Happy Weekend.

I am really looking forward to this weekend.

Our youngest daughter, Melissa, her husband, Kevin, and their three girls are coming up to stay at the cottage.

Kevin will be showing the Mr. how to put in tile around the tub in the upstairs bathroom.

After the tile is installed, we will re-glaze the tub, and  work on making that room ready for the pretty shabby chic shower curtain I found at www.summersatthecottage.com. 

I've purchased gorgeous ruffled bed skirts, and pillows from their site.

When we finish the bathroom, I'll show you the shower curtain...it's beautiful!

I spent time cleaning the tiny, attic style bedrooms here at the cottage today.

I don't have many options, as far as moving furniture around.

The ceilings are on such a steep slant, it limits where the bed can go.

We cannot get anything larger than a double bed up the narrow stairway. We wouldn't have enough room for a queen size bed in these small rooms anyway.

You find the joy in what you are given.  When we were young, we loved cuddling, and falling asleep in each other's arms.  
After about five minutes....I realize something has changed....my neck starts to hurt, his hip gets soar, we both snore, I'm sweating..............It's time to roll over..or better yet, move to the guest bedroom.
Have a great weekend everyone!!

Sunday afternoon.

It's a crisp Sunday afternoon at the lake.

The flakes are floating lazily to the mounds of snow already resting on the ground.

The day has set my mood.

I've been curled up in my big chair, in front of the fire, watching the Olympics.

There are so many things I could have accomplished today....but sometimes it feels good to take a break from the normal routine.

 What did you do today?
xoxoxoxo

Dust in the Wind.......

What a gorgeous day here at the cottage!

The sun is shining, and the temps are actually out of the teens.

I understand that some of you are tired of the weather...the cold, wind, and snow.

I'm not going to pretend to love the cold. I'm more of a summer person.

I LOVE sunshine, the beach, and the sun dancing off the water like diamonds.

There were days when I was unable to enjoy the warmth of the sun on my skin. 

I couldn't take a walk in the rain.

Building a snowman with my girls wasn't possible.

Life was spent lying in bed...day after day...listening to my little girls playing in the yard, laughing, running, growing, without my eyes to watch them.

I would have given anything to be able to just get up, and go outside for a snowball fight with them.

Or lay in the cold snow to make snow angels, and let the snowflakes fall on our faces. 

There WERE times when we could spend moments together. It's not like I NEVER had time with my family.

What I am trying to say is......I understand how it is for the people that long for more "time".

How they cherish those moments they had with loved ones....like the time the girls and I laid on a blanket on the grass late one night, to watch the meteor showers.

Those times of joy that  may never come again.

Because you've been diagnosed with a terminal disease.

You no longer care how cold it is outside.

It doesn't matter if the wind is howling, and the snow is two feet deep.

What difference does it make that Spring is still six weeks away??!!

You can barely breath on your own.  You would gladly face another THREE snow storms if you could just have more time with your loved ones.

And to think, just last Summer you were one of the people complaining how hot, and humid it was.

You couldn't wait until Fall arrived so you could put on a pair of jeans, and a nice fuzzy sweater. 

Life is so fragile.

Time is short.

We are all here for just a moment, and then we are dust in the wind.

Don't waste your today's grabbing for tomorrow...because tomorrow brings you closer to departing this life.

2014 is the year I am seeking a joyful life.

For me....joy is a decision, not always a feeling.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalms.16:11 

Vintage looking wallpaper.

This girl is on fire!!!

I like that song, and the artist.

The Hubster would say the song that would best describe me lately would be, "She's a Maniac"!

I'm pretty  sure he would say that song would aptly describe me any day of the year!!

I'm still "doing things" to the cottage.

After looking through my Rachel Ashwell Prairie book a couple of months ago, I got the bug for some vintage wallpaper.  

I finally found some that was planned for the bedroom....but ended up being hung behind the sideboard in the dining room.

I like the vintage look of the paper. It's pretty close to the wallpaper in RA's book that I was attracted to.

I pulled in an old sash that was hanging outside. Since it had a little window box attached...I added some dried moss, sea lavender, roses, a little vintage lace, some ribbon, and a nest with eggs to it.

Then I hung two of those half posts from the farmer's burn pile, that were rescued so long ago, to each end of the wall.  Adding to the shabby look.

The flowers on the paper have the same blue in them that I recently painted the walls. There are also buff pink flowers that match the sideboard. The background on the paper looks like aging plaster.
I'm sure it would look wonderful in any style of home decor you would choose it for.
It just happened to work well for my situation...and I really love it!!'
Time to wallpaper the bottom part of the steps!
xoxoxoxoxo

Some paint, chairs, and wallpaper.

