Friday, December 22, 2017

All Dressed for Christmas


My first Christmas in my new home
...sigh...


I have discovered
this sweet house decorates very nicely for the holidays!


What fun to pull out old favorites
and find new holiday homes for them.










With all its green accents,
the dining room is especially festive.


My Christmas elves are hovering above the dining table and...


...my current gift of flowers from M.


Here is an early gift from my 
sister in law Terry,
who is a paper artist.
This hanging ball was made from
thirty separate pieces that interlock together.
Terry tells me that she made fifty of these
between July and November.
I feel very fortunate to be the
recipient of one of them.


 Previous gifts... 


...from Terry.
Isn't this one lovely hanging on one of my
beautiful glass doorknob?


The upstairs landing's window seat
has become the perfect spot 
for my little sheep tree.




One of three little Christmas elves
hanging above my bed
and keeping dreams of sugar plums 
in my head!


Coming or going,
Buttermilk Cottage
is all decked out and ready!

Hope you are as well
and are now enjoying the 
holiday season to it's fullest!

Thursday, November 23, 2017

An Untraditional Thanksgiving 2017


Times change.
Life changes.
The trick is to not get stuck in the past,
but rather move on and change too.
First, let me tell you 
I AM a traditionalist.
I don't particularly like change.
I pretty much cook the same
holiday meals every year.
I decorate with the same 
accessories over and over.
I might be accused of being stuck
in a rut.
BUT, not this year.
This year's Thanksgiving has been
anything but my traditional one.
You may remember my best friend/sister Nancy
has moved away to be a caretaker to our Mother.
So, it was only Kate and me this year.
(SO HAPPY she made it home for the holiday!)
Since Kate would be having a
Thanksgiving dinner with her Dad
later in the day,
I decided this year 
I would not be cooking my traditional 
Thanksgiving dinner.
It seemed so excessive to cook
a huge meal for the two of us
just to send her off to eat 
another huge meal.
So, we did Thanksgiving brunch this year.

I found an interesting crust less quiche recipe in the current
SOUTHERN LIVING magazine.
(If you have it, be sure to take note
of their article on Abingdon, Virginia.
It's a neighboring town and a treasure.)


The recipe suggested quiche toppings
of sour cream, chopped tomatoes and green onions.
That cried out for an avocado as well.


We did pull out the holiday dishes.
No point in giving up every tradition!


We both decided the recipe is a "keeper."
My local grocery store does very nice muffins,
so I added store bought pumpkin and cranberry ones.
We filled our plates and ate in front of the TV
watching the end of Macy's parade.
(I'm usually up to my elbows cooking during the parade.)


After brunch, we settled in to watch the final episode
of the current season of
GAME OF THRONES.
Kate had already seen the whole season,
at least two or three times.
She's a G of T nerd and would not 
be bothered to have me call her that.
I, on the other hand,
have waited for Kate to be home
to watch this season.
Mainly because she would explain all the
finer details to me.
It did not disappoint.


Finally, we finished up with a nice long walk
in my new neighborhood.
We had a lovely, late fall day
and it was great to be outside.
This is my street,
a walker and house lover's delight!


Kate has now traveled on to her Dad's and 
I have the rest of the evening on my own.
Earlier in the week I did make my favorite
(I cannot let every tradition go!)
and will have for dinner
 a turkey sandwich,
with this delicious relish on it.
All in all,
a lovely and relaxed Thanksgiving.
Change is good and I am thankful!


Finally, a quick house update.
This area is at the top of my stairs
and just got finished this week.
I replaced the window with a solid glass one,
knowing I wanted to use a stained glass panel 
which came from my previous house in it.
I'm so pleased with how it looks
at the top of the stairs.
I'm showing it to you now,
rather than waiting until 
I share the rest of the upstairs because
tomorrow the Christmas decorations come out,
and this spot is calling out for
one of my traditional holiday trees.


Friday, November 10, 2017

My Cottage....Still Tweaking!


I haven't posted in a while.
Life seems to be getting in the way!
Although I still have more house projects,
which sometimes seem never ending,
I have made lots of progress settling into 
Buttermilk Cottage.
It's hard to believe I've been here
almost six months!
You've already seen the office and kitchen,
so today I'll show you the rest of the downstairs.


Here's a look at the living room
when I bought the house.
Very good bones,
but I needed to make it "mine."


This shot is just inside the front door.
The ceiling was smoothed out 
and the carpet was removed from the stairs.


All the walls in the house were painted a pale gray.
That enabled me to use the window treatments
from my previous house 
along with my numerous
blue and white accessories.
And of course, there's a pop of red
in every room!





The chalk painted wardrobe came from
the entrance in my previous house.
The mirror backed french doors,
also chalk painted,
were from the dining room.


One of the fun things about moving for me
has been using old things in different rooms.



The fireplace has gas logs which have already been used
on numerous occasions.
I am loving this cozy, comfortable room!

Here's a reminder how the dining room looked before....


...and after.


There's a curved archway
from the living room
into the dining room. 


The table is presently "dressed" 
for fall.




The corner cabinet
is still a work in progress.
The top portion has a
pretty arched glass door
and the bottom 
two shelves will be 
closed behind two solid doors.
Presently the doors are all 
in the basement
waiting for me to finish them.
(Another project....another day.)


I am highlighting green in the dining room,
since these are the dishes on display.



Loving how the downstairs
has come together.


Finally, the last bit of downstairs
I haven't yet shared
is the bathroom.
Except for keeping the
original tub and toilet...


...lots of changes in here.
I am using bead board halfway up the walls.
The mirror above the sink
belonged to my grandmother.



As in the kitchen,
I've also used subway tile
and the same checkerboard floor.



That completes the downstairs.


And of course,
I couldn't have a single room
without at least 
one little lamb in it!

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