Busy Friday Dawn Til Dark

I was up with the sun this morning.

I got my third Covid booster before lunch and did a few errands. Then I came home and did my final mowing of the year and it looks so nice.

I started with the front and mowed over the leaves with my mulching walk behind mower on a low setting. I started with the front.

Just a random photo with a nice blue sky today.

It looks better in person than in this photo. The sky is better in this photo than the second one.

I really like the clouds over my red barn/garage. I am not dealing with all the leaves on the driveway down there and I might just leave them. Not sure yet.

View of the back 40 from my balcony. While I was standing here lots and lots of robins  gathered and were happily hopping about in the nice short grass. They are MY robins that were raised here. I love them so much. I keep the bird baths filled for them and love to see them splashing around. They are such enthusiastic bathers.

That All. The End.

Have a great weekend.

xo

Emma Bridgewater's Farmhouse Oxfordshire UK

Matthew Rice, Emma's husband, working in the garden.

The exterior of Ham Court, circa 1320.

Emma and Matthew with one of the resident hens who inspire some of the pottery designs and decorations and a black lab.

A Welsh cupboard full of Emma Bridgewater pottery produced in her factory nearby.

Emma Bridgewater's Oxfordshire farmhouse 

is as lovely as her pottery click link to read

For Emma Bridgewater and her husband Matthew Rice, a shared desire to preserve skills and traditions has influenced their booming ceramics business, as well as the restoration of their farmhouse and barn in Oxfordshire. I thoroughly enjoyed the article in House & Garden UK magazine with more photos for you to enjoy too. xo

UPDATE: I found a wonderful youtube video featuring Matthew Rice, Emma's husband, and his artwork. View it HERE and enjoy. He is a great talent in his own right. xo

Random Views Around My Cottage Today

A geranium in front of one of my living room's newly washed windows looking out across the street at my neighbor's red garage/barn and some lovely fall foliage.

A bloom on a Limelight hydrange in the front.

My newly painted picket fence that houses my gas and electric meters and my air conditioning unit. I love the artichoke finial on the corner post.

Big long pinecones gathered from one of my Norway Spruce Trees.

This photo is right out of my camera phone and the sky really was this exact color. The deer in silhouette looks as if he's leaping over my kitchen wing's roof. I am so enjoying looking out on him.

Enjoy your evening or your Friday morning dependending when you open my blog. xo

 

My Deer Weathervane Finally Mounted

I had this vane on a barn at my former house. It has been stored in the loft over my garage since 2004. I had a large Chestnut tree cut down but left the stump about shoulder high. The tree was diseased with a weevil and the chestnuts were not edible. Even the squirrels wouldn't eat them last year. It was a very messy tree on the edge of my driveway always dropping something all year long. Tassels in the spring all over the roof over my kitchen and my car. They stained my balcony floor too. Then the pricker balls in the fall were especially painful to pick up after raking. Missy learned early on not to walk down the driveway after she stepped on a few. My handyman came today and flattened the mount and screwed it into the tree stump. I am thrilled. I can see this leaping deer from my side kitchen window. I am going to sprinkle black oil sunflower seeds on the stump when the weather gets colder. In the spring and summer I will put big pots of geraniums on either side. So happy.

Enjoy your Saturday evening and Sunday.

xo

Power Washing Day One at My Cottage

I couldn't be happier with the work he did all day yesterday. After lunch he called a helper to come and do my red barn/garage while he tried to finish my house and balcony. I have never seen such good workers. My only other experience with power washing was just a once over. The painter doing my house kept going over and over. He was using water only until he got to my balcony flooring and he used a soap solution for the mildew. They stopped at 5pm and my main guy came back this morning for about two hours to finish up. Nobody is coming tomorrow and I am so glad. I need a break and Missy is the only one I have to direct tomorrow. She came at 4:00 this afternoon so I have her for 3 suppers and you can be sure she will have a half-ration breakfast when she goes home on Tuesday. Have a great Saturday evening and a nice Sunday tomorrow. xo

Converted Barn Home

♡So.Fabulous♡

My favorite feature is the sliding barn door shutters. This clever design has one cutout so you can still see outside when they are closed. I also like the enclosed steps and railings leading to the front door. I spy a screened porch too. There are many other barn homes to view here but this one is my favorite by far. Have a great Sunday. xo

New Dahlia Bed This Year

I park my car between the barn and the first column. A few weeks ago I dug out a new bed for my numerous dahlia tubers that successfully survived being stored in my bunker. I honestly thought they were all dead or I would have planted all or most of them a lot sooner than I did. One day I saw they were sprouting and went to work. Digging out the turf in this small area was hard but worth it. I used the diggings to fill in some sinkholes in my lawn they were the result of tree trunks rotting beneath the soil. 

The tubers are growing fast and furiously and this will be a wonderful cutting garden when they bloom. I planted some of the best ones out front several weeks before this project and they are already over three feet tall and very full. Dahlias are so easy and so rewarding but I am not fond of the digging up part in late fall but it's really a small price to pay for the lovely flowers they produce. Have a great weekend. xo

Cupola Love

@periodarchitecture 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdN1rwLMvQv/

Cupola detail♡ from the Chester Springs Entertainment Barn.

Chester Springs, Pennsylvania

It's beautiful, isn't it? 

I wish I could see the weathervane.

xo

Maine Workshop Transformation

A barn-like workshop in Falmouth, Maine was transformed into a one bedroom dwelling. Isn't it simply charming? I wish I could see the before photo! I found it on Instagram @mainehomedesign

Beloved Independent Bookstores

I've been in this one. Baldwin's Book Barn. 

