Needlepoint Chair Cover

I finally finished my needlepoint chair cover!

Here are a few 'before' pictures to show what dire need this poor chair was in for a new cover!

Winter Arrangement

Ready for the Day

this brisk, very cold day.

Bathroom Redo

This is the upstairs bathroom when we bought the cottage.

This is the same bathroom after we redid it.

We had the bathroom gutted including the bathtub, cabinets and sinks and started completely over.  I would love to have put pedestal sinks in but they just weren't practical considering the girls use this bathroom. So we had the cabinets custom built. I wanted them to look like an antique vanity.

I really wanted to buy one of the old historical homes downtown. Doc B on the other hand hates old houses. I look at them and see charm. He looks at them and sees at lot of work and money.

So we compromised and got this sort of old house. I'm afraid it's a little more of a fixer upper than Doc B had planned on. I made the curtain myself using fabric from my fabric stash.

I used the mirrors that were in the original bathroom and painted them. I am really pleased with how they came out. I saved money by not buying new mirrors but then used the money I saved to buy the very expensive Annie Sloan paint and the wax and brushes that go with it ;)

 I found the light fixtures on eBay. They came from an estate sale. I think they might be my favorite thing in the whole redo.

I got the shower curtain, bath mat, and the girl's towels from Garnet Hill. No money saving here!

This cabinet over the commode is just a cheapy from JCPenney. You can even see that the knobs are uneven. I guess you get what you pay for. The vintage commode seat cover was another find on eBay.

 

 

Just One More

Not sure why I thought I needed one more antique. I will have to say though that this marble top table is just what was needed between these 2 chairs.

 
Doc B agreed which is a definite confirmation since he usually is not too excited about my purchases :)

Trying again...

 Well I haven't blogged since mid December. We were so blessed to have all of our children home for Christmas. It was a joyful chaotic busy time :) but then life at our house usually is! It was so good to have them all here. We have one son doing an oral surgery residency 9 hours away. The
other son is in the military. So we felt especially blessed that they could be here not only at the same time, but also at Christmas.

 Then about the time the girls went back to school, we had workmen here for about 2 months. So I was always picking things out, paint colors, faucets, light fixtures, tile, etc. It was all I could do to keep up with them. Then I found out that our wonderful little school will close its doors at least temporarily and actually probably permanently. So I spent spring trying to get all the things done that had been put off for another day knowing that the time had come since for ohh about the next 7 years or so I will be homeschooling!
 I have also been working on these:
I finally finished up this needlepoint chair cover. It is now in the hands of the upholsterer.
.

I started my first ever quilt.

Santa

My mother bought this Santa in 1957 from the Coca Cola Company. She let me have him quite a few years ago.

 

 

 

He hangs out with these guys every year at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely Laundering and Ironing

In the first 20 years of our marriage, I sadly never used a clothesline. In the last 13 or so, I have discovered my love of a clothesline. When we moved to the cottage, that was one of my first concerns...where to hang the clothesline. Hanging clothes outside makes them so fresh and crisp. It also helps get the stains out that didn't come out in the wash. As a fan off all things natural, I detest those store bought stain removers. I much prefer the sun. It does a great job! My dear online friend, made these clothespin aprons. They make the job much easier and prettier I might add. As you can see, there is one for me and one for each of the girls.

At the beginning of our marriage, my mother gave me her old ironing board.

I used it until just recently. My dear friend made me an ironing board cover that at least made it a little prettier. Still, it was the clunkiest thing ever. I thought about painting it turquoise and trying to make a cover for it myself. I still may try it as it has been through 3, yes THREE yard sales and has not sold! HAHA

When I finally decided I had used that thing long enough, I found this one at an antique store.

The cover I had on the old clunker fit this one perfectly.

I guess I went from vintage to antique :)

The little purple spray bottle holds my lavender water. I don't use starch. I just mist the clothes and iron. Between the fresh air and the lavender water, my laundry smells so good.

Hibiscus

Our hibiscus really took off this summer. Actually it kind of grew wild. A couple of weeks ago Doc B trimmed them so we could bring the pots in for the winter. We stuck some of the trim in a vase thinking it would last only a couple of days or so.

To our surprise it still looks just as fresh as the day we brought them in. Even more to our surprise we have a bloom and it looks like several more to come.

 

 

It looks like they are rooting.

 

Although the plants are looking very tropical, it's not feeling very tropical. We decided it's time to take the chill off.

 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~
Linking up with Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}!

{pretty}

I usually like flowers from the cottage garden or wildflowers. My local grocery store though had these for $2.29! It was a deal I couldn't pass up! They adorned the counter where we eat for well over a week.

{happy}
Our oldest son is doing an oral surgery residency 9 hours from here. So we don't see him and his wife and their sweet littles very often. They will be here next week for a few days!! :) Part of that time our son and daughter-in-law are going on a little get away of their own and I get to be Nana!! I am sooo excited!!!  (pictures to follow :)

{funny}
The girls used to like to slide down the bathtub while I got dressed!

 

{real}

We have a huge hornet nest behind our garage. :/

 

 

Yesterday at the Cottage

~aired a quilt~

~washed a set of dishes I bought over the weekend at an estate sale~

~some dusting~

~and mopping~

~tea time~

~the girls didn't make it to violin practice~ :(

~roasted tomato soup made with homemade chicken broth for dinner with a pot of fresh turnip greens~