Sunday Ramblings

A real scallop shell on a boxtop with shell engravings.

A scallop shell coat of arms photographed from my 

Royal Book of Crests.

This is the huge rock Lisa D. asked about next to the mushroom on the right that is now broken halfway up the stem. The rock was once sticking out of my driveway just enough to be a problem for a snow plow. My mason dug it up never thinking it could possibly be this big. It was very heavy too but he did it.

Such a beautiful dark blue sky today.💙

A remnant from the days when I had a clothesline.

Pine tree, needles, and a colorful leaf.

Puffball (mushroom) is looking rather like leather.

Puffball looking toward my house. 

Giant sycamore leaf. It's so much fun to walk through these leaves because they have such a satisfying crunch underfoot. 

UPDATE: I posted a video (my first story on Instagram) of me walking toward my house thru another patch of very large crunchy leaves with sound. If you want to watch, click HERE and then click VIEW STORY. 

Be sure to turn on the sound.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/contentinacottagerosemarybeck/2961198633422189598/

Are you bored yet? Please let me know.

xo

Two Favorite Things on My Wall

Two things I love that hang behind my seat on the sofa in the living room. The shadows from two antique decanters are added interest. The gold framed item is a little crooked and I have straightened it. Taking photos around my house lately is requiring a lot of straightening and dusting you know! The dog painting is oil on board and the dog is a water spaniel. I took the photo after dark on night mode.

This 18th century hand drawn pen and ink birth record is from Hanover New Jersey and records the birth dates for Ellis and Sarah Cook and their children. This is the way I bought it and I was told it was a page from the family bible. The angel drawing across the top was a popular motif to carve on early American tombstones.

Have a great weekend.

xo

Storybook Mushroom in My Evergreen Grove

This is Day 2 for the discovery of this most unusual super large mushroom and the interior orange color has gotten very pale, probably bleached by the sun. The cup is filling up with dry spruce needles.

Day 1: I discovered it yesterday (Thursday) and the interior color was much more vibrant inside.

Day 1: Looking inside.

Day 1 photographed in early morning light.

I took this one on Day 2 on Friday afternoon (today). It's very large and I have never seen anything this unusual on my property and it definitely belongs in a storybook. I wish I knew more about it. I'm just so happy I found it. 

xo

Photo Edits on My Phone

I tried a great feature on my new iPhone. I was just playing around to see what it would do when I hard pressed on a photo, copied, and saved to my photos. This is the first one I tried. I was thrilled that it did an exact outline of this urn, the stand, and the geranium without the background.

Here is the full photo!

I have my phone on DARK MODE to conserve battery power.

I had to do a screenshot of the first photo to preserve the black background. So I can also have a white background on the first photo but the black is more dramatic since the urn is white.

I love learning new things when I get a new device. I always dig deep(ly) and find out things some people never learn. 

This feature will bring new life to old photos that have distinct outlines like this poppy from two or three summers ago! I bought a packet of seeds to sow in late winter or very early spring so I will have them again next summer. I adore their crepe paper petals.

This portrait of one of my cast iron roosters is fresh out of the camera. I snapped him on my way out the door for my early evening walk down to the wayback. The camera was on portrait mode with studio lighting. He looks very proud, doesn't he? That's all folks.

xo

Views Around My Cottage

A corner of my living room. There is an opening opposite this table that leads to the kitchen area where my sideboard is located. The attic door is next to the opening and there is a coat closet where the corner is located in the lamp area. 

I have posted this recessed nook in my kitchen many times but here it is again. I got a new phone and have been testing the camera in case you are wondering why I am posting so many photos you have seen before.

TAKE YOUR DOG WITH YOU BY RAIL

I got a Christmas present in this shopping bag years ago from my good friend Stacey Snacks who has a food blog. I love this bag so much with a dog and suitcases advertising a rail line.

xo

An Accidental Insect Photo + Turtle Night Light

I went out after the rain stopped this afternoon and was taking random photos again. I didn't notice the insect until after the photo was snapped.

It was a Spotted Lanternfly and he flew away before I could squash him.

Sometimes I forget to look up. I captured the 5 minutes or so of blue sky and white clouds before it became overcast again.

This realistic tortoise night light is one of my favorite things. The body is iron and the shell is glass. I leave it on all the time down stairs and it makes me happy each time I walk by. I got it years ago at a house sale and I've never seen another one.🐢 I have a 5W bulb inside so it doesn't use too much electricity.

UPDATE: I had a special request for interior photos of my turtle lamp from Charlene. I went downstairs and took 5 more. She has a snail lamp that she thinks is similar to my turtle.

I couldn't resist posting this engraving of a snail

from my Royal Book of Crests!

xo

Monday Musings

The green ornamental kale is thriving.

One more limelight hydrangea I rooted from a cutting.

It's in the front hiding an electrical outlet in my brick wall.

I keep this tin cat face with marble eyes in my front door window almost all year long but it's especially appropriate for Halloween season🐈‍⬛🎃👻

A dog painting I got at an estate sale.

I think the dark spots in right corner are candle burns.

I am using the seat of a gothic chair as a display table.

I enjoy it so much now that it's in my line of vision next to my TV in the living room. Have a great week. 

xo

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