At The Lake (Sunroom)

The Sun room is where we really live at the lake. It started out as a screened porch with a cement floor and served as a place to gather to visit and eat for many years. About ten years ago we sheet rocked the walls, put in windows, and tiled the floor with ceramic tile.

I painted the walls a light lemon yellow and painted all the trim white.
On one wall I have a dark pine china cabinet. It is one of the first pieces we bought for our first house. It used to have glass in the doors of the upper part but I tried to move it by myself one time and now it no longer has glass. Oops! Beside it is an unfinished corner cabinet that houses the TV. I have never decided what color it is suppose to be so it is still a work in progress.

On the TV cabinet a colorful rooster crows next to a wreath made of barbwire entwined with sunflowers.

A vintage cake and pie keeper sit on top of the pine china cabinet along with a copper tankard filled with flowers.

My husband built shelves above all the windows so I could display my collection of hens and roosters.

I draped vintage napkins with red roses and some yellow flowers which I think are forsythia on the shelves to soften all the white.

My husband built this nook to house my cherished bread box. It has a history. While we were traveling in the RV I spotted it in an antique store. I didn't buy it because we were trying to travel light. I thought about it for the next 50 miles and then asked him to turn around and go back for it. As you can see he did.

At one end of the room is a kind of sitting room with a red love seat. Next to it sits a vintage kitchen table with old green paint with just a hint of red peeking from underneath. It is in found condition and it was a perfect find.

On the green table I have placed a lamp made from an old oil can, another rooster, and an old silver tray I use to hold candles.

On the other side of the love seat is an old singer treadle sewing machine, a cedar chest painted ivory and a side chair which I plan to recover.

The treadle machine displays an old Tonka farm wagon loaded with baskets of cherries which are actually a light string. I elevated it on a stack of books to give it more presence.

Always in need of storage I bought this red cabinet as an unfinished piece when I bought the TV cabinet. This is why the TV cabinet is unpainted. I have a red painted piece, a green painted piece, and an ivory chest in the room. So I don't know if I should paint the TV cabinet another color or red like the cabinet. Any suggestions?

The top of the red cabinet is home to a chicken sugar and creamer that was given to me by my SIL as a keepsake from her mother when she passed away. Things are just more special when they have belonged to someone you cared about don't you think?

So come sit awhile withe me and we will have a cup of coffee or tea. Which would you like?

At The Lake (the kitchen)

We have owned a small cabin at the lake for 27 years. It started out as just a trailer and through the years we have built on additions that have tripled the size. But since the kitchen is in the original trailer it remains very small. What you see here is the extent of of the kitchen. But as small as it is it works remarkably well. We hosted a family reunion of 30 people here and fed them all three meals a day with no problem. Of course, they were all family so couldn't complain.



Across from the stove and sink is an antique flour cabinet with a top that slides out to give us more serving space. It was a very sad piece of furniture when I found it but my friend rebuilt it and I painted it white with blue handles. I use it mostly as a pantry.



Above the cabinet that sits beside the flour cabinet is a small built in shelf that used to be the window of the trailer. My husband just closed it up and built shelves so I could display my dishes.
Speaking of dishes I was wondering if anyone knows the manufacturer or pattern name of these cups and saucers. There are no marking on the bottom. I think they may have been something that was given away in the 40's at gas stations or theatres.


At one end of the room is a small wooden kitchen table and four chairs painted white. Many years ago when country blue and mauve were in style I papered this room with a paper that had a white background with small blue and pink flowers. It has seen better days and needs to redone. So I am looking for a new color scheme.


Above the table where the white curtains are there is a bank of windows that used to be the front of the trailer. I pulled the curtain aside so you can see we now have them covered with wood because they now look out on the sun porch. Just this last weekend I had a thought. Why not take out the windows so you can see through to the sun room. What do you think? Would it make it look more open? Above the window you can see part of my collection of tea pots and chocolate pots.


A closer look at the collection.

Don't you just love the little blue underwear someone created. You can see one pair is cut higher and has lace on the legs while the other pair must be a version of boxer shorts. I would love to have met the person who made them as she must of had a great a sense of humor.

