Coral Charm Peonies

Coral Charm Peony ~ Mia Tarney

I honestly can't tell if this is a painting that looks like a photo or a photo that looks like a painting. Either way, these peonies are gorgeous. I don't have this variety but mine are coming up very nicely and are about two feet tall with small buds. How does your garden grow?
After more research, I learned this is a painting and it's simply gorgeous, isn't it? Her flower paintings are beyond amazing.

House Wrens are Busy at My Cottage

I adore these little birds who have built nests all around me in my Bird Bottles from Williamsburg. This Carolina Wren is building in the back and loves to sit on this post and sing to me. I could never get this close with my iPhone and took this photo from my balcony with my Nikon. Deep blue skies are over the cottage today and the sun feels good and not too hot. See you later. Enjoy your day. xo

Climbing Nasturtiums

I absolutely love this idea.

Nasturtiums are my favorite summer flowers whether they are blooming or not as I adore their round leaves too. They are really showing off their climbing ability from a single stake in a rather small pot. This gorgeous alcove is the perfect place for this beautiful photograph. LOVE!

Curious Barn Owls in UK Church Window

Richard Brooks photographed the three young Barn Owls looking out of the quatrefoil of a local church one evening in July after staking out the site most evenings over a three week period. Enlarge this amazing photo here.

As the perfect place to perch, it must have been the answer to their prayers.

Three inquisitive young barn owls used this lofty window for an early evening surveillance mission in a Norfolk churchyard.

Standing in the stone quatrefoil of Christ Church, Fulmodeston, they were keeping a beady eye open for a tasty snack of mouse, vole or shrew.
Read the article in The Daily Mail here.

Amazing Chalk Stream in England

This crystal clear stream is in Ovington, Hampshire, UK. I fell in love with this on Instagram where it was posted by stampsandstamps and is shown there as a video showing the moving water of this crystal clear stream. I have never heard of a chalk stream, have you? I hope that's watercress growing on the bottom. Click here to see the video. Enjoy. You're welcome. Have a lovely weekend. xo

House Tour

I would love to have my washer and dryer off the kitchen like this one in a mud room.

The pink weeping cherry tree overlooking the backyard, barn and pool in the way back was very gorgeous.

I wasn't able to gain entry to the barn complex but I loved the outside.

Rose Covered Cottage in Nantucket

Too beautiful for words. Aren't those climbing roses lovely? via

Kitchen with a Great Ceiling

The ceiling is my favorite element in this beautiful kitchen. I wish I could show you the rest of the room so we could see what the sitters on the stools would be viewing but I cannot find more pics. I am off to an early office meeting wondering what to wear. I haven't gotten out my summer clothes and it's supposed to be in the high 80s today and I will wilt. See you later. xo

Images from My Cottage

Storm clouds over my balcony on Sunday at dusk. Moments after I took this photo, the heavens opened up and it started pouring.

The grape hyacinths are blooming and I adore the deep vivid blue color of this sweet spring flowering bulb.

This clump of jonquils is bigger than ever this year. I did everything in the book to them after they bloomed last season to ensure a splashy return and it worked. They are planted in a raised bed outside my mom's bedroom on the lower level of my cottage where she had her own quarters. She had to give up her condo in Charlotte after turning in her driver's license due to her diminishing eyesight. I actually bought my cottage with this living arrangement in mind. We had such fun furnishing the whole lower floor together with treasures from consignment shops and yard sales. She still missed her independence but adjusted to having me be her eyes. I can remember when she planted these bulbs that have numerous blooms in the clump to remind me of the 10 years we had here in my cottage.

The wild violets are back in my front yard. I love them and leave them alone by not mowing my grass for as long as I can hold off.

I have posted all of these photos on Instagram so many of you have already seen them. xo

English Storybook Cottage + Floor Plan

I would be thrilled to see someone build this charming English cottage near me. Could you even find the craftsmen to take the time necessary to pull it off? Masons today aren't often even given the opportunity to construct real chimneys like this or real stucco on the home's exterior. It upsets me no end to see a wooden box go up instead and stone or brick veneer applied later. Why are forever homes becoming a thing of the past? Click here to enlarge.