Cabbages and Roses And A Give-Away

French Larkspur

Tracey over at

FRENCH LARKSPUR

Is Having a

GIVE-AWAY!

She is giving away

beautiful

Cabbages And Roses

fabric....3 yards.

One of each of the following patterns

If you're not familiar with

Cabbages and Roses

products

here are a few photo's

for you to enjoy...

I'd love to fill my cottage with

these beautiful fabrics

and products shown here!

I'd even like to fill my wardrobe

with a few of their

pieces of clothing while I'm at it!

I hope you'll hop on over to

Tracey's

and enter her give-away

and if you haven't already visited her blog

you're in for a real treat!

And if you haven't

visited

Cabbages And Roses

web site or

would like to see more of their products

just type their name into Google Images

and be amazed at what you see!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Maura :)

*All images are from Cabbages And Roses unless otherwise noted*



Double Trouble

Remember the kittens I RESCUED from

the burn pile?

They are are growing like weeds

and are into everything!

As I write this they are climbing up the back

of my chair and Henry just ran across my

keyboard and closed this box.

Thank heaven's Blogger saves our posts

as we type!

Despite the disruptions

they are a blast.

They keep us in stitches

and make us almost purr with pleasure. 

I took these photo's while I sat

at our computer trying to compose

a blog post.

Dora The Explorer is the black kitten

and she'll be going to her new home soon.

I'm really going to miss her. 

Secretly I wish the people would take 

both of them because 

Henry is going to be lost without her.

This past week they've discovered

all kinds of new things. Like if they

climb on the office chair they can jump 

onto the desk.

Or if 'Mom' leaves the desk drawer open 

they have a new hiding place.

At night I put them in the bathtub

with their little 'blankie'

and water and some dry food

and shut the shower curtain.

They can jump up onto the ledge 

of the bathtub 

but they haven't discovered

that all they have to do is jump down

and they'll be free.

I guess since they can't see the floor 

because of the shower curtain 

they're afraid to jump.

That's ok with me!

So far they've never had an 'accident'

not even in the bathtub.

I've had to save my basket of flowers

under the bathroom sink

from being destroyed.

My poor rustic twig

table and stool are taking a beating

or rather a chewing and a scratching.

Scars that will bring back happy memories

down the road.

It's been so hot here in Kansas.

Just a few minutes ago the weatherman 

mentioned that our area hit

108 today. 

We worked outside despite the heat

but it sure was nice to jump into the

pool for a quick dip.

What's the weather been like where you live?

I hope you have a WONDERFUL week!

Maura :)

Bloggers Block!

See the stepping stones? They used to be cement gray!

Is it just me?

I'm having Bloggers Block

if you know what I mean.

The past few weeks I've been struggling 

to find things to Blog about.

Spring was late arriving but when it did

we found ourselves scurrying around

 trying to get everything done that 

was put on hold.

That meant everything happened at once 

and we're still trying to catch up!

I still haven't started my spring cleaning

and the fence isn't stained and we still

 have trim on the house to paint.

And weeding...oh my...I don't even want to 

THINK about that!

Maybe this is why I'm having trouble 

with Bloggers Block?

While I was trying to think about something 

to blog about this morning I remembered 

that my friend John from

Going Gently

had asked to see more photo's

of our cottage.

Well John this post is for you.

Ok it's not all about the cottage but

I thought you'd like to see a bit more of

our little farm on the Kansas prairie.

Starting with the photo above

as most of you know this is actually what we call 

the back of the cottage as it faces the back of

our farm. The opposite end faces

the street. Strange I know.

These two photo's are just of the yard

surrounding the cottage. 

Above is the garden shed/chicken coop.

To the right of that is the vegetable and 

herb garden and the strawberry patch.

Above is looking towards the back of the farm.

We put the pool up last weekend but we 

have to get the rust out of the water

before we can use it or my white/silver

hair will turn orange!

The pictures above and below 

are actually the real back of the cottage

as the front of the cottage is on the opposite

side. The two windows on the left

are the bathroom we just renovated.

The double window in the middle

is actually our dining room.

The tiny window next to that is the 

stairway to the partial basement.

Where we would run for cover if a

tornado was heading for us.

The last window on the right is

to our master bedroom.

I just realized I've never shown this side

of the cottage before as it was so 

ugly with blue paint flaking off!

These two photo's show the side of the cottage

that faces the road.

In the bottom picture you can see the actual

front of the cottage with the porch.

The pictures above and below 

are what we see across the

road from our farm.

The picture below shows what people see 

as they drive by our little farm.

The two pictures below are why

I LOVE living in the country.

Looking to the south...see those trees WAY

in the distance more than half a mile away?

That's our closest neighbor to the south.

In the picture above..see those trees

WAY in the distance on the right side

of the road?

That's our nearest neighbor to the north.

I could stand out on the road naked

and no one would see me!!!

Not that I'd do that ;)

I threw in this photo of Shep

our Akbash.

He looks small ...but he's HUGE.

Back down the lane to the cottage.

Cottage is on the left behind the lilac grove.

Our pasture is to the right.

Here's a couple of pictures of the cottage.

We still have to make shutters, stain the fence,

finish painting the trim, make a sidewalk

to the front door (which country people don't use),

plant grass between the fence and the cottage,

and one day down the road...build a screened porch.

Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Above is part of the view from the 

back of our farm.

A creek runs along those trees.

The nearest farm behind us is a mile away

which we can't see.

I love it!

The last photo is the back of the cottage again.

Yes I do hang my clothes out to dry!

So there you have it.

John I hope you enjoyed the photo's

and for those of you who are bored with 

seeing our farm....hopefully I'll be out 

of this Blogging slump soon. 

Amy...I'm thinking of you.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day.

Maura :)

It's A Beautiful Morning!

This morning I arose to beautiful

sunny skies and calm weather.

I decided to grab my camera and 

take a few pictures of the gardens near the cottage.

Above is Annabelle Hydrangea

The shade garden is doing ok

after the hail last week

although a lot of the hosta leaves

are pretty beat up.

The flowers in the bicycle baskets

took a beating too 

but they're alive. 

I still have lots of room for 

more shade plants but I think
I'm done for this year. 

Hubby carried my heavy concrete

bird bath into the garden

yesterday...it's good to see it again 

after being stored for 2 years.

One of the Salvia's in the front garden

that received hail damage.

It's holding it's own though.

This garden was planted this year...

we still have to put a rock boarder around it.

In the background is the David Austin rose

Graham Thomas that will be trained to 

climb along the fence. 

I better get that fence painted before I have

to pussy foot around the thorns!

Annabelle Hydrangea's 

growing along the front of the house.

The house was a deep blue

when I planted them but now that the house

is a pale yellow I wish I had

planted blue Hydrangeas!

I still like them.

This was my fathers trike

that he was given by neighbors

in the early 1920's.

It was old when he got it!

We still need to cut the tops off the posts!

This is the only patch of nice lawn 

we have on this farm. 

When we moved here the old

foundation for the summer kitchen/laundry

house sat right there.

Our camper sat out there on gravel/concrete and dirt

for 3 months while we did renovations

to the house. 

It took lots of fertilizer and grass seed 

and water to get it this far!

Above is what this area looked like before.

You can see the power pole in both pictures.

The chicken coop/garden shed is still here

but the barn and round storage building 

and the metal building next to it are all

gone now. 

I miss that barn.

Just a photo of the old porch that will 

one day be replaced with a 

screened porch.

It's waiting for me to stain it...

but right now I'm going to 

sit out here with my coffee

and enjoy the morning.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Maura :)