though I am vigilant and am doing everything I can right now to stay energized for the fight, I also need to escape, always hoping that when I come out of Reading World, I’ll find it was all a bad dream.

11-16-readingmaterial

I’ve already read the new Flea Market Style. Loved it.

Country Living, Christmas edition. I’ve never been too crazy about Christmas issues of favorite decorating magazines. I’d rather see any interior sans holiday decorations. I find them distracting. But I caved because I need…you guessed it….an escape.

The newest Lee Child – Night School. You knew I would buy it. I’ve read them all and cannot resist a new Jack Reacher mystery. Jack Reacher, as written by Mr. Child. Not the Tom Cruise version – I don’t want my image of Reacher to change from the picture I have in my head.

I know I’m rather firm about all of this, but that’s how I feel. I won’t watch Bosch either – the series that centers on Harry Bosch, as written by Michael Connelly. Nothing against Titus Welliver, who is a fine actor and, in this case, looks rather like Bosch as written by Connelly. But I have a picture in my mind and I guard it.

And I’ll be doing the same thing when there is a series – or is it a movie – of Robert Galbraith’s (J.K. Rowling) series centered on Cormoran Strike. She is so specific in her description of Strike that when I saw a photo of the actor cast in the role, I thought, what??? Producers and casting people always seem to go for the more handsome and marketable version of a character. In Cruise’s case, about a foot shorter and 60 pounds lighter, with a completely different hair color.

The last book is a collection of speeches, essays, and articles written by the late, great Pat Conroy – A Lowcountry Heart. It just came out. I can’t wait to read it.

11-16-newestbigboy

Look who arrived in yesterday’s mail. Another Big Boy. This one is holding a Double-Decker. I haven’t had any red meat in well over 30 years, but I do remember loving a Double-Decker. My mom and I would sometimes go shopping and eat lunch at Big Boy. We always got a Double-Decker.

That makes three Big Boys, which, I told Don, now makes a collection. They’re behind me as I write this, staring at me.

And, because I miss them so, so much and I ran across this photo the other day:

Scoutie and Riley in the den. Scout in the “tunnel.” I miss them in my life and on this blog. I long for them, especially during this last week, where their presence would have been enormously comforting. I miss taking care of my babies.

Read Susan Branch’s latest post: We Have to Believe We Are Magic. Bravo, Susan.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Petite Gifts

On The Farm

Reading As Escape

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives