Scrapping England 99

Do you Scrapbook?

I discovered Scrap-booking in 2002.

I was in heaven. I had all these pictures

from my trip to England and France in 99

and I thought...what a great way to 

remember my trip!

I bought some card stock and a few 

patterned papers, glue stick,

stickers and some good

scrap-booking pens.

I didn't have a clue what to do really

so I just started playing around

until things looked ok and then

started gluing.

I started running out of paper so I

started cutting frames 

and little pieces of paper to cover

corners.

I even cut photo's!!

I had so much fun I often worked into the night

sometimes...I didn't want to quit!

When I was done...this is what I had.

These old pages are from a

trip we made from near London

where my Sister and her family lived

to Cornwall. 

We did this whole trip in 4 days!

The first day we stopped in the Cotswolds

to visit my sister's good friend Marilyn.

Oh my...I loved the Cotswolds 

and Marilyn and John's home

was a typical Cotswolds stone cottage.

From there we went to a little village

not far from them to get some photo's 

and then on to Bath where we just

drove around and stopped for a few 

photo's shoots. 

Brian was wonderful.

We arrived at Brian's brother's

cottage late that evening.

The next day we were off to

Tintagel Castle.

Legend has it that it was one

of King Arthur's castles ;)

Port Isaac

We also went to St Ives...

I didn't include those pages

but it was a BEAUTIFUL 

little village.

My favorite stop in Cornwall

was Padstow

as we hit it when the sun was

shining and they were having a 

celebration called

Fish And Ships Day...

how English is that!

A trip to Cornwall just doesn't 

get any better than this!

If you enlarge the photo's you

can read what we did

and what we saw.

On the way home we stopped

in Devon.

Unfortunately that last day it was raining

so I added these postcards of

what we missed.

I was still thrilled...narrow streets, 

quaint shops, ocean views

thatched roof cottage everywhere!

Even the rain didn't dampen 

my spirits...I was in 7th heaven!

And it was here in Sidmouth

where I had my very first 

Devonshire Cream Tea

which included tea and of course

currant scones with clotted cream 

and strawberry preserves.

Oh my...words can't even describe

how delicious this was.

Maybe my expression says it all.

Last but certainly not least

was seeing 

Stonehenge

as we came over a hill

on the way back to Hornchurch.

It took my breath away.

So this was my last trip

to England and first attempt at

scrapbooking.

I hope you enjoyed a little

glimpse of England....

...would you be interested in 

a little trip to Paris?

Maura :)

Do I Really want to start?

Country Living

I'm trying psych myself up to start 

painting our kitchen cupboards. 

I really don't want to start but I 

know that once I do ...

I'll be on a 'roll'. 

Before I buy paint I need to 

find a fabric for under the kitchen

sink. 

But that's where I'm having problems.

I need to find the PERFECT patterned fabric

keeping in mind that...

1) It must tie in the colors of the dining room.

2) It needs to have that 'farm cottage' look.

3) It needs to be able to hide dirt from

hubbies...OK.. AND my dirty hands.

4) It needs to be washable.

I haven't found one that jumps

up and says 'pick me!' yet.

But I'm looking.

Decor Pod

Since I'm not going to tear up the 

flooring and we have a grayish

floor

I'm thinking of painting the lower

cabinets a soft blue/gray

and the upper cabinets 

an aged white.

I wished they were as nice as

the cupboards in these photo's!

Harvest Furniture Blog

We will be adding some molding to 

the top and trim to the bottom 

and hopefully some brackets

to give them a custom look similar

to the cupboards below.

I'd also like to add some 'legs'

under the lower cupboards

like the ones in the photo above.

Harvest Furniture Blog

For now our counter tops

will have to stay

but hopefully one day we'll replace 

them...even if it means touching up

what ever we mess up in the process.

Harvest Furniture Blog

I love all the crown molding in the photo below.

Doesn't this kitchen have character!

The Inspired Room

We will be installing bead-board to 

the ceiling and also crown molding

like we did in the rest of the house

including the bathroom.

Romantic Homes

Sure wish we had wood floors 

like the photo below.

But...we're being frugal so unless

hubby or I burn a hole in the flooring...

it stays. 

Eric Roth

So for now I am scouring Ebay for 

the perfect fabric and hopefully one

day soon I'll be pulling out the old

roller and paint brush. 

Until then...I'll keep looking for

fabric and inspiration.

Are you looking to start any 

home projects in the near future?

Maura :)

Entertainment With Breakfast

I decided to have my breakfast

under the tree's this morning.

It's a BEAUTIFUL morning

and just perfect for enjoying

some of our home grown

Kansas Melons.

They're doing well despite

our terrible hot summer.

We've never planted these type 

before and we're very impressed

but we can see why they don't sell them

commercially as they don't have a long

shelf life.

Our mint is growing well too..

time to dry some for tea.

The Kansas melons are huge!

While I was enjoying my breakfast

Henry came to visit and 

decided to show off

for Lizzy and Olly

our two older cats.

This is our 'hitching post'.

This is Henry.

This is Henry on the 'hitching post'.

When Henry discovered this old thing

it was LOVE at first scratch.

This morning he was up and down 

and sideways and you name it...

he was doing it.

Well...it was fun sitting in the shade

enjoying the 'fruits' of our labor

and enjoying Henry and his antics

but the temperature is rising 

and I've got watering to do

so I must run.

I hope your day is a WONDERFUL one

and have a GREAT weekend!

Maura :)

Buzzzzzz

The corn crib

This morning when I walked over to the 

old garage to feed Shep

I heard buzzing.

When I came out of the garage I looked up...

there were bee's everywhere!

Between the corn crib and the garage

the air was filled with bees.

They never bothered me so I headed back 

to the house. Later this evening

my hubby came and got me and told me 

to bring my camera.

This is what I saw!

I couldn't believe my hubby was standing so close...

and he was wanting me to come and

take a closer look! 

The neat thing is...the bee's weren't the 

lease bit worried about him.

I didn't care...I wasn't going any 

closer.

Thank goodness for zoom lenses!!

If you look closely you can see how

the wood above the door is wet.

I think it's excess honey. 

The double wall in the corn crib

is filled with the bee's honeycombs. 

Last year hubby tore part of the wall

out and this is what we saw

Here

The honeycombs were about 4 or 5 layers

deep in places and went way up into the wall. 

Now they are even higher up and they've 

moved over.

The bee's are very docile,

neither of us have been stung...

yet. Some friends think we should 

get rid of them....we like them and  they're

great for pollinating our gardens and fruit trees so 

they STAY. 

Now if we could just 

talk the bee's out of a quart or two

of honey ;)

Have a wonderful week!

Maura :)