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A Lazy Summer Day

4:17 PM | Labels:



I'm having a lazy summer day. I say that with guilt as I have many things that I need to get done. Not on my 'to do' list but still an accomplishment, I clipped this beautiful David Austen Heritage rose early this morning. Isn't she lovely?


Maybe that's where it started because as soon as I inhaled the sweet fruity fragrance of the rose, I became intoxicated with laziness. As the day began to warm, the crickets started to buzz, and the birds began to chatter, I just continued to fall deeper into my lazy stupor.

I can tell that this is going to be one of those days when the hour just before hubby comes home from work, will be one of my most productive hours of the day. There will be magazines to put away, dishes to load, vacuuming to be done, dinner to prepare...any sign of productivity gets thrown in during this time.

S t r e t c h...and that hour has arrived, so off I go.

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My Study..........

11:38 AM | Labels: ,

Here are the photos of my study



Jackie



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Not so naff now!!!!..........

9:54 AM | Labels: ,

The following cupboards/dressers have wallpaper at the back which, when I was a child, was thought of as really naff but I think these look lovely.My daughter has this decorative shelf, which she bought from Cox and Cox. This is where I got my inspiration for my cupboard, a picture of which is at the end of this post.
This one, from Country Living, is a little too fussy for me but still looks good and just gives it a bit of a twist.


This is my favourite as the dresser has such a mellow finish and the wallpaper at the back just lifts it. This dresser is from No.eight.

.......... and here is my little effort. It's quite subtle but I think that you can see the wallpaper. It was just a plain, pine cupboard /shelf that I painted with Farrow and Ball Lime White, rubbed it down with sandpaper to distress it and finally gave it a coat of wax (from Annie Sloane) and it is now in my study. I will take photos of my study to show you how it looks in the room,
Jackie


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The Orchard, Grantchester, Cambridge..........

3:35 AM | Labels: , ,

The Orchard today. The Orchard 1910


The weather here is absolutely glorious. I don't know why everyone thinks that our weather is so awful. I don't think that there is anywhere better than a hot English summers day. Yesterday was one of those days and I went to The Orchard in Grantchester, Cambridge. The Orchard is a corner of England where time stands still and the outside world rushes by. Apparently, more famous people have taken tea there, than anywhere else in the world.

The Orchard, first planted in 1868, became a tea garden purely by chance. A group of Cambridge students asked Mrs. Stevenson of Orchard House if she would serve them tea beneath the blossoming fruit trees rather than, as was usual, on the front lawn of the House. They were unaware that, on that spring morning in 1897, they had started a great Cambridge tradition. In order to supplement their income, the Stevenson's took in lodgers at Orchard House, and, in 1909, a young graduate of Kings College took up residence. His name was Rupert Brooke, the poet.

Some of the famous people who have taken tea in The Orchard Tea Gardens are:

Emma Thompson, John Cleese, Hugh Laurie, Peter Cooke, Stephen Fry, Tim Rice, Clive James, David Frost, Virginia Woolf, Prince Charles, King George VI etc. etc.

The weather is even hotter today and long may it continue,

Jackie



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Our Little Lucy

4:02 PM | Labels:


This is Lucy. This is her all dressed up with a rose and a pearl necklace on our wedding day nearly five years ago.


We had a casual country wedding in a little white country church. There was no wedding party - just our little Lucy. She stood in as both bridesmaid and groomsman.


Hubby adopted Lucy about ten years ago from the animal shelter. She had been a stray. She was, and continues to be, much obliged for his open heart. So much so that she would follow him to the ends of the earth. She loves her Papa.


The ends of the earth being on the inside of the canoe of course. When hubby jumps off the bow of the canoe to go for a swim, she draws the line there...but only there.

Other important information to know about our little Lucy is that she loves her sock monkey, has the softest ears in town, doesn't bark, talks a lot (although I'm the only one who can hear her), is a good listener, loves to sleep, smiles often and makes friends easily.

She's our girl.

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Saratoga Style - Part Two!

10:18 AM | Labels: , , ,

Here are some additional photos from my North Broadway tour. It is hard to believe that these houses were originally built as summer residences. Saratoga is known for it's world class thoroughbred race track and many of these houses were owned by summer track patrons. The first three photos are of a newer house. I decided to include them as the owners did such a beautiful job of reflecting the existing architecture of the surrounding homes.


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At the Lake

5:48 PM | Labels:



This is our dog Lucy doing what she loves best...fetching a stick up at the lake.
Happy Weekend.

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A room with a view..........

