The bedroom grows up....

This was a recent post of Court's old bedroom many, many years ago... In split entries, the third bedroom is often closet-sized (in our case, just over 7' x 9')... For 16 years, that was Court's bedroom so a few years ago she asked if she could turn the (much larger) family room downstairs into her bedroom...


The reward for putting up with that tiny room for so many years is that she now has the largest bedroom in the house, with its own bath! She turned a dreary basement room into a cheerful bedroom suite! The old twin bed was replaced with a queen platform bed. We raised the floor in the bedroom section and put down carpeting so her tootsies would stay warm, and we replaced the old fluorescent lights with new fixtures.. (Can you tell that The Notebook is one of her favorite movies?)


We put an electric 'log' heater into the fireplace for those extra cold mornings. (And isn't Spotty cute? He loves watching the Chips through the window!)... We bought four tower storage units and placed two vertically on either side of the fireplace with a third placed horizontally on top; the fourth is in the corner. (And of course I'm itching to paint that brick white!!)


This picture was taken before we put in the new light fixtures and before we replaced the ancient carpeting with black & white vinyl flooring in the sitting area (you can see a bit of the new flooring in the top 2 photos)...


And just like me, Court likes to rearrange things (like benches, pillows, throw rugs, etc.) The white chenille spread is covering an old settee whose upholstery has seen better days.


This is her bathroom. I love the champagne and black color scheme she used for the shower curtain, floor tiles, and accessories.

I think she did a great job on her bedroom and bathroom... Yup, I think decorating is definitely in her genes!!

Donna

Vintage 1950's Department Store SANTA Photo

Thanks to Joanne at My Little Cottage in the Making, I'm doing a little "Christmas in August" post!!


This is my sister and I in the the late 50's with the Jordan Marsh Santa in Boston. She's the cute one on his lap... I'm the one with the dorky look on my face! (Don't you just love the short bangs from that era??)

Joanne collects vintage photos of Santas with children and she shared her fantastic collection here... Be sure to check it out - it is magical and it will get you in the mood for Christmas, even if it is only August!!! And she's asking any of us to share our vintage Santa photos with her, so here's mine, Joanne!!

Donna

Living Room - Primitive to Cottage

The following photos show how our living room has changed over the years...


This is pretty much what it looks like now, with the white painted furniture, cottage slipcovers and throws, white fireplace and hardwood floors... (I'm thinking a pale robin's egg on the walls might look good since there is so much white... Definitely something to think about...)


This was mid-way through the living room makeover. The furniture had been painted, but the fireplace was still brick. I had also painted our plywood subfloors white after we ripped up our ancient wall to wall carpeting & padding. The budget didn't allow for hardwood floors at that time, so we lived with the white painted floors for two loooooong years... Trust me when I say white floors are difficult to keep looking clean!


This was taken back in the early 90's. That's the same sofa that now sports a white slipcover... Most of the furniture was stained dark brown back then, and the wall to wall carpet was topped with a braided rug. I really like the look of the bookcases on either side of the window (being the symmetrical person that I am!). But once a TV went into the living room, the bookcases had to go into the family room.


This view shows the fireplace after being framed in and painted white (hubby didn't want me to paint the brick white, which was my first choice)...


And this is the same view from the early 90's... Some day I'll have to post photos from the 80's, during my glass, chrome, leather sofa, and arc lamp phase!

I do wish our teensy weensy living room had more walls or more square footage so that both the TV armoire and the bookcases would fit, but such are the challenges of decorating a small split entry living room!!!

Donna

Yummmmmmy!

Last week I received a Yankee Candle "$10 off any $25 purchase" coupon in the mail, so today Court and I made a quick trip to the mall. While she checked out cell phones, I visited Yankee Candle...

I didn't realize how many scents they have! My initial plan was to get an autumn scent like pumpkin or apple... But once I started sniffing around I fell in love with three others: "Sun and Sand," "Island Spa," and "Key Lime Pie"... Luckily Courtney arrived in time to help me choose, and she immediately zeroed in on KEY LIME PIE !

