Wassail Wednesday

Cottage Living

It's getting cold enough now that I will need to take down the fuchsia baskets and put them away for the winter. This has been a late year. Normally I would have taken them down a month ago. They are still sporting some beautiful blooms but I know once a real freeze happens that they will be toast after all it is December Eve. So putting late autumn behind me I will embrace the chillier season to come.

The Bearded One has just deposited the Christmas totes from the cherokee into our "foyer". They will be opened tomorrow and all the christmas goodness contained will spill out, one glimmering strand and bauble after another. This past week I somehow ended up in a "vintage motif" mode. It seems to be popping up in the things I am doing graphically, and the things that catch my eye, on line. I have decided to "go with that feeling" this Holiday season and so I will be decking my halls and the blog accordingly. There shall be mulled wine, with the smell of cloves and cinnamon, cedar boughs, holly sprigs, and an occasional Dicken's quote of course. Here's a little bit to wet your appetite. I'm thinking of asking the Bearded one to read this classic tale aloud to me on these cozy December evenings here at the cottage.

A Little Christmas Cheer

I Came across these little chenille Clauses and angels... Very victorian-esque. In case you get a hankering to make a few Santa's I threw in a sheet of vintage heads. Just right click, copy and print.

 

Wassail Recipes

A mulled cider type drink, Wassail is a holiday tradition in many countries. This hot, spiced punch is most popular at Christmas. It usually contains fruit juices, cinnamon, cloves and other spices. Click on the link to find a wide array of alcoholic and non-alcoholic wassail recipes. Tis the season.

 

 

 

 

Before and After

Playing in the vintage postcards again and found this little valentine paper doll. It reminded me of my granddaughter so I thought I would rework it.

Before

Original vintage postcard

After

Little Miss Madee as a paper Doll

Interesting places on the Web

Found this handy information at Creative Curio I always wondered how to make things shine like gold when working digitally. It's a subtle effect, just a hint of shine. So simple yet so amazing. Who knew...

I'm loving this and just in time for christmas!

Pause for Thought

Wassailing...Ducks are involved

Until next time

Tuesday and more of the same

This morning at our "Little Cottage by the Bay"

 

Cottage Living

Tuesday, and all is well in our neck of the woods. We were actually able to time the hot water so that we each got showers this morning. It wasn't so much timing really, it was a sudden realization that the water heater had kicked in while doing the dishes and dashing downstairs and opening up the shower spigot, letting the hot water run continuously, and taking turns.

I will be heading out to Rochester to take "Movember-Stache" pics this evening. I think we have a team of mustache growers itching to shave off their November facial hair contributions to support prostate cancer research. I don't know..they seem to have taken on a kind of "trailer park boys" look to me...

"Trailer Park Boys"

"Our Boys"...

Zach, Brent, and Karl

You make your mama's proud... now go shave!

Well that was a fun shoot. While I was there I couldn't help taking a picture of little Milo... here he is practicing his right jab. Like father, like son.

 

Well the evening is progressing swiftly so on to the

Before and After

I have been on a vintage postcard trend so I thought I'd show you a couple of things you can do with them. Here I've replaced the center scene of this old Christmas greeting with our own Cottage.

This is a very cool Iris postcard circa 1901

I've bumped it up cleaned it up a bit, added some vintage style lettering and made it into a matte worthy piece of art...

 

Here's a neat old one... lot's of handwriting. Love the old ink. But what if we want an unused version...

original vintage postcard

Here I've removed the handwriting... isn't technology amazing?

 

All cleaned up

Pause for Thought...

Amazing!!!! Norwegians can sing!!! We knew that. Bet you can't just listen once...

You may have to click the link twice... it will be worth it. If all else fails use this link...

Until next time...

Monday Mastered...

 

Cottage Life

I finished the project I've been working on. I'm pleased. We did a test printing and everything went well. I love children's illustrations, the colors are so vibrant. It was fun to see it come to fruition.

Our instant hot water heater has decided to only come on when it feels like it rather than when we turn on the faucet. It's been a little wonky for a while but has usually worked after turning the hot water faucet on and off a few times till it kicked in. Last night however, it breathed it's almost last breath. I had gone down to take a much deserved and needed shower and got nothing but ice water. I got dressed came back up stairs and of course it kicked right in. Now in order to take a shower I do a test turn on upstairs. If the jets kick on I bound down the stairs turn on the shower and then have the bearded one turn off the kitchen faucet. The handy man Greg came today (I did get out of my Pjs) and after much taking apart and putting back together he came to the conclusion that  we needed a new part. It's been ordered and we should be good to go in a couple of days.

