The Toadflax Children in WINTER STORY by Jill Barklem

Winter Story is a 1980 children's book, the final of the four seasons of Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge series. In the book the biggest snowstorm in years leaves enough snow for an ice ball. The Economist review of books described the book as a "Beatrix Potter through Brambly Hedge", "mousy little tales with beautiful, busy drawings". via

The Big Reveal: Roman Shades Are Hung

Daytime view when partially raised.

 

I had to do a little adjusting of the length of certain cords on the back to make them hang straight. It took me quite a while to figure this out but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were these Roman Shades. 😂

This photo was taken on the first morning after I lowered them the night before. The room was warmer than it would have been otherwise. It was 10° outside but the skies were clear and the sunrise was bright. Did you notice I have "draft dodgers" below each door?

I really wasn't fond of the feel of the room.

It felt like a hotel room.

I am still getting used to them in the fully extended length. Having a warmer room is a big plus and it will be much cooler in the summer to block the blinding sun. I much prefer them raised and if I were willing to sacrifice warmth and coolness they could easily stay in this position all the time. 

When raised to conceal the top two rows of glass, the sun glare that has always bothered me is eliminated. I found a label on the back of the cornices with the name of the factory that made these shades that were constructed in 2006. Anderson Fabrics, Inc. Blackduck, MN 565630

I'm glad I didn't have to choose the fabric and the design of these window treatments. I am much better at restoring and repurposing something that already exists. I'm that way with houses too. I can work with one with good bones but have never wanted to build from scratch.

This exercise has made me give new admiration for the work professional designers do for their clients. Window treatments have to be one of the hardest tasks and the installation is another nightmare. Getting the completed projects to hang perfectly is no easy task and listening to the customers complain is another. It must take a lot of hand holding. Anyway, I have nobody to blame but myself when something I do doesn't turn out as expected and that almost never happens. I research everything to death and work out projects in my head before I start anything. So far, so good and I am basically thrilled with this project. Sigh of relief. xo

Bundle Up: It's COLD Outside🥶🐾🐾

This adorable photo made me smile.

I woke up to 10° this morning.

There is bright sun though.

I hung my Roman Shades myself yesterday.

I have them all the way down.

The sun is blasting through and I have no glare.

I will post photos later.

I can't get a decent photo yet.

Have a great Sunday.

xo

Roman Shades Final Pressing

I removed all the pins yesterday and ironed my toile Roman shades and I am thrilled by how nice they look.

Now I can really appreciate how fine they are. I have never attempted sewing such complicated window treatments from scratch and these are exceptionally well made. The toile is lined, there is a clear plexiglass rod in a channel between each pleat, and the rear rings are attached at the top of each rod casement. I padded my ironing board with a thickly folded flannel sheet and I was able to iron the draped folds without a crease. I had to work quickly for fear of melting the rings.😱

I am patient and just worked one step at a time. I have never understood exactly how Roman shades worked but now I do. Today I'm going to wash the windows on the inside of the two doors and then I will be ready for hanging. Stay tuned. 

All of my snow has melted and there is bright sun and blue skies today. My area was spared the ice too but it's cold outside. Have a nice weekend and be careful where you walk if old man winter was not kind to you. xo

Still Working on a Sewing Repair Project: Roman Shades

I bought these two Roman Shades in a lovely toile fabric at the Fireman's sale in 2019 hoping I could use them. This year I felt I could tackle the project and I am almost at the finish line. I just have to try and iron out all the wrinkles and get my handyman to help me hang them on the French doors that open to my balcony overlooking the rear of my property.

I love this country print in black and cream.

A closer view of the last panel that ends in black grosgrain ribbon that has been box pleated. This panel had the same print on the rear side that was badly sun faded so I made a white panel to cover that damage for each shade.

Here is that back panel in bright white. I had to replace 50 of the "O" rings that had cracked and split from sun damage. The ones I ordered are UV protected and that shouldn't happen again. All of the two middle rows required replacement but only several of the two outside rows. I can't tell you how many times I stabbed my self with a needle doing this part of the repair.

Top looking down showing the pull cords and the wrinkles.

The cord pulling mechanisms.

A closer view of the bottom panel with the last pleat flipped back. I am almost on the home stretch. The worked in front of the TV in my living room for the sewing of the rings. Then I moved to the farm table in my kitchen to work on restringing the cords. I actually worked there when I put pins on all the pleats to hold them in place before I did anything.

