I made a beadboard sign for a dear friend of mine, and she posted about it on her blog! Isn’t this the most amazing chicken coop you’ve ever seen?? And it’s CUTE! Who knew chicken coops could be cute??
Thanks, Rachel!
FAMILY TROUBLES !!!! ..........
Things don't always run smoothly in families do they ? All is obviously not well with our grandson.........he is unemployed, sleeps all day and, his mother just tires herself out, feeding him, washing his clothes and pandering to his every whim. The last straw came when our daughter-in-law sent us this photograph of him and said that he has put on his hoodie and is ready to riot ..........
Just what is happening to the younger generation ?!!
buying French groceries
There is simply no comparison between buying your groceries in a supermarket and buying them fresh from an open air market - especially when the sun is shining, the air smells good and all the summer fruits are out on show.
I always return from the weekly market with a spring in my step - stimulated by the beautiful colours, the gentle bustle and the friendly banter between vendors and clients.
Clients dress nicely to go shopping, they often meet up with old friends, share a coffee on the market square, their overfilled baskets sitting at their feet.
In France, when you go to le marché, you know you will find good quality produce, fresh, often sold by the producer directly.
For the vendors - who work hard on their farm all week - it's a highlight too, not only do they make some money, they also interact with their clients and catch up on the latest news and gossip in town.
Freshly roasted chicken yummmm! soooo difficult to resist when you're already hungry for lunch!
I love the way that in the middle of the fruit and vegetables you'll find hats, baskets, saucepans and even fabric.
Clients are encouraged to taste, and often extra pieces of fruit, or bunches of parsley are added to the basket. I know this is a commercial gesture , but I always think the vendor looks like a n artist putting the finishing touch to a work of art, as he offers a lemon or a bunch of herbs.
So now you know one of my remedies for feeling lazy or energy-less
- a trip to a local market. 100% guaranteed result.
- a trip to a local market. 100% guaranteed result.
Link Party No. 67! / Monaluna Fat Quater Bundle Giveaway Winner
Hi everyone, the link party is back! Since my three children are ALL in school full time, I thought I am going to have a set schedule and be able to work on my projects.... well, I am not there yet. Seems like there is always something that needs to be taken care of or places to go. I actually haven't had that much time at home so far.
I am really looking forward to start cleaning and de-clutter the house. Ahh... I am dreaming of clean and organized space. I know once it is all done, I can work more effectively. Right now, all the fabrics are scattered all over the place and it is hard to find the ones that I am looking for. I bought this special display shelf (the kind that spins) at Border’s store closing sale. I am filling it with fabrics and it is so awesome! I am often squealing with joy while I am filling the shelf and spinning it. I am also keep bugging my husband saying; "Look, look, isn't this SO amazing!?"
Of course I know he couldn’t care less, but being a supportive hubby he usually says, "yeah, that is awesome" or "I am glad you found that" but because I bug him so much that the answers have become "u-huh" or just a glance and nod (oh, wait I think I do that to my kids sometimes).
Well, in case you are wondering what I have been up to, that is part of it... (BIG grin on my face)
I have been planning something special for you, yes, my beloved friends!
September 20th is my 3rd blogaversary, and I am going to do a month long giveaway. At the beginning of each week I will post a giveaway item and announce the winner at the end of the week. How does that sound? Isn't it so fun? I am still trying to decide on a few details, but stop by sometime to make sure so you won't miss the giveaways!
As you have been reading this post you might be thinking "when is she going to announce the winner for the giveaway?" Sorry, I dragged enough... the winner is...
Congratulations!! Please email me with your shipping info, so I can send you the amazingly pretty Monaluna fabrics to you. Enjoy!
OK, are you ready to link and share your fabulous projects?
1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.
2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.
3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.
french, feminine and chic
With the change of seasons, my redecorating time of year is approaching and I'm looking for ideas at the moment, scouring magazines and blogs for interiors I like.
This one slowed me down. I spent a long while looking at how the girl has achieved an interior that feels pared down although there are plenty of collector bits; that feels feminine; that feels modern although the flat is early 19th century and there are plenty of brocante pieces used.
I'm loving the colour scheme, adore the bathroom - who wouldn't?! - admiring her use of huge Venetian mirrors and definitely envious of the lack of clutter... sigh ...
How comfortable would you be here?
PS. Great excitement here today as the new computer arrived YAY!! The handover however has not been totally seamless, and some people are having trouble leaving comments or sending me mails. Please persevere, and if you need an urgent answer from me by mail, you could always message me on fb for safety! Merci!
all photos thanks to journal de la maison
Restitution
Have you ever screwed up? I mean, really screwed up…on something that didn’t belong to you?
It’s one thing when a project of your own goes south. That’s bound to happen once in a while, and it’s no fun…but what about when it happens on a project that belongs to someone else?
Well, those are the days when you just wish you never got out of bed!
You can see where this is going, right?
All I was supposed to do was a simple refinish job on a table top while my friend was between houses. There weren’t even any legs to worry about. She just wanted to resuscitate her hand-me-down table and give it a few more years until they could afford a new one. Easy enough….so easy, in fact, that I called in one of my handy-dandy short helpers in to do some sanding for me!
