Sunday Afternoon Walk on My Property

There were a few raindrops falling when I started. I rooted this limelight hydrangea several years ago by pushing a pruned cutting from the mother plant into the ground and I was surprised when it started growing.

Random leaf showing some red fall color.

Giant puffball the size of a basketball in the way back.

This should have been the second photo. looking back.

Some brilliant yellow leaves with yellow berries.

Some brilliant green leaves with red berries.

If you get your snow shovels out early will the winter be milder? I got each of these shovels at garage sales for pennies on the dollar. I've often wondered if the previous owners were sorry they sold them? Just because you sell your shovel doesn't mean it will never snow again.😂

Another silhouette of the leaping stag. 

This time he's jumping over the garage.

Walk over. Photos posted. Enjoy.

xo

The Sitting Room Downstairs + Geraniums

I still haven't vacuumed downstairs but I will before the weekend is over. I have been busy digging up Dahlia beds and storing them for next spring. The ground hasn't frozen yet but the foliage is all black so today was the day for that chore.

This is the view of the easy chair with the ottoman.

My mother and I got this wonderful hanging shelf at a garage sale and I painted it long ago. It turned out to be the perfect thing to hang over the radiator with a thick piece of glass on top. 

The geraniums love this sunny spot in front of the sliding glass door. Yes, that's a draft dodger behind the tray designed for wet boots. It is the perfect size and catches any overflow when watering the plants.

I got plenty of exercise pulling and hauling and dumping dahlia stalks and cleaning up. The tubers are stored for the winter now. xo

UPDATE: There is a better photo of the easy chair and long chest with 16 drawers in one of my old posts below.

https://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/2021/04/new-acquisition-with-16-drawers.html

Emma Bridgewater's Farmhouse Oxfordshire UK

Matthew Rice, Emma's husband, working in the garden.

The exterior of Ham Court, circa 1320.

Emma and Matthew with one of the resident hens who inspire some of the pottery designs and decorations and a black lab.

A Welsh cupboard full of Emma Bridgewater pottery produced in her factory nearby.

Emma Bridgewater's Oxfordshire farmhouse 

is as lovely as her pottery click link to read

For Emma Bridgewater and her husband Matthew Rice, a shared desire to preserve skills and traditions has influenced their booming ceramics business, as well as the restoration of their farmhouse and barn in Oxfordshire. I thoroughly enjoyed the article in House & Garden UK magazine with more photos for you to enjoy too. xo

UPDATE: I found a wonderful youtube video featuring Matthew Rice, Emma's husband, and his artwork. View it HERE and enjoy. He is a great talent in his own right. xo

Random Views Around My Cottage Today

A geranium in front of one of my living room's newly washed windows looking out across the street at my neighbor's red garage/barn and some lovely fall foliage.

A bloom on a Limelight hydrange in the front.

My newly painted picket fence that houses my gas and electric meters and my air conditioning unit. I love the artichoke finial on the corner post.

Big long pinecones gathered from one of my Norway Spruce Trees.

This photo is right out of my camera phone and the sky really was this exact color. The deer in silhouette looks as if he's leaping over my kitchen wing's roof. I am so enjoying looking out on him.

Enjoy your evening or your Friday morning dependending when you open my blog. xo

 

Lytes Cary Manor, Somerset England

Lytes Cary Manor is another place that fascinates me lately.

Now owned by the National Trust, it having been passed to them in 1948 by the second owner, Sir Walter Jenner. The house is an small medieval manor house, with an attached Chapel built in 1343. Though much restored in the 20th century, the Manor offers a pleasing look back to 16th century living. More History Here

Door Knocker and Green Kale

I finally have a door knocker on my front door.

This was another job for my handyman on Saturday. It is the original antique door knocker that came on my old front door stored in my garage. It is solid and doesn't have a window. I saved all the old hardware and this antique door knocker and 21 years later it is finally back where it belongs. I polished it with stove polish and I absolutely love it. Two holes had to be drilled through the door and there were no bolts to attach on the other side. I was able to find the perfect ones that fit and completely covered the handmade screws after I wrapped them with teflon dental floss to make them a little fatter. I am so thankful I purchased various coffee cans and cigar boxes full of assorted hardware that have come to my aid so very often in home repairs. I am thrilled with this knocker and it's really loud. A friend stopped by today and I was in the far side of my house and I was able to hear her knocking so clearly. Another item checked off my TO DO LIST!

This green ornamental kale has a lovely white center. I bought 2 green ones and the other is in an urn I can see from my balcony and back kitchen window. I love this color too. Temps going down to 36° tonight. I still have things to do before the ground freezes like dig up the dahlias. They are still too pretty to do it before I absolutely have to.

xo

UPDATE: TWO PHOTOS BELOW SHOWING THE TWO PLASTIC NUTS TO ATTACH THE BOLTS TO THE INTERIOR SIDE OF MY DOOR.

When I paint these plastic "nuts" that hold on the bolts that are wrapped in Glide Dental Floss they will blend in with the door and be almost invisible.

I found two loose plastic nuts in my stash. I still have several of these complete nut and bolt sets in case I ever need them for another project. I have no idea what they were designed for. I'm just glad I had them here at home and did not have to go to the hardware store. 

I adored Rube Goldberg cartoons in the Sunday paper when I was growing up. I studied them carefully and now I figure out how to do things with what I've got. xo

Such A Lovely Day

Look carefully for the stump on the right. Click to enlarge. You can see the leaping stag very clearly. I watched him spin today when there was a little wind. 

