Ranch House Renovation: Amazing!

I love before and after photos, especially this one! 

Isn't it fabulous? Found here.

The Patio Under My Balcony

Now that summer is winding down I finally found the perfect spot for my outdoor table and chairs. It gets too hot upstairs on my balcony in the blazing sun so I decided to move it down under. I like the shade so it has turned out to be perfect, especially when I need a break when I am mowing. It does drip down there when it's raining but this set is easy to dry off when it quits. I still have Missy, today marks one week with her and she might be going home tomorrow. She has been no trouble and hasn't kept me from doing the work on my laundry list. This weekend I tore my bedroom apart for a good fall cleaning and I'm almost finished. The cooler weather makes housework much more pleasurable doesn't it? 

xo

Breakfast Room with A View

The view from this breakfast room window looks like a painting, doesn't it? The house by TruexCullins Architecture is in Charlotte, Vermont. I love the blue checked club chair with ottoman too!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

xo

Sag Harbor Cottage Love

Raise you hand if you love this cottage too.

Found here on Instagram.

Enjoy your Sunday. xo

Dahlia in Black & White

I took some dahlia photos before the storm and played around with one of them with Snapseed this morning. I was able to delete all of the background and convert to a black and white phototgraph. I like it! 

I was so very fortunate with my house, my street, and general area with Wednesday evening's and Thursday morning's torrential rain. I have since learned of the devastation in the towns not far away that suffered from the flooding of the Passaic River. I live in the area of the headwaters of that river. I got up extra early on Thursday morning for some reason and was watching BBC World News on PBS and they had newsreel footage for NYC, NJ, and Philadelphia. Ita has turned out to be much worse that Sandy in 2012. Thanks for your concern and best wishes for my safety. I am meeting two friends for an early dinner today to catch up. Have a great weekend. xo

 

First Chilly Morning for Missy

After a hot breakfast (hot water over kibble) and a morning walk in the wet grass, Missy settled down for a long nap in a hot pink fleece blanket. 

Gorgeous Cottage in Charlotte NC

Twin Porch Swings! How nice. True perfection. 

Found on Instagram @christiandawdesign

A Giant Sunflower + A Visit from Missy

I picked up Missy in New Vernon this morning and as I was leaving I photographed this single giant sunflower at the house across from hers. Her owner is having cataract surgery tomorrow so I don't know exactly long I will have her. It might be a few days or it might be two weeks. She's no trouble so it's fine with me.

Here she is with fresh bedding in her crate. We are having a rainy day today as predicted but tonight it's supposed to be hard or even torrential. I am going to feed her early and try to have the walks done before it gets bad. Tomorrow is going to be fine and I'm glad about that for me and especially because of my friend's surgery. One of his friends on the Rescue Squad is in charge of the transportation and follow up visits. Living in the same house in a great village for your whole life is a wonderful thing. I'm glad I can help as the dog sitter. xo

Still Rearranging

The floor is clear of all the stuff that is not going to be displayed on my lower level. Some of it went to the garage, some to the loft over garage, some will be donated, some went in the furnace room and various closets and some went to recycling. I am thrilled to be able to walk in and out of the back door without the obstacle course.

I have done more rearranging and I'm still not happy with the TV. I need to elevate it or lower the picture above. I was sitting on the stairs for this photo. The cabinet in lower left is next to the yellow decoupaged cottage chest with the big clock above shown in a previous post. Happy last day of August. It flew by, didn't it? I accomplished a lot though and I'm happy about what I've done so far. xo

The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen

A photo from one of my books illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert

Did everyone have a nice weekend?

I am refreshed and ready to tackle more work.

Prayers for Louisiana and Ida's wrath.

Residual coming my way Wednesday & Thursday.

Be safe. xo

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar

My milkweed is almost defoliated because the leaves are being devoured by these amazing yellow, black and white striped caterpillars. I took this photo last evening when I was closing up shop downstairs. They "head-butt" when competing for food. Click here for the really interesting article with a video if you want to watch them fight. Plant more milkweed! That is all Monarch caterpillars eat. Really.

Explained here.

Basement Progress Photos (Preview)

These three photos are of the sitting/eating area of my walk-out lower level after days of rearranging. I think I have it the way I want it and after I get rid of all the stuff in the photo below. I will start a deep cleaning soon. I probably should have done that first but I didn't do anything but vacuum. Everything down there came from garage sales, thrift shops, roadside finds, and gifts from friends. The table with the tablecloth was a roadside find and it turned out to be perfect with 4 of my bentwood chairs that used to be in my upstairs kitchen. It had been stored in my furnace room and now it has a new life. I recently completed my ongoing search for all black lampshades and I am thrilled with the look. The one on the lamp with the staircase behind is dark gray.

