Open Air Cabin

I'm really into open air this morning since I slept with my bedroom windows wide open last night for the first time this year. It was wonderful. I love the way this sliding door with a built-in window slides open to bring the outside in. I have my weekly office meeting this morning followed by broker open house tours. Several "over the top" residences are on the list but I'd rather have this cabin any day country girl that I am. via Home and Hearth

Summer Cottage Love

Isn't this the sweetest cottage all decked out for summer? It must be really beautiful when the morning glories are in bloom. This photo makes me want a screen door on the front of my house. via

Bach On a Giant Wooden Xylophone In a Forest

This is the most amazing thing you'll ever see or hear. Please watch -- I promise you will love it.
Bach’s Cantata 147, ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ Played On a Giant Wooden Xylophone In a Forest 

"The video is a commercial for a phone of which there are only 15,000 being made. By combining who knows how many pieces of wood, they were able to make a long, downhill track in a forest in Southern Japan that was able to reproduce Bach’s Cantata 147, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. This is a pretty phenomenal achievement and a beautiful piece of art."

Bluebell Woods | England

Loughborough, Leicestershire, England ~ So beautiful!  

Bluebell Woods 

Daffodils - Four More Popped Open Today - Yay

Art Nouveau Bookplate Ex Libris Louis Rhead

© Nancy Ellis ex libris Louis Rhead I adore this art nouveau bookplate.

Louis John Rhead (November 6, 1857 – July 29, 1926) was an English-born American artist, illustrator, author and angler who was born in Etruria, Staffordshire, England. He emigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-four. The Rhead family had operated and worked in the Staffordshire Potteries for at least three generations. Louis’s father George W. Rhead worked in the pottery industry and was highly respected gilder and ceramic artist. In the 1870s, George Rhead taught art and design in Staffordshire schools. He founded Fenton School of Art. Read more ... 

Cake Update + 'Upstairs Downstairs' Premier

My coffee cake was good but I had to cook it longer because it didn't have a tube pan. Don't forget tonight is the series premier of UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS on PBS.

Cinnamon Sour-Cream Coffee Cake

It's in the oven right now and the house smells heavenly. I didn't have any pecans but had everything else. I used a round pan with a removable bottom but without the tube in the center so my cake is solid. Cinnamon Sour-Cream Coffee Cake

Celebrities with Big Dogs

Audrey Hepburn Walks Her Dog

Movie Stars and their large dogs ~ photos from vintage Life Magazines. Gallery - LIFE Click to see many more photos.

50 Tips for Baking Better Cakes

I'm taking some eggs and butter out of the refrigerator so I can bake a cake later if I can find a recipe using only ingredients I have in the house at the moment. Yum---cake. 50 Tips for Baking Better Cakes 

Mad Men Goes Netflix

John Slattery aka Roger Sterling

Mad Men's multi-season renewal is still generating buzz from major outlets this week, while an announcement that Netflix will stream the series stirs new buzz.  This is great news for those of you who don't get AMC. Mad Men

The 20 Most Exciting New TV Shows coming to a channel near you. Wonderful Slideshow

Weekend Kitchen Love

Wonderful Kitchen

Dining Area with Floor Cloth

Have a great relaxing weekend and do a little dreaming about the kitchen and eating area shown above. If the Government shuts down over the weekend, we should too. via

Two Daffodils Do Not A Spring Make

Daffodil Number One

Daffodil Number Two

Look closely and you'll see them both.

This is what spring is looking like so far this week at the cottage. Very un-spring like. A little sun would help but I guess that's asking too much and believe me, I've been asking.

It's Pretty Amazing That . . .

Earth Day is in April 22, 2011

When I saw this poster I could't wait that long before sharing it with you. Isn't  it perfect for Earth Day? Prints available.

Two White Owls Say 'Goodnight'

Goodnight. See you tomorrow.

nature

Life's Little Instruction Book | Volume II, Page 37

More great and useful advice from our favorite father -- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I found a recipe for the microwave peanut brittle and now I want some. I can't remember the last time I had tapioca pudding. We never had it at my house and I think of it as being rather institutional -- but I found a microwave recipe in case you like it.

Red and White Checks Love

Those of you who know me know I love blue and white checks. My next favorite is red and white checks. Isn't this a great bedroom? ...

How Many Plates Can You Put on A Wall?

I love these white and transferware plates on the gray wall. I don't see any evidence of the usual wire plate holders and wonder how they are staying up? Maybe it's magnetic paint? Now wouldn't that be fun? Glue magnets to the back of the plates and stick them all over until you get a pleasing arrangement. via Crush Cul de Sac

Woodworking Classes for Kids - NYTimes.com

I made these bookends in 4th grade woodshop and my mother kept them. The colonial ladies were cut with a bandsaw and applied to the wooden backs. I cut the lid from a large can of tomatoes in half and nailed them on the bottom to hold the books in place. In another 100 years they will be folk art.

Rose O’Neal, 11, uses a crosscut saw in a miter box to cut rails for a step stool she is building in a class at the Randall Museum in San Francisco. Woodworking Classes for Kids - NYTimes Teaching children construction is gaining momentum across the country as a way to develop imagination and confidence in the very young. Watch a wonderful slideshow with 15 pictures and captions after you read the article. I am very excited about this new trend. Kids today don't learn enough practical skills to carry them through life and the trials and tribulations of homeownership and homemaking.

I think a carpenter is practically the best thing you can be in life. I took home economics starting in the 4th grade too. I know there were several other girls in my woodshop class but I don't remember any boys in home ec. These classes were in public school and I'm so glad they were offered.

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second in 1954

Beautiful then. Beautiful now.

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. This painting is being auctioned in Australia. Don't fail to read the great story about William Dargie’s ‘wattle painting’ of Queen Elizabeth II. The painting, commissioned to commemorate the Queen’s first visit to Australia in 1954, became her official portrait for Australia.
Originally found via lottie tea

Art Supplies As Art

Please do not touch or use or rearrange. We are art [supplies] -- brand new and perfectly arranged. ... - ...