You could easily get lost there.

Architectural Digest has an interesting article: Inside the world's most beloved independent bookstores. Read here.

Before There Were Patios, We Sat On The Grass

I took this photo at a realtor open house near my cottage.

The dwelling was a caretaker's cottage and the grounds were fabulous. Who needs a patio when you have vintage wicker furniture and a beautiful lawn? The cottage was delightful with no central air and was really untouched since it was built. It had always been maintained and lived in and was being offered for rent. The outdoor furnishings were included and there was garage/barn for storage. There were custom waterproof covers for the chairs to protect them from the rain. The open house was years ago as are my pics. Due to Covid, there are very few (if any) open houses these days. Just virtual tours and private showings by appointment.

Natural Pest Control Has Wings

Barn Owls have the best ♡ shaped faces.

Shy barn owlet peeking out.

It's a lot to read but this article is very rewarding if you are at all concerned about pesticides on your fruit or in your wine. Fruit growers in California have begun putting up nest boxes in their orchards and vineyards and letting the occupants help with pest and insect control. They are finding the birds are outperforming the pesticides and I find that to be quite thrilling. I always enjoy Penelope Bianchi's owl videos on Instagram showing her barn owls bringing vermin back to the nest box to feed their young. Of course, bluebirds in nest boxes help with insect control as do other small birds.

I have two more dahlia photos awaiting processing which I will add to this post later. I have to transfer them from my Nikon camera on my attic computer which has a card reader. I am waiting for my generator to come on for the weekly 15 minute test cycle before I turn on the computer. I'm glad so many of you are still enjoying my cottage flower photos. xo

The green background seems to fighting the green dahlia foliage of this Black Velvet beauty in my backyard.

I enlarged this dahlia by cropping out all but the flower. It's the same photo I posted yesterday minus the rooster.

Mowed Yesterday, Just in Time!

Yesterday. Back yard with blooming Wisteria. The red showing through is my barn garage. It was a perfect day, not too hot, but the grass was still wet from a Monday night rain. I waited until mid afternoon to start so it wasn't that much of a problem for my walk-behind mulching mower. Early spring grass is always the easiest mowing of the year.

Today. This is a view from the sliding glass door where the new acquisition with 16 drawers lives in my mom's old sitting room. I bought a John Deere used riding mower from a neighbor this year to do the rest of my property all the way down to the way back. I have to wait for another lesson from my neighbor so I know exactly how to operate it because it isn't like my last one. I had a large John Deere at my two previous homes but this one is much smaller and I think it's going to be perfect.

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My Mom Anna's Daffodils at My Cottage

I am so happy I dug up these daffodils my mother planted, from a spot I couldn't see without going outside, to a spot I can see from my kitchen window. Last spring was their first year and this year I do believe they have already multiplied. They are a later booming variety too and I like that. The daffs I transplanted in an area close by with a sundial have already almost bloomed out.

How does your garden grow? I am having such a good time outside this time of year. I have been organizing my barn/garage too, no easy feat! xo

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Sundown at My Cottage

My cottage hasn't changed much but there's a little bit of color over my red barn indicating the golden hour. I've been researching snow on roofs around me and on all houses when I drive around (seldom lately). Snow on the roof is a sign of good insulation. Mine takes forever to melt front and back so I don't have much heat loss in my attic. I don't have many icicles either. The ones I do have are coming off my half-round copper gutters when they get a bit of sun. My house is far from cozy because I have large windows, my radiators aren't big enough, and I keep the thermostat pretty low. I dress for warmth inside my house and have actually gotten used to a cooler house. I turn my thermostat down to 60° at night and I love sleeping in a cold room. My eiderdown comforter keeps me very warm. That's about it for today. xo

Evergreen Decorated by Mother Nature

Snow on the pine's long needles is so lovely. The out of focus red barn in the background just makes this photo, doesn't it? via

My Cottage after Plowing

AFTER THE PLOWING

My entrance looks like a super market parking lot. I wonder how long it will take that snow mountain to melt? My driveway that goes down to my red barn/garage was plowed too for the first time ever and now my car is parked up front in anticipation of more snow on Friday, my phone says a 90% chance.😱

Fall in The Country

I adore this photo. The old 1909 barn on the edge of the woods is painted a deep maroon red that is set off by the evergreen tree and the overgrown straw colored grasses in the foreground. Fall is such a great time to be outside with a camera. via

Rustic New Bathroom with Stone Wall

I love the idea of this dry stacked stone wall, weathered barn board door and flooring, and the overall feel of  this bathroom. It looks to be low upkeep but I wonder; would spiders start living in the wall? I would take the chance rather than fill in the spaces with mortar. The old lumber used for the lintel over the window and the ceiling beams complete the wonderful craftsmanship. via

New Look Under My Pantry Window

I did a slight rearrange in my pantry yesterday and got so much more surface space. I put this old blue shutter on top of the bucket bench that houses my microwave, my stand mixer, Instant Pot, Panini Press, and so many more kitchen related items. It extends almost to the doorway and over the wooden counter where my platters live. It makes my pantry much more efficient and I like it for now. This window overlooks my red barn/garage and I overwinter my large Rosemary plant in this spot. I arranged my cookbooks, my plastic bag storage and it took forever. I have a huge bag of paper egg cartons to drop off and recycle at a local farm that sell farm-fresh eggs at the top of their driveway. They will be thrilled.