However, I'm pretty certain that when the air turns crisp and the leaves start to fall, I'll be heading back for an autumn candle (they had lots to choose from!!). Last year throughout the Christmas season I burned a "Sparkling Pine" Yankee Candle and it made the house smell fantastic, so I'll definitely be getting another one of those this Christmas...

Up until the past year or so, I rarely burned candles. We have two cats and I tend to be a nervous Nelly... But now that the cats are 14, they don't jump around like they did when they were younger (so I'm not quite as worried). But still, to be extra safe, I burn the candles on top of my stove (I figure since it's a gas range with flames shooting out from the burners, it must be pretty fire-proof!!!)...

But that is one thing (of many) that I love about my Febreze ScentStories - no worries about an open flame or having it knocked over. And boy, does it make the house smell good!! My favorite Febreze scent disk is Shades of Vanilla! (Key Lime Pie... Vanilla... I see a pattern emerging... I apparently like candles that smell good enough to eat!)

COMMENTS UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who shared their favorite Yankee Candle scents and to those who gave other suggestions for where to purchase or alternate brands... I'm sure I will have the most yummy smelling cottage thanks to of all your suggestions!!

Donna

Office bookcase...

I've spent some time organizing my home office this past week, including the top of my bookcase... Some photos were taken today, some last night (the lighting difference between day and night photos is amazing!)...

The bookcase itself is a $5 junktique find (the shelves are packed with books and 'stuff,' so I'll spare you looking at my stash and just show you the top!)... I fell in love with this etched mirror at Target several years ago, so of course it came home with me; the beautiful beaded "Create" sign hanging on the mirror is from Lori at Katie's Rose Cottage (I love everything in her shop!!)...


This mug, embossed with roses, was made by Amanda in a high school pottery class... she realized too late that the handle was put on upside down but, to me, that makes it all the more charming! I also love the intricate pattern on the tall table lamps, a vintage store find at $15 for the pair, including the shades!!


I have a favorite photo of my mom, along with a pair of white birds (which are actually napkin rings)... I bought the two flower prints from a catalogue (the flowers looked blue in the catalogue). When I received them, they were purple rather than "cottage blue," but I still love them...


I've had this scalloped table runner forever! For the longest time I used it in the dining room, but I really like it on the bookcase... Like so many of you, I'm always moving things around and using them in different places around the house...


Here's a "bird's eye" view so you can see the eye on the lid of the tall blue jar, which I think is so neat!! (Another high school pottery piece made by Amanda)


This is the ceramic Mary I found (from this post), sitting on top of a beautiful hand-painted, repurposed cigar box that Amanda bought for me at a lovely Cape Cod shop. The vanity tray used to be shiny gold, but I thought I'd like it better pink, so I painted over the gold... Ahhhh, so much better :)

Donna

Packratting pays off ...

My goal is to be a minimalist (ha ha) and get rid of things I don’t use anymore (hey, I didn’t say it was a realistic goal!)…But sometimes, being a packrat pays off big time because last week, as I was sorting through some things I’ve had forever, I came across these!

Sweet little Courtney (now 19) in her bedroom, 1993

Back in the 90’s, both of my girls had canopy beds. The canopy frames met with an early demise (a future blog post for sure), so the canopies got stuffed in a bag and have spent the last 14+ years in the back of a closet (can you say ‘hoarder’??)

So when I came across them last week while cleaning waaaaaay back in the closet, I thought, “Well, I don’t need these anymore.” But as I unfolded them, a light bulb went off in my head…They looked to be just about the right size for….


…tablecloths!! They fit our long, narrow trestle table perfectly!! So now I have two brand new (old) tablecloths, and the fact that they are the girls’ old canopies makes them extra special!


They have sweet little pleated edges and ruffles… perfect for out little cottage dining room… I just love it when I get bright ideas like this, because believe me, it doesn’t happen often!

