Outdoor Wednesday

 

I am joining Susan at a Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. This Wednesday I am going to try to catch up some more on my visiting and do some housekeeping on my blog. What are you going to do?

I had this concrete head in in my first home in Florida. I could not find a place for it in my present home. She needs to be sunk into the ground and have her head planted so we decided that she could work in Jack’s shade garden. By the end of the summer she should be just beautiful. A wagon wheel leans up against a tree.

 

We can sit on his deck and wait for hummingbirds. And if the weather cooperates there are a few pictures I would like to take.

Then we will go back to the cabin and look at the lake. There might be a sailboat race.

Have a great day!

Mosaic Monday

I am joining Mary at Little Red House for this event. I am constantly amazed at the creativity of the bloggers in designing these mosaics. Thank you to all of you who share your talents.  Today I am playing with Picnik. It takes longer than I would like to upload my pictures but worth the wait for the fun you can have.




Above are some flowers from my garden arranged with “kookiness”. Below is another “kooky” arrangement.




These flowers are in the well next to the cabin. They are a delightful mix of yellow, orange, white and purple in a red well! It works.

Have a wonderful week. Thank you to all who have visited me and left comments. I will catch up!!!

Pink Saturday on my birthday!

What a nice present! One of my favorite events is on my birthday. Another year has gone by and except for the “bad” hip, it has been another wonderful year. Much of its success has been due to blogging. I have met some wonderful people and seen some amazing photographs and read some beautiful and funny writing. I have learned so much from studying all your blogs. Who said grandmothers don’t know much about computers????
Now, speaking of grandmothers and birthdays…… I talk about my Gram Potter a lot but I also had a Gram Lane. My parents, as they downsized, starting giving me some of the family treasures that they knew I treasured (coveted). The treasures were stored in the back of dark closets. I wanted to display them in my china cupboard. So for one of my birthdays I received Gram Lane’s cocoa set which I believe was one of her wedding presents.

I love the handle on the pot and the shape of the little bowl. I am not sure what the bowl is for – maybe extra whipped cream! The linens underneath the tray were embroidered by Gram Potter and she made the lace as well. I feel so fortunate to have a trunk full of her crocheted and embroidered linens.

 






I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Pleas stop by and see all the Pinks.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Outdoor Wednesday at the farms…

 

 

I am joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. Please be sure to visit the other participants and see what they have been doing outdoors.

We are so fortunate in the summer to be able to get wonderful produce and farm fresh eggs in this area. I no longer have the vegetable gardens I used to have. Instead I have some containers so I can cut flowers and some herbs so I can season the food.

We get eggs at a nearby farm.

We all save our egg cartons from week to week. We take back an empty and come home with a dozen. The egg at the top is pale green/blue and comes from an Araucana  chicken or a similar breed. You can read about these chickens here. The owners of the farm always make sure that each dozen contains one pastel egg.

You can see the variety of colors in the dozen I got today.

Some of the girls were strolling about but they were quite camera shy and turned their backs on me. Their  eggs are amazing. The yolks are a brilliant yellow. These eggs give new meaning to fried egg sandwiches.

Then we were off in another direction to get tomatoes. In a field to the right tucked almost in the tree line were beehives.

The field is full of wildflowers and clover and the honey will be sold at the farm. Soon the hives will be hidden as the field grows taller.

Then we went into the farm and got our tomatoes. We keep them on the windowsill where they are a decorative touch for the cabin. We are making Cathy’s Baked Bean sandwiches for supper. You can get the recipe here at Wives with Knives.

I picked some flowers and the windowsill vignette is done.

Thank you for stopping by. I love your comments. I will catch up and visit later in the week. I am having a hip replacement in three weeks and there is a lot of pre-op going on.

Mosaics from the market......

Our market in Conway is open and full of fresh garden foods. Their tomatoes are in. They are grown in greenhouses but not the hothouse type that one would scorn. They are grown in the rich soil of the Saco River. The sides of these "sheds" are left open during warmer days and closed when needed. I have at least one a day! You can read more about the Saco and the soil here.

I am joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Please stop by and see all the other wonderful mosaics.

A bite of one of these tomatoes takes me right back to the farm. We have basil in the window box and mozzarella in the fridge.

And then there is the asparagus. Radishes and cucumbers are fresh from the garden.

Very Dark Pink Northern Studio…..

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for Pink Saturday and Where Bloggers Create.

This is my little cottage by the lake. You can see some more of it here. The cottage is not actually mine but I have been there for 8 years in the summer. The owners have become dear friends and I have decorated it with some of my belongings. The name of the cottage is Querencia. In Spanish, querencia describes a place where one feels safe, a place from which one's strength of character is drawn, a place where one feels at home. It comes from the verb quere, which means to desire, to want.

This little cabin in the woods is where I regained my strength after my husband died and my life took a different path than the one I thought it would follow. I have a wonderful new life now but the cabin is where I still recharge my energies and plan my projects for the year. We cook lots of wonderful food in the cabin and on the grill and focus our efforts on a lot of New England favorites with a little bit of Italian thrown in.


The cottage is mostly red (very, very dark red!) but there are pinks in the quilts and the dishes!

Peonies from Jack’s garden……
Some old quilts……

A new quilt made with old flour sacks…..

And some Kaffe on the loft railings……


This cabin is conducive to creative thoughts. I think and ponder and plan.

I study……some of it sinks in!

Socks are my new project….

A little crocheting….

 I look at the lake and into the woods…

I can sit on the glider and look out….


A bit of basil and some parsley…..



Happy Pink Saturday! Where do you create?