More of My Christmas Decor

I decorated my dish towel dryer with ornaments.

I did this last year and liked it.

Two favorite ornaments.

This is shows my fireplace blocked by the flat screen tv I bought last summer. I enjoy my tv much more than a few open fires and my house is much warmer since the heat doesn't go up the chimney. I cut a piece of pink rigid insulation to fit the opening and put an antique storm shutter in old blue paint to cover everything. I draped some cranberry beads and hung two stockings and I'm ready for Santa.

I saved this Christmas Card box lid from a partial box I purchased years ago at a tag sale. It never fails to make me smile. 

My kitchen windowsill at night.

With the last one I shall say goodnight to all.

See you tomorrow.

xo

A Little Christmas Decorating Happened

I put a stool for books and a floor lamp beside my sofa a couple of days ago because the lamp on the other side isn't good for reading and I am really enjoying it. It overlaps the opening to my hallway but I think it looks nice. I put my wooden cranberry strands around a lot of my artwork too.

It's not much, but it's a start.

I have straightened this painting since taking this photo. I can remembering stringing popcorn and real cranberries with my mother for Christmas trees in my youth. She loved these wooden ones!

Happy decorating and wrapping.

It's almost here.

xo

Two for Thursday Morning

The morning sky from my kitchen window.

My amaryllis bloomed in the fall and I really should put it downstairs to winter over but haven't yet. This is a view looking toward my kitchen. Enjoy your Thursday, 

xo

Busy Friday Dawn Til Dark

I was up with the sun this morning.

I got my third Covid booster before lunch and did a few errands. Then I came home and did my final mowing of the year and it looks so nice.

I started with the front and mowed over the leaves with my mulching walk behind mower on a low setting. I started with the front.

Just a random photo with a nice blue sky today.

It looks better in person than in this photo. The sky is better in this photo than the second one.

I really like the clouds over my red barn/garage. I am not dealing with all the leaves on the driveway down there and I might just leave them. Not sure yet.

View of the back 40 from my balcony. While I was standing here lots and lots of robins  gathered and were happily hopping about in the nice short grass. They are MY robins that were raised here. I love them so much. I keep the bird baths filled for them and love to see them splashing around. They are such enthusiastic bathers.

That All. The End.

Have a great weekend.

xo

A few Views

A fern in the woods.

A favorite woven ceramic trivet from Portugal.

A portion of the nook wall in my kitchen.

My bathtub is to the left. 

Small bathroom art gallery.

I walked at two o'clock in the afternoon and it was a beautiful day with blue sky and very mild in the 70s. It's supposed to last thru the weekend. I am not complaining either. 

xo

Sunday Ramblings

A real scallop shell on a boxtop with shell engravings.

A scallop shell coat of arms photographed from my 

Royal Book of Crests.

This is the huge rock Lisa D. asked about next to the mushroom on the right that is now broken halfway up the stem. The rock was once sticking out of my driveway just enough to be a problem for a snow plow. My mason dug it up never thinking it could possibly be this big. It was very heavy too but he did it.

Such a beautiful dark blue sky today.💙

A remnant from the days when I had a clothesline.

Pine tree, needles, and a colorful leaf.

Puffball (mushroom) is looking rather like leather.

Puffball looking toward my house. 

Giant sycamore leaf. It's so much fun to walk through these leaves because they have such a satisfying crunch underfoot. 

UPDATE: I posted a video (my first story on Instagram) of me walking toward my house thru another patch of very large crunchy leaves with sound. If you want to watch, click HERE and then click VIEW STORY. 

Be sure to turn on the sound.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/contentinacottagerosemarybeck/2961198633422189598/

Are you bored yet? Please let me know.

xo

Storybook Mushroom in My Evergreen Grove

This is Day 2 for the discovery of this most unusual super large mushroom and the interior orange color has gotten very pale, probably bleached by the sun. The cup is filling up with dry spruce needles.

Day 1: I discovered it yesterday (Thursday) and the interior color was much more vibrant inside.

Day 1: Looking inside.

Day 1 photographed in early morning light.

I took this one on Day 2 on Friday afternoon (today). It's very large and I have never seen anything this unusual on my property and it definitely belongs in a storybook. I wish I knew more about it. I'm just so happy I found it. 

xo

Views Around My Cottage

A corner of my living room. There is an opening opposite this table that leads to the kitchen area where my sideboard is located. The attic door is next to the opening and there is a coat closet where the corner is located in the lamp area. 

I have posted this recessed nook in my kitchen many times but here it is again. I got a new phone and have been testing the camera in case you are wondering why I am posting so many photos you have seen before.

TAKE YOUR DOG WITH YOU BY RAIL

I got a Christmas present in this shopping bag years ago from my good friend Stacey Snacks who has a food blog. I love this bag so much with a dog and suitcases advertising a rail line.

xo

Sunday Afternoon Walk on My Property

There were a few raindrops falling when I started. I rooted this limelight hydrangea several years ago by pushing a pruned cutting from the mother plant into the ground and I was surprised when it started growing.

Random leaf showing some red fall color.

Giant puffball the size of a basketball in the way back.

This should have been the second photo. looking back.

Some brilliant yellow leaves with yellow berries.

Some brilliant green leaves with red berries.

If you get your snow shovels out early will the winter be milder? I got each of these shovels at garage sales for pennies on the dollar. I've often wondered if the previous owners were sorry they sold them? Just because you sell your shovel doesn't mean it will never snow again.😂

Another silhouette of the leaping stag. 

This time he's jumping over the garage.

Walk over. Photos posted. Enjoy.

xo

The Sitting Room Downstairs + Geraniums

I still haven't vacuumed downstairs but I will before the weekend is over. I have been busy digging up Dahlia beds and storing them for next spring. The ground hasn't frozen yet but the foliage is all black so today was the day for that chore.

This is the view of the easy chair with the ottoman.

My mother and I got this wonderful hanging shelf at a garage sale and I painted it long ago. It turned out to be the perfect thing to hang over the radiator with a thick piece of glass on top. 

The geraniums love this sunny spot in front of the sliding glass door. Yes, that's a draft dodger behind the tray designed for wet boots. It is the perfect size and catches any overflow when watering the plants.

I got plenty of exercise pulling and hauling and dumping dahlia stalks and cleaning up. The tubers are stored for the winter now. xo

UPDATE: There is a better photo of the easy chair and long chest with 16 drawers in one of my old posts below.

https://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/2021/04/new-acquisition-with-16-drawers.html