Small Fenced Garden to Love

This is a very nice design that would work for me. I found it on Houzz. This could easily be a DIY project. I am digging up my herbs and bringing in my house plants to winter over this week. Last year I almost waiting until it was too late. xo

Cottage with Fall Decor

Scenes like this are just around the corner though the cottages might not be this charming. This time of day, when the inside lights go on, is my favorite. via

Socks for My Ironing Board in Attic

Don't laugh. I made a long stocking and two little socks for the legs of the ironing board in my attic. I used remnants from an old Fair Isle sweater vest that had holes in it. I tried leaving my ironing board up all the time but it was in the way. Leaning it against the wall was leaving marks that I was able to remove with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Yesterday, I got the bright idea to make covers for the three legs. I made a stocking for the long leg and was able to turn the fabric inside out to hide the seams. The other two legs were too narrow so the seams of the short socks are on the outside, trimmed closely. It was a quick project with wonderful results. A friend gave me this sign since everybody always asks my advice for some reason. They know how grounded I am and they see the wise choices I have made for myself. I have it hanging here when the ironing board isn't being used. 

Here is another view of my attic workroom. The flat file is full of antique prints. I am still working up here and will post other views soon. We are having fall weather all week with no sun until Saturday. I need to bring in my house plants before it gets any cooler. It is noontime and the temperature is only 61° outside. I melted all last with the central air running night and day so I am not complaining about the abrupt weather change. I know we will have some more warmer days before fall sets in for good. I'm going to put the cover on my outside air conditioning unit though. I refuse to use it again until next year. Have a good Monday. xo

Please Don't Mail This

I have seen the photo on the right many times and have even blogged it in the past. The one on the left is new to me. I am glad to know the astonishing history behind both. via Google Images

RBG Movie on CNN Tonight 9/09/18

I know I must sound like a broken record to keep repeating the fact that this movie is being repeated TONIGHT on CNN. Set your DVR or sit down and watch after you find out what time it's playing in your area. I live 35 minutes from NYC and it is being repeated twice at my cottage at 8PM and 10PM. I have heard it's only on once, at 9PM, in other areas. (Thanks again Vickie H.)

So many of you missed it two weeks ago. I have been putting little blurbs in various places on my blog to remind you. In case you missed all of them, here it is again.

See the Official Movie Trailer here. Enjoy ! ! !

Old Barn Becomes A Modern Farmhouse

Photo by Northworks Architects + Planners
Click here and use the arrows for the complete tour. It is amazing. I hope your heatwave is over and you are enjoying the cooler weather. It is giving me the energy to complete some of the ongoing projects around my cottage. See you later. Enjoy your weekend. xo

Playroom Under The Stairs

Photo by Suburban Renewal Inc You are never too young to have a room of your own, are you?

UPDATE: The RBG movie is being repeated on Sunday 9/9/18 on CNN. Check your guide for times in your area. In my area (New York Metropolitan) it is being rebroadcast twice. At 8PM and 10PM. This information comes from Vickie H and it's on in her area at 9PM. Click here to view my original blog post about this movie. Many of you missed it but will have another chance to see it this Sunday night on CNN.

Gallery Wall in My Spare Room

I can almost declare this room finished. I still have to take out the screen and scrub it and clean the window inside and out. This is not easy. It is not a tilt window and I have to get out a ladder to do the outside. I have virtually torn this room apart, bit by bit. I got a new mattress for my bedroom months ago and took off my old Tempurpedic mattress. The foam mattress on my antique rope bed in my dressing room/guest room was rock hard and I had been wanting to replace it for ages but it was a custom size. It was a full size in width but 4" shorter in length. I knew the Tempurpedic could be cut down but I didn't have an electric knife. This week I decided to search Youtube for instructions and I found you could use a regular knife. The old mattress had been stored under this antique bed and the room was a mess. SO I decided to switch the mattresses. I easily cut down the one on the floor, took off the rock hard mattress and switched them. After I put on the mattress pad and fitted sheet, it was perfect and ever so much more comfortable. Success! Now I have a mattress that is virtually brand new standing up in my kitchen. Will I ever get the whole house together at the same time? I doubt it. Anyway, back to the photo above. I have cupboards under my built in bookcase and I could never open the door on the left side and was missing out on some excellent storage for pajamas and such. I had an armless leather chair there before with a small stack of leather suitcases on it. It was too bothersome to move to get in the cupboard so it was virtually empty inside.