Donna

Is it February or August??

New England has been having some pretty strange weather this summer... Tornado watches, tornado warnings, actual tornadoes, and water funnels, all which are very unusual for our area. And then today...


...thunder, lightning, and hail, hail, & more hail !! This is the second or third time this summer! I can't even imagine what it's like to have "golf-ball sized hail," because our "marble sized" hail made a huge racket hitting the deck, metal table, and sun pipes (similar to skylights)... The girls and I had just been sitting on the deck, enjoying the beautiful weather, a half hour before this started! My poor bunny and bird statues look like their freezing with all that ice around them!


If you look closely, you'll see one of our "Sammy Squirrel" friends huddled under the blue table next to the basil. He got caught on the deck when the hail started (very suddenly)... He's a young squirrel and was quite frightened... He ducked under the table for the 10-15 minutes that the hail came down. At one point, it was coming down so fast and furious that it was ricocheting right under the table and hitting him, the poor baby... You can bet that he was rewarded with several peanuts for his bravery after the hail stopped and he came out of hiding!

If this is what the summer's been like, I'm almost afraid to think what the winter might have in store for us!!

Donna
(P.S. - Here's a video Amanda took of the hail coming down - and this wasn't the worst of it!)

A blast from the past... (The Dining Area)

This is how our dining room is decorated now (made with that fun Flickr toy!)...


I love the light, bright cottage look, but I'll always have a soft spot for primitive decor, which is how I used to decorate. Just today, I came across some old pictures from the 90's...


The photos below show the furniture before my 'makeovers,' when it was still stained dark brown, and before the blue chandelier was painted white. The jelly cupboard still sits in that same corner, but back then the hutch was turned to make a dividing wall between the dining area and living room, and the trestle table was positioned differently. Also absent are the old windows we eventually hung above the half wall ...


(click on this picture to enlarge all 3 photos)

The first photo was mid-90's with stenciling on the upper walls; the next two were from the late 90's, after we'd purchased new chairs (the old ones were falling apart), put up a Warren Kimble wallpaper border, and painted the lower walls... But I sure don't miss our old wall to wall carpeting! With kids, cats, and dogs, it always needed to be steam cleaned!!

It was fun coming across these as I hadn't seen them in quite a while. I really like the prim look but the older I get, the more I prefer a lighter color palette (maybe it has something to do with wanting the house be bright and cheerful during the long, dark New England winters!)...

Donna

1950's Boudoir Chair

"They built the tracks before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built them because they knew, someday, the train would come..." (Under the Tuscan Sun)

"I bought the chair before the cottage bedroom existed... I bought it because I knew, someday, the cottage bedroom would come... " (Donna)

As you may know from reading my sidebar, I love decorating with vintage items from the 50's... So imagine how my heart went "pitter patter" when I spotted this in a lovely vintage shop several years ago!


The owner told me it was a 1950's boudoir chair... Well, I trotted it right home and put it in our 'boudoir,' knowing that it would be the color inspiration for our 'eventual' cottage bedroom makeover!


The only downside is that it's covered in a vinyl material which, as it has aged, has gotten a bit brittle in the ruffled skirt area, leading to a tiny tear or two...


I use a crocheted doily to hide the fact that one of the buttons on the tufted seat is missing. And aren't these pillows cute? Several years ago I found them in Wal*Mart, of all places!!


This is a closeup of the colors of the chair... creamy white, pink, blue, and green... Right now I'm leaning toward using robin's egg blue as the main accent color when we redo the bedroom. I'll be thrilled if it turns out even half as good as LeAnn's bedroom makeover did!!


For the time being, this is the only "cottage/shabby" piece in our otherwise primitive bedroom (which is firmly planted in the mid-80's with one accent wall of dark mauve wallpaper, a very simple heart & vine wallpaper border on the other 3 walls, dark stained furniture, etc., etc.)... It's been screaming for a makeover for quite some time now (can you hear it screaming in the background??)... Believe me, bedroom, after 20+ years, I'm as anxious as you are!!