Remember this guy with the mischievous smile?
Turns out he could have used a little more supervision on the sanding process, ‘cause this is what we ended up with:
Let’s look a little more closely, shall we??
Yep. All those arrows point to spots where he sanded right through the veneer into the plywood base. Ack!
We all know it wasn’t a great piece of furniture...
…but it wasn’t MY furniture to wreck!
It wasn’t fun for my boy or me to confess our mutual misdeed to my friend, although you couldn’t have asked for a more understanding listener. Since these weren’t the types of flaws one can hide on a stained table-top, I could only feel better about offering to replace the table. Strictly to ease my conscience (and trust me, it was a battle), my friend agreed to accept this table that I had waiting in my garage “in trade.”
It’s solid oak, and I liked the legs! Plus, it has a leaf.
(You can see I already had sanded the table top in this picture.)
After looking at some pictures of other tables I have refinished, my friend chose a lightly-distressed black base and a dark stained top (like this one).
Her new house has dark, reddish-brown wood floors, so I tried to give the wood top that tone, by using alternating layers of English Chestnut and Antique Walnut stain—two each.
I finished the table with four coats of Varathane, to keep up with her young family.
So that’s the story behind the table “Resitution.”
It went to its new home last night!
And now my conscience can rest! 
****************************************************
Linking up here!
{ Using Yardsticks }
I can't wait to find a use for these around my home...
I got a great deal on dozens of them.
The only catch?
They are new, not vintage.
So I dirtied them up a bit to make
them a bit more "vintagey".
I think I can make it work.
I found some great inspiration pics
on
{I finally joined}
Great stuff, right?
Not sure what I'll try first.
A Fun Little Contest and a Giveaway from Me to You!
So as you know, I am due with my third child, a baby boy, on September 6th. Right now I am scheduled to have a repeat c-section on that day. I had a regular delivery with my oldest, Savannah, and then an emergency c-section with Matilda due to her heart rate dipping and her face front presentation.
If I go into labor naturally prior to September 6th, I will attempt a VBAC (assuming everything looks good). If not, we'll play it safe with our scheduled c-section. Things are kind of up in the air. But I thought it might be fun to do a little guessing game with you guys if you feel like playing along.
So I've let you know about my previous deliveries to give you a basis for your entry into the contest. Here's how it will go. Leave me one comment and let me know 3 things:
1) How much you think baby boy is going to weigh?
2) How long will he be? and for the tie-breaker........
3) What day and time you think he will be born (hour and minutes, please)?
So I will pick the winner based on the person who gets the weight or closest too it, but if we have two people who picked the same weight, then I will use the length and if we still have a tie then I will use the date and time as the tie breaker. Sound good?
Want to know what you are playing for........here's the prize - I'm going to let you choose two yards of fabric from my personal collection. You can choose two full yards of one print, a yard each of two different prints, or a half yard each of four different prints. I'll leave it up to you. But these are all 100% designer cotton fabric and some of this fabric can be a little difficult to find lately.
Here are your choices:
These are all fabrics that I currently own by the bolt. I may be selling some of this yardage off in the near future if I don't need it all for the shop......we'll see. So if you aren't following along on Facebook, it might be a good idea to head over and join us to find out the latest from The Cottage Mama (click HERE to visit the facebook fan page).
**PLEASE NOTE: This contest is for The Cottage Home blog readers ONLY. Why? Because I love you guys and want this opportunity to be just for you. You MUST be a follower, feed subscriber or email subscriber to enter. If not, feel free to become a follower or subscriber and enter to win!**
And one last thing, I am writing this post on Sunday, August 28th and am pre-scheduling this post. So who knows..........have I already had baby boy? Probably not, but you never know!
Blog Swap/ Some What Simple
A few month ago, I was contacted by Tara from Dating Divas (their blog is full of ideas of how to strengthen marriages in many different ways. Also, they love to incorporate some crafty ideas to bring romance into marriages, how fun is that!).
She wanted to host a blog swap among some bloggers from now through December. I was paired up with Stephanie from Some What Simplethis month. Her blog is filled with fun and fresh ideas, if you haven't visited her blog in the past; please do so. She is here today to share One of her fun ideas!
Hi everyone! I’m Stephanie from Somewhat Simple and I am excited to be here today to share with you a fun date idea as part of the huge blog swap organized by The Dating Divas.
In 2008 my husband and I were HORRIBLE at making time to spend together just the 2 of us, so I came up with the idea to pre-plan a date night for every month in 2009. I chose dates we probably would not have chosen to do had we decided on the fly to go out, which is usually what we did. Things like going to a comedy club or miniature golfing- all fun activities, but not something we ever made plans to do.
I wrote a cute little poem for each date idea and assigned each idea to one month out of the year. Then I made this gift into a book, 1 page for each month, and I gave it to my husband for Christmas.
Feel free to copy any or all of these and give them to your special someone this year for Christmas. Maybe it will spark your creativity enough for you to come up with some of your own as well!
Enjoy!
Thank you Stephanie for visiting us, it was so nice to have you!
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