More Repairs at My Cottage

New custom pickets to replace damaged ones.

My old cable vent, badly deteriorated. It was recycled from an old barn when I remodeled my cottage 2002-2004.

I am thrilled with my new sliding window with screen. It's really a double hung window put in sideways. It's open in this picture. The black side is the screen and the reflective glass is on the right side. I love looking out from the third floor. I have the weekend off to recover from a whirlwind week. Whew. 

Photographer on Horseback

This man rides past my cottage daily talking on his iPhone (on speaker). His hands are rarely on the reins because the horse knows the way. Today he stopped to photograph my cottage and send the photo in a text message. The horse waits patiently. This entrance to my driveway is opposite the front door.

Before / After - North Side of Cottage

BEFORE

This photo was taken before power washing showing the "real" condition of my pitiful cottage after the shutters were removed. The attic vent near the peak was rotted out, the mildew was out of control, my siding had weathered very differently due to Cabot stain failure, etc. You can see the mildew on the front too.

AFTER

I took this photo yesterday. The attic vent was replaced with a very small window that had to be installed sideways because of the structural beam on the other side. It's covered with plastic in this photo. Now I will be able to look outside when I'm working in the small room on the other side. I have it set up for wrapping packages, using my paper cutter, and other crafty things. The finished attic space on the other side of the eyebrow windows is much larger with a full dormer looking out the back. My PC is up there and this space has central air. The smaller room does not. Now I can set up a fan in the window in the summer. The shingles are only primed in this photo. The men are making replacement pickets for the ones that are damaged by rot. NOW are you impressed? I have to pinch myself every time I go outside and see the miracles being performed by my skilled craftsmen. More later so stayed tuned!

Cottage Front - White on White

The front of my cottage now has a coat of white primer. The men did it while I was out on a real estate appointment. I agonized over whether or not to go white on white and now I'm sure I made the right choice. I couldn't be happier! The fascia over the front door had to be replaced with Azek as did the fascia in front of the chimney. Good night everyone. My six thirty bullhorn wake up call will be blaring from my iPhone way too soon.

Cottage Repairs Before Painting

The white beadboard under the roofline had to be completely replaced with Azek. It is on a north-facing wall that almost never gets any sun. The product has wide boards on one side and narrow boards on the other side. This application required two horizontal long pieces. It is exactly what I had before only this will never rot. The trim around the window you see in this photo was fine but the window to the left didn't fare so well. All of the wood around that window had to be replaced with Azek except for the decorative crown on top. The old wood trim had rotted into the sheathing because of overflowing gutter water.

This photo illustrates why I am so happy I hired a firm that is capable of doing carpentry repairs prior to their paint job. Several corner boards need replacing and I was so impressed when my guys painted the edges of the shingles beforehand. I know my house was wrapped in Tyvek before the siding was put up when it was remodeled. This application on the corner looks new so the men must have added that too. They are so thorough. Sorry to have bored you but I find all of this to be so interesting. I love construction. I really should become a general contractor. See you later.

White Paint on My Cottage Preview

The primer is on the cottage. I am going to love having a white house. I love the way it looks from afar.

Here it is a little closer. The white trim on the barn/garage has been primed too.

Here it is from the driveway side. The garage is on the right. I have the very best painter/carpenters and I am so lucky to have found them. The four of them work so well together and they really know what they are doing. I am so happy -- I just wish I could keep them. Smile. Now I am ready to clean up the kitchen and tuck myself in and watch BROADCHURCH on BBC America. Good night all. Click photos to enlarge.

Turning Over A New Leaf

Just a quick morning post to show you I'm still alive. Not much red yet in the leaf turning business. Mostly brown and yellow. See you later. Have to get this show on the road before my home repair/painting workers arrive.

My Scary Cottage

I was looking at some very old photos on my iPhone deleting many of them when I ran across this night shot of my cottage against a winter sky. It looks like a Halloween cottage for sure. All this photo needs is a witch on a broom riding past the moon. Another day with carpenter/painters and so much was done. I am thrilled. It's looking a lot less scary in the daylight around here. Good night. Pooped. 

Blue Chickory Flower

Snapped with my iPhone yesterday. It's the only chickory flower blooming at this time after a whole field full in late summer. I'm loving the square photo format on my camera phone for images like this.

The Life of George Eliot - A Most Dangerous Woman

Looking forward to seeing this play next week at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. I photographed this wonderful graphic ad in a restaurant last week.

"This world premiere explores the extraordinary life of Mary Ann Evans — better known by her pen name George Eliot. An outcast living a socially unconventional life, Evans was forced to write under an assumed name, not only to escape having her work judged by virtue of her gender, but to avoid having it judged by virtue of her scandalous life. Ironically, her success as George Eliot only led her deeper and deeper into a world of secrets and deception."

The play will give new meaning to this incomplete set of books in my bedroom bookcase. I bought them long ago for their bindings and now I might even read them!

