Beware of the Sheep

Look at the fleece on this sheep!!! Not afraid, are you? via

Vintage Postcards for Halloween

We are supposed to have a Nor'easter tomorrow but it's as calm as can be outside right now. It's supposed to start raining at midnight and continue all night and all day Saturday. Yuck. There was supposed to be a Halloween Parade in the neighboring town that's always a lot of fun but it has been canceled so I will continue mending my sweaters. I have worn two that I mended this week and felt as if they were brand new. I am very pleased with this project. Right now, I am looking forward to watching Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages in just a few minutes. See you tomorrow. xo

Over The Bed Artwork for My Cottage

It only took 14 years to find the perfect artwork to hang over the antique bed in my guest room used as my dressing room. I found it yesterday at a thrift shop and within 30 minutes of getting it in the front door, it was happily hanging on the wall. I was standing in the doorway to get this photo and you can also see an antique tile, a hogscraper candlestick with a brass "wedding band" and a miniature chest on the table next to my bookcase.

It was very hard to photograph too. The bedspread is not pink, it's white. You can see the blue and white curtains in my bedroom through the window in this photo. This lithograph was made from an original 1987 painting by a deceased local artist. I always thought her work was very much like a Wyeth. 

I found a photo of the print entitled: "Wild Rose Berries" circa 1987 by Pauline Eble Campanelli online by searching Google Images. Don't you think it's perfect for my room? It was worth the wait and I don't mind that it's a reproduction because everything else in the room is antique. The basket and cupboard that were the subjects of the painting were antiques and I bought the framed print for a song. The frame is stained a dark green and the matting is beautiful. Score!!

See you later. xo

Laura Ingalls Wilder Quote + A Fall Cake

You can't go wrong with this advice, can you? via

I love this idea of using fall leaves to decorate a powdered sugar covered cake with something yummy between the layers. via

Wonderful Painting: Halloween Perfection

Cat in the Moonlight, (Chat au Clair de Lune) c. 1900, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen via

I love this painting. It's perfect for this time of year with a big yellow moon in the sky casting shadows every night. The artist had a great fascination with cats. See more of his works here and keep scrolling, the page of cats is positively endless!

Plants Wintering Over Downstairs

I brought in the geranium and the flowering nasturtiums over a week ago and they are both very happy downstairs looking out of the sliding glass door that gets the morning sun. I dug up the geranium that was planted in a large metal urn. The nasturtiums were grown from seeds in the center pot while the pot on the far right contains nasturtium plants I dug out of pots in my front garden on Sunday. They are still in recovery mode. I have never tried overwintering annuals but I read online that nasturtiums are a good plant to try. We shall see.

These pots are too large to display anywhere else in my cottage. Every available spot is already taken on my main floor and in the attic with smaller pots of rosemary, thyme, geraniums, lavender, and more nasturtiums. I like indoor gardening and tending plants rather than leaving them outside to freeze and die. They are very beneficial for the indoor air quality too. 

I have been very busy washing all my sweaters and mending tiny holes here and there. I started out washing two by hand in the kitchen sink. Then I noticed for the first time there was a setting for knits on my 15 year old front loading washer. I decided to try it with 4 dark sweaters turned inside out. I was thrilled with the results. My washer spins everything almost dry and the sweaters dried quickly on drying racks in my furnace room. The mending is another story. I'm so glad I have so much thread but none of it is wool. I matched the colors perfectly and took little made-up darning stitches and mended the holes almost invisibly. Nobody else will even notice and I will have a fresh wardrobe of my favorite sweaters looking brand new in a few more days.

I posted these two photos on Instagram this morning. I usually don't blog using the same pics but they will be new to those of you who don't do social media.

xo

Beautiful Bedroom

I love every single thing about this bedroom including the jointed teddy bear. The atique bed is wonderful and I especially like the plaid woolen blanket. The framed antiquarian maps look great against the grasscloth wallpaper which is on the ceiling too. How nice is that?!! I can tell this is a small room but it's packed with interest, isn't it? via

Cottage Love

This cottage ticks all the boxes, doesn't it? Talk about curb appeal, this one has it all. via

I worked outside for many hours yesterday and went to bed at dark thirty and slept the clock around plus a little more. I made a pot of organic steel cut oats for breakfast this morning and ate a huge bowl. Now I feel energized for the day. It is bright and sunny with a brisk, cold wind blowing the leaves off the trees. I don't have any concrete plans for the day yet but I'll dress for the weather and see where inspiration takes me. Enjoy your Sunday too. xo

UPDATE: Linda posted a comment that she wanted to see the inside of this cottage. I put on my detective hat and found many views of the interior HERE. There's a delightful story too about this picture perfect spring cottage. You can thank Linda for this update.
xo