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This small display hangs above the window and is very country which is no longer my style so as I consider a new look this will be coming down. As I think about retiring all the things I have collected I was wondering what will I do with all of it. What do you do? Do you pack it up for further use, sell it, or just pass it on?

I hope you enjoyed the kitchen tour. I will be inviting you back to see some more soon.

Stella

My Pots Runneth Over

We have had a most unusual summer for the mid west. Cool July days and an abundance of rain.

Usually by this time of year my pots would be panting for water twice a day and my annual hanging their weary heads.

Not so this year. My pots and annuals are exuberant.

This Stargazer Lily stood out in the crowd at over 5' and put on a beautiful display.

A Princess Diana rose turns her face to the sun.

Rust and gold lily's hint at the colors of autumn.

A burgundy Dahlia and a Goldenrod huddle close for an intimate conversation.

A myriad of pots cozy up in a corner.

A pot of red, white, and blue.

Love the red Geraniums baking in the sun.

Impatiens loll in the shade.

Red saliva sprawls out of a basket

An orange Zinnia shines in the sun.

My Pot does indeed runneth over.

Water Lily

Today I have been pondering on the little things in our life that can bring us joy if we take the time to stop and appreciate the wonder of them. For four years I have been planting water lilys in my pond. I have always had a wonderful crop of floating lily pads, but alas, no flowers.

Yesterday when I went out to feed the fish I had a beautiful lily floating serenely on the water.

Drops of water were sparkling on the lily pads.
The goldfish flashed streaks of orange in the early morning sun.

And I knew this was a moment to be thankful for the small things.

I hope you find a small thing in your life to appreciate today.

Stella

When The Living Is Easy

When the days are so hot you just want to sit and daydream, read a book, or listen to the birds I have two favorite places in my yard. One is under an old oak tree in my front yard. From here I can watch the passerby and wave to the neighbors. I laid some paving stones over the bare spot under the tree because as most of you know growing grass under a huge oak is an exercise in futility

Two found old metal lawn chairs nestle in the shade and I can enjoy my pots of flowers as well. Some of my pots sit on an old map stand. A few of you may remember when teachers used to stand at the front of the room and flip the maps one by one over the top of the map stand.

Just in front of this area is an old wheelbarrow I tipped on it's side and planted with white petunias and red salvia.

In the backyard I choose my yellow swing where there is always a breeze no matter how scorching hot the day. My grandchildren loved this swing and I always had a mud or dust hole under it. So I salvaged old bricks wherever I could find them and just laid them on the ground. They work great and give me a solid surface under the tree.

While I swing with my eyes closed just enjoying the moment my resident wren sings me a song. I hope you can see her sitting on the pole that the birdhouse hangs from. (Wish I had a camera with a telephoto lens).

Here's wishing you a lazy day with nothing to do but swing.

Stella

It's Done

In an earlier post "We Might As Well" I posted about the bathroom we were working on. Well, I painted and painted all the existing wood work in the bath and the trim that my husband made. Finally it is all finished and installed.

We are having about 30 people from church in for dinner Friday so I wanted to decorate. I didn't have to go shopping so I just shopped all the hidey holes in the house.

I found the perfect table in the bath downstairs. It just fit the space and was already painted black. This was just a blank wall when you walked into the bath so this gave it a little character.

A red vase and a bird picture I had in the bath previously.

Found this white shelf under the guest room bed. I started to paint it black but decided to leave it white. I thought it might pull the white of the bead board up to the upper part of the wall. But now that it is hung I think it might look better black like the picture frame. What color would you paint it?

I would like a few more items to put on this shelf so I will keep looking.

Love my new chandelier. It has a faceted globe and throws the most wonderful light patterns on the ceiling and walls.




I polished up an old silver tray and sugar bowl and thought they worked nicely to hold soap and cotton balls.

I wanted to show you my shower curtains but the only way I could get a picture was in the mirror. Have you ever tried taking pictures of a small bath.


Love the contrast of the black vanity against the white bead board. Also, I decided to use just hooks for all my towels instead of towel racks. It seems that racks take up so much room. I have also given up on towels just for pretty. The men and grandchildren in my family just don't seem to understand just to look at not to use.

Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Stella