Dog Walks and Treats

He beat me home because I was playing with my camera. He was not amused. At the end of every walk, Webster gets 4 small dog biscuits and he barks for them if I forget. He's thinking, "What took you so long? It's Halloween and I want my treats."

Libraries are Full of Friends

Watercolor and Pencil

Artist: L. Block (British, 1848-1901)

Title: "In a library we are surrounded by friends."

Another Black Cat with Marble Eyes

This is the window in my walk-in pantry where I have an old drafting table as a desk. I am having so much fun with the camera on my phone. I just about fell over when the lady at the AT&T store gave me $200 for my old phone so this one ended up being free. Well, not really. It could have been free but I upgraded to the 32GB for more storage for an extra $100. If I had stayed with 16GB like my old 4S, it would have been an even trade. It pays to take care of your devices, doesn't it? 

This vintage full-bodied tin cat is supposed to be a garden ornament to scare away the birds. It has cat's-eye marble eyes. The cat head at my front door has clear marbles for its eyes. I prefer to use both cats inside as a window decorations since I love my birds. Happy Halloween. I hope you get lots of good candy. I'll have to buy my own and I just might do that. My malware warning went away and I'm so happy! both photos are mine, using iPhone 5S

Red Leaves and Bittersweet Berries

I took this photo yesterday at the post office. I love all of the shiny red leaves.

This one was at the post office too. Just a tangled mess of bittersweet vines and a few colorful berries.

Halloween Window at My Cottage

Tabitha came along just at the right time to get in this photo. I got a handmade Halloween card from my friend Victoria (The Queen Vee in the comments section) and she enclosed the spider cutouts which are perfect around my tin cat cutout with the marble eyes. I took this photo with my new iPhone 5S which I got today.

If you are using the Chrome browser, you will be blocked from viewing my blog because of a Malware warning. Switch browsers and you will be fine. You can also click proceed and nothing will happen to your computer. I get it myself when using Chrome but have no problem at all when I switch to Safari or when I use Windows on my PC upstairs. Apparently I have a link somewhere on my blog to a person who has a problem and for that reason Chrome is blocking me. It could be anywhere and I'm tired of looking. I have had this problem in the past and the warning eventually went away when a person who follows my blog cleared up her problem. I hope it goes away soon. Just be advised that I don't have any issues here. I think I'm going to stop putting links in my blog. I'll just name the photo source without any links. Sorry. I don't know what else to do. Boo Hoo. "my photo"

Beautiful Fall Leaves

I've been picking up beautiful leaves when I walk Webster each day and pressing them. Do you think these hearts were cut by hand or with a punch? Aren't they beautiful? Have a great day and I'll see you later. xo

Dutch Door in A Window Wall

This is fabulous. Love the big sidelights and transom windows over this wonderful wainscot paneled Dutch door. Oh, my, such a nice entrance hall. via

Perfect Living Room

Yes. This room reflects my taste perfectly. Unfortunately, there will never be a white sofa in my future because of Webster and Tabitha and Webster's friends who have sleep overs from time to time. I haven't had a fire yet but this photo makes me want to have one soon. The mantel is lovely and so is the built-in bookcase full of antiquarian books and antique smalls. Love the whole room. via the virtual builder

Beautiful Fall Weather @ My Cottage

I took this photo yesterday while I was sitting in one of the adirondack chairs in the way back. As you can see we are still having gorgeous weather. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day yet and there might be rain by the end of the week. The decorative duct covers for my air conditioning don't have open/close registers behind them and all of the warm air in the rooms from my fabulous cast iron radiators gets sucked up. When I get my ceilings painted I hope to put them behind the register covers. My ceilings are plaster so it will be a messy job. In the meantime I always put freezer paper over them with double-sided tape, shiny side out. It works like a charm too and there are no more drafts. That was my project for today and it feels cozier already! Today is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy that did so much damage around here. I don't even like to think about that ordeal. Trees were down everywhere and I had no power for 9 days. The Jersey Shore is still recovering because of water damage which I did not have, thankfully. Let's hope Halloween isn't as freaky as it was last year and the year before that with a snow storm. I want calm this year.

I have finally started watching The Paradise. I watched the 2-hour first episode yesterday and liked it very much. Thank goodness for PBS full episodes online.

