Our kitchen nook glowed invitingly, with winter weather just a windowpane away…
Setting a cozy winter tablescape and decorating a mantle that brims with rustic charm and elegance is easy using a cozy plaid, a fir swag, and a variety of different sized candlesticks, silver pieces, and crystal.
Continue reading “Setting a Cozy Winter Tablescape and Decorating the Mantle”
Today was another beautiful November day and the perfect day for assembling a centerpiece for our outside table. The centerpiece splays across the table and is made up of “twig-ery and poke-ery” and other autumn finery, and candlelight twinkles over the tabletop. An outside dining area easily becomes an extension of your living area and an enchanting way to beckon company outside.
Continue reading “Creating an Outdoor Centerpiece for Thanksgiving”
…my warm, little hovel filled with plants, garden tools, baskets, old paintings, antique glassware, forgotten bird nests, flower frogs, and lichen covered bark, would be a delightful place for mixing potpourri.
In my last post I wrote about the charming nook, a “flower apothecary” of sorts that I created in our cottage greenhouse. (click here to read)
Since then, I’ve been stirring up all kinds of mixtures and potpourris made from dried rosebuds, daisy petals, lavender, vanilla, jasmine, and other fragrant flowers and scents.
As I looked around the greenhouse, my idea began to grow; my warm, little hovel filled with plants, paintings, antique glassware, forgotten bird nests, flower frogs, and lichen covered bark, would be a delightful place for mixing potpourri…an apothecary of sorts.
During this time of the year, “all is calm, all is quiet” on the lake and it’s a lovely time of year for playing in the cottage greenhouse. Not only did my plants need watering, but I had come out to the greenhouse to check on the roses and statice I’d left hanging upside down from the greenhouse rafters to dry.
Continue reading “In the Cottage Greenhouse…Setting Up a Flower Apothecary”
Last year after I wrote about our antique and flea market trips, many of you wrote in the comment section and in letters, that you enjoyed reading about our shopping trips and seeing the treasures we found. We’ve been on several shopping adventures since then and I’ve been saving some of my favorite finds to share with you!
Continue reading “Antique & Flea Market Finds”I like adventures, and I’m going to find some.
Louisa May Alcott
..this was wild and beautiful, unlike the beaches of Florida we were accustomed to seeing. We drove down lanes covered with sand, past groves of orange trees in sunny fields, then our pathway would wind back under the shade of trees covered with moss. I was amazed to see beautiful palmetto palms and ferns growing wild everywhere I looked. The writer within me loved the mystic appeal and charm of it all.
Our summer days are always so busy, I never seem to get a chance to write on my blog until the new school year has begun. Today, before I can embrace September and begin writing about all things autumn, I’m writing about our summer. Wanderlust and floating on the lake days…watermelon and homemade ice cream days…lots of red, white, and blue days…hammock and firework days…sandy toes and sunburned nose days. Summer days that were forged in a blaze of heat that faded into sultry evenings and the beautiful blue of twilight would descend upon the lake and the fireflies would flick on, one by one.
Continue reading “Cottage Green on the Lake…Summer Re-Cap 2023”Ah, but after sundown, that’s when those brilliant flirts, the fireflies come out.
Vivian Swift
…the wild iris kept waving and beckoning me to come over. Finally, worn down by their flirting and persistence, I stopped working and went into the cottage greenhouse to fetch my trowel.
Dainty wood violets, wild irises, perky daffodils, fragrant hyacinth’s, azaleas in all shades of pink, creamy white Lady Banks roses, and woodland ferns are making their spring debut at Cottage Green!
Continue reading “Part 2 Spring in the Cottage Greenhouse…DIY Whimsical Spring Arrangements”
It’s almost Halloween, and this week I’m getting ready for our family’s traditional chili fest…always a fun, pumpkin filled evening with lots to eat, and festive treats. Our dinner menu for this special evening is always the same…steamy bowls filled with Chili con Carne served alongside a topping bar, a large salad, and a crockpot filled with delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte. No tricks are allowed, but it’s, “all about the treats” for the grandchildren. There will be Candy Corn Sugar Cookies and Harvest Moon Pies. For the adults, there’s cheesecake covered in a caramel and toffee drizzle, and for toasting, later, there’s Ghost Peep S’mores…all treats worthy of a night reserved for goosebumps and thrills.
Continue reading “Getting Ready for Halloween…DIY “Not So Spooky” Halloween Wreath”
~ by Trenda
It’s that cozy, all things pumpkin, sweater weather, cider sipping time of year…and time to decorate Cottage Green for autumn. Seeing the shadows of autumn sunshine coming through our shutters, while smelling the apple cider fragrance in our diffuser, I was inspired to make a woodland swag. A swag that looked like it was made with treasures found during a walk in an autumn forest…some bittersweet, wild blossoms, red, golden, and orange leaves, pinecones, wild grapes, and hawthorn berries, all weaved into a fir garland and mixed with discarded pheasant feathers and antlers shed from the deer in autumn.
Continue reading “DIY Woodland Swag and Autumn Tablescape”Where the heart is the mind works best.
Louisa May Alcott
“I saw this darling, heart-shaped mirror glimmering and beckoning to me before I even got to the booth where it was hanging, and felt my heart quicken. The antique floral embellishment at the top of the mirror and the sweet, scalloped edges around the heart spoke to me, and told me, “You are taking me home.”
Recently Richard, my dear Huckleberry Friend, and I went on a trip and had a great time stopping at different antique shops and flea markets along the way. Frequently, I am asked (particularly about the wide assortment of items I use to decorate the Cottage Greenhouse) where I find the items I use in decorating. So, today I’m sharing some of the treasures we “two drifters, off to see the world” found on our trip, and what each item cost.
Moon river, wider than a mile I'm crossing you in style some day Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker Wherever you're going, I'm going your way Two drifters, off to see the world There's such a lot of world to see We're after the same rainbow's end Waiting 'round the bend My Huckleberry friend Moon river and me Moon River ~ written by Johnny Mercer and Henry ManciniContinue reading “Antique and Flea Market Finds”
