Early Sunday Around Bird Nest Cottage

 

 I took these photos earlier this morning....thought I'd show you around...just for a little something different.  I hope you don't mind....just some visuals.  I have a small kitchen, but it feels big enough to me and although it is cluttered (as is my whole house),  as I often say....I live in my own little world, but it's ok...they know me here. ❤️  Notice the sign....Yes, it hangs crooked.  We have found that no matter how we hang it...it remains crooked....I'm not perfect either, so it doesn't bother me and I love what it says....You have my whole heart!

 

 This is where I make my morning cup of tea...and other things too.  Of course,  as is my habit,  I have to put more things there than are necessary.

 And, this is one of my favorite prints in the house...I LOVE the colors!  And, this morning, there are tiny flowers from my tiny bit of yard.

 

 The center of the kitchen is taken up with this small island.  It does hold "lots of stuff" so is a very nice thing to have here.  Of course, you can see right into the dining room...I like the layout very much. 

 

 And, another photo of the dining room...remember the dress, the quilt?  And, did you notice the sign above the door....it seems to explain my whole house..."it is what it is."

 

 A TINY bit of a flower arrangement in an old cream pitcher, along with a poem I love.

You can probably enlarge to read it, but I'll write it out for you here anyway:

THE ARTIST

"She scanned the table with keen old eyes

There was the brown fried chicken

The creamy custard pies

The cool bright green of pickles

And the ruby glow of jel.

Then she hastened to the cellar 

Before she rang the bell.

And, brought the golden butter

With its drops of frosty dew

Chilled and sweet and delicate

In a deep bowl of old blue."

from

OZARK LYRICS 

by Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey

1934

I thank my friend, Kay, in Mountain View, every time I read this poem, as she gave it to me tied in a blue ribbon long ago.

 

 The sign isn't lit well....it says "OLD QUILTS."  Indeed!  A few odd flowers from the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, here at my ironing board.  They came to me via someone's collection of quilt scraps I was given a few years ago.  (Only a quilter would appreciate an iron and some vintage quilt pieces.)

 

 I recently moved my sofa so it's in the room diagonally.  It has given me room for a work area behind the sofa and yet keeps the resulting 'mess' out of sight from visitors.  Unless they want to see that stuff, of course.

This photo was taken at my new little work area behind the sofa.  It's by the window, which makes it nice.  This morning, I decided the space needed a little flower arrangement of it's own....along with a sweet card and a project I am working on.  More on that project this coming week sometime.

 

 I don't remember where this card came from but I do love it:

Kind Hearts,

Like Garden Flowers, 

bring

Grace and Beauty

to our World.

 Have a wonderful Labor Day celebration!

 from

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time

♥♥♥

A Summer Day at the Cottage

 

It's a quiet summer day here at Bird Nest Cottage, so I thought I'd show a bit of the flowering going on around here.  I do not have a green thumb,  so many of these are in pots, but some actually are in the ground and I have hopes of not killing them.  I'm trying harder than usual, since I LOVE

them so.

Here's a quote I took a fancy to this morning:

"FLOWERS DON'T WORRY ABOUT HOW THEY'RE GOING TO BLOOM.  THEY JUST OPEN UP AND TURN TOWARD THE LIGHT AND THAT MAKES THEM BEAUTIFUL."  

Jim Carrey

 

 This Crepe Myrtle tree is really in the wrong place, but I do love this shady little corner.  We will be trimming it in the Fall....it has white blooms, nearly all of them gone right now.  

 

 Here we are out front of the cottage......I really do call it a cottage.  Mostly because I just like the way it sounds!

 

 I had some rocks that were collected by my late Mother-in-Law.  They used to have a farm between Harrison and Yellville, Arkansas.  There was a creek and she gathered rocks and arrowheads there.  I ended up with some of those rocks.  I gave some to my son-in-law and he made an angel by their back porch for my daughter.  As we say around here 'I had a fit over it' and the minute I got home had to put an angel in my own flower bed.  I like that we have given a new home to Alleen's rock collection!

 

 The green heart hanging here is MOSS.  Too Cute!  Given to me by my daughter.  

 

 The quotes:

"I would sooner live in a cottage and wonder at everything than live in a castle and wonder at nothing."

 Joan Winmill Brown

"Better my own cottage than the palace of another."

A Welsh Proverb

 

 Looking outward from my front door.  A very beautiful summer day!

 

 Then, outward to the patio...a very HOT place right now.

 

 Also looking outward from the door in the room I call The Pantry. 

Just a little visit on a hot summer day.  I am so grateful, not only for my home, but also for air-conditioning. 

from

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time 

♥️♥️♥️

That Singer Sewing machine in My Living Room

 

I've had questions about several things shown in my "Living Room post"... so will answer them one at a time.  The first was about this Singer sewing machine.  Sheila wanted to know more about it.  She thought it was a treadle machine, but, no - it isn't that old.  So, what I can tell you about, Sheila,  is this great machine's life story. 

 

This machine was made in 1947.  When I was three.  It lived its "professional life" in the Alterations Dept. of a store here in Searcy.  Over the years, there is no telling how many hours it turned out clothing for the community.  It turns out that store was owned by my son-in-law's family and when it closed a few years ago....my son-in-law asked if I wanted to have this machine.  Really?  You have to ask?  He even brought it to me.  It turns out, the machine still works beautifully. 

 

Now, truth be told, there are SIX sewing machines in my house....and as you can imagine, there isn't loads of room for them....so, once again, I am trying to be creative in where things 'go.'  So, I've decided to look upon this machine as a sort of 'sculpture,' therefore, it can stay in the living room. You probably don't understand that, but it makes sense to me.

 

The stitching of this machine is quite nice....so while it is old, it is still GREAT with a lot of life left it in it, so it's a useful and still beautifully functional sculpture.  (I'm trying to think of myself as still useful and functional...some days it isn't that easy!)

  

 OK.  This has nothing to do with the machine...just something pretty to look at, but it does go right along with the vintage aspect of this post.   Oh, yeah!

 

I'll be showing you those other machines as time goes by...but for now, you've seen one of the stories of things that live in my living room, with others coming.  Soon, you will even see, by request, a hand drawn sketch of the floor plan of Bird Nest Cottage.  Hope you'll come and see!  (And thanks for all the interest in my 'stuff.')

from 

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time

♥♥♥

By Request

 

After my last post, I received a few comments requesting more photos of my living room.  It was suggested by some I show every shelf, all of everything.  Whew! Seriously?  You have been warned that I am a hoarder.  Even though it's true....and I do accept that about myself....I never really know how bad it is until I see a few photos like these, but I did say I'd show more of this room...so here it 

is -- a sort of 'true confession.'  I know there is reality tv...so I suppose this is 'reality blogging.'  

I'm not going to say anything about these photos.  You just look them over, if you are so inclined, and if you have any questions...make a comment or send me an email.  You can find my email on my profile page.   I really appreciate the comments but some of you do correspond with me by email and I also appreciate each of you too....it's a good way to ask questions, or just have more of a conversation.  So....for those of you wanting the details you asked for....click and see things up close or ask and maybe I can do some little special posts on whatever thing you were interested in.  And, remember, you have been warned!!!

 

And, there you are.  I never tire of puttering around in this place...there is always something to see, to touch, to read, to do and to tell about.  If you have any questions about anything you see...let me know.  I hope you enjoyed the "tour."  Now, have a good day!!!

from

BIRD NEST COTTAGE

until next time

♥♥♥