First Cool Day Today (Friday)

After running my central AC for three straight days, I an happy to report it has now been turned OFF. I am thrilled to be enjoying an overcast day after an overnight rain. My windows are now wide open and the birds are singing. I always turn off the AC at night and run this vintage oscillating fan that sounds like a freight train but doesn't keep me awake. The lowest setting should be labeled hurricane, so it does a great job😂 Don't worry, it's safe because I had it professionally rewired.

I got an email from a friend this morning. She was unable to sign up for the new emails on her iPad so I did it for her. If you are having trouble too, let me know in the comments and I will sign you up from this end. You will get a confirmation email to finish the process. All I need is the first three or four letters/digits of your email address. If you were an old subscriber, I should be able to find you on the email list I downloaded from Feedburner. If you are a new subscriber/follower, I will need your complete email address. 

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Hello JULY + Stunning Alabama Home

This home in Birmingham, Alabama stopped me in my tracks. Have you ever seen landscaping so well designed, planned, and executed? It is really absolute perfection, isn't it? I love the wall and arched entrance to the back garden, both made of brick and painted white to match the home. I wonder if that was added later or original to the brick home? Found on Instagram with more photos of this house on the post.

HELLO, JULY

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I subscribed to my own blog yesterday to see what the new emails will look like and I'm very pleased. I still got my old email from Feedburner last night at almost 10pm which is going away some time in July. This is a partial screenshot of the NEW email subscription above. It arrived this morning. There is a place to unfollow (unsubscribe) in case you don't like it. When you discover that you are no longer getting the old emails you can follow/subscribe to this new site. Thanks so much!!! xo 

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New Way to Subscribe to My Blog by Email and Get New Post Notifications

I am thrilled to inform all of my followers I found a new way for subscribing to my blog and still receive email notifications for new posts. I subscribed myself and it's easy. Look at the screenshot above and see the new white box above my photo. Fill in your email and click the black subscribe button. A notice will come up that you have been sent an email confirmation. When you open your email you will click the green box to scribe to my blog. 

Thanks in advance. I wish I could notify each and every one of you individually but that would require almost 900 daily emails. This new subscription site with email notifications is offered by a site called follow.it

Starting in July 2021 you will no longer get email notifications the old way because they will be discontinued. 

You must sign up again using the box I have added to my sidebar. You will have to do this on your desktop or laptop computer. The sidebar on my blog does not appear on a mobile device.

Thanks so much!!!!!!!❤️♡❤️

xo, Rosemary

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Remembering the Old Ways

Don't you love this photo? I found and started following Michelle Clare @rememberingtheoldways on Instagram. I also love the quote that accompanied this image.

“We cannot stay home all our lives, we must present ourselves to the world and we must look upon it as an adventure.” ~ Beatrix Potter.

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NOTE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO READ ME FROM EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS: Beginning in JULY, for some reason Google Feedburner is discontinuing EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS of my new blog posts. You will have to bookmark my blog or put a shortcut on your desktop and search for me yourself 😥 

If you don't know how to do those things you can just google me using these searches words "content in a cottage" to find my blog.

I do post almost every day, usually in the morning. Thank you to all of my followers. So sorry about this but it's out of my control.

xo, Rosemary

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Mice Making Rose Petal Jam

"Making Rose Petal Jam" -- From Brambly Hedge, written and illustrated by Jill Barklem. 

Brambly Hedge is a series of illustrated children’s books recounting the adventures of a community of self-sufficient mice who live together in the tranquil surroundings of the English countryside. Jill Barklem: 05.23.1951-11.15.2017

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Sunday at My Cottage

These chairs are under my balcony for shade and protection from rain. I took this photo earlier this week. I did a few Snapseed edits to bring out the sky.

This photo is right out of my phone with no edits. My lacecap hydrangea is giving me such pleasure this year.

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

This adorable photo makes me sleepy just to look at it. I love the dog and the chintz fabric on the sofa and pillow. Here's hoping you have a lazy first weekend of summer. I feel a nap coming on later. xo

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One Poppy per Day

There are a lot of Snapseed edits in my photo of a single poppy after a rain. I forgot to sow my saved poppy seeds and only one plant reseeded itself this year. I have a seed packet to sow in the fall or very early spring. Have a great weekend.

xo, Rosemary

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Anne Hathaway's Cottage, wife of Shakespeare

The cottage of William Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway. This photo couldn't be lovelier, could it? via From the late 1580s, William Shakespeare started to divide his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London; his family and professional lives. Shakespeare's wife and children remained in Stratford and he made most of his financial investments in his home town.

