April First. A Frog and A Rabbit

My antique cast iron frog that looks right into the window of my pantry where I sit to pay bills. He has a hole in his mouth because he was once a fountain. I set my iPhone camera on portrait mode to blur out the background. I so love this feature.

Hare and Quail by Australian artist Anita Mertzlin. Found on Instagram @glendoghalcottage

Happy April Fool's Day. No jokes here. Ready to jump into bed now. xo

Teddy Bear Portrait

This is an old jointed teddy bear that usually sits in an antique child's chair in my cottage. I didn't notice that his left ear was turned back until I got back in the house after his photo session. I was just playing around with Portrait Mode on my iPhone 7+ and it is so easy and so much fun. It's an overcast gray day here at the cottage and pretty warm (55°) for February with rain coming this afternoon and continuing for a couple of days. Maybe I will get caught up on the three episodes of PBS programs I missed on Sunday night: Howards End, Sanditon, and Vienna Blood. I am enjoying all three. 

Tablescape Photo at My Cottage

Nothing earth shattering here. Just playing around with a new-to-me iPhone on portrait mode and it looks like a Nikon 35mm camera photo. This is going to be fun. 

It is not the newest model but an iPhone 7plus and I am loving it. 

Content in a Cottage on Instagram

Here is the link to my frequent Instagram Posts.

The photo above is a screen shot from my phone showing my most popular posts from the hashtag called #contentinacottageblog. It changes from day to day depending on the number of clicks on various posts. The first photo is a dark cloud I spotted when I walked past one of the French doors in my living room on the way to my kitchen. I grabbed my phone and snapped the picture of the pointing finger cloud and uploaded a graphic from my blog. The center photo is of a snow swag on my picket fence several winters ago. The snow melted slightly and then the temperature dropped and froze the swag in place. You can follow me on the first link and follow my hashtag on the second link. Thanks in advance. xo

Symmetry in My Living Room

This is the living room wall that is between my French doors that lead out to my balcony overlooking the rear of my property. I almost got the perfect symmetry I was aiming for with my iPhone on a tripod. Enjoy your weekend between the rain showers and thunderstorms if you live in New Jersey. The weather for Sunday is supposed to be nice, fingers crossed.

Butterfly: Photo + Video

I could never determine whether this was a butterfly or a moth. It stayed in place for a very long time flapping its wings and staying still. My still photo is shown above (click to enlarge). I posted my video on Instagram yesterday. See it here. Click on the white arrow to start the movement of the wings. I love the antennae that look like threaded beads.

A View of My Living Room using Tripod

When I leave my kitchen sink, this is what I see as I walk into my living room. My two French doors, frequently photographed but not shown here, are on either side of the big comfy sofa and both lead to my balcony. The door going down to the basement (not shown) is on the immediate left. The area with my fireplace, not shown, is in front of the sofa and table lamp on the left. I closed the doors leading down the hall to my bedroom, guest/dressing room, and full bath. It took me a long time to discover these doors. In everyday life, the left portion is a door to my linen closet and the right-hand door is for all of my mops, brooms and other items stored a utility closet. When you open them simultaneously, they come together to make a double door for closing off the private areas. The man who built my cottage had a lot of ingenuity and I love this clever feature. 

We had rain overnight and this morning and the heatwave is over. Tomorrow is going to be fabulous with 79° as the high temp and a low of 55° for Saturday night. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Hope you can look forward to a great weekend too. xo

Antiques in My Kitchen

I got a a new toy yesterday and had to test it out after Amazon delivered it at 9:00 last night. It was a device to clip on my iPhone so I could use my tripod. It was a little awkward but I think I am going to like it. It's good for composing what you want in a photo and getting it right the first time. 

You've seen my tall case clock and my pantry many times (first photo).

My huntboard is in a recessed nook in my kitchen (second photo) and I've photographed it many times for my blog.

I don't think I've ever shown you a much wider kitchen view with a corner of my farm table and my refrigerator (third photo).

Stay cool in this heatwave if you are having one too. For some reason, the heat doesn't seem to bother me as much as it used to. I guess having grown up in the deep south with no air conditioning has made me realize you can survive it if you know the ropes and try not to think about it.

Enjoy getting ready for July 4th. xo

Some of My iPhone Photos This Week

A beautiful sunset from my balcony two days ago. The full moon was shining brightly in my bedroom last night.

Storm clouds gathering five days ago.

I adore this phrenology head. I printed it last week and put it on a portfolio to cover the company name of the firm that gave it to me. I put a piece of heavy clear plastic on top and now I love it because it always makes me laugh. Click on the photo to enlarge for easier reading.

Those feet! They were the first thing I saw six days ago when I visited a Realtor Open House. The house was very contemporary and had a lot of modern art.

