Yesterday morning’s sunrise. Barely awake and having just let Scout out, I stumbled back in the house, grabbed my old camera which sits at the ready in the kitchen for just this sort of thing, and got this shot. Timing is everything (something I seem to say weekly on this blog). A minute later, the spectacular colors were gone.
I used the same shot on my photo blog yesterday. (There’s also a link on the sidebar.) I started it with the intention of posting a photo a day in order to better my photography skills. After a hiatus, I’ve recently started posting there again. It’s on Blogger and I have to say that after wrestling with posting photos and tweaking the site, I now realize just how much I love WordPress. But on Blogger it will remain because I don’t want to hassle with a domain name or anything like that. At least not until I see if I can maintain my post consistency.
Last night was our coldest night so far, with temperatures dipping down into the mid-twenties. There is frost over everything this morning. Once again, I rescued the potted impatiens from the porch and brought them inside. I wonder just how long I’ll get away with this before the inevitable happens and I forget to check the weather forecast, waking up to shriveled plants? Any guesses?
Dollhouse noodling: a few things I had ordered from Miniatures arrived yesterday. Part of the order consisted of more chair rails and pieces of wood trim to frame the remaining two windows that I haven’t touched. But there were a couple of fun items as well.
I’ve had this idea for over a year and I finally made it happen:
Eeeek! I’m swooning a bit here. The shelves are part of an inexpensive Michael’s cabinet that I took apart. In doing so, I lost the bottom shelf. Not to worry, I had an idea. I finally ordered a mini curtain rod and some copper pots and voilà! Now the little dollhouse kitchen has the warmth of hanging copper pots above the stove, with one ready to go on top of the Aga.
Dollhouses are such a wonderful way to indulge all your decorating fantasies. Barring a lottery win, I could never afford an Aga. There’s no space here to hang copper pots and it doesn’t really matter because I don’t have any. But I do in my dollhouse kitchen!
And I love, love farmhouse sinks. Maybe I will have one someday, but in the meantime:
I have a farmhouse sink in the dollhouse kitchen. Yesterday, the faucets and handles arrived. Using my dollhouse plumbing skills, I installed them and now we have ‘running water’ in the kitchen. Double Eeeek!
Poor Don. He innocently sits in the living room trying to do his thing and I’m constantly calling him over to the dollhouse to look at what I’ve just done. Bless his heart, he gets up and peers into the kitchen and says all the right things. Yesterday, while trying to look into the kitchen, he accidentally hit this unit and it went flying out of the kitchen. I had a tense moment or two until I saw that there was no damage. Don’s hands are simply too big for this little kitchen. Actually, so are mine. Trying to glue that curtain rod into the shelf unit was a pain in the butt!
I’ve spent hours looking at dollhouse miniatures on Etsy. Oh my goodness. I did order a couple of small things and eventually they will be winging their way to me from…Spain! I can’t wait.
My friend Norma, who is a talented miniaturist, shared this link to her Pinterest board, chock full of great tutorials. You might want to check it out!
Happy Wednesday.
oh my gosh….i think i want to live in your doll house !!!
:)
Me too, Lori!
When we were first married back in ’72 I couldn’t afford much but I took a page from my childhood and cut the pictures out of the catalogs that came in the mail. I put them in a shoebox and enjoyed getting them out now and then to look at what I was going to get for the house one day. I wish I had thought of a dollhouse.
I do them both, Tana!
Oh, Claudia, I love your Aga! I have wanted one in my kitchen since the first time I encountered one in a British novel, and that longing has never gone away. But, like you, it would take a lottery win to make it happen, so if you don’t mind, I’ll peek in your dollhouse kitchen once in a while for my “Aga fix” !! The dollhouse is looking wonderful–so cozy, and thanks for sharing the lovely sunrise picture!
It’s the only way I’ll ever have my Aga, Martha!
doll house are for adults now days LOl
I know two people who have doll house and one I have seen and its fabulous
Richard at My Old Historic House blog has a huge one and just made a replicate of his own house , which is fabulous
I love your plate rack and the aga stove is always a treasure in a doll house or our dreams the plate rack above it is sweet also
I never once had a husband that would,indulge me like that! lol, It looks GREAT! and so much fun to watch
Thank You for sharing! -Judy A-
Don’s a pretty good egg, Judy.
How awesome! I have wanted a farmhouse sink like that for ages! And I am determined to have one, someday! The dollhouse is so very enchanting. If it were at my house, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have much tie for anything else. I would be thoroughly captivated by everything inside it. :o)
I’m a little obsessed with it at the moment, Carolyn.
I admire your patience…when working with things that are that small! Oh my! I’m wondering, do you decorate the dollhouse for Christmas…with a tree and all that? ;)
I have a little tree that I added last year. And I have some wreaths. It’s fun to decorate it for the holidays. I might try some sort of garland for the fireplace…
Lovely sunset. Our winters are filled with colorful skies so I am constantly taking pictures morning and evening. Your dollhouse is just adorable. Perhaps I could shrink myself and move right in. :) Best wishes, Tammy
The sunsets and sunrises are just amazing at this time of year!
