Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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What to Do?

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At the last minute, I went along with Don to a charming local shopping area where he often photographs people. He wanted to use up his film so he could replace the current Polaroid Back on his Crown Graphic with one that is easier to use. But he couldn’t change it out until he finished the film.

It was raining. Constantly. That made for a soggy day, but I have to say I saw first hand the attraction that camera has for passersby. So many questions about it. So much interest! And we had a great conversation with a guy who is a former model. He’s led such an interesting life. I told him he was a Renaissance Man. His photo is on Don’s IG feed.

Anyway, this little market has two antique shops that I have been visiting for years. Off I went. In the largest shop, which is housed in an old barn, I found a $10 vintage flower print.

I love these prints, circa 1940s – 1950s. I have one in our downstairs bathroom and I’m thinking of putting this one in the upstairs bathroom. It’s in great shape. The hanger on the back is for hanging it like this, but now that I look at the signature, I think it might be intended to hang horizontally.

Hmmm.

In the other shop I found…

More Neccos! There were only four rolls of the traditional Neccos left, so I snapped them up. Then I grabbed some chocolate Neccos.

The jar is getting pretty full.  But there is room for a few more.

And because I felt guilty about only buying candy (do you ever do this?) I threw in a $10 piece of McCoy.

It wasn’t marked as McCoy, but yours truly recognized it right away. It has crazing everywhere but no chips. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased any McCoy.

But the item that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind is this:

If you follow me on IG, you’re already familiar with it. I was gobsmacked by this one.

Wouldn’t this be the most perfect display piece for my egg cups? I counted the cubbies. There are 86 of them. I have about 60 egg cups.

But we really don’t have the room and I really shouldn’t spend the money.

But I cannot stop thinking about it, which is leading me to measure a couple of spaces in our house to see if somehow I could squeeze it in. The windows and light that we have in our cottage are wonderful, but they guaranteed we don’t have a lot of wall space. Add to that the slanted half walls in our attic-type rooms on the second floor and you see my dilemma. Plus, we have the dreaded baseboard heating which guarantees that every piece of furniture stands out from the wall.

This house is jam packed.

But will I ever see such an amazing piece again? I swear that it’s calling my name.

So I’m going to measure the wall in our office where the Nuttings are hanging. That seems like the best bet. Anywhere else would require changing another piece of furniture out and then where would we put that  piece?

I really feel like I will regret it if I pass this one up. I wish I could have photographed it head on but it’s tucked back into a corner of the store.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Happy Tuesday.

 

Comments

  2. you know what to do!

    please share photos when that pretty piece is in its new home and holding all your egg cups (and giving you room for more). :)

    kathy in iowa

    ps: don’t think i’ve ever seen candy for sale at an antique shop. step it up, iowa!

    ps: not trying to be an enabler about that cupboard, but it looks like it would be great for your collection and home. if you want it, i hope you find a spot for it and that it’s still there waiting for you. :)

      • oh, terrific! i am relieved for you that the cupboard was still there and you won’t have regret for missing out on such a beautiful, practical, hard-to-find piece!

        will look forward to seeing photos of all your egg cups in your new cupboard. will be quite a sight having them all together (and safer, i bet, in a cupboard behind a glass door)! no rush, though …

        enjoy the puttering that comes with such a purchase!

        i am happy for you!

        kathy in iowa

        • I know it would have been snapped up if I waited longer. Apparently, the dealer was using it for display purposes and it wasn’t for sale. She just put it on sale a few days ago.

          Thank you!

  4. Yup. (If you look closely, I think I see your name on it, there, under the top coat of paint.) The little McCoy is so pretty! Do you think it was for forcing bulbs?

  5. In case you don’t remember…I suggested yesterday you get it. I slept on it….and I still feel the same way! It is perfect! (I am great at spending other people’s $$.) It certainly wouldn’t hurt to measure…and then, maybe call the store. You know you want to. Jacque is right….life is short….and another cabinet like that may never be available to you again.

    If you bundled Christmas, your birthday, and Anniversary, all together….this could be one large gift to cover it all. I am an enabler…your welcome! ;)

  6. Buy it
    Buy it
    But it
    You deserve it and vice versa

    I agree that the painting has been strung the wrong way…..

    Go back and buy it now !!
    Siobhan x

  7. Run back and buy that piece today!!! It is beautiful on its own merit, but filled with your egg cup collection would be perfect! You won’t regret getting it, but I fear you will greatly regret not having it!

    • I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I knew I’d never see anything like it again, so I went back to the store this morning and bought it!

  8. just thought … take some bigger and smaller egg cups with you to make sure they fit in that great cupboard … and then buy the thing!

    we’re good at spending your money, aren’t we?! ha.

    kathy in iowa

  10. That is a great display cabinet. Add to that the fact it is hard to find nice display cases with those small cubbies and I think it would be perfect for your egg cups. I’d run right back and get it. I say that as someone else who has dithered and eventually regretted it in the past. :-)

  11. I have something that is chewing away at my mind that I saw a few weeks ago. Same dilemma. I don’t NEED it, by any stretch of the imagination ~~ but, I do want it. What is Don’s input? I think he is like my husband and just tells you to get it if you want it. I have to tumble it through my mind for weeks before I make a decision, and usually I am too late.

