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.

Cat and Owl Calligraphy - So Beautiful

Click photo to enlarge and you will see that there is a mouse in the owl's beak. I dearly love this folky antique drawing snd handwriting exercise. The fragile calligraphy drawing was produced by the schoolteacher, Jacob Labotz, as part of a series of sketches with poems that he gave to students sometime in the 18th century. via BibliOdyssey
The Dutch text reads: 
"De kat spreekt tegen den Uijl 
Uijl gij doet mijn onregt 
de muis is mijn toegelegt 
Den uijl spreekt tegen de kat 
Kat gij moet weten 
het ongegoste broot word't meest gegeten"
I think there is some sort of dialogue going on about who deserves the mouse.

Cottage Flowers

Have a beautiful Spring Sunday. I love these pink flowers in front of this stunning English home, don't you? via

Daisy Sunshine Antique Wood Stove

I photographed this great old stove in an old barn today. Don't you love the name? Daisy Sunshine!