Donna

Squirrel gulch...

I’m not sure how it got dubbed “squirrel gulch,” because it’s not a gulch at all, but that’s what we now call the girls’ 20-year old swingset.


The swingset used to sit next to the treehouse, but when the shed was put in, we moved it next to the deck until we decided what to do with it.


It took a day like this (brrrrr... this photo was taken 3 years ago) to make us realize that we should leave the swingset right next to the deck…


...because these little guys, who brave even the nastiest winter weather to get their peanut treats, discovered they could come down the tree branches and scurry across the swingset to the deck, not once having to go down to the yard to work their way through the (sometimes) knee deep snow! The squirrels realized it was the perfect shortcut/bridge to the deck...


Well, the word spread, and before long birds started coming. They realized that if they sat and looked adorable, that we'd put nuts out for them as well… First the bluejays came…

They tend to be greedy/hungry birds, so they come a lot… Just look at Sammy down at the end, horrified that the blue jay got one of his nuts!

Then the shy cardinals started coming. This is a young male; the female is never far away... (And once again, you can see that the squirrels are ever present when peanuts are being handed out!)...

And now the mockingbirds have started coming (no photos of them yet)... But most of the time it’s these guys... day in & day out – rain or shine - morning, noon, & early evening – 365 days a year.

And then there are those days when it's just too hot to eat, and the swingset is the perfect place to just flop… I took this photo yesterday from inside the house...

When I ventured outside to get a photo, Sammy heard me coming, but it was so hot he didn't even try to move…

Now I know many people think of these little guys as rats with bushy tails, but we have a soft spot in our hearts for them (even if they do rip up my plants)... So the swingset (a.k.a. Squirrel Gulch) has now found its permanent home.

"Okay, Sammy, I’ll be right back with a nut for you…"

Donna

Tin cherry jar...

Sometimes you come across a perfect little goodie that you didn't know you wanted - or needed - until you laid eyes on it. Such was the case several years ago when I spotted this little tin jar...


It was love at first sight, and it was one of my first purchases when I started switching over from a primitive to cottage look. (It's actually a perfect mix of prim and cottage!)


It was 'chippy' and distressed to perfection. When I found it in the junktique shop, it had old buttons in it, so I'm assuming that's what it was used for in its previous home...


But since I keep my buttons in vases and bowls around the house, I use it for spare change. That's why I love junktique shops... You never know what you're going to find!

Donna

Martha Stewart I'm not!

Okay… I’m coming clean. My house does not always look like the neat and tidy photos that I post. As a matter of fact, it has quite a “lived in” look most of the time. And then there are the rare occasions when it has even looked like this! (Please, don’t anyone call Clean House to report me!!)


This is a perfect example of me jumping from one project to another without finishing the first. Late last summer I decided to rearrange the family room, but before I finished, I thought it would be a good time to reorganize the closets… and then to go through boxes from the closets… and then to do the laundry, and start setting aside things the girls needed for college, etc., etc. The room was in a state of chaos all weekend….


But by Sunday night… ahhhhhh... It was time to kick back and relax in the newly reorganized family room. Spotty definitely approved, and wanted to be the first to leave some fur for me…


And the next day, our sweet Mr. O’Malley, who had a serious love affair with newly decorated/cleaned rooms, also gave his seal of approval. (If you wanted Malley to hang out in your room, you just had to do a top to bottom cleaning/redecorating and it would instantly become his favorite room!) I miss you, boy...

Donna

Love, pure and simple

Okay, who would think Mamma Mia would make me cry? I mean it's being touted as a "feel good, dance in the aisle" movie (and it is!!)... But when Meryl Streep started singing "Slipping Through My Fingers" the waterworks started. Maybe I relate because I have girls, I don't know... All I know is that sometimes, it doesn't take much...