Pam wanted to see more of the iron bird that was in yesterday's photo with my beautiful dahlia. Here it is in the birdbath showing the shallow oak leaf and a cluster of acorns. Little birds like this a lot. 

xo

Picked A Perfect Dahlia

I am just now getting a few dahlias. The summer heat and drought did not agree with them at all. I got lots of greenery but no buds until now. I'll take what I can get though. This one is particularly lovely. I had a very lazy Sunday. xo

My Deer Weathervane Finally Mounted

I had this vane on a barn at my former house. It has been stored in the loft over my garage since 2004. I had a large Chestnut tree cut down but left the stump about shoulder high. The tree was diseased with a weevil and the chestnuts were not edible. Even the squirrels wouldn't eat them last year. It was a very messy tree on the edge of my driveway always dropping something all year long. Tassels in the spring all over the roof over my kitchen and my car. They stained my balcony floor too. Then the pricker balls in the fall were especially painful to pick up after raking. Missy learned early on not to walk down the driveway after she stepped on a few. My handyman came today and flattened the mount and screwed it into the tree stump. I am thrilled. I can see this leaping deer from my side kitchen window. I am going to sprinkle black oil sunflower seeds on the stump when the weather gets colder. In the spring and summer I will put big pots of geraniums on either side. So happy.

Enjoy your Saturday evening and Sunday.

xo

Flamingo Portrait

This flamingo portrait is too gorgeous for words.

Via  

I got an early start this morning and was at the plumbing supply store when it opened. I had to get oil for my boiler pump. I have hot water heat and cast iron radiators. The pump has to be oiled regularly and one of the holes is rather large and the internet says it requires 2 tablespoons of oil. There is no easy way to measure it so I asked my pal who manages the store if I could just keep putting oil until it overflowed. He laughed and said that was what most people do. I was thrilled. Then I made several more stops and was home before lunch time. I have been working nonstop doing things in preparation for winter. I organized and folded all of my woolen blankets and put them back in the storage area on top of my closet. It looks SO nice. I have my eiderdown comforter on my bed even though it isn't quite cold enough for it. I put away all of my summer clothes and organized my closet. I worked in my utility room finally putting away all of my painting supplies. I put all the paint from my recent projects and house painting in one container. I still have quite a few old paint cans I need to get rid of so I can have the shelf space. I'm on a roll and feeling good about being organized once again. Have a great weekend.

xo

Before & After Renovation in Raleigh NC

I just cannot get over how wonderfully this renovation turned out. Found on @christiandawdesign on Instagram. There are 4 photos for you to see and you will truly be amazed. The owners must be thrilled beyond words.

It's beyond wonderful.

xo

Potted Bulbs on Dining Table with Marble Top

So pretty. The shaped marble top looks like it sits on aa piano.

But it doesn't. It's actually a top for a dining table.

See it on a House & Garden UK magazine cover here.

See Emma Grant, London Interior Designer's Instagram HERE.

Another view of her table HERE.

xo

Purple Ornamental Kale: Replacing my Geraniums Outside

I put three of these in planters in my front garden after digging up and replanting my red geraniums to overwinter in front of the sliding glass door downstairs. When the long curtains are closed, that area becomes a greenhouse and the geraniums love it. I have always preferred ornamental kale to mums outside in the fall because they are cold tolerant and are still going strong long after the first hard frost zaps the mums. 

xo

Wonderful Restored Estate in Wales

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House & Garden UK has a great article about Penny Morrison's country house in Wales and a house tour. 

The designer Penny Morrison's magical Welsh home 

She is a London-based interior designer and you will love all of the rooms featured in this article. I found the bathroom photo above elsewhere and love the draperies. The scalloped cornice and the beautiful draperies have tiny ball fringe trim if you look carefully. Love them.

Enjoy the house tour.

xo

Bunnies Peeping Over The Tall Grasses

Tour this East Hampton home on Further Lane

HERE. The landscaping is amazing with very

little mowed lawn but lots of native plantings 

looking quite wile. Love it all♡🐰🌿

Washing Windows

I washed the outside windows on the front of the house today. Yesterday I washed the living room front windows inside.

It went beautifully. I used hot water with several squirts of Dawn Ultra and several drops of the rinse aid that came with my new dishwasher. I used my long pole lambswool applicator and then used my long pole squeegee without rinsing. Then I got up on my new ladder and went over the glass with a lint free dishcloth and then I polished with a microfiber cloth. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed this task I usually dread. Having the right tools and the right ladder made all the difference. I did my front door window too. 

Yesterday I worked in the front garden and cut my peonies down to the ground. I pulled up all the weeds and planted some purple flowering kale. I want to spread some wood chips tomorrow and the garden will be officially put to bed for the winter. Having nice weather was a big plus.

xo

Nantucket Cranberry Tart Recipe

Click HERE for Recipe and more photos.

Click HERE to jump directly to the recipe.

Doesn't this look delicious? 

I love anything cranberry and will definitely bake this when bags of cranberries appear in the stores. 

xo

Mr. Doodle Does His House

Every inch of the interior is doodled too.

WATCH 'Mr. Doodle' in action HERE on Instagram

It's fun to watch him working inside, isn't it?

I wonder what the neighbors think?

Read an article on BBC.COM/news HERE.

Now that he's finished I wonder what he's going to do next now that his lifelong dream has been accomplished. Will he sell this house and buy another or live happily there forever? I'll let you know if I find out.

xo

Hiking Cat + Fall Foliage at My Cotage

This darling cat has the perfect attire for the rain I am having all day today. Maybe I should put on my orange slicker with the hood and venture out for a walk too. Image found here.

This is a snapshot showing some lovely fall color on this rainy day from my dressing room / spare bedroom window.

xo