Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These

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 As the weather get's warmer and my 

fingers get itchy to play in the dirt

and start on creating my flower gardens...

I can't help but do a little dreaming.

Our home is a humble little 

cottage with no fancy turrets or

gardens...it is basically a blank slate.

This makes it easy for my imagination

to take over.

I know my cozy little cottage will never

be as whimsical or fanciful as these 

but that's ok.

It is after all a

FARM COTTAGE.

But

I 

can

 DREAM.

Best House Design

Can you imagine living in this house..

look at that roof garden!

Flickr

I LOVE this cottage with the curving eaves

and look at that roof!

homedesigning.com

Oh to live in a thatched roof cottage.

This one is pretty small

but hey...when you live in something so 

charming maybe size doesn't matter.

cottage.luckymud.com

This is a bit different but I like the

rustic look.

I like 

different.

geocaching.com

I like the woodsy feel of this house

and the steeply pitched

roof.

flickr

Look at this wonderful chimney!

It would be like living in a Walt Disney movie.

Home Designing

Look at all that ivy.

Our little cottage in the city

had ivy growing up the brick.

It eventually covered nearly all the front

but it started to take over the garden so

we pulled it all off. 

It was pretty...but not at the expense of my garden.

I still like ivy.

Furnitureluxurydesign.com

Now this is what I call a

COTTAGE.

Love the garden growing over the stone wall 

and of course that thatched roof. 

After going over all of these photo's again

I realize that most of them have a common

denominator....

shade gardens.

And that my friends is what I must

get back to thinking about. 

Are you lucky enough to be working in your 

garden already?

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Maura :)

Farm Friend Friday - This Time Last Year

It's time for 

Farm Friend Friday

I thought I'd share some photo's

from last year

that were taken around the farm in March.

Lots has changed since these photo's

were snapped.

Some good...some not so good.

Sadly we lost our old barn to a barn fire

last summer.

Shep bugging poor little Bubba.

Shep was 8 months old in this picture.

Eeyore just before he was ...fixed ;(

Chelsea our female Shih Tzu

just before she got her spring haircut.

Her face had already been shaved.

She looks fat but she's a lean mean

running machine!

She's not happy in this photo because she

knows what's coming.

Romeo our handsome Australorp

rooster.

He's a LOVER not a fighter.

Phoebe and chelsea doing 'girl talk'.

Phoebe.." did you see

what that woman was wearing this morning?!"

Love this pump.

These will be moved into the picket fence garden

this spring. Can't wait to

get working in the garden but DH has to finish the 

fence first. 

Life is still on hold.

I hope you'll stop on over to Amy's 

Verde Farm

and visit the other fellow bloggers joining 

in this week..it's always a fun time.

What's on your agenda this weekend?

Have a great one.

Maura :)

Reflections On a Pond

Outreachfarm.org

A Quiet Moment

Just a whisper of the wind in the cool air,
While walking the country side, so fair,
As winds blew leaves of silver and gold,
The old trees cracked, while standing,
So bright and bold.
I came to a pond, all clear and blue,
Swans swimming, near water lilies through,
As I sit close to the water with fresh air all around,
The calmness was still, not even a sound.
I looked at my reflection, floating there,
With sunlight glowing around my face and hair.
As water flowing over rocks hidden in the sand,
I felt the cool, as water rolled over my hand.
The country so green, flowers blooming astray,
The contentment feeling, overwhelmed, as I walked away.

 Carolyn Thomas Langston

Southernaccents.com

Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL warm sunny day

here on the farm.

I wasn't about to spend my day inside so after

lunch I headed out to work in the yard.

It was warm enough to go without a jacket

so I rolled up my sleeves and started to sweep up

the 12x40 foot slab that was the workshop

floor in the 40X180 foot building

that was sold and removed this winter.

We have already buried nearly half of the concrete

footing that the walls of the building sat on...thank

goodness it didn't have a concrete floor throughout!

I've been thinking a lot about what to do 

with all that land we've gained 

where the building sat. 

DH's plan was to level it and plant grass.

I do the mowing.

Hmmm what about a pond!

flickr.com

Not your typical back yard pond...

...a FARM POND!

waterplantsforponds.com

I brought up my idea to DH and he

likes the idea..wow! 

So now in my spare time I am

going to look up as much

information as I can on the building

and maintaining of a pond.

Ours would not be as large

as most of these 

but large enough to make

us happy and that's

all that matters.

geograph.org.uk

We may find that the layout of

our land where we'd like to put the pond

won't work so if that's the case

we'll have to forget it.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

grit.com

TJB-inc.com

DH was going to break up and bury

the concrete floor that's left.

I had another idea.

What about building a tiny 'cabin' with a front

porch that we could use as a garden/tool shed

It's central to the farm so no more walking 

from one end of the farm to the other to get

and put away tools!

gardenvisit.com

The best part is...it would be right next to

the pond.

Since the slab is so large I thought...

what about building a pergola for 

the picnic table to sit under? 

We could plant Wisteria and train

it to grow over the supports ;-)

The concrete slab is plenty big enough for

all of that.

kasco-fountains.net

He likes my ideas.

Can you picture sitting on a little covered porch 

under the trees beside a beautiful pond

with coffee in hand watching the sun rise

over the fields and pond.

It just so happens that we would be 

facing east ;-)

So...if the land topography

works...we may just have a

pond to relax by one day.

flickr.com

For now I will look up all the

information I can find...hope for the best

and do a little 'reflecting' on a pond.

I hope your day is a good one.

Maura :)

We Have A Winner!...And Flea Market Trip

Congratulations 

to Cindy at 

APPLE STONE COTTAGE!

You're the winner of my 

First Year Give-Away.

Choosing the winner was a bit 

different than I had planned.

I was going to get DH to pull a

name out of the hat this morning

but I forgot that he was going to 

have lunch with his daughter on his

way home from work so would be late.

I was willing to wait.

However...as I got up to run to the bathroom

I knocked over the hat with all the names.

As I was coming back to the computer I saw

a little fuzzy feline running off with 

one of the names!

By the time I caught up with her she had

dropped the paper and had run off.

A light bulb came on and I thought

WHY NOT!

So Cindy...this is how your name was chosen.

THANK YOU

EVERY ONE

who took the time to enter!

Thank you also to those who have 

been with me since the beginning and 

who have faithfully followed along

on this adventure.

And to those who have just

joined up for the ride...

I look forward to seeing your

comments and I hope you 

enjoy your visits to our cottage in the country.

I look forward to many more happy

adventures together!

:)

Last month DH and I made it to the large

flea market that happens

every month except for July and August

not far from our home.

There were quite a few booths missing

this time but the weatherman had been

predicting bad weather so that probably explains it.

I had been looking for a large white enamel

pitcher but never did see one.

I did see lots of other items...

some even came home with us.

I love these teddies above

made from old worn quilts.

They may be raggedy to some

but to me they have history.

I love that old worn soft look.

And for $6.50 for both of them

I couldn't resist!

I also love aprons and this one

caught my eye right away.

Look at those hankie pockets!

See the button at the top?

How cute!

My favorite find was this mailbox.

It's an old one and attached to an

old farm hedge post!

It still has the name of the

original owners on the side.

The letters are pretty faded but in the sun

you can just make it out.

This baby will have a special place 

in the picket fence garden this summer.

I can't wait to get started planting

but I have to be patient.

So

CONGRATULATIONS 

again to Cindy!

Please send me an email 

with your mailing address etc.

:)

I hope you all have a wonderful week

and HEY...tomorrow is the 1st of March.

Spring will soon be here!

Maura :)