It's so much cooler today (72° at 8:30am) and very breezy. I will try and tackle this stuff and clear the area to the back door and then I will be able to clean. The kitchen counters are piled high too😱but I will persevere until everything is spick and span and I will be so very happy. I made great progress in the bedroom too and those photos will be published soon. Have a great weekend. xo

Best Screen Door Ever

I found this photo I've been saving of a wonderful screen door. One day I want to have one made for my front door if I ever finish all of my indoor projects. See you later. Back to the salt mines. Photo from Instagram. xo

Post-tired

I am just the opposite. I have been pre-tired thinking about making my lower level wonderful again for way too long and it's coming together, finally. I am not finished yet but I'm feeling good about what I've done so far. Image from Instagram. xo

Busy as A Bee

There are no words for the tiredness of my bones. I don't think I even combed my hair because I hit the ground running this morning and never stopped. I worked in my basement and in the garage and moved mountains. I am not finished but I made a major dent. The bee above is feasting on one of my milkweed flowers. I haven't seen many butterflies this year. Wonder why? See you tomorrow. xo

Zucchini Bites: Baked & Healthier than Fried

I adore Zucchini Fritters and this recipe offers a baked version.

Here is the link for the website offering this recipe with many more photos.

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/baked-cheesy-zucchini-bites/

Enjoy! xo

Did Not Know: Our Second Heart is in Our Calves + Classical Stretch by Essentrics Exercises

I ordered two DVDs recently: Season 11 and Season 12 of CLASSICAL STRETCH | ESSENTRICS on PBS. Here is the website. Each box has 4 discs and 30 sessions so I am all set for two months of daily stretches. I am on the second disc of Season 11 called FULL BODY MOBILITY. Yesterday she mentioned that our calves are often called our second heart because they pump oxygenated blood to our heart above. I never knew this. She had me doing simple calf lifts -- up on your toes and back down again. Each daily stretching exercise is only 22 minutes long. I am enjoying them and feel that my posture has improved and other things too. Her program is on the PBS CREATE channel on Saturdays at 6am Sunday mornings twice at 6am and 6:30am if you want to check them out. I have always been strong and healthy but these exercises are mainly for connective tissue and creating long strong muscles for balance. The second DVD is entitled Aging Backward. I am not very fond of the floor exercises because I don't have a Yoga Mat and my space in front of my desktop computer isn't ideal. The exercises with a chair are okay but I love the sessions with just stretching the best. All of the exercises are slow and don't seem very hard but I work up a sweat by the end. I got my 2 sets on eBay from one seller for about $25 w/ free shipping. On PBS each set costs about $65.00.

I did some research on my own about our calves and found out she was right. I have new respect for my calf muscles now!

The website for the above photo is here. The video below is on that link too.

The link for this video on YouTube is here. This is also an ad for compression stockings at the end. Sorry about that but I really liked the animation about how the pumps in our calves operate to pump blood back to the heart. I never knew how important our calves were until now.

This is a photo of my two DVDs. 

The rain has stopped and I was up and down all night while it was coming down hoping my basement would stay dry and it did. I have only had water down there twice, once during Irene in 2010 and I can't remember the other time because it was minor. Sandy was not one of them in 2012. The one in 2010 was terrible because we had 17 consecutive days of rain and when Irene hit with her winds and downpours there was no place for the water to go since the land was already super saturated. Luckily, we did not lose power and I was able to pump the water out myself. My basement doesn't have a sump pump. Anyway, I hope everyone is safe and didn't have anything catastrophic happen in the way of Hurricane Season and Henri. xo 

UPDATE: I added two links for you to watch and try at home if you are interested in improving your balance and posture and getting strength through gentle stretching. xo

https://essentrics.com/beginners-guide/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnaxj4ejDdM

This link is for a 30 MIN Full-body Pain Relief Workout | Essentrics on YouTube

ESSENTRICS is on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/essentrics/

Look at some good stretches there!

The link below has a free 12 minute workout conducted by Miranda's daughter on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFYVfGJtT1A

UPDATE: I got up early today (Saturday) and discovered Miranda's program Classical Stretch is on PBS Create at 6am. She is on again on Sundays twice, at 6:00 & 6:30am. If you have a DVR you can record and have 3 classes for the coming week. xo

Huntboard Nook in My Kitchen

This is a corner of my kitchen, snapped this morning, that backs up to my attic staircase. My refrigerator is to the right and above that is a lookout window from my attic into the kitchen below. There are interior shutters if I want to close it off for any reason but I usually leave them open. It helps with the airflow when the central air is running and in the winter, the rising heat helps keep it warmer up there. Last night's rain from Henri wasn't too bad and for that I am so very grateful. Be safe if you are in the eye of the storm today. xo

KAREN HOLLINGSWORTH Oil Paintings

Don't you love them? I first discovered this artist on Instagram and just had to find out more. At first, I thought the realistic work was photography but learned she was a talented artist and did realistic oil paintings. See more of her work here. Her website is amazing and has many links within to see her work. Enjoy and have a great weekend. xo

 

Stormy Sky Over My Cottage

This photo is practically live since I just went outside to show you the storm clouds over my cottage. My weather app doesn't call for any more rain so I suppose they will burn off. It's not that hot outside but it's very stuffy so I am still running my central at a high setting. I didn't wake up during the very heavy rain last night, probably because my all the windows were closed and I didn't hear it. xo