Blue Footed Booby

It's almost too much isn't it? To have blue feet and be called a booby. I think they are adorable.

This made me laugh. Both photos found on Google Images. National Geographic has more information and photos on their website.

Cats Keeping Watch

This looks like a very lofty building requiring cat watchmen. via

'The Angels' by Walter Crane

I am somewhat obsessed with the artwork of Walter Crane. He was friends with William Morris and I love the Pre-Raphaelites of the Arts and Crafts Movement. I found this image on Pinterest.

I voted today in the midterm election but it's way too early to get a feel for who won. The polls don't close in NJ until 8PM. I went this morning in the pouring rain.

November: Poem and Image 1889

Harvard's Houghton Library

Please click on the link and view this lovely poem by Beatrice Crane and the illustration by Walter Crane 1889. Have you ever read a more perfect description of the month of November? I have not! This is another image I want to print and keep forever.

Perfect Cabin Bedroom

Bring on the red woolen blankets! via I redid my bedding yesterday for winter and I slept like a log last night. I found a red and white toile duvet cover in my linen closet that I had forgotten all about and had never used. I put on clean white percale sheets (top sheet was ironed) and then I put on the down comforter layer. I put the reversible duvet cover on as a bedspread and it looks so nice. It was larger than my comforter and makes the perfect spread. My bed was so easy to make up this morning and I can't wait to jump in it again tonight. Is it wrong to wake up already planning going back to bed again? I think now. It's all about getting accustomed to daylight time minus the "savings". They say it takes a week for your body to get in the new rhythm. xo

Sweetest Cottage

Low Country Cotage with Twin Porch Swings! Perfection. via

Caterpillar Feasting on A Poppy Pod

Caterpillar Absolem feasting on Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). This stunning photo is straight out of Alice in Wonderland, isn't it? I want to save it forever, I love it so. Mother Nature really outdid herself when designing this caterpillar's body and colorful markings. via

Papaver somniferum "Midnight"

Inga Moore Illustration for Wind in the Willows

Toad and his friends can now relax and enjoy a meal together.

A group of weasels had invaded toad's house and were having a party.

For many more Inga Moore illustrations of the 1908 classic story, Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame -- click here (each illustration can be enlarged by clicking on it). You have enough time to order this large story book as holiday gifts for your favorite children. You could keep a copy at your house so you can enjoy it too. xo

Cozy Living Room

I like this furniture arrangement. The antique portrait looks nice in this modern setting. via

Happy November! The rush is on to complete all the outdoor chores before it gets too cold. I just looked at the weather for the next six days and four of them show rain. Oh, dear. See you later. xo

Halloween Love Story, Illustrated

I love this charming story and the illustrations are wonderful.

Original artwork by Bree Paulsen. View them full-size here.

Halloween Pot Luck Lunch at My Office

We had our office meeting today and most of the agents dressed up for Halloween. I went dressed for a Safari Hunt with a pith helmet, binoculars around my neck, khaki pants, hunting jacket and white turtle neck. I bought the white pith helmet at the fireman's rummage sale the end of September and I have worn it several times outside when I do yard work. Our manager made turkey chili and we all brought something for a pot luck lunch after the meeting. Pictured above is the best Halloween party food that one of our agents found on Pinterest and copied. Isn't it great? People dived right in and the guacamole was gone in a flash. Happy Halloween. Don't eat too much candy. xo

Vintage Halloween Costume Photos

I love looking at vintage photos from days gone by when Halloween costumes were homemade. See more here and find your favorite. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns

So many carved pumpkins. I love the idea of putting some of them up in the tree. People really get into Halloween decorating in a big way, don't they? via

Leaded Glass Windows and Door Love

Those Windows. The Door. Do want!

Need I say more? Love.

See the building process here.

Lawn-Mowing Sheep

It looks as if these sheep are behind in their lawn mowing, doesn't it? I am waiting a little longer before giving mine the last mowing of the season. The Nor'easter yesterday wasn't bad at all in my area, thankfully, but it did bring down a lot of leaves though not enough to rake. Enjoy your Sunday and the last whole week of daylight savings time. via

Beware of the Sheep

Look at the fleece on this sheep!!! Not afraid, are you? via

Vintage Postcards for Halloween

We are supposed to have a Nor'easter tomorrow but it's as calm as can be outside right now. It's supposed to start raining at midnight and continue all night and all day Saturday. Yuck. There was supposed to be a Halloween Parade in the neighboring town that's always a lot of fun but it has been canceled so I will continue mending my sweaters. I have worn two that I mended this week and felt as if they were brand new. I am very pleased with this project. Right now, I am looking forward to watching Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages in just a few minutes. See you tomorrow. xo

Over The Bed Artwork for My Cottage

It only took 14 years to find the perfect artwork to hang over the antique bed in my guest room used as my dressing room. I found it yesterday at a thrift shop and within 30 minutes of getting it in the front door, it was happily hanging on the wall. I was standing in the doorway to get this photo and you can also see an antique tile, a hogscraper candlestick with a brass "wedding band" and a miniature chest on the table next to my bookcase.