Praying Mantis

Too tired to post. Carpenters came at 8am. Left at 6pm. Mountain have been moved. More wood on the ground than on the house. Just kidding but it was amazing how much damage this poor cottage had to its wood. Two front fascias have to be replaced. Using Azek this go round. Gutters had to be removed. More later. I don't think I ever showed you this photo of my praying mantis. Good night.
PS...Click photo to enlarge. It really is an alien. My Photo

Courtyard Patio w/ Flagstone Hopscotch

I found this photo on the MLS when I was searching sold properties near me. Isn't this a great idea? Look closely and you will see the impressed numbers on the stones arranged in a hopscotch pattern. I grew up loving this game, didn't you? Jacks, jump rope, and hopscotch were my favorites. This patio is perfect for all three. my image upload

Square Chestnuts

Fooled you, didn't I? The chestnuts aren't square but the photo is. That's one of the cool new features of IOS7 on my iPhone. You can choose regular, square or Pano before you take the picture now. I chose square for this one and didn't have to do any playing around with photo editing afterwards. My workers are here now taking down gutters, sanding, and who knows what else. I was out with Webster earlier and saw him eating the chestnuts, shells and all. I hope they aren't poison. He seemed to be enjoying them immensely. Checked, they are not toxic to dogs, cats, or horses. Mine are American Chestnuts. 

Power Wash Weekend

My cottage after a day of power washing yesterday.

He and I are both exhausted from power-wash Saturday. The house and barn/garage look fantastic. My workers were amazing and worked without stopping from 8am until about 5:30 in the afternoon. They were the only people I interviewed who didn't use bleach. My guys used Simple Green House and Siding Cleaner. One guy went around first with a backpack sprayer or a hand-held sprayer and sprayed it all surfaces and the guy with the power washer went behind him in due time. The power wash solution had Simple Green in it too. It is safe for all surfaces and is non-toxic to pets and plantings. It worked wonders on my mildew staining. Webster supervised from inside. The house looks fabulous. My photo above looks perfect but there is a lot that needs to be attended to. The front fascia has deteriorated and will be replaced with Azek. They are coming back tomorrow at 8am to start on carpentry repair work. 

Webster had a nice weekend. Henry spent several nights here and they had so much fun together. He's no trouble at all. I have had a pretty relaxing Sunday and I'm planning on tucking in early to watch the Emmys. I backed up and updated my iPhone 4S and iPad to IOS 7 and so far, I like it. See you tomorrow.

Charming Engrance

The slightly recessed arched door is perfectly framed by a beautiful flowering vine or climbing roses. It's absolutely beautiful and very charming. The old brick outbuilding is quite interesting too. Don't you want to open the gate and see more? I certainly do. via Have a great weekend.

Wonderful Quote by Albert Einstein

'A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." ~ Albert Einstein via

A Yawn from The Wonder Dog

Webster is ready to call it a day and so am I. We had the plumber here today and all went well. He will be back when the part he had to order comes in. It's so nice to have all my faucets working nicely without dripping. I had most of them turned off entirely. The furnace has been checked and serviced and it was fine. Webster and I are taking care of Henry, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel and he went to bed long ago. We have worn him out completely. The house is being power washed tomorrow so I guess the painting will start next week. This week I've had electricians, a plumber and a gutter repair person who knows what must be done but hasn't started yet. My punch list is slowly shrinking. Yay. Good night. We'll see you tomorrow.

The Leaves Are Falling All Around

The autumn leaves are falling

Yellow, Brown and Red

They patter softly like the rain

One landed on my head.

But when the sleep of winter comes

They settle down to rest

And Mother Nature tucks them in

with snow

As she thinks best.

That was the first poem my brother had to memorize in first grade and I helped him learn it. For some reason, I've always remembered it. My mother remembered it too and we would recite it together every fall. image source

Classic Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Fall and Pumpkin Pie are perfect together. I love the oak leaf and acorn cutouts made from piecrust scraps on this one.

Photo and Recipe from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
Pre-baked and cooled deep-dish piecrust (Click here for recipe.)

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 375ºF.

In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cream and milk and whisk to combine.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked piecrust and bake until the center is set, 60 to 65 minutes, covering the edges of the crust with aluminum foil after 30 minutes if they brown too quickly.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool completely, at least 2 hours, before serving. Serves 10.

Williams-Sonoma Recipe Kitchen.

To add a fanciful finish to this pumpkin pie, use decorative cutters to create autumnal shapes from rolled-out pie dough. If desired, use the tip of a paring knife to create details on the cutouts, such as veins on the leaves. Then bake the cutouts and place them on the baked and cooled pie. When preparing this pie, be sure to use a deep-dish pie dish.

Perfect Porch with Fireplace

WOW, some of my favorite things all in one place. Woolen blankets, a covered porch, and an open fire in a proper raised-hearth fireplace instead of a pit. What a great spot to rock and read and enjoy the outdoors while warming yourself. YES. via