I decided to move the chair to the other side of the bed and arrange some  artwork on the wall for interest. I like it. Here is another view of this room featuring the draperies I remade for the two front windows. LOOK HERE. Will I ever finish getting things just the way I want them?

See you later. xo

The Ultimate Country House

Plain and simple with one shade tree and a path cut through the field to the garden. This would be a nice place to grow up with plenty of fond memories to look back on. via

Portrait of a Chicken Pot Pie

This pie is simple and to the point. Don't you love the chicken cutout. Chicken Pot Pie is one of my favorite things to eat in cold weather. It is still boiling hot here at my cottage but I've been working through it and getting stuff done. School buses are back on the road and fall is just around the corner. xo

RBG MOVIE -- TONIGHT ON CNN 9PM

If you cannot see the YouTube video above click here.
I missed this movie when it played for a very short time near me. Several people who saw it said it was wonderful and I am excited about seeing it tonight on CNN at 9PM. Check your tv guide for times in your area.

Kalman visits with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"I think, move over Jane Austen as my imaginary best friend forever. Make room for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who would have gone to my high school for music, if her parents had let her. Whose favorite artist is Matisse. (I rest my case.) Who went on to study law because she wanted to combat the forces of injustice (McCarthyism) and graduated tied for first in her class at Columbia Law School, but could not get hired as a lawyer."

Maira Kalman loves Ruth. She wrote an article in the NYTimes called "And the Pursuit of Happiness" - The three illustrations above are from MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT.

H A P P Y   L A B O R   D A Y !

UPDATE: This movie is being repeated on Sunday 9/9/18 on CNN. Check your guide for times in your area. In my area (New York Metropolitan) it is being rebroadcast twice. At 8PM and 10PM. This information comes from Vickie H and it's on in her area at 9PM.

Yay. So many of you missed it and will have another opportunity to see it. Free is good. You will love. Thanks again Vickie ! ! !

September First

I designed this graphic and posted it one year ago today. Maybe it will be new to some of you. I have been distracted for the past two weeks. My PC computer running on Windows XP finally gave up the ghost and I was unable to get it up and running again. It had been giving me trouble for a long time and I put up with it because it had Microsoft Word, Photoshop, and was connected to a scanner and a printer. I disassembled everything and moved my iMac to the same spot where I have a very comfortable computer chair. 

I was able to connect a scanner and a printer quite easily and I am loving my new setup. I had the disc for Microsoft Word but it would not install on an Apple computer so I am learning Google Docs and can pretty much do what I did on Word. There is a workaround for almost everything, isn't there? I have been organizing my attic and it is an endless job but I have moved mountains. 

I don't have cable in my studio/computer room/sewing room/ and I've been missing it. It's nice to have a movie or the news on while I am sewing, ironing or organizing. I usually listen to a podcast or NPR on the radio and I will continue to do so. I'm very excited to report I found internet TV with movies, live news and so much more. It's called Pluto TV ( https://pluto.tv/ ) and it's wonderful. There is a yellow circle in lower right corner that will pull up the tv guide. The movies are amazing and there is a huge selection of shows. It works on any device....desktop computer, laptop, phone, or iPad. I found a blog post on cordcutting.com that explains it in detail HERE. There are commercials but I have found them to be entertaining as they are mostly about what else is playing on Pluto. Try it if you don't have cable in a room where you are working. There is no pause, repeat, or going back but it's totally free so that's fine with me. Let me know if this will be helpful for you as well.

Happy September. Enjoy the long weekend. xo

Best Guesthouse Ever

Yes, please. I have always loved a settle bench at the front door. This guesthouse in the Hamptons is charming! The main house is large and very nice with an understated classic interior filled with antiques. See it too in the link below.

The guest cottage has a cozy living room off the kitchen.

via Architectural Digest

Art Gallery in A Master Bath

What an amazing space. This master bath is a real sanctuary full of wonderful nautical artwork and antiques. The architecture is wonderful too. I love the clerestory window in its own dormered nook instead of a skylight. The floors are wooden, all the walls are shiplap boards, and I don't see any tile at all. The owners must be sailors and want to be reminded of their boat while at home. I love what they've done to showcase their collections in such a clever, tasteful way.

Stay cool as we enjoy the last week of August going into the Labor Day Weekend. xo

A Painting in My Collection

Lillian Cotton (1892–1962) was an American artist known for her portraits, especially of high-society figures and well-known actors, writers, and artists of her day.

