Ladies in Lavender -- DVD Movie Recommendation

I watched this movie over the weekend and LOVED IT. For some reason I decided to look in the Foreign Films section at the library and it was filled with movies made in Great Britain in English with no subtitles. I was so happy!

Maggie Smith and Judi Dench are wonderful as is the story and the scenery. Look for it at your library or find it on Netflix. You can thank me later! Click the second photo to enlarge and read the description. xo

Best realtor open house food ever.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1WMPxY3 Best realtor open house food ever. Catered by @slamwichscratchkitchen in #madisonnj Thanks to Laurie Getto of @fiedler.real.estate Nice Harding Township house too. #ig #realestate #openhouse #catered #slamwichscratchkitchen

Long view in my cottage of the English landscape.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/24N3Bjn Long view in my cottage of the English landscape. #oilpainting #royalacademy #markfisher #england #ig #mycottage

I actually posted a close view of this painting at lunchtime today on Instagram but I forgot to include the code to make it post on my blog. You can see it here and read the title on the plaque.

A Gorgeous Mansion

This architectural wonder is really beautiful, isn't it? It's not too big either. I would love to see the interior. The outside is elegant simplicity. See you later. xo via

Peony Friends

I figured out a way to automatically post my Instagram photos to my blog so my readers won't feel left out. I used an app called IFTTT which stands for If This Then That. You create "recipes" to trigger an action. I created a recipe to automatically post any new Instagrams to my Blog. I know many of you don't subscribe to Instagram. Now you can enjoy my photos the minute they are live. This saves me the step of having to repost to Blogger. I continue to enjoy learning new things! Have a great Sunday.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1UogPlc

Princess Charlotte Waves from The Palace Balcony

She's a natural, isn't she? Prince George looks puzzled. What a beautiful family!

Something's funny here. Wish I knew the inside joke. It was quite a day in England with The Queen's 3-day 90th birthday celebration and Prince Philip's 95th birthday today. It was also Princess Charlotte's first public appearance from the Palace Balcony to an adoring audience. Both photos from Vanity Fair. Read more here.

Blue Spruce Looking Blue

I just posted this on Instagram with a copy to Twitter. I just figured out a way to show you too by taking a screen shot with my phone. The new growth on this tree that I planted about 22 years ago looks really blue, doesn't it. I moved a number of trees to my cottage from my former house where I had a farm assessment and over 300 trees planted as saplings. Have a great weekend. xo

Peonies Nearing End of Their Season

Lovely Monet quote.

My drooping peonies after Sunday's hard rain. I cut back the ones that were beyond saving and this is what was left.

The white ones are singles and they weathered the storm much better than the pink mop heads.

I keep replacing the blooms one by one when they start to shrivel. They really are nice in the house when they get too heavy outside. How does your garden grow?

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

History of Queen Elizabeth's Eight-Decade Love of Corgis

Ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth and her corgi Dookie at 145 Piccadilly, her childhood home in London, 1936. By Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images.

The Queen has kept corgis even longer than she has known her husband of 69 years, Prince Philip. In 1933, her parents, the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mum), acquired the royal family’s first corgi, named Dookie. On her 18th birthday, in 1944, Princess Elizabeth received a corgi of her own, named Susan, who tagged along on her honeymoon, three years later.
There is a delightful slideshow and more corgi history at Vanity Fair. I was quite surprised to learn that nobody else inherited her love for this breed. Others find them annoying to say the least.

Peonies in My Garden Before The Rain

The red ones and the white peonies are singles and can handle the rain pretty well.

The pink ones with more petals get very heavy when their heads fill up with water and they droop to the ground. The rain hasn't stopped yet and luckily I picked a big bouquet of pinks early this morning and they look lovely in the house. The lamb's-ears pictured here are volunteers that planted themselves. I like the contrast of their silver-gray foliage against the deep, dark green leaves of the peonies.

I've had a very enjoyable day being pretty lazy and it felt really good. I never feel guilty when I have an easy day, do you? I earned it! I just checked and there's absolutely nothing on TV tonight. I hope I can find something interesting to watch that I have saved to my DVR. I don't have any DVD discs from the library either. I'm sure I'll find something. Enjoy your evening. xo

My Peonies Are Amazing 2016

My peonies have never been taller or more beautiful.

It rained overnight and this morning the raindrops on the petals were quite lovely.

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

Pansy Photo Turned Into An Etching

My pansies are still hanging in there in spite of the really hot weather we had recently. I even broke down and turned on my central air, and this is rare for me in May. Now it's pleasant again and I have gone back to open windows. I haven't used my iPhone app called Etchings lately but I enjoyed playing around with it this morning. I love the way the pansies turned out, don't you? I think the app turned my photo into an old hand colored engraving. xo

Queen Elizabeth II, Her Inner Majesty

I can't wait to read this article! Doesn't Queen Elizabeth II look beautiful surrounded by her favorite dogs? About those corgis: on the cover, the Queen poses with Holly (held) and, from left, Willow, Vulcan, and Candy. (The latter two are both dorgis—the crossbreed the Queen engineered when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund that belonged to her sister, Princess Margaret.) Photo for Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz. Full article here.

Dogs in Vintage Photographs

Happy Memorial Day! The Guardian has a delightful assortment of vintage dog photos for you to enjoy. Read the article and see the photos here.

My Kitchen Essentials, Within Reach

I love having these things on my kitchen counter in plain sight, within easy reach when I'm cooking or assembling my food. Left to right you will see: pepper grinder, balsamic vinegar, fine sea salt, himalayan pink salt, cinnamon in a salt shaker, seasoned salt next to that, red pepper flakes, and a sugar bowl filled with raw turbinado sugar. There's also a ginger grater and a milk glass container with my measuring spoons and a wooden honey dipper. Mixing bowls are underneath the splayed-leg stool in old red paint. I love my English china transferware sugar bowl covered with architectural engravings. I unearthed the massive pressed moulded glass shakers with pewter tops tucked in a corner of one of my kitchen cabinets recently. They are beyond fabulous with lots of trapped air bubbles. I had to soak the tops in a strong solution of Bragg's cider vinegar for days to get the corroded tops back to their original condition. I use the one for pepper for fine sea salt and the one with the larger holes for coarse pink salt. For me, things out of sight are also out of mind. I like to have my stuff where I can see it. So far this morning I have used the pink salt and ground pepper for my fried egg and a few shakes of ground cinnamon in my Greek yogurt. Enjoy your Sunday and the long Memorial Day weekend. See you later. xo

Atlanta Cottage: SOLD, Sight Unseen

This is a "leap of faith" story about q cottage in Atlanta, Georgia. The photo below is after the renovation!

When the author heard about a dilapidated cottage overtaken by weeds and kudzu in an Atlanta neighborhood, she knew it would become her her family’s home. So she bought it—sight unseen. Is your interest peaked yet? Read the complete story here. There are some interior photos too.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Winnie the Pooh and The Queen

The Queen isn't the only one having a 90th birthday this year. She's sharing it with Winnie the Pooh who was also born in 1926 and a brand new tale is being released to mark the occasion. Prince George and Princess Charlotte will be happy about that! via People Magazine.