New Project.

Honestly, I wasn't looking for

another dollhouse to fix up.

But this one literally appeared

in my inbox and in my face.

A mama who bought it to create

for a future little daughter ....

.... but she ended up with all boys.

So now it's in my hands to renovate.

I have no plans just yet but so

excited to have another project.

A $240 dollhosue (I'm told) for

a sweet $40, furniture included!

What do you think of my new project?

What color would you paint the outside?

~ Chy

A Purchase.

We bought this vintage~styled frame.

It's on order now. Hope it fits the spot.

~ Chy

Nest Protector.

Taken the other day, before all

the snow hit our hamlet again.

A goose up on the second floor roof

of our office, protecting a nest maybe?

~ Chy

More Snow.

And today, more snow. All

over the roads and landscape.

Blowing and cold, and just

never ending. Why, why??

This doesn't look bad but I should

have taken some shots later ....

.... when all the brown you see had

turned to layers of cold, cold white!

~ Chy

Spring Blizzard.

On Saturday, we woke up to a

blizzard. Not rain but snow ....

.... really not impressed with the

weather so far in 2019. Yuck!!

~ Chy

Favorite Snack.

Vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries

and tangy blueberries. Amazing!

~ Chy

Sunday Dinner.

A new sparkling cooler to try after a nice

day of project, working out and napping.

A small pork chop with onion soup mix,

4 cheese risotto and ceasar salad. Yum!

~ Chy

Spring Fever ....

It snowed yesterday. Not just a wee bit of Spring

slush but an actual blizzard! We were not very

impressed, especially when what was predicated

was "moisture" ~ this was hardly that!! Rain was

what we were hoping for as it's been a very dry

Spring so far. Grass fires are keeping our fire

department very busy. However, as much as

this has brought moisture to our region, I really

hope we'll soon get rain instead. The snow can

stay away until next Winter! To inspire us to all

have some hope and lots of Spring Fever, I took

a shot of my April calendar from Susan Branch!

~ Chy

Easter Bunting.

I got a little crafty while my dh, dd

and dgs were away for Easter holidays.

Created a sweet little Easter Bunting

out of scrapbook paper for our mantel.

I have been experimenting with "aging"

and so far, I'm enjoying this new skill.

Teeny little lambs on a couple of the

pieces to fill in and make is Springy!

The finished product! Fun and I think now that I've

made one, I can make more for our various holidays.

~ Chy

Mini Greenhouse.

We wanted to try and start growing our

veggie patch inside the house this year.

I found this sweet little greenhouse kit

at the local dollar store last weekend.

We've now planted a variety of veggies,

herbs and even some flowers to bloom.

Fingers crossed this works well and next year,

if all goes well, we can start our seeds in a

real greenhouse out in the garden. We hope

to buy one by Fall so we'd be ready for 2020.

Have you ever used used a mini greenhouse?

Do you have a big greenhouse in your garden?

~ Chy

Easy Blueberry Muffins.

We love muffins! And I finally found

a truly super easy blueberry muffin recipe.

A handful of ingredients and just a quick

stir and fold and then in to the tin to bake.

Just the right size for a quick snack and so

yummy with fresh butter melted on top. I

was going to write out the recipe (I did for

my favorites binder) but decided it would

be easier for anyone who wants to try to

download the recipe, so click here. Enjoy!

~ Chy

In My Bag.

Can you see the little treat I bought to

brighten our kitchen on these dreary days?

~ Chy

Lunch Date.

Dh, dd and dgs came home safely from

Disneyland very late on Tuesday night.

Dh still had Wednesday off as did I so

we had a lazy morning, then drove in

to town to do a few errands. We treated

ourselves to lunch at a local restaurant.

For the small sum of $4 (that included the tip),

dh enjoyed a burger with fries and iced tea, and

I had a mac and cheese with bacon dish and

caesar salad with sparkling lemonade. So good.

But how was this just $4, including a nice tip? I

had a couple of great gift cards to use for this

particular spot. Three gift cards to be exact. This

lunch used up 1.5 cards, so we'll be able to have

lunch here another day. Just enough food to fill

us up without going over our calories for the day.

~ Chy

Quality Furniture.

Before we bought our first home, I read an article about spending money on one or two quality pieces of furniture that will last decades vs. spending money on many poorly crafted items that will need to be replaced over and over again. In our early years, our funds were decent but we were budget conscious in our commitment to not have any debt, so our furniture was sparse and often lovingly gifted, thrifted or inherited. As our incomes increased and our expenses decreased as kids grew and became independent, we've been able to commit to quality. My favorite piece is our recent find of this classic Ethan Allen secretary desk. Bought second had from a local family, at a 1/3 of the original cost, it was in perfect condition, not a scratch on it anywhere. The original owners bought it but never used it. I love writing in this quiet spot in our little cottage and know if we ever move, this piece will follow us wherever we land! 

What are your thoughts on quality furniture?

Do you have some favorite pieces you love?

~ Chy

Sweet Little Guest Bedroom.

We've had a bit of laundry room plumbing

disaster, which our builder, the original

old plumber and our new plumber are all

trying to figure out. They are back today!

I won't give any details now as I'm fuming

and will put my energy in to other projects.

A project that is at least now 90% complete

 is our sweet and pretty little guest bedroom. 

It needs a dimmer switch on the light (our

electrician is coming next week), curtains

to complement the lace curtains, crown

moulding (our Fall project) and a couple

more pictures to add to the walls. I found

an amazing oval vintage print last week.

Here is the wall that needs a few more

pictures to round it out and make it full.

More books have gone in to the little house

bookcase since I took this picture yesterday.

Extra curtains and a box to hide the fittings

to hang the curtains up on. I envision a small

print, Laura Ashley style, flowing in the

wind when the windows are open. Pretty!

Do you have a sweet little guest bedroom?

Does it get used often or is just always ready?

~ Chy

More Bookcases.

As promised, I've captured the last few

bookcases around our cottage. I didn't

take a shot of the open bookshelf in

the laundry room or our walk in closet.

We love our little bookcases on either side

of our fireplace in the master bedroom. I

have started to put some smaller books in

here, which right now is my Beatrix Potter. 

The other side has some petit point pictures,

candles, a pretty rose bag, a painted vase and

a tiny set of salt and pepper shakers that we

found when we cleaned out gramma's house.

Our wall unit in our bedroom is another

book storage source. It is actually three

pieces but we recently split it up as it

truly swallowed up the wall too much.

We placed the other piece in the turret as part

of our office space. You can see that up above.

Can you spot a new old piece for our bedroom?

Isn't that the sweetest blush arm chair? It was

listed and then reduced on our local marketplace

so I was suprised when I contacted the seller and

she told me it was still available. When I went to

view it, we clicked and then she surprised me by

reducing it again! Very happy and it is so comfy.

It came from a family who had lived in a heritage

area in the Big City and they said it was made by

the great grandfather back in the early 20's. It's

been recovered by the fabric is period and so

perfect. The small bookcase is in our upper hall.

On the left, the little house bookcase we have in

our guest bedroom that holds books for our grand

kids when they sleep over. I love buying books for

the two of them to truly enjoy! The final picture is the

end of our island in the art studio. This was meant

to be just one more spot for books but I've switched

it up a bit. It now holds all my scrapbooks along with

pads of paper and some art books. It works very well.

Well friends, that's end of my bookcase tour. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing our book nooks!

~ Chy