Now on to 'Love, pure and simple.' You've probably seen the video below this past week. Every TV show seems to be talking about it. It is one of the most touching love stories I've ever seen, and once again the tears started... Several family members (who I won't out on this blog for fear of reprisal) also shed some tears... So I dare you to watch without at least getting a lump in your throat! If you haven't yet seen it, you must click on the photo below (which will bring you right to the YouTube video). If you want more detailed information about what brought about this reunion, you can click on the links below the video...:


(Note: According to one report I read, the man with the walking stick in the video is George Adamson. Born Free, was the 1960 book written by his wife, Joy, about returning Elsa, a lioness they raised, back into the wild. In 1966 it was released as a movie.)

Snopes has a write-up on this video; you can also click here if you'd like to read more about Christian the Lion, Anthony "Ace" Berg (Bourke?) and John Rendall, the two men seen in the video.

Donna

The little shed...

Our backyard has gone through many transformations over the past two years. In one post, I wrote about our "Roswell, New England crater," the spot where the old above ground pool sat, and which, little by little, is being transformed into a garden and patio area...


And this is our little shed, or at least a corner of it... It sits next to the old free-standing treehouse. (It seems like just yesterday that the girls would have Mr. O'Malley climb the stairs into the treehouse to play with them...)


We've had the shed for about 2-1/2 years now. It sits where the girls' old wooden swingset used to sit. I suppose this is a natural transition for yards once the children who played there have become young adults; but years ago, the deck was a great place to sit and watch them play on the swings, in the pool, or in the treehouse...


This photo was taken last year, our first summer with the shed. Before planting flowers in the windowboxes, I decided to change the color of the shutters and windowboxes, as we'd only had a small selection of colors to choose from when we purchased the shed. (As you can see from this photo taken late last spring, the treehouse hadn't yet been gussied up with an old window and windowbox... That was done later that summer.)


Since I had picked a vibrant (some might say 'gaudy') green for the windowboxes, I thought it might be a bit much for the shutters as well. Although I'd never seen white shutters on a white house (or shed) before, I thought I'd give it a try.


When all was done, I actually liked the 'white-on-white' look of the shed and shutters, with the only color being provided by the flowerboxes. Just a few weeks ago we put lattice around the foundation and planted hostas on either side of the double-wide doors. (Since they grow so quickly, I'll probably end up separating them from time to time, which is a plus since I have several other areas I want to put hostas into.)


Remember this photo from my "Old windows and flower boxes - a match made in Heaven" post back in May? I was so anxious for my impatiens to grow...


Here they are now. The impatiens really flourish in these northern exposure windowboxes, and the vinca vines now reach the ground. By this time of the summer, my impatiens always look better than any of my other flowers. They don't care if I fertilize and they don't need to be dead-headed... They're actually the perfect flower for a lazy gardener like me!

As you can see, Mary has once again been moved. She is now in her (I think) permanent home under the cherry tree, watching over the garden... Now I need to get out and enjoy this beautiful afternoon as we're finally rain-free for a change!! (And believe me, I wish I could send some of our rain to you gals who need/want it so badly!)

Donna

My Favorite Things...

Cindy from My Romantic Home has initiated a fun little blogpost idea... She's asking anyone who would like to join in to post about "their favorite thing."


Now I have lots of sentimental favorites, like my girls' artwork or my Nana's china (that I just posted about), so I thought I'd put sentimentality aside and just pick a 'fun' favorite... my mini-collection (I only have two!) of vintage tin wastebaskets!! Here's the old green one, which gets moved around quite a bit. Right now it sits next to the TV armoire, but as you can see from my blog banner, it also sometimes sits in front of the fireplace!!


And this sweet little pink one now sits in my office and is actually being used as (of all things!) ... a trashcan! But as you can see from the photo, for a while it held my vintage chenille scatter rugs until that collection outgrew the trash can!!



So if you'd like to share your favorite "thing" or favorite "collection," click on the photo above and join in the fun!!! Cindy will be listing any participating blogs from now through Sunday, the 27th. Thanks, Cindy!! Fun idea!!!

