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
Ready for Easter and perched on a stack of plates in the cupboard, this little planter would look fitting in Old Mrs. Rabbit’s shop alongside her… “rabbit-wool mittens and muffatees…her herbs, and rosemary tea, and rabbit-tobacco (which is what we call lavender.)”
It’s hard to believe it’s time to celebrate another glorious Easter! Here’s a fun and easy DIY favor that is so whimsical and garden-esque, even Peter Rabbit would happily forgo marauding Mr. McGregor’s garden patch to come sit at your Easter table! These little flowerpots, covered in chippy white paint and decoupaged labels, have twiggy handles adorning their tops and look like rustic, little baskets! Guest’s names are written on the back and the flowerpots serve double-duty as charming “place cards” (showing every bunny where to sit) and can also be given as favors, and a sweet remembrance of the day.
Continue reading “Easter Place Cards and Favors-DIY Mini Flower Pots”
…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”
On the “12th day of Christmas” Richard and I finished our morning coffee, then got busy storing away our Christmas decorations. I began packing Christmas treasures and memories…music boxes…wooden pyramids from Germany…feather trees…and angels, while Richard went outside and took the Christmas wreaths from the windows…stored away our manger scene…and carefully put Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus away for another year.
Continue reading “Our Season Bright and The 12 Days of Christmas”
~ 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
Oh, I love summer nights! The deep blue of twilight makes the lake almost glow in the distance and the stars grow brighter and brighter as nightfall deepens. Great blue heron squawk farewells when they fly by going to roosts high up in the treetops, ducks murmur goodnight as they come gliding by, and the tree frogs sing a craggy lullaby.
Continue reading “Fish Camp Tablescape and Recipe for delicious “Cajun Beans””Oh, the summer night, has a smile of light, and she sits on a sapphire throne."Bryan Procter
Family vacation…swimming and lazy afternoons on the dock…watermelon and water guns…cookouts and ice cream…July 4th and fireworks…corn hole and fishing…it’s summertime at the lake!
“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2:11-12
Brilliant blue skies, birds in construction mode flying back and forth with building materials in their beaks, Mourning Doves cooing, Barn Swallows swooping, Mockingbird’s singing, beautiful wisteria, azaleas, and roses blooming in all shades of pretty…it’s Spring!
Continue reading “A Tablescape and Spring Buffet Plus, Decorating Tips for your Home”“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It was a delightful day to be working outside in the Cottage Greenhouse. In my cozy shelter, I was protected from the cool, north wind…surrounded by smells of earth and growing things, soothed with a background of birdsong, and the greenhouse door was opened to the lake beyond.
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
Charles Dickens
It was a delightful day to be working outside in the Cottage Greenhouse. In my cozy shelter, I was protected from the cool north wind…surrounded by smells of earth and growing things, soothed with a background of birdsong, and the greenhouse door was opened to the lake beyond.
It was a wonderful, made in heaven, one-of-a-kind, perfect day, from the dawn’s early light to the twilight’s last gleaming.
Hail, hail, the gang's all here, Never mind the weather, here we are together; Hail, hail, the gang's all here, Sure we're glad that you're here, too!
Hello my sweet friends! So much has happened and so much time has passed since I last wrote you. Even though you didn’t know exactly what was going on, I can never thank you enough for the cards and notes you sent to me. <3 Each time I read that you missed reading my posts…you hoped everything was all right…or that you were praying for me, meant so much to me and brightened my day. I’ll try to catch you up in this post of “what’s been going on”…then I have a darling “mock” tackle box to show you that is filled with gummy worms…Trolli frogs…Swedish Fish…and Sour Brite Crawlers. It’s a cute and whimsical favor to pass out after a summer day spent together with your family or friends.
Continue reading “Mini Tackle Box Favors – #2 of the Series “The Gang’s All Here””