Yesterday I set up my ironing board at the end of the farm table to help me with with the design and cutting out a sewing pattern for the rear panels. After I cut and measured and ironed all the seams under, I went to the attic to sew the margins. I ended up having to use a stapler to attach them because the fabric layers were too thick to hand sew. What an adventure but I am pleased with the outcome. I worked off and on for the better part of at least 10 days and it's been a great winter project. I am bothered by the blinding sun I get in the summer from sunup until early afternoon and these will be a big help to keep my living room cooler. I have a glare problem in the winter and the two glass doors let out a lot of my heat. I will probably raise them as much as possible for morning glare and maybe drop them completely at night to prevent heat loss. I'm just taking this one step at a time to see what works. I will post photos when they are hung. xo

Clothes Brushes in My Collection

These brushes are near my clothes closet in the bedroom I use as a dressing room. It has taken years to put together and I am finally satisfied. The one on the far left is my latest acquisition and my favorite. It has a long wooden handle that will reach behind me to brush off my clothes from one shoulder to the other. The long soft bristles pick up any hairs that might be there. My mother used to brush me off whenever I asked her and now I have the perfect brush for doing that myself. The brush beside it has stiffer bristles and is made by "Stanley". It's good for pilling on sweaters and dust on suede shoes. The tiniest one has very stiff bristles by "Coach" for shoes and handbags too. The long brush next to the tiny one by "Mohawk" is sometimes used with the dustpan for floor spills. The two at the top have natural Ebony handles and pure bristles. They are made by "Royal" in Japan. My mother spotted them for me at an estate sale long ago.  

Now you know what to look for if you want to expand your own collection of clothes brushes for good grooming. It is very foggy this morning and very warm with a soft rain. The rain will continue all night with warm temps above freezing. There might be some ice on Saturday morning. Take care if you are in the path of this winter storm. xo

Inside My Cottage

Just a random shot inside my cottage on my way to the kitchen for more coffee and an English muffin. I can't even watch any more weather reports. My phone says we are having rain all day Thursday and Friday starting after midnight tonight. Maybe all the snow will melt before it gets cold again and turns to ice over the weekend. If the dreadful winter storm is in your area, be safe. Just stay inside if you can. I am extremely fortunate to be able to do so and I can always find something to do. xo

A VALENTINE CARD to Make DIY Free Pattern

Hello February. My month of no holidays is over and there is plenty of time for making Valentines. I found this free download and I love it.

Free Valentine Pattern

Printing PDF instructions here full size.

I have always loved "hand in heart" Valentines. 

Send to someone you love. 

❤️xo❤️ 

1938 Box of White Chalk: Clever Packaging🤡

Isn't this fantastic packaging? 

It made me smile when I saw it on Instagram a while back. @anonymousworksinc It's a wonder this 80+ year old box survived in such good condition to make us smile on the last day of January. xo

Firewood Quote

I've never heard this firewood quote.

found on Tumblr

The Henry Ford quote is more familiar.

Image found here.

Saturday Snow: Not Too Bad

View from my pantry window.

View from my Living Room window.

I am going to wait until the flurries stop this afternoon. Then I will shovel my front walk and clean off my car. I don't have to go anywhere and there will be bright sun all day tomorrow. It is cold and windy and would probably blow back if I do my walk too quickly. I did all of my errands yesterday requiring a car trip and made a new pot of soup. That's about it for my Saturday morning. Be safe and snug if you are snowed in too. xo

Two Rose-ringed Parakeets Peeking from Tree Cavity

Isn't this a spectacular photo of two beautiful birds peeking out of a tree cavity where they are nesting. It's Mother Nature at her best. Photo found here. The snow that is supposed to be coming my way hasn't started yet. It might be a little or it might be a lot. I'll just have to wait and see. xo

Currently Watching: Inspector Alleyn on Tubi

I am watching on Tubi

https://tubitv.com/series/300007631/the-inspector-alleyn-mysteries

The aristocratic Detective Chief Inspector Alleyn and his Scotland Yard assistants investigate a series of crimes with the detective moving casually through the world of high society. Each episode is a complete murder case that is solved so you can watch and not have to keep up with the previous episode.  DCI Alleyn wears the most beautiful double-breasted suits and he is never disheveled. He's very well educated with impeccable manners and a keen eye for detail. His love interest, an artist named Troy, is in every episode.