And if you'd like to see a bit more of my blog, you can click here!

Donna

Bring on the rainy days and the summer heat!

Can you see the rain coming down in buckets off the end of the awning in the picture below? We are in the middle of a very wet weather pattern here in the New England, with no end in sight!


Once summer arrives, we love to eat out on the deck every evening, and I also love bringing my magazines or whatever book I'm reading out there to relax. Before we got our Sunsetter awning, I dreaded rainy weather forecasts because it meant being stuck inside. But not anymore!


The Sunsetter is also wonderful on sunny days... This is the first year we haven't had a patio umbrella over the table. Now the Sunsetter awning takes care of shading not just the table, but most of the deck.


On hot summer days, it's so much more pleasant out on the deck when the awning is extended. The family room stays cooler, too, as the big sliding glass door to the deck is southern exposure and gets lots of sunlight.

So bring on the rain days or the scorching sun, Mr. Weatherman! We're ready for it!

Comment Update: The awning is attached to the side of the house. When not in use, we press a button and it retracts, rolling up against the house. It actually looks like a very long shade when it's all rolled up. With the model we got, you press the button to extend it; you can have it extend out to its full 10' (I think that's the distance), or you can stop it anywhere in between. Sometimes on hot days, we just put it out about 3 feet in order to block the sun from coming in through the slider.

Donna

And the moral of the story is...

Sunday evening... While leaving my father's neighborhood, I spotted this little guy laying under a truck. Someone got into the truck and started it up, and it was all this little guy could do to get up and out from under the truck...


He was thin, weak, and dirty. To be honest, he looked like he hadn't eaten in a very long time. I pulled my car over to the side of the road. Luckily I spotted a neighbor out in front of their house, so I hollered over, asking if he knew who owned the kitty. He came over and told me it was a stray who had been hanging around the neighborhood for the past few months.


Well, that was all I needed to hear. There was no way I could drive off and leave this poor thing behind. The same neighbor offered to loan me a cat carrier that he no longer used. He put the kitty inside the carrier and I put it in my car. But now what? It was Sunday evening so my regular vet wasn't open. I couldn't chance bringing him home because I have two indoor kitties, and I didn't know if this little guy had feline leukemia or rabies or God knows what else...


So I had no choice but to bring him to the 24 Hour Emergency Animal Clinic about a half hour from my home. They said they needed a name for the paperwork; Rocky seemed appropriate because he seemed like a fighter. I told "Rocky" that as long as he had some fight left in him, we would stick it out together, and that when he was strong enough I'd either find him a good home or keep him myself. They weighed him and said that at 6 lbs, he was about half of his ideal weight. They said they would keep him overnight, feed him, hydrate him if necessary, and test him for feline leukemia. So I left him in their care with the agreement that I would pick him up by noon the next day, at which point I would take him to my own vet for further evaluation.


Monday morning... Good news! The feline leukemia and AIDS test was negative. So now it was on to my vet for more blood work. It was determined that he was an old guy... he had a heart murmur and his mouth was very sore (major dental work would eventually be needed at a major expense). It was agreed that he would stay over for 2 nights at the vet's office so they could keep an eye on him (and so I could work on getting hubby to agree to a third kitty)... While he was in the examining room I took lots of photos of him to post on-line and to put on flyers, just in case he was lost and someone was searching for him. (And if that was the case, it looked like he'd been out on his own for a long time.)


Monday afternoon: Sometimes things just don't work out as planned... It turns out that this little guy isn't a stray, but actually lives across the street from the cat carrier man who told me he was a stray... So not only did I not rescue a stray, I had actually kidnapped somebody's cat!

Once that minor point was discovered, I had no choice but to return kitty back to his rightful owners (passing along the vet's recommendation to them that this little guy get dental work done pronto so he could eat, and that he be kept inside from now on because of his advanced age and poor health).