5:17 AM | Labels:

Bradley Shawn Roben
What I wouldn't give for this lovely English view .decorpad
Wow. Fancy having this view. To sit here with an espresso and a good book would be inspiring.

Flickr
I love this one. You can just imagine what is going on in the street below.


I was here last year and it was one of my best holidays. Venice is so beautiful.


Imaginative interiors
.......... and if you haven't got a beautiful view, maybe you could have a trompe l'oeil view, like the one above, painted on your wall !!
Jackie


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Rusty requisites.......

1:49 AM | Labels:

This is The Walled Garden at Cowdray in Sussex.

Re found objects


Re found objects




Grand Illusions




Grand Illusions





Grand Illusions


I love this rusty look, especially the letters. At refound objects, they leave the letters out in the car park of their shop until they go rusty !!
Jackie




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Saratoga Style - Part One

2:20 PM | Labels: , , ,

Today I took a walk up North Broadway, one of the most scenic and historic streets in Saratoga. I brought along my camera and took the following pictures. With so many beautiful houses I have a hard time picking a favorite. Hope you enjoy the sights as much as I did!

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Restful retreats.......

7:52 AM | Labels: ,

The White Company

Home Decoration

Cabbages and Roses


The White Company

How wonderful to escape to any of these bedrooms. The only downside would be cleaning!! I'm sure that you would have to be hovering outside with a dustpan and brush !! Worth it though. I particularly like the one from Home Decoration with the lovely distressed bedside table and the vase of flowers that look as if they have just been picked from the garden.
Jackie

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Green Orchards

4:31 PM | Labels:




Among the thousands upon thousands of orchard rows in this valley, I've come back to this one quite often. It's the orchard next to the flower farm I go to. I often pause and look down this corridor of green and always feel this temptation to run ecstatically through the canopy of branches, bright with smile and giddy laughter.

I don't.

Not yet anyway ; )

Happy Summer.

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Hot weather, Wimbledon and strawberries and cream..........

1:11 AM | Labels:



One of my favourite times of the year has begun. Wimbledon fortnight. The weather is hot, hot,hot at the moment, so absolutely perfect for tennis. We even have a chance at the men's title this year, which makes a change ! I have to get everything done in the morning so that I can sit and watch it. I have been to Wimbledon quite a few times, but I wasn't lucky enough to get tickets this year. It's just as good watching it on television though. Sorry to bore you non tennis fans out there. I promise that I wont mention Wimbledon again (unless we win!!)
Jackie

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My favourite bedroom..........

7:53 AM | Labels: ,


I'm always looking at this bedroom as, to me, it's perfection, but a little out of my budget !! They are handmade to order and I also think you would need quite a large room for it. Nevertheless, I love it.
Jackie

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Cheers and welcome..........

9:27 AM | Labels:

A glass of champagne to welcome you to my blog and my first post. I have to thank Ness at Marley and Lockyer for getting me into this. I came across her blog when looking for a picture of a Gustavian room and that was it. I was hooked !!!!
I love interiors....... Victorian houses, fireplaces, stained glass, old lace, shabby, worn and loved furniture, France, Italy, shutters, all things vintage..... I could go on and on and on.
Hopefully, I will try and show you the interiors and exteriors that I love and photographs of my home and garden, and those of my friends and family,
Jackie

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It Feels Like...

7:20 AM | Labels:


...forever since hubby and I have had a weekend to play, laze around, or linger with abandon. That's because we've been on this final push to get three big projects completed before summer officially begins - the outdoor dining patio, two sets of stairs (patio and front porch) and our picket fence (fence pickets shown above).

Who ever said that building a fence was easy? Oh, no one? The above photo shows my work station for the past week. I haven't actually been working at it the whole week, but having it set up makes me somehow feel like it's getting done.

My task at hand is to sand each picket. I've created this task for myself because I have this disorder (some would say) of 'attention to detail.' You see, some of the pickets we got from the only fence store I could find within a 100-mile radius, are a bit rough. And one thing I like is consistency so I'm sanding each one with a palm-sander to give them all a smoother finish. That's 320 pickets in case you're wondering.

Why am I not out there right now? Well, I made a discovery last weekend. After making a bunch of horrible noise, I discovered a Robin's nest perched up in the eave of this barn. Two baby Robins were huddled together in their nest, compelling me to stop all production immediately!

The work station will have to be relocated of course...until then, I've been turning my attention to the yard where I've planted seven new hydrangeas. Note: this is in no way related to our three big projects that we're pushing to get done before summer officially (June 21st) begins.

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