I just lvoe what you’re doing in that dollhouse… want to come decorate This Old House? Awesome!
Sure! I’ll be right over, Karen!
Claudia, what a gorgeous sunrise…yes, you do have to be quick, and you got it.
Those doll house photos are lovely, they remind me of tilt shift photos, love em…and although I thought I wasn’t a doll house person, maybe I am. You’ve converted me, it’s the eeks that plucked my heart.
Jen
What are tilt shift photos, Jen? I’m curious!
When we head out to the West Coast several times a year to stay at a b and b cottage, we often take time to browse the real estate as our intent is to relocate there one day. A tiny island, with just 10,000 locals, full of artists, musicians, actors and hippies! So many of the homes for sale have Aga stoves in them. Now it’s on my list of what I’d love once we move out there! Where did you find one for your dollhouse?
Do you have special tools for working on your dollhouse? We are just getting to the end of the “gutting” stage of our project and next on the list is taking down the staircases and taking out the windows. All need to be replaced but not sure what tools to use or if we have the right things. If you can share what’s in your tool box, that would be lovely! I’m on a site this morning and they have a few tools so we might order those to start. Until now, we’ve been stripping wallpaper and pulling up the floors but nothing that required tools!
Beautiful sunrise. Thanks for sharing!
That sounds like a place we should move to, Chy.
I don’t have a lot of special tools, but I’ll try to put some of that information together in an upcoming post. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chy, I think Norma contacted you about the Aga, but if you didn’t get her email, it’s available at miniatures.com.
The new touches to the dollhouse are perfect addictions Claudia..and the sunrise is like an amazing work of art..
That sunrise was pretty wonderful.
Dear Claudia,
As a dollhouse owner and lover I enjoy your posts about your beautiful dollhouse. It already has that ” home ` feeling thanks to your good taste about furniture and accesories.It was funny to read about your husband`s patience.The same thing happens to me.I`m always saying ” Hey darling look what I!ve just done ! Isn`t it beautiful? And the poor man is almost obliged to say Oh yes, it`s nice indeed ! Well, go on .We seem to have had no chilhood haven,t we?
xoxo alice
I guess we didn’t. Or I’m reliving it. The dollhouse I had when I was a girl was one of those metal dollhouses with the doors and windows stamped on the metal. Didn’t leave a lot of room for the imagination! Now I get to do EXACTLY what I want with my dollhouse!
Oh my! I adore that Aga and the sink! I’m swooning a bit over here in Washington too! I’ve not had the patience to have a dollhouse, but I do enjoy reading about and enjoying others’ happy finds.
Blessings,
Betsy
Surprisingly, for someone who struggles with patience, I have enormous amounts of it when it comes to the dollhouse.
I love seeing your new additions to the doll house … and I enjoy that you’re doing it a little at a time, I think the dreaming and planning are half the fun! Speaking of fun – I wonder if you would let Scout know how adorable I think she looked in her lamb costume and hats? What a delightful and thoughtful gift!
Absolutely, the dreaming and planning are such a fun part of it all.
I can’t believe you even had to install the faucet in a doll house, I guess just like in real life the sink doesn’t come with a faucet.
Exactly. I had to buy my own faucet!
When can I move in???
As soon as you become The Incredible Shrinking Woman!
See, you and I think alike… I thought a doll house would be just the ticket to have the exact home I dream of, ok, albeit in miniature. Gosh I love that sink and dream of having one, I don’t even want to go looking to see what they cost… I do love what you’re doing with your little house in miniature though! Unfortunately, I have even expensive doll house furnishing taste, tea budget champagne taste, lol!
You’re doing a fabulous job with your house…!
Hugs and stay warm my dear friend (23 F this morning here in NH)!
Beth P
You are getting some chilly weather, Claudia. I say another week and your lovely impatiens will be left outside accidentally, you can’t remember everything when you own two homes! Loving how the dollhouse is getting more and more detail. I don’t know what an Aga is, so I’m off to look it up! Ann
I’m thinking one day when I have enough space I will have another dollhouse. I have a book on medieval miniature buildings and that is probably the direction I will go. But that will be in the far future. In the meantime I enjoy looking at yours!
Claudia,
I want to live in your dollhouse with the skirted, apron sink, black and white aga and perfectly faded, floral wallpaper, and wake up to those gloriously glowing sunrises!
xo
Poppy
One thing I like about your blog, Claudia (aside from the stellar writing and photography), is that you bring me into worlds very different from my own, and I thank you for that.
ohhhh, how I am loving seeing your little dollhouse photos! You are making me want to get one. :) So sweet! I love little things!
-Barbara