Sunday Sayings

Oatmeal Cookies

Now that the weather is supposed to cooling off, I feel like turning on the oven again. Grandmas are supposed to have cookies in their cookie jars (isn't there a law?) so I have one of the best recipes. I've made it so many times I don't need to read the recipe. I've probably made these cookies on the average of once a week for the past 20 years. I got it from a Martha show. She added dried cherries and butter brickle candy bits, which I tried once but my family loved just plain chocolate chips the best. I've also added raisins and walnuts. Really you could add anything you want. The recipe...

Cream together:

1 cup margerine at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

Add:

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well.

Mix in:
1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Add:

3 cups oatmeal

Mix again.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Do you have a Silpat? It's worth the money. I highly recommend them.

Pretty darned good. Don't you just feel like baking when the weather starts cooling down? Or is it just me?

Rockin Toile

Last Saturday while I was out yard saling I found these brand new chair cushions. They were the fabulous price of $1.00 each. Now blue striped chair cushions are fine and dandy but they do not go all that well with my porch.
So off I went to Walmart. (Please don't be offended) I don't know if all Walmarts have those end-of-roll decorator fabric but ours does. I was hoping to find some red toile and I did! Grand total $11.82. I took it all home set the cushion on the toile, traced around them leaving seam allowances, cut them out, placed them right sides together, sewed them up, turned them right side out, inserted the cushion, sewed up the opening, and set them on the rockers.

One turned out better than the other. But you know what the Nester says. "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."

My Furry Kids!

I thought it was time for you to meet some of the family. Rudy, on the left has been living with us for about seven years. We're not sure what his ancestors were, the vet thinks he's a long haired chihuahua and maybe something else. He was found wandering the streets in a dangerous part of town. He doesn't like most males, in fact he barked at the mister for quite a few years. Now they sit in the recliner together and watch macho stuff like football games. Betsy, the little black shitzu mix, was another rescue. (Yes, I know she needs braces!) But she's not getting senior pictures, so the mister says no. She's been a member of the family for about eleven years. She had been a Christmas puppy that was neglected because the owner didn't really want a puppy for Christmas. When we got her she was skinny, had sores all over her, hair matted, and a broken rib. Now they both live the good life here in Mimi's Cottage.

An Award!

My new friend Donna had a surprise for me today. Thank you so much for the Friendship Award, Donna! She has a wonderful blog, you simply must go visit her. She is an artist and lives in beautiful North Carolina with her handsome husband and two adorable dogs. Her granddaughter is almost as cute as mine. Say hello to her from me.

The next thing on the agenda is, Joy at JOYS OF HOME, is having a Paint Outside the Box party. Since I love to use spray paint this was just up my alley. So here are a few of the things I have spray painted lately.

Did I mention we are still working on the yard? Well, we are. This is a mailbox post that we made. I really couldn't see spending $80.00 at the Home Depot for one so the Mister put this together with a 4X4 post and some scrap wood. That little decorative thing I got at the thrift store for $1.00. Then, black spray paint and you're ready for the junk mail. (Is that bird poop??)Yikes, sorry.

This settee is sitting on our front porch. Someday a swing will go here, I had the framers beef up the supports on the porch roof and install hardware so all we have to do is hang it. The swing is sitting in our garage. It's #459 on our things to do list! Anyway, I spray painted this thing a few years ago and it looks like it needs a little touch up! #460 on the list. I also found that little red "funeral basket" in a shed that was being torn down. It was rusty and bent so I unbent it some and sprayed it red.

(Sorry about the dark picture) I hardly ever buy a new frame. There are millions of frames at my favorite thrift store usually costing about 50 cents or $1.00. I bring them home, wash the glass, paint the frame and there you go. I love the look of a bunch of black frames hung together. Even if the frames are different the paint really unifies the look. I've painted a ton of stuff over the years, these are a few. Now, go see Joy and all the fun things she paints....

