My New Guardian

My new 9KW Generac Guardian Generator.

This is an old photo when the work just got started and I had not done any outside work myself. I will post photos inside the fence to show you the neatness of my contractors later. Yesterday I took the grill off the top my air conditioning unit and cleaned out all the debris (old rotten leaves) with my shop vac and cleaned the "green stuff" off the fan blades and gave it a true fall cleaning. I never thought I could do this myself but it was very easy and I am so pleased. Now I have to get my day going and vote for a new New Jersey governor and some local officials too. See you later. xo

Acorn Season

Acorn Season is here.

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I have seen green ones but no brown ones yet. I pruned my wisteria today and have decided it's a weed! Every year I cut it back severely and figure it will be dead the next year but that hasn't happened yet. Happy Friday and I hope you will be safe from Irma and recovering from Harvey this weekend. xo

Trimming the Ancient Hedges

Trimming the ancient hedges.

What a Herculean effort!

This photo takes my breath away.

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Double Decker Sliding Barn Doors

I still like this sliding barn door trend, especially on this converted barn/home. via

I woke up early after a half day of mowing yesterday and I'm almost finished with my fall cleanup. I was shocked into getting it finished after I saw photos of an early dusting of snow in Connecticut and upstate New York this week. It is unusually warm today and that's good for the trick or treaters. Happy Halloween. xo

Caught Up On My Mowing Today

Just in time for the rain tonight. I started at 8:30 and worked almost without stopping until late afternoon. My front grass was really long and it required two mowings but now it's done and maybe I can concentrate on weeding. How's your summer going? I am tired but it's a good tired from hard work with visible results. Happy Friday, the gateway to the weekend. xo

Good Morning from My Cottage

My pink peonies have too many petals to stand up to a hard rain like we had late Sunday. I pruned back all the ones that couldn't be saved yesterday. The singles in white held up pretty well. The singles in red did not.

My outside chore this week is hand-pulling weeds from my driveway. Not fun. I like doing it really late in the day since I'm not fond of direct sun. It is very pleasant outside today and I haven't had my central air on for quite a while. Now I'm off to see what kind of breakfast I can whip up. xo

Shark Day at My Cottage

Did the title of this post get your attention? A few days ago, I washed and cleaned all the filters and the canister on my Shark Bagless Vacuum Cleaner and it was like new again. Yesterday, I decided to use it instead of my upright Hoover. Here is the end result in my living room. I have a hard time doing inside housework in the summer, do you? It's a necessary evil though! It was somehow quite satisfying to see all the dirt and dust I collected. I did a really thorough job in my living room and kitchen (moving furniture) but only gave a lick and a promise to the 2 bedrooms, bath, and entrance vestibule on my main floor. I had to empty the canister 3 times! My windows are all open and the outside dust is on its way inside but I don't care. I like being clean as a whistle once again. Doesn't it look nice? xo

Cottage Views and Flowers

My front yard after a recent mowing, I use my walk behind mower here. The area is too tight for my riding mower and when I try to use it here it blows clippings up against the house.

The back of my property after a mowing just before sundown, Needless to say, I use my Snapper riding mower back here.

A pale pink peony at the home of a friend. Mine are still in the bud stage.

She has lovely ferns too in her shade garden.

Please look at my instagram from time to time. It is so much easier than uploading photos to my blog. I know I have been neglecting it lately but I've been helping my friend of 43 years move from New Jersey. And I was burned out after my closing last Friday. Starting to feel almost normal again, but not quite. See you later xo.

SOLD

My closing on Friday was one of the smoothest ever. This is a quick view of the back of the house taken at the walk-thru. The other side is a u-shape around a courtyard. The earliest part of the house is pre-revolutionary. My buyers are happy and so am I. I have been playing catchup at my own house. I worked outside yesterday the whole day long trying to beat the rain and I did. A tire came off the hub on my riding mower and luckily the repair shop got one overnight and put it on while I waited on Saturday morning. There was one section of my back property on a slope that had not been mowed even once this year. The grass was really high but my Snapper handled it very nicely. I am always afraid I will tip over if I mow it sideways so I only mow downhill which takes much longer. Now I am back on track except for vacuuming inside which is on my short list.

Have a great Sunday and I'll see you later. xo

New Toolbox for My Gardening Tools

I pulled this cool aluminum box from a friend's dumpster. The men cleaning out her barns figured nobody would want it. Wrong! I made them put it in the back of my SUV.  It had some rust on the side handles and the steel piano hinge. No problem since I am the queen of cleaning and polishing.

I had this wooden base on casters in my attic. It was from my previous house and a previous life. Perfect fit too.

Here's an interior shot of the beginning stages of garden tool storage. Now I have all the things I need for my front garden right inside the front door. So handy. So happy.