I then returned the cat carrier to the other neighbor, who asked me how everything turned out... When I told him I had just spent hundreds of dollars on a cat who was not only not a stray, but who in fact lived across the street from him, he felt kind of bad (but not bad enough to offer to pitch in for kitty's vet costs! ha ha)... He said he couldn't believe that anybody owned the cat because of the tough shape it was in...

I've actually done this twice before with kitties who were, in fact, strays... One kitty was very ill, tested positive for feline leukemia, and did end up having to be put to sleep; and then just a few years ago, we found a stray kitten who fell out of a wheel well at a local gas station. The woman driving the car said she did not want the kitten... that it was from a litter of kittens born to a stray that lived under her porch. We immediately took him to our vet where he was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection; we treated him with medicine and when he had a clean bill of health we gave him to a no-kill cat shelter; within two weeks he was adopted by a veterinarian and, to this day, is living happily in his 'forever' home. Thank goodness that sometimes, there are happy endings...

And the moral of the story is... before rescuing a 'stray,' make sure it is, in fact, a stray!!!

Update to comments: The owners did offer to pay for the rabies shot that the kitty received, but I told them I would take care of it as it was included with the entire bill that I had paid (and to be honest, it was a very tiny part of the overall bill).
I also have to point out that as unfortunate as this whole incident is, it really wasn't the owner's fault that I took their kitty (thinking it was a stray), so I would never expect them to reimburse me. I do know that when I returned him, I told the owners what the vet said about the kitty desperately needing $300-500 of dental attention, they said they didn't have that kind of money. But even though they can't afford to pay for the medical attention he needs, I'm sure he is in a home where he is loved... but it is so hard to see him in his current condition.
Unfortunately, and especially in these times, money is very tight and I don't want to pass judgment on these people because I have no idea what their situation is. I only know that for me personally, I prefer to keep my kitties inside and make sure they go to the vet regularly and get treated when medical issues arise; but I do realize (as hard as it is to accept) that many other people can't do that - and I never would never returned him if I thought he was being abused or hurt.
But thank you all for thinking of kitty and also wanting the best for him. I knew you were all a bunch of animal lovers!!

Update #2: I just wanted to clear up that this kitty is an indoor/outdoor kitty. I didn't want anyone thinking that he is forced to live outdoors. I've also learned that he is very old - 17 years, and his owners are having a hard time deciding on whether it is 'his time' or not.. never an easy decision... His age may have had a lot to do with him being slow moving to get out from under the truck, which I had initially attributed to being weakness from not eating (since at that time I didn't realize he was 17). Some of this info I didn't know when I first posted this, and some I intentionally left out because we never know who is reading our blogs and this family does have kids, and I wouldn't want any information about their cat possibly being put to sleep to get back to them in this manner, but since I highly doubt that they will happen to see this, I'm now sharing this information so everyone has a little clearer picture of the situation...

And I do wish we had a cat leash law like some communities do. I know my "Chips" would like that, too, as I've seen a couple snatched from my yard by well-fed cats (not strays) who roam the neighborhood.

Donna

If I had a million dollars...

If you didn't know it before, you will now... I'm addicted to cottage blue (of course, "cottage blue" to me is any blue that strikes my fancy!)... These are all items from Maine Cottage (http://www.mainecottage.com/), and the blue I am drawn to is Porch Blue... So, for my "someday" cottage by the sea, if I had a million dollars I would buy....

The Living Room:




My Office:







The Dining Room:




And most definitely these sheets for the bedroom...



Heading off to bed now to dream of my cottage by the sea...


Donna

Flowers & Arbors & Bears, Oh My! (Awards, too!)

Look at this happy face that greeted us during our visit to western Massachusetts!

What a delightful time Amanda and I had at the Berkshire Flower Co. in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Just look at all of the the beautiful flowers and rustic twig furniture!


Oh, I think this bench would look FABULOUS in my garden!!! Amanda convinced me it wouldn't fit in the back of the van (I think she inherited those genes from her father!)...