Ice Pop Wreath for The Birds

This would be a great thing to make in a ring mold for the birds, wouldn't it? As it melts, the seeds and fresh cranberries would drop for the ground feeders. It's lovely. Must make one in December for my fine feathered friends. Here is a DIY wreath made by a child.

Spectacular Fall: Stourhead House Wiltshire England

Stourhead landscape garden in Wiltshire. Britain is enjoying one of the best autumn displays for years, due in part to a long, dry spring and wet, cool summer. via The Guardian This photo was entitled: Gold Leaf.

River Rock Herb Markers

There's plenty of time to make some of these as gifts for your gardening friends. You could make paperweights too for a busy person's desk. Personalize them with MAIL, BILLS, TO DO, FILE, SHRED, FAMILY MEMBERS' NAMES, etc. I always pick up smooth stones when I see them. 

Day is Done

I love dogs on furniture, don't you? I vacuumed both of my love seats today with the pet hair attachment and got tons of animal hair off. Tabitha tends to stay in one spot so it was mostly from Webster. He's thrilled. Now he can start depositing more, especially after I go to bed when he sneaks up and sleeps wherever he wants. Oh, the life of a treasured dog. The one in the photo doesn't have it too bad either, does he? Good night everyone, see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

Sleep Like A Bird

Wouldn't it be fun to climb this ladder and spend some time in this amazing nest? I slept like a log last night in my clean bed with ironed sheets and not one, but three, woolen blankets. It was heavenly. It was just in the nick of time because there was frost outside when I woke up this morning. Have a great weekend!

Webster and Tabitha Have Requests

He doesn't make a sound. He begs with his eyes. Cheese toast is his favorite.

Tabitha has settled in for a nap after being outside since the early morning hours. She wants me to postpone stripping the bed until later so she can warm up and recover. I was able to round up a full load without the sheets so her request was granted.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote

I love this. What a nice prayer of thankfulness.

Lovely Fall Day with Nice Sky at My Cottage

I had such a busy day doing really hard things. Not physically hard, but mentally so. I have the Verizon Triple Play and the battery on my phone box has been dead for almost a year and beeps all the time. It's downstairs so it doesn't bother me. Verizon wanted me to buy a new one myself and put it in. I refused. Today they finally broke down and sent me one and I had to figure out how to put it in. Mission accomplished. Now my phone will work again (for a short time) during a power outage.

The other struggle was in the attic. You know all about my new little window up there which I love so much. I had a storm window inside the room when there was just a louver on the outside peak. My new window is not double glass so I decided to clean and put the inside one back up for the winter to prevent heat loss. I took it outside to hose it down and when I took out the screen the two sliding glass panels came out too. Great for cleaning. Bad for putting back together because I hadn't studied how it worked. After about a zillion combinations, I finally found the right one. I left off the screen so I can reach through and open my outer window when it gets too warm up there. I am so happy I am blessed with patience, a logical mind, and the ability to fix things. My mother and I always repaired everything around the house because my dad was clueless. I don't know how they managed Christmas toys without my help. I couldn't do the mower battery but I did the big phone battery. There are only a few things I've had to walk away from in my lifetime because I couldn't do them. It's very satisfying when you finish a frustrating project, isn't it?

Tiny Kitchen Desk Area + Faucet Sprayer

This tiny, well-organized kitchen command center is really all you need. Note to self: "You do not need to use every available horizontal space on the kitchen table and counter. Try condensing it to one area instead."

This is something I've never seen and I love it. How many times do I need this sprayer every day? More than I can count. Yes, please! 

Click here for more ideas if you plan to remodel your kitchen.

Wonderful Shower Room

Now that is a spectacular shower, isn't it? I love the white tile and the placement of the beautiful window is perfect. via

Baby George at his Christening

Prince George, the 3-month-old future monarch, was christened today with water from the River Jordan at a rare four-generation Royal Family gathering.

He is so cute.

His parents are so proud. More photos here.

An Amazing Photo

Dreamer by Juliana Nan

Lovely Reflection

I've been looking at old photos saved on my laptop. This picture within a picture is wonderful. Source unknown. 

Bring On The Blankets

Tabitha has discovered the wool blanket I put on my bed a few days ago and has abandoned her cat bed in the other room in favor of my bed for the winter. She is a good bed buddy because she stays in one place on her side of the bed and is as still as a mouse all night long. Today is the last warm day before a cold front sets in. So much to do and so little time. I'm busy with real estate again and have had to put my cottage on hold for a few days. Don't you love this sleeping porch?