Please note that the lead actor that plays Alleyn in episode one is replaced by another actor in all the subsequent episodes. When BBC picked up the pilot the actor from Season 1, Episode 1 was not available. This confused me no end so I will spare you from wondering what happened. 

Brenda recommended this series in the comments below my post about MONARCH OF THE GLEN. I finished that series and LOVED it and now I am loving Inspector Alleyn Mysteries. It is free on Tubi. I think it's on Amazon Prime too and maybe YouTube. I promise you will like it.

Bathroom with Painted Floor

This bathroom is pretty wonderful, right? See the entire Rustic Mountain House here. Gil Schafer, architect.

Dachshund Love Posters

Both of these posters appeared on my Pinterest feed this morning. I will keep you posted on my vacuum cleaner repair later today.

xo

Taking Apart My Vacuum Cleaner

The brush roller stopped working on my vacuum cleaner last week and I decided to try and fix it myself. I found a wonderful YouTube video that taught me how to take the base apart. There was one screw I never would have found by myself. I have it all apart but I cannot find my wire strippers anywhere. I called a friend who often helps me with my tractor and he's bring his over tomorrow. Fingers crossed it will work after this small switch is disabled by cutting the wires. Every video I watched said this was the most likely problem. So many people thanked this wonderful man for making the video and everybody was able to make this simple repair. xo

UPDATE: I did it. Vacuum cleaner is better than ever. Now the brush roller spins all the time but that's fine. I couldn't be happier. I made a template of the base out of cardboard and pushed the screws in the correct location as I took them out. This made reassembly a snap. I had to use three different screw drivers but I have a zillion tools so that was not a problem. I called my local vacuum repair store and he said Shark vacuums didn't have very many replacement parts. They want you to replace the whole base. He offered to look at it but I decided to keep looking for a tutorial and lucked out. I have lots of attachments and this vacuum cleans really, really well. It is a "lift away" and would still have worked without the base but now I have restored it back to better than NEW condition. xo

Small Brown Transferware Dish + A Shell

I was rummaging through a large storage bin in my attic looking for something I could not find but discovered this display stand instead. I remember finding it at an estate sale thinking I could find a use for it and I finally did. It was designed for displaying a cup and saucer and this shell fit in the cup holder very nicely. My shallow transferware shallow bowl/dish with an Aesthetic Movement design fits nicely in the saucer holder. 

I found a link describing this pattern called Beatrice.

Larger view on my small bookcase.

Have a great Sunday.

xo

Birds and Icicles

I don't have icicles but I my land is like the frozen tundra from so much melting and freezing. I'm not complaining though since I have no place I have to be and can enjoy a lovely weekend inside. The path to my mailbox is clear and so is my front walk so I am not in any danger of slipping and falling. Stay safe and warm and be careful if you venture out. xo

photo found here

Free Online Book Borrowing Site

Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, 

building towards a web page for every book ever published.

https://openlibrary.org/

Promise me you will click on this link. You will be blown away by the variety of books to borrow and read on your iPad, computer, laptop, phone, or Kindle. 

https://openlibrary.org/subjects

Browse by subjects using the above link. 

This is just a screenshot I made to make you smile. xo

Today's Snowfall at My Cottage

All of the previous snow melted completely yesterday and I went to the grocery store for the first time in 2022. It rained overnight and turned to snow at dawn. It stopped around 11:00 and I cleaned everything in a jiffy. I walked around outside taking photos and this is the only one I really liked enough to share. So far, so good this winter as far as I am concerned. If I don't have to call anybody with a snowplow, it's a good day for me. I made a big pot of soup yesterday so I am all set for several days of not having to cook. Happy Thursday. xo

Book About Cats Trying To Be People

"Little purr-purr people, and how they tried to be folks"

Published in 1887

This charming children's book has been digitized. 

You can read it online. 

https://archive.org/details/littlepurrpurrpe00bozp/mode/2up

Enjoy it yourself or read it to someone! 

xo

Hand-Written Recipe for Meringues

These are the best meringues you will ever make.

V is for Vanilla

Always have paper and pen at the ready in case someone wants to share a recipe with you! Charlie McCormick is my favorite on Instagram. He grows and exhibits the most beautiful dahlias ever. And he bakes the most spectacular things for teatime! Here is his Instagram link. https://www.instagram.com/mccormickcharlie/

Here is the link for this particular recipe: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMZ3HvqhlRP/

Enjoy! xo