What's this? Why, it appears that the woodland creatures from behind the flower shop have come out to welcome us to western Massachusetts! They posed so pretty in front of this white gazebo, which would also look spectacular in my backyard!!


I am torn between the white iron pieces and the natural twiggy pieces. Isn't this arbor sweet? I can just picture it with morning glories or a moonflower vine climbing up the sides...


Amanda made friends with this little fox... I'd love to introduce him to the Foxy Loxy garden statue that lives in our backyard.


Doesn't Bambi look sweet in front of the geraniums?


And look who howled a big "Welcome to the Berkshires!" for us!


Hey, I think I've seen these two guys in my own backyard!!


Awwww, this litte guy reminded me of my own Mr. B... It's hard to believe that each piece is carved from a single tree trunk... I am in awe of the creativity and talent of the wood carver...

Here's Mama bear and Baby bear... Where could Papa bear be?


"Here I am!!!" And look at that "Papa Bear pose" he got into so we could take his picture! He hopes that you'll stop by to see him and all of his friends if you're ever in the Pittsfield, MA area!

"Tag - I'm it!" I've been tagged to list 7 little known facts about myself by Deborah of Pictures, Pots, and Pens. Deborah covers a wonderful variety of topics on her blog and she takes the most beautiful photographs (such as her recent post where she included incredible closeups of flowers, many of them being visited by busy bees!!)... Thank you, Deborah! Okay, not too long ago I listed 7 things, so I'll try to come up with 7 more!

1) My favorite times of day are dusk and dawn (although being a night owl, I don't catch the dawn as often as I'd like).
2) The older I get, the more I dislike the L-O-N-G snowy New England winters. I wouldn't mind if winter only lasted a month or so, but it seems to go on and on forever...
3) That being said, without the winter, I probably wouldn't appreciate spring as much as I do, and spring is definitely my favorite season!
4) I often include potato chips as one of the ingredients when I make sandwiches. Not on the side, mind you, but inside the sandwich.
5) I never get tired of "I Love Lucy" reruns.
6) If I'm flipping through channels and come across "Under the Tuscan Sun" or "You've Got Mail," I don't go any further. Some people have comfort foods. I have comfort movies.
7) Last summer I bought a GPS unit for my car and immediately after hearing "her" voice named her Delilah (after the Plain White T's song that was a mega-hit at around the same time I bought the GPS - I love that song!!).

And now on to the awards!!!!

Alaura at Cottage Rose was kind enough to pass along this Arte y Pico award to me! Thank you, Alaura!! Be sure to visit Cottage Rose for tons of inspiration... Alaura's blog is full of home projects and before & after photos - so many great ideas!

The guidelines for giving and receiving this award are as follows: 1. Pick 5 blogs that you feel are deserving of the award. 2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone. 3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of the link to the blog that gave it to him/her. 4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of 'Arte y Pico' so that everyone knows the origin of this award. 5. Show these rules on the award page


Kady from Life on Bonnie Lane has presented me with this lovely award!! Thank you, Kady!! Kady is the kind of blogger who I would love to have as a next door neighbor as she would brighten up the whole neighborhood with her smile and sunny disposition!!

Thank you all for your awards and the game of tag! I’m passing along the awards to all the wonderful blogs in my sidebar – you all deserve it!!! And I’m opening up the game of tag to anyone who reads this and would like to post 7 things about themselves on their own blog!! If you decide to do that, you can just leave a comment here so others can visit your blog and learn 7 things about you!!

Donna

Rose Cottage Antiques

FUN - FUN - FUN is the only way to describe Rose Cottage Antiques at 208 Main St., Lee, Massachusetts...


Two floors of GORGEOUS vintage finds, all set in themed rooms...


Here's Amanda, looking at some of the aprons in the kitchen...


Speaking of kitchens, isn't this the sweetest cottage kitchen ever? Look at those glass cupboards! And how I would LOVE