    Can’t wait to hear your final decision!!!!

    I am off to VOTE today!! Wishing and hoping and voting that we get someone to take Walker down in November.

      • I am encouraged to hear that. My husband is working the polls today and he said they have been pretty busy as well. Now to await the results………..

    • Don said to go for it. I talked to him about it yesterday and then again this morning. I had the picture to show him and he said I should get it. “You’ve always liked things with cubbies!”

      I was so afraid it might already be sold, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I bought it this morning!

      Good luck in this election. Walker needs to be drummed out of office!

  12. We have a good sized home, and yet sometimes when I see something I love, in order to make room for it I have to let something else go. I wanted an old painted blue cabinet a few years back so I had to let my bakers rack go… I just decided that I loved the blue cabinet more. Is there something you can let go of in order to make room for the white cuppy cabinet?

    • I’m probably going to put the little white desk that is at the base of the stairs in storage and we’ll put the cabinet there.

  14. CLAUDIA, (yes, I’m yelling at you…). If you didn’t want our back-up to encourage you to buy that very appropriate-for-you cabinet, would you have even mentioned it? Haha, you know we’ll always support your finds, and you know you’ll find room for it. Forget measuring, just buy it!!! And take a photo once all your precious egg cups are in it.

  15. LOLOL!!!
    oh darling bean.
    you KNOW you have to buy it now. how will you face all of us with egg (oh gosh. pardon the pun) all over your face? well. I thought since it’s to hold egg cups… oh. well THAT feel flat! LOLOL!
    anyhow. this reply is coming to you from a cozy minimalist who lives in 550 square feet!
    but EVEN I can see the necessity and brilliance of it! like corralling chickens! oh don’t ask.
    another lame picture in my head turned into an egg cup joke. lol.
    well I enjoyed it! (picture hearing Jack Benny’s voice here). hugs to you and Tall Man! xo

  16. Claudia, You have to have that cubby piece. Put it in lay-away if you can. LOL. Every time I see aqua colored ceramic planters I think of you. :) Blessings, xoxo, Susie

  17. Have to agree with everyone else. You KNOW when something’s right for you. You know it IN YOUR BONES. Do it. I have a designer friend who says she thinks the best thing she learned in art school was from a teacher who said to always encourage customers to go with their gut reactions when deciding on pieces for their homes, because you never regret something you get THAT feeling about. Whereas you often regret pieces you just weren’t crazy about or bought because you needed SOMETHING in that certain spot. And I think your egg cups would look even more precious in that special new home! Peace.

    #Resist
    #ProtectMueller

    • I knew it in my bones for sure. I knew I would never see something like it again. So I did it! It’s mine!

      • Yay! Now you get to have the fun of arranging them! Or maybe you’ll make it seasonal and mix egg cups with other little tidbits?

  19. Oh. I remember so many things I should have gotten. I love tea sets and I still remember the ones I let drift away. There was a nightly milk set I wanted when the kids were little, but didn’t get it. And the Pumpkin set I wanted to badly that I took my husband to see in the window. My birthday is October and so is our anniversary. Sad to say, he didn’t get it for me. That one is on him.

    • I remember things I didn’t get, too. And I still regret them to this day. So I went back to the store this morning and bought it, Tana!

  21. Yay, you bought it! I don’t think you’ll regret it. I had my eye on a cabinet in a local shop (only $175!) and I hemmed and hawed…and then today I messaged the shop owner to ask if she could put bun feet on the bottom of the cabinet if I bought it…and she messaged me back and said the cabinet was sold this weekend! Waah! You were wise to jump in and snag your cabinet before someone else bought it!

  22. So glad you bought it, Claudia. It will look fantastic with your egg cups displayed in it.

  23. Oh I will tell you what to do, Claudia! You go right back there and pick up that incredible cubby piece! What a wonderful way to contain a collection, even miniatures. Let us know. Ooops, I just saw the comment above mine. Looks like you bought it. Hooray/congrats.

    • Did anybody ask this yet, are the cupboard doors plexi or ‘real’ glass. The glass will make it heavy so hang xtra carefully of course (like nail it to studs; use a stud finder; you know what to do!). I love this kind of thing because all the little dust catchers get less dust! Must have been custom made for somebody. My great-uncle had a massive coin collection and he had a cabinet built, freestanding, with all these little pull-out drawers; it’s quite a masterpiece. I have no idea what to do with it now. I gave it to my husband. In the house I lived in before now, the 2nd of 5 owners (to date, from 1923) turned a linen cupboard into a workspace for art. Intricate shelving, flat surface for desk-type work; vertical dividers where canvasses for painting could be stacked on their ends. My uncle built a gorgeous tool box for my dad, all burnished wood with brass fittings, exquisite pull-out shallow trays for things like files and then other special (tiny) drawers for nail assortments, screws, fasteners, etc. My husband got that, too. Amazing what’s out there and how creative people can be…

      Can’t wait to see how you set up with this new find/purchase, Claudia! Maybe you’re thinking of NOT hanging it? Guess we’ll see!

  24. I am so happy that you bought it Claudia!….I can hardly wait to see it in the cottage!!

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