She was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father was Nathaniel Hugh Cotton, a West Indies shipping merchant born in Barbados, and her mother was Harriet Emma Clapp. Cotton developed an interest in art as a young child, drawing detailed portraits in sketchbooks as early as age ten, and attended the Boston Museum School. Between 1915 and 1917, Cotton studied at the Art Students League of New York under Robert Henri and George Bellows. In 1924, Cotton moved to Paris and studied at the André Lhote Academy. While in Paris, she met Arthur Elia Impey, a British army officer, and married him in 1926. The couple lived between Paris and New York.

Artist Information found here.

I have always wondered who this adorable child is, ever since I bought this painting with a left bid at an auction. It is signed lower left: L.Cotton 1913 when she was still at the Art Students League studying under the famous artists mentioned above.

I just discovered the magnifying glass on my iPhone and decided to use it on the horse embroidered on my baby painting's smocked outfit. You can see the texture of the canvas and the brush strokes of the oil paint.

I adore babies in smocked garments, a trend that is long out of style here where today's babies are dressed as miniature adults. Why rush it? They have their whole lives to wear khaki pants and button-down shirts! England's Royalty dress their children in age-appropriate styles from an age gone by. I love the way Prince William and Duchess Catherine are dressing Prince George, Princess Charlotte and I can't wait to see more of baby Prince Louis' attire. xo

Laundry Room, Home Office and Porch

Was once a porch so it required its own heat/ac unit.

Same house with a great home office.

The house with the best front porch. Swoon.

Photos found when searching the MLS today.

Summer Sleeping Porch Love

Everybody needs a dedicated space for catching up on their reading and napping. I have always been obsessed with sleeping porches even though I've never slept on one. via

Gather Ye Rosebuds

I photographed one of the crests from my old book, "The Royal Book of Crests" and this quote seemed fitting. I collect silver trophy cups and was drawn to this engraving. All of mine are engraved but I don't have one that was awarded for winning a flower prize. 

It's hard to believe next week is the last week of August, isn't it? That is usually the signal for the end of summer and a very popular vacation week. I got very behind in my mowing and tackled the back yard yesterday. Hopefully, I will do the front tomorrow and a final weeding of my front garden.

See you tomorrow. xo, Rosemary

Open Shelves in a Hudson NY House

Antique white stoneware on open shelves and topiaries on antique mounts, I'm in love!

“Just to have everything laid out in front of you has been wonderful and we really use everything on a daily basis,” the owner says.

The dining table, chairs, chandelier, and stools are all antique finds from the owners' travels. “We used old architectural pieces to define the spaces,” she says. Read more about this Historical Home in Hudson, New York and tour the other antique-filled rooms here.

Topiary Collection

This looks like a private home but it may be a shop. Either way, the topiaries are lovely and beautifully clipped. Photo found on Google Images.

Coastal Cottage: Roanoke Island, NC

Very charming indeed. via

Tiny Beach Cottage

WOW. This looks like the perfect little beach cottage, doesn't it? found on Tumblr

The BEST Marble Bathroom

via

This bathroom is wonderful. I love the floor with the black marble continuing up the wall instead of a wooden baseboard. I think this must be an old house with a remodeled bathroom and isn't it wonderful? Even the pipes under the sink are gorgeous. I give this room two thumbs up, five stars and an A+. Maybe one day I'll find more photos of this house to share. xo

Country House w/ Garden Oxfordshire UK

via

Country House, Oxfordshire, England.
Photograph by Andrew Montgomery.
I wish I could see the whole landscape with the quads around the sundial. 

Ali MacGraw Now

This is what 78 looks like and I love that Ali MacGraw is growing old so gracefully.

She's as beautiful as ever. She wrote a great article about how she has found inner peace.

Her clothing designs are beautiful and she wears them so well.

A fire burned her house down in ‘93 and took with it many of her designer treasures, including original Halstons. MacGraw has since stuck to a uniform: tees, black skinny jeans and ballet flats, plus accessories — just like what she’s wearing in the above photo — and, “one or two things a year that are hair-raisingly expensive but I know will last my lifetime.”

Mourning Dove at My Birdbath

I have many dove families living in the spruce trees in front of my house. This one stayed in the same position for a very long time, seemingly hypnotized by the raindrops falling softly in the dish. Then he took a really long drink but didn't fly away. I think he must be a juvenile. Luckily, I was sitting at my laptop in my pantry looking out the window, wondering what I could post for my followers to see. Problem solved. xo