Blog Action Day 2009 ~ Queen Elizabeth Fights Climate Change . . .

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at Balmoral. Her Royal Highness has instructed her police bodyguards to trade their gas-guzzling Range Rovers for black mountain bikes whenever possible.

The switch to bicycles is designed to reduce fuel consumption and establish a greener way of guarding the Royal Family during their summer break. The officers are pleased to be getting good workouts and saving fuel at the same time.
This is nothing new for Queen Elizabeth; she started going green more than two decades ago. The main castle's boilers have been converted to burn wood chips instead of oil and she is said to go around Buckingham Palace switching off the lights. Good for her!

The Queen's company, The Crown Estate, has purchased the world's largest offshore wind turbine known as the Britannia project. The company is also involved in the development of offshore windfarms in Scottish waters.

I think it is wonderful that she is so proactive instead of just sitting back and leaving the problem of global warming for Charles to take care of on his watch.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

Keep working hard to reduce your carbon footprint. We all share the same planet and it's in pretty bad shape right now. Thanks for stopping by the cottage. ♥Rosemary

Piano Stairs in Stockholm, Sweden . . .

The experiment worked. Make it fun and more people will choose to get their exercise by walking up the stairs instead of using the escalator. Reminded me of Tom Hanks in the movie BIG playing that foot-operated piano keyboard.

Thanks for stopping by the cottage for a little fun today. ♥Rosemary

Ramblings about the cottage . . .

My leaves don't have this much color and have just started turning loose. Not enough to rake yet. I plan on doing a good mowing as soon as it is dry enough after today's predicted rain.

I got this miniature painted rocker at a house sale for almost no money several years ago. I love it.

I didn't get poison ivy even once this year and I'm so pleased. Maybe the horrible case I got 2 years ago helped build up my immunity. Hope so!

Webster would be right at home with this gang of tv-watching dogs. Of course he'd have to have a cusion and a blanket.

I scanned this image from one of my books and made this illustrated gardening quote by Rudyard Kipling a while back. I've been in a carpentry/painting mode lately and am quite glad I don't have to take care of any plants just now. My geraniums that were recently moved inside are just enough.

My helper and I got the fence painted yesterday with one person on the inside of the enclosure and the other on the outside. It was twice as fast with 2 people painting simultaneously. We beat the rain too. It would have taken me 2 days to do it alone. Thanks for stopping by the cottage for a short visit. ♥Rosemary

Happy Columbus Day . . .

Hopefully you don't have to work since today is Columbus Day. I just woke up with nothing prepared so I'm sending you to History.com to learn all about this holiday. You'll be able to watch videos and click around to your heart's content if you are curious. My helper is already here and I haven't even had a cup of coffee. Home maintenance around the cottage is never done. Thanks for stopping by. ♥Rosemary

Kansas City Library Parking Garage :: Community Bookshelf . . .

"I found a picture of this the other day while searching for photos from Kansas City and I knew I had to go photograph it myself. This is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I live here and I've never heard of it before—it makes me wonder what other secrets my hometown might be hiding." Jonathan Moreau

What secrets are hiding in your hometown?

Some info from the kclibrary.org website about the books, an art piece called "Community Bookshelf"

"The Community Bookshelf is a striking feature of Kansas City's downtown. It runs along the south wall of the Central Library's parking garage on 10th Street between Wyandotte Street and Baltimore Avenue. The book spines, which measure approximately 25 feet by 9 feet, are made of signboard mylar. The shelf showcases 22 titles reflecting a wide variety of reading interests as suggested by Kansas City readers and then selected by The Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees." See more photos in the following article: Read more about the features of this architectural wonder here.

Thanks for stopping by the cottage for a repeat performance. I published this post over a year ago and it remains popular. Those of you who haven't seen it should enjoy it. Make the most of the long weekend...I know I will. ♥Rosemary

Saturday around the cottage on Columbus Day Weekend . . .

It was too wet to paint my new fence yesterday. Today looks much better according to the weather report. We'll see how it shapes up after the morning mist burns off. I'm looking forward to opening that brand new can of white paint! This is my balcony earlier this summer.

It's Columbus Day Weekend and I hope you are going to spend some time in the country. The fall color is just beginning to pop at my house but it is in full swing as you drive farther north.

I love this open porch with the painted floor and the beautiful view. The benches are very special on either side of the farm table. The whole setting is very nice.

I've always loved this Picasso quote. I made this illustrated quote and published it on my blog earlier this year. Yesterday I helped put up a hand rail going up to the loft above my garage. I learned something new by helping the carpenter.

I took this photo of a maple leaf in full fall color with a black fleece blanket as the background. It's more fun to photograph the leaves that it is to rake them!

Wooden blocks with words of wisdom stamped on all sides. These would be fun to make out of scrap lumber.

"Do something everyday that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."

Have a great holiday weekend. Thanks for stopping by the cottage. ♥Rosemary

Repairs around my cottage . . .

This is what the fence looks like so far. There are no words that can express how hard and time consuming this task has been but I am very pleased with the results. It is just primed at this point. All the pickets had to be removed and 6" was cut off the bottom. The horizontal board (in plastic) is a nice save and I love the way it looks. The posts were originally encased in wood boxes with decorative elements at the top and bottom. The old pickets were set between the boxes which weren't holding up well either. I decided to put the nailers on top of the pressure treated posts that were under the boxes and attach the pickets on top with all the posts behind. My friend had to cut 8 new pickets because of the new arrangement. The finials are old turned door stops that I got at a flea market for $1.00 each. I love them. I've been at this job with my helper for a week now and we are almost finished. I had to do a lot by myself last weekend...washing all the boards with bleach and soapy water to get rid of the mildew plus sanding and priming. I've enjoyed every minute of it.

Here is an old photo showing the condition of the pickets before the extensive repairs began last week.

One of the geraniums I brought into the house to winter over is just putting out new blossoms. I do enjoy house plants this time of year. Six geraniums, 3 pink and 3 red plus my giant rosemary bush are just enough inside my cottage.

The metal table with a glass top was picked up from the curb. Really. My town's once a year trash day is a picker's delight. I got this from a house right around the corner. Isn't it perfect for my plants? Sometimes I can't believe my own luck.

Thanks for stopping by the cottage to look at a few of my photos. ♥Rosemary

Life's Little Instruction Book, page 136 + some photos of this and that . . .

My favorite thing about fall is the hard crisp apples from New York State. I took this photo while eating the other half.

Isn't this one of the most beautiful views you've ever seen? New Jersey has some surprisingly lovely estates.

The most beautiful path. Landscape architecture at its best! One can only imagine how long it took for everything to look like this.

The botanical wallpaper is perfect in this room. Wish I could see more. It might also be individual antique prints that have been glued to the wall.

An English gentleman dug this hand-shaped carrot from his garden, took a picture of it, and then cooked it for his daughter. In the USA, it probably would have ended up on eBay!

Such a beautiful family. I've always been fascinated by giraffes.

Thanks for stopping by the cottage for another page from Life's Little Instruction book and some random photos. ♥Rosemary