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Webster is so hard to photograph outside. He's all business doing his tracking. We were just finishing our last walk of the day having walked the perimeter. He sticks his nose deeply into some of the tracks, probably those of our fox family. That's his job and he's very diligent. Webster is the best security guard ever. Happy Monday.

Flaxseed Muffins with Dried Cranberries

Cranberry Flaxseed Muffins

Recipe from Pastry Affair

Yields 1 dozen muffins.
My muffin pan only makes 11 and I ate 2.

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (90 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (53 grams) flax meal
1/3 cup (66 grams) brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable oil (I used Olive Oil)
1 cup (235 ml) milk (I used unsweetened Soy Milk)
1 cup (120 grams) dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin or line with baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, flax meal, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the egg, vegetable oil, and milk, mixing until the batter is evenly incorporated. Stir in the dried cranberries.

Divide batter evenly between baking cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve with a small pat of butter or spread of jam.

They were delicious. I cranked up my wonky gas oven to 400° and that was perfect. My enameled cast iron muffin pan gets nice and hot and holds the heat after you take them out of the oven. I cooked mine for 20 minutes and let them cool for 10 minutes and they were done in the middle. I ate the first one hot with butter and the second on later with a cup tea and a spread of strawberry jam. 

Great quote by John Steinbeck

Love!!! - found here

New Snow on My Balcony

The snow on the decking is new because I shoveled the deep snow a few days ago. The accumulation on the top of the railing has already melted away and I hope the sun will do the floor too. I only shovel out there when it's unusually deep. Enjoy this lazy Sunday morning and let me know when you are tired of my Waterlogue watercolors. See this morning's photo here.

Interior Design Watercolor using an App

I had a request for an interior watercolor from a photo using the Waterlogue App for iPhone. This is the front hall of my real estate listing. I used the "technical" setting because it looks like the graph paper architects use. I like it, don't you? Request granted. Someone from Pinterest wanted this.

Wall of Architectural Prints

I like this wall of architectural prints in thin black frames. via It's been snowing lightly since noon and I think we've gotten about 3 inches or so. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to shovel after it stops. Stay warm and cozy and enjoy your Saturday night.

Watercolor of The Cottage

Here's another iPhone photo of my cottage converted to a watercolor. It was a gray day with a sky much like we have today as we wait for another dusting of snow. I saved many different versions, the app is very addictive that way. Have you downloaded Waterlogue yet? I love that it shows Tabitha's little body so well on the front walk. I keep repeating John Lennon's quote as I play. Have a great weekend!

via

Homemade Yeast Rolls

I can almost taste and smell these rolls, can't you? This photo really takes me back to the days when they were part of every Southern homemaker's Sunday or company dinner. My mother's were the best. via

Recent Instagram Photos

My Instagram @contentinacottage

I have been trying to drink more water and I like drinking out of glass. This French Limonade stoppered bottle holds almost 4 cups. I try to drink at least two of them during the day. Last night, I noticed lots of bubbles had formed inside for some reason even though it was tap water.

Strong morning shadows on my kitchen wall. I love the radiator key projected on the wall.

Long afternoon shadows from the kitchen window on the gable end.

A vintage handmade clothespin apron from Scotland. I love the embroidered heather.

This is a closeup of the writing on my water bottle. Happy Friday, it's almost the weekend!

A Watercolor for My Real Estate Listing

One of today's comments suggested that I make watercolor portraits of the houses I sell as gifts and I will. The photo above is Piggy's house and it's for sale. I posted this watercolor portrait on the MLS as the primary listing photo yesterday. I have the regular photo there too. I can't wait to see if it generates any appointments. I feel like a broken record because I've talked about nothing else lately. Anyway, I wanted you to see this.

I also sent two watercolors to my buyers of their new house and they loved having them on their phones so they could show it off. I plan to make notecards for myself of my own cottage and I will print and frame one too. Now if I just had a robot to vacuum my house while I am playing on the computer, my life would be perfect!!!! 

xo - see you later.

Sundown at the Cottage

I haven't walked Webster down to the back of the property for several days. It has been too cold. We both miss our long walks but I'm being extra careful with him since his breakdown a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't seem to mind too much. I had my real estate closing yesterday and it went smoothly. I'm glad the nail biting is over and I can relax for a while. I've always loved January for its laziness, but this one has been very busy for me.

Paper Crane - Fishing

I love this clever animated gif.

via

More Watercolors for You

A watercolor of my cottage. I took the photo on the very first day I got an iPhone back in October 2011. Click here to see the photograph.

American Robin ~ Click here to see the photograph I took in back in April 2011. Did you download the Waterlogue app yet? I love it and can't stop playing with it!

Great Door and Overhang

Such a beautiful entrance. Love the paved walkway too. Simple and elegant. via

A pile of leaves - transformed

Tell me when to stop boring you with my photo transformations. Here is an old pic of some leaves with a touch of frost.

Here is the watercolor version using my new app. It's really bring out my inner artist.

I took an iPhone photo of my Wolfhound doorstop today and made two watercolors using the Waterlogue App. It was $2.99 and I love it. Believe me when I say it's as easy as pie to use. Really. It gives you 15 preset choices and you can click on each one until you find one you like. Then you can add a border and if you don't like it, you can remove it. You can also make watercolor darker. It's very simple. Click on the link above to see some beautiful examples. I love that you can do everything directly on your iPhone. I haven't tried it on my iPad yet but I'm sure that will be fabulous too.

Plain

Watercolor #1

Watercolor #2

Photo from an old blog post.

It's still snowing like crazy and it looks like about 12" so far. It's light and fluffy and easy to shovel. I had to go out in it today but my customer picked me up. I had to open a house so we could do a walk thru before a closing tomorrow. I hope I can dig myself out in time to pick up my commission check. It's in the afternoon, so I'm not too worried. Be safe and warm. xo

Watercoloring with My iPhone

This "watercolor" was done with an iPhone App called Waterlogue.

This is the photo I used for the watercolor transformation. It's fun to play around while it's snowing outside today.

DIY Organic Blended Strawberry Yogurt

This is the most delicious and economical way to eat all organic blended fruit yogurt if you don't mind mixing it yourself. My huge jar of Organic Strawberry Spread from Costco seems to be lasting forever. The Organic plain European Style yogurt from Trader Joe's contains 4 cups. My parfait glass holds about 3/4 cup so I get at least 5 servings of yogurt. I think it is $2.99. The cost for the strawberry spread is $6.59 and it really tastes homemade. It's a "loose" spread and blends easily. You can adjust the amount of flavoring to add according to your taste buds. One Tablespoon has 40 calories. I put a bigger blob than usual for this post. The amount I usually use probably has only 20 calories. I use a long handled iced tea spoon as my measure and mixing spoon. I eat the yogurt with it too and it's really delicious. This method is good for the environment too. The Kirkland product comes in a glass jar. One Trader Joe's tub equals quite a few individual yogurt cups. I like to make a small serving in a teacup if I just want a taste of something good.

PS--Regular strawberries are in the dirty dozen, the 12 most contaminated foods in the food chain. Yuck. Any time you can find organic strawberries, you should jump at the chance.