It was very hard to photograph too. The bedspread is not pink, it's white. You can see the blue and white curtains in my bedroom through the window in this photo. This lithograph was made from an original 1987 painting by a deceased local artist. I always thought her work was very much like a Wyeth. 

I found a photo of the print entitled: "Wild Rose Berries" circa 1987 by Pauline Eble Campanelli online by searching Google Images. Don't you think it's perfect for my room? It was worth the wait and I don't mind that it's a reproduction because everything else in the room is antique. The basket and cupboard that were the subjects of the painting were antiques and I bought the framed print for a song. The frame is stained a dark green and the matting is beautiful. Score!!

See you later. xo

Laura Ingalls Wilder Quote + A Fall Cake

You can't go wrong with this advice, can you? via

I love this idea of using fall leaves to decorate a powdered sugar covered cake with something yummy between the layers. via

Wonderful Painting: Halloween Perfection

Cat in the Moonlight, (Chat au Clair de Lune) c. 1900, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen via

I love this painting. It's perfect for this time of year with a big yellow moon in the sky casting shadows every night. The artist had a great fascination with cats. See more of his works here and keep scrolling, the page of cats is positively endless!

Plants Wintering Over Downstairs

I brought in the geranium and the flowering nasturtiums over a week ago and they are both very happy downstairs looking out of the sliding glass door that gets the morning sun. I dug up the geranium that was planted in a large metal urn. The nasturtiums were grown from seeds in the center pot while the pot on the far right contains nasturtium plants I dug out of pots in my front garden on Sunday. They are still in recovery mode. I have never tried overwintering annuals but I read online that nasturtiums are a good plant to try. We shall see.

These pots are too large to display anywhere else in my cottage. Every available spot is already taken on my main floor and in the attic with smaller pots of rosemary, thyme, geraniums, lavender, and more nasturtiums. I like indoor gardening and tending plants rather than leaving them outside to freeze and die. They are very beneficial for the indoor air quality too. 

I have been very busy washing all my sweaters and mending tiny holes here and there. I started out washing two by hand in the kitchen sink. Then I noticed for the first time there was a setting for knits on my 15 year old front loading washer. I decided to try it with 4 dark sweaters turned inside out. I was thrilled with the results. My washer spins everything almost dry and the sweaters dried quickly on drying racks in my furnace room. The mending is another story. I'm so glad I have so much thread but none of it is wool. I matched the colors perfectly and took little made-up darning stitches and mended the holes almost invisibly. Nobody else will even notice and I will have a fresh wardrobe of my favorite sweaters looking brand new in a few more days.

I posted these two photos on Instagram this morning. I usually don't blog using the same pics but they will be new to those of you who don't do social media.

xo

Beautiful Bedroom

I love every single thing about this bedroom including the jointed teddy bear. The atique bed is wonderful and I especially like the plaid woolen blanket. The framed antiquarian maps look great against the grasscloth wallpaper which is on the ceiling too. How nice is that?!! I can tell this is a small room but it's packed with interest, isn't it? via

Cottage Love

This cottage ticks all the boxes, doesn't it? Talk about curb appeal, this one has it all. via

I worked outside for many hours yesterday and went to bed at dark thirty and slept the clock around plus a little more. I made a pot of organic steel cut oats for breakfast this morning and ate a huge bowl. Now I feel energized for the day. It is bright and sunny with a brisk, cold wind blowing the leaves off the trees. I don't have any concrete plans for the day yet but I'll dress for the weather and see where inspiration takes me. Enjoy your Sunday too. xo

UPDATE: Linda posted a comment that she wanted to see the inside of this cottage. I put on my detective hat and found many views of the interior HERE. There's a delightful story too about this picture perfect spring cottage. You can thank Linda for this update.
xo

Apples and Fall are Perfect Together

This is the big antique wooden charger in the middle of my kitchen farm table. It is 25-1/2 inches wide at its widest point and is out of round due to shrinkage. I love it. I bought an 8-pound bag of Cortland Apples yesterday at Wegmans, a large new grocery store just beyond Morristown. It's not a big box store but it does have family packs of certain items. Yesterday there were all varieties of apples in 8-pound bags for $5.99, what a bargain! I counted them when I got home and there were 18. I put half on the table and the other half in my crisper. They are everything I hoped they would be in an eating apple -- crisp, juicy and sweet but not too sweet. I love an apple that snaps when you bite into it and I would have been crushed had they been mushy. Now I am all set with fruit for two weeks. They don't have stickers on them either, and I like that. They remind me of the old-fashioned apples my mother and I used to pick at my oldest friend in New Jersey's house but she moved a couple of years ago and now I have to take my chances with apples and buy before I can taste them.

