Sorta, Kinda, Almost A Dutch Door

Can you even imagine having this door and a thatched roof as well? This isn't a dutch door but it has a hinged door within a door for peeking to see who is on the other side. It's pretty wonderful as is this straw cottage. via

Floating Daisies

I took one of my photos from this summer and somehow darkened the background without losing the two daisies and then cloned out the few blades of grass that remained to get these floating daisies. I'm sure I could never figure out what I did again....but I like the end result.

Boris the Cat

Meet Boris.

He is Piggy's cat.

I photographed him this afternoon. He has a new "Lion Cut". The gray fur you see on his chest in the top photo is very short. Some day soon I'll try to get his whole body. He looks really cute and he's huge. I'll find out the breed too.

Things to Love About Fall

via

Yet Another Dutch Door

I've never met a dutch door I didn't like. via

Nothing Changes

So true. via

In Praise of Fall Flowering Shrubs

I photographed this hydrangea today in the contrast of the noon-day sun and played around with it using one of my photography apps. It looks very old fashioned, doesn't it?

This is the same photo without any filters. 

Webster and I are going to bed very soon. I'm tempted to leave the dishes in the sink but I'll hate myself in the morning when I wake up and feel as if I'm a day behind before my feet hit the ground so here I go to the kitchen sink.

Goodnight.

Old Maps for Photo Corners

I love this idea of using old maps for scrapbooking. I always buy old atlases at house sales. via Martha Stewart

A Beautiful Succulent

I took this photo yesterday with my iPhone and did no processing whatsoever. This is straight out of the camera or should say straight out of the mobile phone. I love my iPhone 4S (new last year) and I can't imagine wanting to trade for another model anytime soon unless the camera were dramatically better. I use it more for the camera than for the phone part, but the latter has really increased my productivity with real estate. I saw some amazing homes today. I'm off to the dentist in a few....see you later.

A Stamp for Travelers and Stamp Collectors

Here is another etching I made from a photograph of a book cover using this app for iPhone and iPad. It's so much fun!

I overslept this morning and I already had this post ready to go. I have a zillion things to do today too.

Walk and feed a friends dogs before my office meeting, go on open house tours, open a house so an architect can take measurements, go to the dentist. Oh dear! I might not see you again until much later.

Webster is Tucking in Now

Snowhill Lavender Farm, Cotswolds UK

Could anything be more beautiful? It's in Broadway, one of my favorite spots in the Cotswolds. via

Gardening Motif Etching

I have so much outside work to do but decided to make a garden-motif etching instead. I love it and hope you do too. I have to put all of my watering cans in the garage soon so they don't collect water that expands when it freezes causing them to leak. I learned this the hard way.

Fabulous kitchen in a London townhouse designed by architect Philip Wagner via How great would it be to actually live in a townhouse anywhere, but especially in London?

WEBSTER SAYS GOODNIGHT

We are both pretty tuckered out from pulling up crabgrass this afternoon. I pulled and Webster hunted for snakes but he didn't find any. Goodnight from both of us. See you tomorrow.

Meet a Few of the Cake Ladies

‘Not even our husbands knew!’

This is a really amazing and uplifting story about a group of 9 women in West Tennessee who decided to iron their husband's shirts and use the laundry money for baking pound cakes for needy families. It WILL make you cry.

Read all about the women who have been secretly delivering cakes to underprivileged families for over 30 YEARS via the Positive Press Daily.

Marlo Thomas wrote an even longer version of this story here.

Shelf or Bracket Fungi Growing on Tree

I photographed this beautiful large fungi on the base of a tree yesterday. I don't know if all the rain we have had lately is responsible or not but I am always glad when I run across a giant grouping.

Dogs In and On the Car

This is one of my iPhone photos converted to an etching. I love the way it looks. Do your dogs like to ride in the car? It's Webster's favorite thing to do. Sometimes I just open the tailgate and let him take naps in the back. That's his second favorite thing to do. 

Potatoes for Saturday Supper

 

This is all we had for supper tonight. I left the skins on, cut them in half, and roasted these potatoes on top of the stove instead of baking them in the oven. They were delicious. We had a healthy quinoa salad with black beans and corn for lunch so these potatoes served with a little butter and sour cream were all we needed for the evening meal. 

I can't begin count the number of times I opened and closed the windows today and wiped off the window sills. We had so many short but heavy showers. It's a lot cooler too.

Goodnight everyone. See you tomorrow.

Outbuilding with Ivy and Without

I blogged about my friend's delightful outbuilding earlier in the spring (here's the post) and everyone wanted to see it again when the ivy had leaves. 

You can view the excellent bones of the building with the bare vines; that's one of my favorite things about late fall and winter when all the leaves are off the trees.

my photos

Lighthouse in Norway

An amazing tiny lighthouse on the island of Tjøme, Norway via

White on White Traditional Exterior

Traditional Exterior design by New York Architect Beinfield Architecture PC. I don't think I've ever seen white shutters on a white exterior but I think it looks beautiful here, don't you? via