The Christmas Decorations are in the cherokee. Three LARGE Totes worth of Christmas goodness. Most of which will not be used because of space restrictions but it's hard to let go of "stuff" sometimes. I am however determined to reduce the number of totes that go back to the v-star garage at the end of the season. we'll see.

I was fiddling about with the blog banner today and came across some wonderful vintage christmas cards and thought that I'd share a couple of my favorites...

 

Then there's the "manly" Christmas card...

 

Before and After

Frogs and Calla lilies... I've done these before a few years ago. I ran across them while delving into the archives and thought I'd revisit them in a new way. Let's see if the old gal has learned any new tricks.

Before

These have been cropped down from the original photos to make a better composition.

After

The Frog. I loved this little guy. He would hang around my fish pond off my patio and perch on the old watering can.

The Calla lilly off our front porch...

Healthy Choices

The Bearded One was head chef this evening preparing the weekly grilled salmon, brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes. I stayed home today so didn't have a lot of bad choices to make.

Hmmm... Pause for Thought

Some amazing harmony from these three women of a certain age...

 

Until next time...

Is it me or does this seem just wrong.... Ah the good ol' days.

Super Sunday

A very dreary, rainy morning at the cottage by the Bay

Cottage Life

I've been busy today illustrating for a friend's secret project. Loving it. I finished this evening. It's amazing how wrapped up you can get when your'e doing something that you thoroughly enjoy. The fact that I never did find my face or get out of my Pjs today should have me red faced with embarrassment, however somehow knowing that I live deep within the woods and nobody just drops by, makes it seem somewhat okay. The Bearded One may feel differently about this discovery of mine, but so far I'm not asking. Tomorrow is Monday and I will try to put on a civilized front. Besides I think a repairman may be coming.

I never did get around to de-falling the cottage so the Bearded One kindly gathered it all together and boxed it all up for me. Kudos ol' Bearded One...Kudos.

Speaking of Kudos I would like to give a special shout out to Friend Ferol who has taken the plunge into "Blog-dom". I'm so pleased. Unlike my slap and go little bit of the web, her's is an insightful journey.

No, inFact  at noinfact.blogspot.com "Finding my answers to questions from A to Z: raising a child with Asperger's Syndrome and creating my own Zen. There is knitting involved." Pop on over, check it out, be inspired... and then pass it on. After all as Ferol says, "There is knitting involved..."

Before and After

More flowers for dreary day.

Before

Some tulips and an old brass lamp here at the Cottage

After

I cropped it a bit to get rid of the window ledge behind. I lost some of the chimney height though. Sometimes it's a trade off. I also got rid of the dishtowel on the corner of the butcher block. Note to self... set up a shot, and pay attention to what's in the viewfinder.

Here's the same shot as a "Stamp"

And this one with a vintage flavor...

Healthy Choices

Turkey... cranberries... and a few Brussels sprouts thrown in for good measure.

Hmmm... Pause for Thought

Okay so I may be jumping the gun just a little...

 

 

Until next time...

Saturday soon to be Sunday

Time to clean out the gutters again

Cottage Life

Went on a mini yarn crawl today with Ferol. It was divine. Nothing like the colors and textures of yarn to get me inspired. I just like having the visual stimulation that creative color combinations provide laying around. Yarn didn't used to be so colorful. You could certainly find different colors but they weren't  all intertwined in one magnificent ball of yarn. Razzle dazzle colors, soft muted pastels, and the textures... fine and gossamer as spider webs and fairy wings, chunky like cotton batting, and everything in between. I was good. I only brought home a couple of skeins.

Okay maybe not this much yarn hanging around... But you get the idea. Hey maybe Instead of  "BOUDOIR" photography I could do "Yarn Stash" Photography. What do you think girls... hmmm... Covered in your favorite fibers, in sweet repose.

Tomorrow I will be de-autumn-ing the cottage. The Bearded One has put on a christmas CD. Apparently I've been humming a carol or two and he'd rather listen to a whole instrumental piece than my ragtag bits and pieces bursting forth in a tourette-like fashion. I can't help it something's in the air.

