Praying Mantis

Too tired to post. Carpenters came at 8am. Left at 6pm. Mountain have been moved. More wood on the ground than on the house. Just kidding but it was amazing how much damage this poor cottage had to its wood. Two front fascias have to be replaced. Using Azek this go round. Gutters had to be removed. More later. I don't think I ever showed you this photo of my praying mantis. Good night.
PS...Click photo to enlarge. It really is an alien. My Photo

Courtyard Patio w/ Flagstone Hopscotch

I found this photo on the MLS when I was searching sold properties near me. Isn't this a great idea? Look closely and you will see the impressed numbers on the stones arranged in a hopscotch pattern. I grew up loving this game, didn't you? Jacks, jump rope, and hopscotch were my favorites. This patio is perfect for all three. my image upload

Square Chestnuts

Fooled you, didn't I? The chestnuts aren't square but the photo is. That's one of the cool new features of IOS7 on my iPhone. You can choose regular, square or Pano before you take the picture now. I chose square for this one and didn't have to do any playing around with photo editing afterwards. My workers are here now taking down gutters, sanding, and who knows what else. I was out with Webster earlier and saw him eating the chestnuts, shells and all. I hope they aren't poison. He seemed to be enjoying them immensely. Checked, they are not toxic to dogs, cats, or horses. Mine are American Chestnuts. 

Power Wash Weekend

My cottage after a day of power washing yesterday.

He and I are both exhausted from power-wash Saturday. The house and barn/garage look fantastic. My workers were amazing and worked without stopping from 8am until about 5:30 in the afternoon. They were the only people I interviewed who didn't use bleach. My guys used Simple Green House and Siding Cleaner. One guy went around first with a backpack sprayer or a hand-held sprayer and sprayed it all surfaces and the guy with the power washer went behind him in due time. The power wash solution had Simple Green in it too. It is safe for all surfaces and is non-toxic to pets and plantings. It worked wonders on my mildew staining. Webster supervised from inside. The house looks fabulous. My photo above looks perfect but there is a lot that needs to be attended to. The front fascia has deteriorated and will be replaced with Azek. They are coming back tomorrow at 8am to start on carpentry repair work. 

Webster had a nice weekend. Henry spent several nights here and they had so much fun together. He's no trouble at all. I have had a pretty relaxing Sunday and I'm planning on tucking in early to watch the Emmys. I backed up and updated my iPhone 4S and iPad to IOS 7 and so far, I like it. See you tomorrow.

Charming Engrance

The slightly recessed arched door is perfectly framed by a beautiful flowering vine or climbing roses. It's absolutely beautiful and very charming. The old brick outbuilding is quite interesting too. Don't you want to open the gate and see more? I certainly do. via Have a great weekend.

Wonderful Quote by Albert Einstein

'A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." ~ Albert Einstein via

A Yawn from The Wonder Dog

Webster is ready to call it a day and so am I. We had the plumber here today and all went well. He will be back when the part he had to order comes in. It's so nice to have all my faucets working nicely without dripping. I had most of them turned off entirely. The furnace has been checked and serviced and it was fine. Webster and I are taking care of Henry, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel and he went to bed long ago. We have worn him out completely. The house is being power washed tomorrow so I guess the painting will start next week. This week I've had electricians, a plumber and a gutter repair person who knows what must be done but hasn't started yet. My punch list is slowly shrinking. Yay. Good night. We'll see you tomorrow.

The Leaves Are Falling All Around

The autumn leaves are falling

Yellow, Brown and Red

They patter softly like the rain

One landed on my head.

But when the sleep of winter comes

They settle down to rest

And Mother Nature tucks them in

with snow

As she thinks best.

That was the first poem my brother had to memorize in first grade and I helped him learn it. For some reason, I've always remembered it. My mother remembered it too and we would recite it together every fall. image source