I don't know about the rest of you, but being stuck inside because of the weather isn't a good thing for me.

I get bored.

When I get bored, I do things...sometimes things that make my husband wish we lived in a warmer climate.

Two days ago I took a couple of the cupboard doors off.

The Hubster knew I was bored, and he thought I was just going to paint the inside of the cupboards...silly man.

After painting, I put some ironstone dishes in one of the cupboards, he asked if I was ready for him to put the door back on the cupboard......

It didn't take long before he figured it out.

No doors!!

Another thing I do when I get bored is start changing furniture.

I take what I have to my booth, and sell it....then I find something to replace what I've sold.

Since I recently sold a bunch of stuff out of my booth, including four chairs, I ordered these four that just happened to be on sale!!!  Amazing!!!!

I change furniture like some people change their underwear!!!

Sometimes it's vintage, other times it's new.

I might find it at a garage sale, or an auction.

The bad thing...Things don't match!!!  Like these pretty chairs don't match the table!!

I guess I'll have to paint the table legs white.

That doesn't really matter though, because nothing really matches here at our cottage.

As much as I change furniture, I doubt that anyone will ever notice.

It all fits with the shabby chic, gypsy, romantic look I like here at our cottage.

I love the new chairs.

They add a little bit of a French feel to the dining room.

I'm keeping the two chairs at the ends of the table for extras, and because they match the chairs at the bar. 
I'm waiting for the wall paper to arrive. The bedroom is next!
xoxoxoxoxo 

Vintage Style Magazine...the whole picture.

While I was looking through the new issue of Vintage Style Magazine this morning, I noticed a spritzer bottle that looked amazingly like the one I have!!

It even had a piece of lace tied around the neck of the bottle, with a medal of St. Theresa hanging on it!

I said to the Mister, "what are the chances of THAT happening?!"

As he was walking toward me, I pulled back, and saw the whole picture. 

I realized it was one of the photos that Mark Lohman took when he, and Fifi O'Neill were here last June during a shoot for Romantic Country Magazine.

Whoa!!

Look, that's OUR cupboard!!! and it's in a magazine!!

What a bumpkin I am!

It's the photo on the left page...bottom left.

If I'm not mistaken, that's Fifi's kitchen on the right page...bottom left.

What a surprise today!!
What else do I miss, by not looking at the whole picture?
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Slow 2014 down, and grab some joy!!!

Here we are, a week into the new year....a whole week has gone by as we forge ahead into the year 2014.

A  lot of people have the year mapped out for themselves. They've made resolutions, and promises. There are expectations to be met.

Restrictions to live by, and pressure to measure up to a standard set too high.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve oneself.

It just seems wise to keep a reasonable perspective when starting any self-improvement regime.

We don't all have the same physical abilities.

If we train with a friend that is more athletic, or more advanced than we are, we will expect too much out of ourselves, and become discouraged.

Find a training partner that is suitable to your work-out level.

You will find your sessions less frustrating.

When dieting....choose a program suited to your needs!!! NOT your sisters, or your best friends.

What works for one person, doesn't always work for another.

Buying the food programs through the mail can become quite expensive. Make sure you check them out thoroughly.  

There are quite a few options to quit smoking out there.

Don't give up if the first option fails!!!

Be patient.

Take one day at a time.

Change isn't always about losing something, or giving something up.

Sometimes it's about "finding" something.

It can be about relationships.

ALL kinds of them!!!

Mending them, building them, improving them, starting them....you be the judge.

2013 went by way too fast for me.

2014 started out with my 60th birthday, and a surprise weekend planned by my three daughters.

They took me to a Bed & Breakfast in Frankenmuth. Paid for my meals. Gave me a basket with my "favorite things" tucked inside....the wine bottle had the invitation printed on the label(which I received the weekend before the event). Took me shopping, and made sure I bought everything I wanted!! Took me out for a wonderful dinner, and treated me so kind.I felt very loved.

For me...that was the perfect way to start the new year.

I wasn't worried about any resolutions. I just wanted to enjoy "time". The hours spent with my girls were the best of 2014 so far!!!!

That will be my focus this year. Enjoying "time". As each day comes, hopefully I will remember to grab the joy in it, and hold it tight...because time goes by way too fast!!!
Slow down, and enjoy life! Make this the year you take some time to feel some joy!
xoxoxoxoxo