 

Before and After

I'm in the mood for a little color. Must've been all that yarn I perused today.

Before

I love old Bottles. I shoot them a lot.

How it looked the day I took the photo. It was springtime.

After

Over the top colorful

 

Understated monotone

I got to looking at old photos in the archives. That can be quite time consuming, and not necessarily productive.

Healthy Choices

Tried some of the gluten free flour sis sent home with me. Made biscuits to go with the leftover stew. They were fabulous.

Hmmm... Pause for Thought

Kinda reminds me of the "family"... You know who you are...

Until next time...

Apparently Pigs were once quite popular at christmas time... a little ham perhaps? No, this is not chub cam. Just sayin'

Fairly Full Friday

 

 

The Candle centerpieces that graced leslie's dining tables

Cottage Life

Back home again and full of feasting. It's hard to believe another Thanksgiving under our belts... so to speak. Hope your's went well. We had marvelous eats combined with a variety of marvelous Efeste Wines. So glad Sissie works at the winery. She definitely shined in the cooking and hostessing dept. She went all out with festive candlelight votives on Black tablecloths with fancy chrome chairs courtesy of the winery. Thanks so much for having us all over Sissie. Job well done.

December is on it's way so out with the autumn decorations and up with the Christmas colors. The Bearded One is always so kind to transport our holiday gear back and forth from the storage unit also know as the "V-star Hotel" Luckily we've downsized a bit from the two tree household that we've been in the past. The Cottage provides me with a loft above the kitchen to decorate however I please. It gives me a large holiday vignette to gaze upon from my desk side vantage point.

Before and After

My Grandson Hunter just turned 15. He put on his ROTC Military garb for me so I could Snap a few shots. I thought I'd use his picture to try a few different effects using  some Topaz, and Light room "Filters"

Before

The original picture with basic crop and highlights

After

These are a step back in time...

Black and white and Artsy

Healthy Choices

Leslie has sent me home with an arsenal of Gluten free baking flour and mix. Tomorrow's a new day... right?

Hmmm... Pause for Thought

I love Vinyl Cafe... It's good to laugh. Indulge.

 

Until later...

Thankful Thursday

Wonky Wednesday

The Hydrangea after yet another rainy night

Cottage Life

I've been busy today. Working on a top secret project. Absolutely loving the process. Also trying to work on my "French" beret. I originally wanted black cashmere because that's what I saw the pattern made up in. I went to our local yarn shop and found one skein of a cashmere, angora, silk blend in black. I was hopeful and I paid a fortune for it. The yarn is just too fine for what I'm doing. I frogged it (took it out) and then began to work up the pattern in some sock yarn that I had hanging around. It's actually working up pretty well. I am almost done but needed to put it down to work on "the project" and then to put out this post. Can we say "Oui Oui" I am after all married to a frenchman, somewhat far removed.

The Beret' in progress

This year Thanksgiving will be spent in Snohomish. The torch has been passed and now the eldest daughter gets to be the "Queen of the Carcass". I always loved cooking the feast. It was having to do something with the carcass that was worrisome. I could never just toss it out. I had to pick it clean, and then boil the bones to make the "Soup stock". Now turkey sandwiches I love. Turkey enchiladas, wonderful. Turkey pot pie I can do, but by the time it gets to the inevitable turkey noodle soup, I'm done. I don't care how good the homemade lumpy noodles are. Can't do it.

Before and After

I thought since I'm heading to Snohomish tomorrow that I would use a photo that I took there. I love old buildings and Snohomish has a lot of great ones.

Before

Here's the original shot complete with wires running right across the front. a little crooked and a little dull. It was taken midday which is a lousy time to shoot because colors tend to wash out.

 

The before... washed out and tired

After

I zipped it up a bit, removed the wire, cropped it to remove the vent and straightened it just a tad.

Healthy Choices

Stew in the pot today. Yummy, healthy, good for what ails you, and paid way too much for the beef, stew.

Hmmm... Pause for Thought

So thankful to have Kendal and Jaylee home and healthy this Holiday. It was pretty scary there for a while...

Kendal in the Hospital, Back home, and little Jaylee

 

 

Until next time...

My sister Sandy's favorite "sing to the grandkids" song. Sing to anyone song, really. This one's for you Sis!