A "New" Old Table and What It Holds

 

So, I did have an antique coffee table here.  Smallish.  Dark.  Oval.

I have wanted one on the primitive side, long, and tall "ish" for the longest time.

Well, since I moved in here for sure.

I took the unwanted coffee table to the flea the other week.  But not before I found this old table.

Primitive.  60 inches wide (exactly my height).  Tall "ish" - a little higher than the seat of my sofa.

And, my favorite color...GREEN.

 

 I'm very pleased with it.  In fact, I love the thing....

So, I'm showing you where it is living in my house. 

And, how I am using it.

I realize that most would think it overloaded with books and things. 

 In fact, most might say the whole room (house) is overloaded.  And, they would be correct.

But, you see, I live in my own little world here, so I'm not bothered by what other people would do.

I really enjoy puttering around here...and will, as long as I'm able.

About the books....

anytime I want to, I can take a trip to my favorite places...because there is probably a book about  those places here and there, but especially on the coffee table.

Just give me a book, a quilt, a cup of tea, and my favorite...a rainy day or night.... and I can sit here and enjoy reading for hours.

The same goes for books about birds, flowers, embroidery, mending, cooking, and so on.

I also love a really good mystery to get lost in.

My current favorite mystery writer is Canadian.  Louise Penny.  

 

To complete my little display here...some birds, a vintage English tin, a tiny bird plate, a paperweight or two, what I call my Crystal Ball....and oh yes, the remotes.

Thanks to Netflix and Amazon Prime, I can also take a trip via the tv, or solve any number of mysteries.  My favorite of all time is Foyle's War. 

There are also many others.  I've watched the entire lot of Midsomer Murders THREE times!

There are others.  In fact, on weekends, I tend to binge watch.

All from this little area in my living room.

Also, one can stitch, or knit, or quilt or unsew right along with the tv, if one likes to do handwork.

 

 So, here's a closer look.

 

 I just love that little English bird tin.  It is dear.  And, that tiny bird plate. 

There are several glass coasters with a bit of crochet in each one.  

  

A glass heart paperweight sits atop a book from 1898...."Love in Art".  Complete with art photos.  Do you love the way old books smell?  I do.  A book on roses, a book called "Places," a small round magnifier.  Very helpful.

 

 "The Quiet Room."  Acquired recently at the flea market.  It's foreign, but the text is in English.

And, it's beautiful. 

  

 Just a different look at it all.....yes, I know....someone is going to say...."what about the dusting"?
And, I will say....yes, I dust.  Everything.  Maybe not as promptly as some....but often enough.

My thoughts on dusting are the same as my thoughts on doing dishes.

If you have dirty dishes, it means you have been lucky enough to have food to eat.

Doing dishes is showing your gratitude.

Yes.  The same with dusting....I'm lucky enough to have my own home and what's in it.

 I'm grateful for it....so I dust.

There you are....all because I bought that old primitive green table.

I'm over the moon about it.

Go figure!!!

 

Today I wanted to take some of my cut up book pages and make a little something for this post.

So, I can ask you....Does it please you?

until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

❤️❤️❤️ 

Stacks of Books

 

One of my readers, Louise, asked for the story of this stack of books.  It just happens to be one of my favorite things in the house, so I'm happy to tell about it.  I have a 'thing' about books...and love having them all over the house.  When I moved in, it was a challenge to find places for all the books.  I gave bags and bags of them away and still had probably what most would call 'too many' to deal with.  And, yet, I still wanted to keep them.  What to do?  There was little spot there....on the way into the kitchen...a blank space...oh my...can't have that, so I thought about it a while and decided a stack of books would look just great right there.  I immediately loved it and in fact, began another stack right next to it.  One with smaller books.   The fact that I haven't moved these books yet could mean that I may not ever...unusual for me. 

 

 Here you can see the stools I used for the stacks.  In addition to many, many books, I also have quite a few stools and foot stools.  They can be used in so many ways,  I find them indispensable and quite handy for all kinds of uses. 

  

 The top book here is covered in a tapestry fabric...very threadbare.  It's a very small, but thick,  a World Atlas, dated 1907.  And, the stack is a perfect perch for this little iron bird.

 

 This is another of my favorite books from the 'stack.'  As you know, I love basket embroideries, so the name of this one really caught my eye....dated 1892...and it had that sweet basket motif right there in the center.

  

 One of my favorite stacks in the house is this small one on the table by the sofa.   Smaller books, all vintage.

  

Here you can see them along with some other of my favorite things.  Two little birds, a flower pot filled with flowers made from book pages which was a gift made by my friend, Micah,  who left us last year, way too soon ♥.  Then, that tiny embroidered landscape I made a long time ago.  One of my favorite things I ever made.

 

Here's those little books with two tiny doilies on top.  Tied with a pretty ribbon and embellished with a cord bookmark with two really pretty glass beads, one on each end.

 

Here is a little red kid's chair.  At one point, I had about six of these.  I have shared with friends, so only have this one left.  It makes a great place to stack some books.  Then, there is that little vase...holding vintage cardboard fans.  The fans are there as I couldn't figure out where else to put them.   

That happens around here.

 

Not stacked, but rather shelved in a little child's hutch, is a collection of what I call my "tiny" books.

I look for them everywhere I go.  And, I had this little hutch...they seemed to be perfect for each other.  The bird clock, a gift from my friend, Patsy.  The little red wagon, a gift from the old navy man.  The cat bank, iron, is a reproduction.  All this sitting on yet another stool.

 

 

Here is one of the tiny books in the hutch.  I've placed a pair of embroidery scissors there so you could get some idea of the size of the book....the red, has a title you can read yourself and was printed in 1907.  The dark book is a Vest Pocket Webster Dictionary from 1960.  

 

 Again, not stacks, but since these shelves are way too crowded, I think the word stacks works.

One of these days,  I plan on going through all this 'stuff' and removing, then reorganizing it.  Keywords  - "one of these days."

  

 And, of course, there is a kid's chair with a stack of books!  They are everywhere! 

  

 These books are on my coffee table.  Yes, I DO need to do this differently.  But, for now, well - this is just the way they are.  I'm into them all the time, so they often are scattered around the table, and

because I'm OCD...I'm thinking these particular books will be finding a new home here....maybe in another old chair? 

 

 

These are some of my favorite books.  Some that have helped me accept my crazy housekeeping and "decorating" habits...pretty much convincing me that in my home...."my way" is THE way to go.

Others, assuring me that being creative in my home and also my 'studio' is important to my well-being.  I believe that my Bird Nest Cottage is my sanctuary.  It should reflect me.  And, I guess it does. 

So, there you are Louise...."that book stack" and then some.  Hope you enjoyed it.

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

♥♥♥