Sunday Sayings

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you...
St. John 13:34

A New Project

The other day I was driving by an antique mall and out of the corner of my eye I saw the cutest toddler chair ever. Since my grandchildren are the cutest kids in the universe I knew I had to have it. I couldn't stop at the time so #1 daughter and I went back yesterday and bought the chair. It's not in perfect shape, and it definitely needs some red paint but for the price it's gonna be great.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

John's Organic Farm

We live less than a mile from the middle of our town. We have a major freeway just a couple of blocks away and yet just across the street from our cute little cottage we have an organic farm. Farmer John has about 2 acres of crops with some greenhouses and a house where he and his wife live. He sells his produce at a farmstand near the post office and at several farmer's markets in the area. We love having John and his farm as neighbors for many reasons but here is our favorite...

This is what we found on our front porch today when we came home from running our errands! Thank you Farmer John!

The Living Room

Just beyond the front door and to the left of the entry is our living room. It's small, only about 12x11. Our furniture barely fits. Let's just say it's cozy. In our last house the living room was 16x20. We had lots of room, it took a lot of time to dust and vacuum. It had four windows to wash and a sliding glass door. It took lots of energy to heat and cool. We hardly ever used it. When we decided to build we liked the idea of a separate room away from the TV and people traffic. I like to go in there to read or sit and think. When someone stops by and the rest of the house is a mess, this room is usually clean.

See the heart shaped plate? Did we have an earthquake? "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." says the Nester.

The picture of the baby in the antique frame is my mother about 1921. The crocheted edging in that rectangular frame my great grandmother made. That toile chair I found out by someone's trash can. I had it reupholstered and now it's one of my favorite things. The little heart shaped picture below is of the Mister about 1950. Wow, looking at these pictures, I have a lot of heart shapes.

Tomato Love

Well, I've spent way too much time on the computer today. I've found so many fun new blogs through the Nester's mistreatment post. When I find a cute blog I feel the need to go through it's archives which takes up a lot of time. So since it's late and I have dishes to do and laundry to put away here's a quick post for today.

Sorry about the blurry picture...Look what I found when I sliced up a tomato from our garden. A little heart shaped core!

Mistreatment

OK, so the Nester is having a mistreatment party and since I have no trim up around any of my windows and I don't have any window (mis)treatments up anywhere in my new house, I will show you the only mini mistreatment I have. It is a shower curtain made from a tablecloth I got from Target a few years ago. I just glued some black and white polka dot ribbon to the top and tied it around the rod. There's a liner behind the curtain and the curtain part doesn't really slide, we just pull it back. Please note the wrinkles, it's such a nice homey touch don't you think? You know what the Nestor always says, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."

Sunday Sayings

Come On In

The entry kind of sets the mood for your home. We're still working on our entry. In fact we still have work to do on every single room in the house.

This is the inside of our front door, notice the unpainted trim. The little black furry thing is our sweet dog Betsy.

This is the chandelier that I got at the thrift store for $5.00. Love that thrift store...

This is a little cabinet I got at a yard sale, already painted. That was a gold mirror that I painted white. Other little nest and bird things from here and there.

This is a long blank wall that needs to make some kind of statement. I'm thinking beadboard, or tongue and groove painted something, or wallpaper, or....Well, I'll figure out some kind of project for the mister.

A Work in Progress

We have been working on the outside of the house all summer. The problem is it gets so hot here that we can only work for a couple of hours in the morning or evening. The mister put up the shutters a couple weeks ago. They added so much to the character of the house. I love anything that adds to the cute factor. Putting in water lines, not so much.

Now picture a white picket fence and some window boxes. All on there way in the next few weeks.

The Porch

When we started looking for a house plan one thing I really wanted was a front porch. We bought a lot in an old historic area of our little town with big trees, no curbs or gutters, and the nicest neighbors. I could just see the mister and I sitting out there in the evening, rocking in the chairs, visiting with people strolling by. We've been here for nine months and so far that just hasn't happened. But I love that porch anyway. It's there if I need it and it's another area to decorate!

Sunday Sayings

Welcome

Welcome to our little yellow cottage.

It's About Time

I have to admit I have been a lurker for almost a year. I feel like having a blog is like having a pet, you have to feed it, take care of it, worry about it. We've been busy, we're finishing a house we've been building, we've had a new grandbaby, we've spent a couple of months in another state this year. All great excuses, I even have more. But I won't bore you. I guess I'll just start and see how it goes.