Catching Up

Is it possible?

Is Spring almost over?

I have let SO much time pass 

since my last post.

It has been a busy time at 

Buttermilk Cottage.

That's my only excuse.

In March I hosted two dear friends from college days.

Virginia, my roommate for three years,

who now lives in Texas,

and Marie, who lived across the hall

and now makes her home in Alabama.

We had a lovely visit of several days,

talking ourselves silly,

eating and visiting a few points of interest

near here.

 We made a trip to Abingdon, Virginia 

where the Barter Theatre

was doing CAMELOT.

What a treat to see the show,

which we had all seen together 

when it came out as a movie

all those years ago!

The challenge has been made for this year's

Great Davidson Bake Off.

This is an ongoing and yearly

friendly baking competition between

my sister Nancy, brother Rick,

sister in law Pat and

anyone else who wants to join us.

It's not a real competition because

we cannot taste each other's cake,

but we all bake the same cake,

and share our thoughts on it.

This year's cake choice was Pat's.

She has chosen the Lane Cake,

a traditional Southern cake

that has numerous variations.

Think about joining in with us.

All you need do is make the cake

with a recipe of your choice,

send me a picture or two 

along with your thoughts on the cake.

More about this later.

I have recently finished this book 

by Delia Owens.

It is a first novel,

a coming of age story of

Kya, the "marsh girl"

which takes place in North Carolina.

Her prose is lovely and lyrical.

I enjoyed it a lot

and you might too,

especially if you have an

interest in the natural world.

Finally, I am in the midst of this year's

home improvement project.

I think I'll tell you about it when the

job is completed.

The picture above

is a hint of where the work is being done.

Enjoy your May,

it will be gone all to soon!

The Porch is Finished!

I have actually been enjoying it

since mid July.

All the work was completed then,

except for the arrival

of a new door from the living room

onto the porch.

That got installed last Monday.

 So nice to see this summer's project

come to completion.

 This stone kitty, 

who actually belongs to my sister Nancy,

has found a corner for herself

for the time being.

I brought my porch furniture

up from the basement, 

where it has been waiting patiently. 

It used to grace the front porch 

of my Pine Street house.

I made new cushion covers

from an outdoor fabric

with a fun and colorful bird motif.

I love this sheep, but until the porch,

could not find a place for it inside the house.

So, it's very nice to now be

able to find a home for it.

What would a porch be without

a swing?

As I said earlier, I've been enjoying

the porch since mid July.

My favorite time is early in

the morning, watching my street

come to life as I have my first cup of coffee.

I think it almost looks as though it has always been there!

Now, time to start planning

for next year's

home improvement project...