A Nice Story about Getting Chickens

Here is a nice little post about a family in the UK and their 'girls' - they don't want their dog to know they are chickens. Read story here.

A Kitchen Garden in Full Swing

Photographed from the second floor.

A closer look.

To the left of the sundial.

Here are more pictures from a realtor open house a couple of weeks ago. The one with the dog hair plaque and the chickens. The upstairs master bedroom overlooks this wonderful herb and kitchen garden and the barn with chicken coop and potting shed too. That's where the owners' interests lie. I know they will miss this place when they move and I am also quite sure they will do this again at their next place. That's just the kind of people they are! Change is good and so is downsizing.

Newborn Lamb Sleeping with Boy

March 16, 1940 A newly-born lamb snuggles up to a sleeping boy. Photo by Williams/Fox Photos/Getty Images -- Goodnight. Sleep Tight! via

Lilacs at My Kitchen Window

It is nice to have fresh flowers in the house and they prompted me to clean up the mess behind the faucet for the photo. This vase was left in one of the cupboards when I bought my cottage in 2001. I adjusted the exposure of this iPhone photo so my dirty windows are overexposed. Wouldn't it be great if we could just take a picture and clean our homes so easily. Sigh.

I took this one with my iPad.

Horses Passing My Cottage

These two horses and riders clippity clopped past my cottage sometime over the weekend. Now you can also see my front lawn that is still uncut and will stay that way until we have some much-needed rain. The ground is like concrete and is cracking open. I could check my blog to see when we last had rain but I'm almost afraid to look. I did work on some outdoor planters so it doesn't look as if I am completely oblivious to outdoor work. I picked some lilacs at the home of a friend and the house smells wonderful. I did 521 twirls with my hula hoop after dinner last night in case you are interested. For some reason there are no realtor open houses in my town today. Maybe everyone has the blues after paying their taxes. See you later!

Maggie Smith Rumors at Downton Abbey

Say it isn't so. There are whisperings that Maggie Smith has not renewed her contract beyond Season 3's Christmas Special. Hopefully she will reconsider and stay on once she realizes that the series cannot possibly go on without her. via

Top 10 Maggie Moments from Season One


Top Maggie Moments from Season Two

Distracted from Doing Housework

I can so relate to this painting. I am distracted by anything and everything any time I start to organize or clean - especially by my books. 

Artist: Édouard John Mentha (also Menta) 
1858 Genève 1915 

Library interior with maid reading.

I would be hopeless in this room too! via

Beautiful Paint Color for A Bedroom

I love this sage green wall color and the wooden ceiling too. And the windows. And the cozy size of the room. via
PS--Tonight after dinner I did 424 continuous spins with my weighted hula hoop. That is a record so far! I want to be able to do 1,000 without stopping. That's my goal right now.