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Moon Tonight at My Cottage

This iPhone photo doesn't capture the beauty of tonight's moon but here it is anyway. I added a filter to make it look like a vintage photo and I like it. I mowed two days ago and tomorrow I shall do the front. So as the story book says, "Goodnight Moon" and I'm off to my bedroom. xo

This is the original photo before editing with SNAPSEED, a free App that is amazingly powerful. I decreased the highlights, increased the ambiance and I probably decreased the exposure too. I used "healing" to get rid of the white dot at the base of the trees that is a bluebird house. I used healing to get rid of the dead branches slightly above he bird house.  I used "Vintage" to get the old-fashioned photo feel. I will look for a tutorial online to help you with Snapseed. It's available on Google Play and Apple App Store. The iPhone has built-in photo editing that is great too. I sometimes start there and finish on Snapseed. xo

I found a 15-minute YouTube Video Tutorial that will teach you on how to use SNAPSEED to edit the photos on your phone.

After watching the video, I added another edit with Snapseed using Curves and got a sky I like better. xo

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Best Conservatory Pool House Ever

With or without a pool, this conservatory is perfection, agreed?

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Stunning Architecture

So much to love in one photo. I just finished three hours of mowing so I can appreciate this lawn and simple plantings that do not detract from the architecture. via

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Natural Lawn

This is beyond charming. The perfect summer yard! xo

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Bunny Melon Designed Guesthouse for Jackie O.

This Gem of a Home in Virginia Was Originally a Guesthouse for Jackie O. Designed by Bunny Mellon, it's full of inventive compartments and time-worn finishes By Etta Meyer. Photography by Stacy Zarin Goldberg July 11, 2018 

Read the article and see many more photographs of the interior in Architectural Digest

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Quilter's Potato Salad Recipe

I photographed this recipe from one of my oldest and most favorite cookbooks, THE OLD-FASHIONED COOKBOOK by Jan McBride Carlton. It was published in 1975 and I grab it first when looking for a recipe. 

When I prepare this potato salad, I mix the hot dressing over the potatoes that have been cooled slightly in cold water but are still hot. I leave the red-skin peeling on and cut into cubes before cooking. The dressing makes this dish. Try it and let me know if you like it. I always get compliments when I bring it to a pot luck. People love it and are always surprised that it is somewhat sweet. Anyway, try it with the sugar the first time around. It's a fabulous recipe for the 4th of July or for Father's Day this weekend. xo

Here is a used book search with some very inexpensive prices if you want to buy a copy. The American First edition is earlier (1975) than the English one published in 1984. 

The illustrators also "wrote" a delightful children's book. Thanks, Mundi for mentioning OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS AT MAPLE HILL FARM in the comments. xo❤️

https://permies.com/t/34679/Book-Review-Animal-Friends-Maple

 

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HILL TOP: Beatrix Potter's Farmhouse

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If you happen to find yourself in the Lake District, be sure to visit Beatrix Potter's house. Large view of the photo below and more photos in this Lake District link. Enjoy your virtual visit. xo

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Old House Renovation Before & After

The operative word in the phrase "gut renovation" is the first one — it takes real guts to strip a house down to the studs, then build it back up again. Especially if you're new parents, like Lisa and Mark Hellman were (to then-infant daughter Avery) when they found their 106-year-old home, situated on a former chicken farm near Jeffersonville, New York. Not only had the sprawling 6,000-square-foot building been converted into six apartments, but by the time the Hellmans discovered it, the ramshackle residence had stood abandoned for 25 years.

Beneath the exterior's yellow asbestos shingles, Lisa and Mark Hellman discovered well-preserved clapboard, which they painted with Benjamin Moore's Flat White. The couple also had the roof and all 57 windows replaced, and the porch torn down and rebuilt.

Lisa and Mark Hellman, in a yearlong, top-to-bottom-renovation, restored this 106-year-old home to its former glory, creating a pastoral family retreat in upstate New York. See before and after photos of their intensive restoration and decorating. See the slideshow with more before and after photos via Country Living.

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Plant Stand with Geraniums

I have had the black antique plant stand forever and I could never find the right place for it until last Sunday when I discovered it would fit perfectly between the sliding glass door and the window on the lower level. I already had the geraniums on the top. I picked up four more today at the grocery store, repotted them in terracotta pots, and I am thrilled.

I got the pair of aluminum chairs on the Nextdoor App over the winter the day after I got plowed out when we had 24 inches of snow on the ground. I love them in this setting. Isn't it funny when things come together after years of being in limbo? 

Morning shadows. I love the chair shadows on Wednesday morning at 10:00, looking down from my balcony.♡

Beautifully Located Swimming Pool

Leaving the lovely old tree instead of cutting it down just makes this pool all the more lovely. A bit of shade instead of hot broiling sun all around is always a good idea. via

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