Pansies in an Antique Planter

I had just moved this antique sewer tile planter from my back yard to the front when a friend stopped by with a small flat of pansies for me. Talk about perfect timing! Most of my gardening efforts lately have been devoted to hacking down multiflora, the most invasive, evil, non-native species ever. I go out with my boots, gloves, clippers and thick clothing for an hour or two after supper nightly. It's always something, isn't it? Have a great week. xo

Mosaic Tile Floor with Birds

This is spectacular, isn't it? Wish I could see the whole thing. What a work of art! Hope you are having a great weekend. Most but not all of my trees are budding and the spring green is beautiful. I cleaned my deck yesterday and it looks almost brand new. I forced all of the dirt from between the joints with a screw driver and blew it away with my power leaf blower. Then I squirted with the jet selection of my hose sprayer and wet everything down. Then I mopped it with a foaming oxy-deck cleaner and scrubbed it with a stiff broom. It was fun playing in the water and the end result is very satisfying. I didn't clean it at all last year and it really needed it. That and hacking away at overgrown multiflora were my two accomplishments yesterday. Today I've just been enjoying the weather and not much else. xo

Photo Source

My Metal Polishing Products and Secrets

This post is on the fly this morning. Running late for an office meeting.

Yesterday I polished this antique copper coal scuttle. Last time it was polished during my stewardship? Never! I left the inside unpolished. I use this for storing old magazines. It's really a fireplace item but I don't have room for it there.

I polished all of my brass candlesticks and trivets. First I spray down the item with Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day multi-surface. Then I dip my dampened cleaning rag or sponge into some Bar Keepers Friend cleanser which I have in a shallow bowl. The rest is magic. The spray loosens the tarnish and the cleanser dissolves it before your very eyes. Wipe and buff. For really old tarnish keep spraying and dipping and rubbing. No need to wipe it all off until you are finished with the entire item. 

For horizontal surfaces like switch plates you will have to soak your rag in the liquid (just the part wrapped around your finger) and wipe over the tarnish first. Then do the second step. I used a Q-tip when I was polishing an engraved brass plate on the top of a cellarette without ruining the wood.

Just experiment. You will be amazed. Handle the powder with care. It's powerful stuff and is probably quite dangerous. But it's been around since 1882 and hasn't been recalled yet. I don't plan on using it every day so I don't think it will kill me before I'm finished. 

I got this "Radish" Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day spray at TJMaxx because this "scent" has been discontinued. I'm sure almost any multi-surface spray will work; this is just what I had on hand. I polished all of my silver trophies using this method and nothing got scratched. You can probably make a paste using these two products as well to "dissolve" the powder if you are afraid of scratching. All of my things are antiques and have already been around the block so I wasn't worried.

Good luck. I think I have hunted down almost everything tarnished in my cottage except for my copper pots and my antique andirons. I will tackle them soon. I spread a small tarp on my kitchen table to do the coal scuttle. For the smaller items, I used a folded turkish towel on my kitchen counter near the sink and rinsed under running water before drying and buffing, Just play around and see what works for you. You can also "rinse" small items in a dishpan full of water and keep using it for that purpose. You can soak heavily tarnished brass candlesticks overnight in this solution for really easy cleaning the next day.

Big Shade Tree with Sheep

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I think it's exciting to think about leaves on the trees, don't you? That storm we had a couple of nights ago knocked down some big branches that Webster and I have already picked up on one of our walks. Yesterday felt like spring in the early part of the day but got colder as the day progressed. I pruned my Limelight hydrangeas and now I'm ready for them to start putting out new growth. Happy Friday. xo

Copper Kettle + Cast Iron Stove Plate

I have a copper kettle just like this one. via

Hopefully, this photo will inspire me to polish it.

I love the decorative cast iron stove plate too. The urge to start spring cleaning is coming on!

It's very easy to get the straight walls with this shovel. They sort of happen automatically because of the width of the plow-shaped blade. I took this photo so I could measure the depth of the snow but I haven't calculated it yet. The bed is going to feel might good tonight. For some reason, Webster is exhausted. He galloped in the deep stuff this morning and hasn't recovered. He is so happy about our new path. See you tomorrow. Almost time for Downton. xo

Snow Shovel One Door Wide

I got a very wide snow shovel over the summer and put it to the test today. It is almost as wide as my front door and it was great. The snow didn't stick to it either. I hope the people who sold it aren't sorry they parted with it. I have shoveled for 3 hours so far and my car is clean all except for the top. I just came in for lunch and must go out again to take advantage of the bright sun. See you later. Maybe I will take down my Christmas wreath too. (Smile) 

The one I mentioned is the green one. My rubber broom with telescoping handle is up front and only a little bit of the head shows in this photo. I use it to clean off my car. Today, I had to start with the big green shovel on the car too. My old standby and favorite shovel for wet snow is the red one. I almost never use the black one with the ergonomic handle. It's too awkward but I might use it on the balcony. See you later.

Fog This Morning

Here is another fog photo from this morning with Webster rounding the bend. Today was very enjoyable with nothing pressing to do. Worked outside for a bit moving wood chips, trying to take advantage of the mild weather. Moving towards the bedroom now. 'Night. See you tomorrow.

Webster in This Morning's Fog

Hers's the Wonder Dog silhouetted in this morning's fog. We are having some very nice weather. I didn't even have on a coat when we went out early this morning to snap some fog photos. A flannel shirt and a scarf around my neck kept me cozy. I didn't even need gloves. It will be quite a shock when it finally gets cold for good, won't it? I had my gutters cleaned on Wednesday and I was so happy that the hose could still be used at the end after all the leaves were removed to wash them out and clear all the downspouts before winter sets in. The timing was perfect. Now I can turn off my outside faucets. 

I had a great Thanksgiving and hope you did too. See you later. xo

Webster, Inspecting My Fall Cleanup

Here's Webster with his scary shadow inspecting my mowing job yesterday from the balcony. He gave it a gold star after a long walk down and back.