home about archives blogfriends recipes cottage

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cabbages and Roses And A Give-Away



French Larkspur

Tracey over at


Is Having a

GIVE-AWAY!

She is giving away
beautiful


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*



Sunday, June 26, 2011

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 :)















Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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
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 :)

Friday, June 17, 2011

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 :)





LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...