I put this photo on Instagram yesterday but liked it enough to put it on my blog too. I am looking forward to Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages tonight on PBS. After that, I'll watch something I have recorded because there's nothing else on that interests me. Enjoy your Friday night and have a great weekend. I turned on the furnace for the first time on Wednesday and last night it got below freezing. I am so glad I emptied all of my galvanized watering cans and put them in the garage yesterday before they froze and exploded. I learned that lesson the hard way. xo

Lily of the Valley Draperies in My Cottage

I am positive I have blogged about the draperies in my guest room/dressing room but I cannot find it. The doorway of this room is opposite the doorway into my hall bathroom. I don't have a master bath and I never wanted one in my cottage. You can stand in the hallway and look one way and see this room and turn your head and see the window in my bath with the curtains made from the leftover fabric. Now, here is the backstory. Years and years ago, when my mother was still alive, we attended a garage sale in the yard of a fabulous old house. I circled and circled the table piled high with old draperies made from the most beautiful fabric printed with a lily of the valley design. I held them up, showed them to my mom, put them back, and continued looking at all the other items that was for sale. Finally, I decided I had to have them and brought the two pairs of full-length lined window treatments home. I knew I could probably alter them to fit my two windows and I did. This is a more recent photo I posted on Instagram. They are perfect in this room and a wonderful memory of a day with my mother.

I couldn't find any old photos of the way the curtains used to look in my bathroom when they hung straight down. The black rods were like the ones above in my guest room. I did find this photo showing just the hems. I also found this photo showing some paperwhites with the fabric in the background.

Thank you for all of your comments about my car repair and your concern for my predicament while it was inoperable. I am thrilled to have it back in my driveway and today I have to do some major food shopping today and thankful I don't have to go car shopping. xo

My Car is Fixed! and A Curtain Refresh

Yes, it's true. My car is truly fixed and it seems better than ever. My friend, the mechanic, said it was really four security systems and he could see why the dealer didn't want to get involved. He said he had only installed one system in his entire career but he has removed over 500. They eventually break down and removing is the only option. I had to get a new battery too. He said to keep driving my vehicle and see what happens. That was my plan too. 

Now about the curtain in my bathroom. It is directly across the hall from my guest room that has full length curtains in the same Lily of the Valley fabric. I previously had this curtain on a black rod with ball finials that covered the side woodwork. They were parted in the center and the black rod showed and the curtains hung straight down. 

I decided to redo the top casing so there would be a ruffle on top and to hang them from a tension rod this time. I wish I had made the casing for the rod a smidge bigger so adjusting the gathers would be easier. But it worked so I am not about to get out my seam ripper. 

I decided to pull them back and experimented with a grosgrain ribbon, twill tape and ended up with organza ribbon and I love the look.

*Note: I had the overhead light fixture on to brighten the room and it was a warm bulb that makes my Lancaster Whitewash walls look beige. This window gets the morning sun from behind and never any direct sunlight on the front of the fabric.

I love the look of a sheer ribbon that does not hide any of the design. I put a ring through the fabric and made a continuous loop with a stapler. The ring is at the end hanging on a decorative nail. The panels will be easy to close in the summer when the hot sun is blazing and I want to block it to keep the house cooler. All I have to do is unhook the ring and slip the ribbon loop down to the bottom hem and completely off and reverse the process to part the panels again when the sun is on the other side of the house. 

Being without a car has been a blessing in many ways because I have gotten so much great work done without the distraction of leaving the house. You know what I mean, when you leave and come back, you sometimes lose your momentum and it's hard to get back into the swing of things.

I will catch up on my errands tomorrow. xo

Unhaunted House and A Baby Bear

It must have been a real challenge to move all those giant pumpkins and gourds, right? I hope the people grew them on their own property instead of buying them. Is it my imagination, or is this halloween/fall display blocking the front door? If so, maybe it IS haunted! via

I adore this photo of a brown bear cub with the cutest face and pose ever. I have almost finished digging up and repotting plants to winter over and I did find some "evidence" of a visit from a bear quite close to the house. I don't feed the birds or leave garbage in my can for long, so I'm not worried. Found on Pinterest. xo

Best Gate Ever

I love that the owner drilled holes in the fence for his or her two dogs. This made me laugh, so hard! via