Here is back view of the feet sculptures from another wing of the house. I put these pics on Instagram and one lady was worried they would be left behind after the house was sold and how were the new owners going to get rid of them?😂

First Peony to Open 2018

My single ruffled white peony is always the first to open, followed by my red ones, and then the pink ones are last. This one opened when the sun came out yesterday after the rain. It was very translucent, as shown by the raindrops on the top petal. They are on the reverse side!!! For some reason, the petals have a pink tint when they first appear but change to a bright white when fully open and one of my Instagram followers says they look like fried eggs.

The sun is out, the sky is hazy and it's going to be hot and humid today with 84° as the high. Bring it on because tomorrow the high will be only 66° and will be wonderful for working outside. Mother Nature is so unpredictable, isn't she? Have a great weekend. xo

Photos Around My Cottage

Potted plants on my balcony. The pink geranium in the beautiful white ceramic pot with matching saucer has finally adapted to being outdoors again after a long winter inside. The blue flowers on either side are lobelias. I have never had them before but I'm looking forward to seeing them grow. The five pots in the fabulous galvanized tin planter from a rummage sale have nasturtium seeds that should be sprouting soon. Fingers crossed. The ones I planted in the front two weeks ago are already up.

The plant identification spike names this variety as "Heat Upright Dark Blue Lobelia" with improved heat resistance. They should be right at home on my hot balcony with no shade until mid afternoon. The flowers are self cleaning and need no dead heading. How great is that? 

These lamb's ears were transplanted to a back garden against my foundation and they are loving the support of a wall to their backs. They should be blooming soon and will be able to hold the weight of their heavy flower heads that the pollinators love. 

This amazingly beautiful sky with a moon was photographed from my balcony at dusk five days ago. In no time at all after I snapped this shot it was pouring rain. We have had more rainy days than sunny days and the upcoming first week of June from Friday to Friday shows nothing but dark days, most with rain. Oh well, what can you do?

I can't believe it's already in its last day so I'll say goodbye to May. Maybe her promised flowers will be more beautiful in June. xo

Easter Baskets for You

I made this for you on on my phone. It is a gloomy rainy day and I was feeling a little creative. 

My Cottage Kitchen w/ Farm Table

I refuse to take any photos of Mother Nature's current temper tantrum aka known as Toby and Foureaster. Instead I took this photo of my kitchen. I finished my taxes on Monday and have put away all the papers and files I had spread out in categorized piles on my farm table. What a relief to have that task behind me for another year. 

The storm hasn't been bad so far (only a couple of inches) but the fine snow is supposed to continue for possibly another 12 hours. I'll give you an update tomorrow morning.

I watched a great movie on Netflix last night -- TULIP FEVER. 

Click here to view the video if you cannot see it above.

Moonrise Last Night

At dusk yesterday, there was a large "day moon" high in the sky in my woods. All is calm this morning here at the cottage but there is a Nor'easter coming late today into tomorrow. Today is the first day of March so here come the winds. I have to admit, high winds are about the only things that frighten me after superstorm Sandy five years ago. It is supposed to be more of a coastal storm so maybe my area will be okay. Fingers crossed. Will report more later. xo

Foggy Sunday Photo Edited w/ Snapseed

I took this photo from inside looking outside and I liked the reflection of the lamp. It's been a very long time since I've played around with Snapseed on my phone and it was fun making the morning fog in the woods resemble a vintage photo. When I first downloaded the app ages ago, it was expensive ($20) and I could use it on my computer. Google bought it and now Snapseed is free and can only be used on a mobile phone or iPad. Try it, you'll like it! The app can be downloaded on android phones too. xo

My Living Room at Dusk

I took this photo at dusk last night of a portion of my living room that opens to my balcony and overlooks the rear of my property. The sun rises back there and sets in the front. It feels very warm outside today at 45° and you only need a light jacket. It will be a nice change all week and I'm glad. My furnace needs a rest! xo

Frozen Road and Crescent Moon

Gorgeous Photo by Aaron J. Groen

"Frozen Road to Nowhere"

Waning Crescent Moon rises over a snow covered gravel road in eastern South Dakota.

click to enlarge

Broccoli Cornbread the Day After

This photo is right out of the iPhone camera with no editing and yes, the cornbread tastes as good as it looks. I had an 8:30 dental appointment and this was so good when I got home, split and toasted in the toaster oven and then spread with Kerry Gold salted butter. Recipe in yesterday's blog post.

My Peonies This Year (2017)

I only have five blooming peonies today, the pink ones. There are some secondary buds that will still produce small flowers which I also love. The white ones are all gone and so are the red ones. They were really beautiful this year, thanks to all the rain we had in May.

I took the last photo this morning. All were made with my iPhone 🌸

Sunday Morning Sun in My Living Room

I put this photo on Instagram this morning and thought my blog followers might like it too. The sun was shining nicely on my fireplace so I had to leave my cup of hot coffee to capture it. Here's hoping you enjoy your first April Sunday. I'm helping a friend move and it's a beautiful day to be working and doing some heavy lifting. See you later. xo