Guest Post from Cathy's Cottage

Let me introduce you to my dear friend Cathy.

 I'm so excited that Cathy is willing to write a 

guest post for me from her charming cottage

 in Canada. Cathy and Hal along 

with their beagle Charlie escape the hot 

South Florida summers and head north to

 cool summers by the bay.

Hi, Cathy here! 

Our place is situated on a glacier-formed 

Canadian shield granite in Honey Harbour,

 Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.

The foundation sits on rock and I forged a 

path between rocks and roots to the

other side of the cottage.

This is what I call my northern garden.

 It has very little soil on top of rock, 

faces full sun and north wind. 

 They gotta be tough.

 And they are-tough but beautiful.

I pulled over for this irresistible roadside
chickory and the unseemly sounding bugloss.

It insists on living by the roads and refuses 

to emigrate to my garden. I try every year, 

as a hummingbird is drawn to red. 

I am drawn to this color.

Artsy picture of my foxgloves. I treat myself 

every year to 3 of these beauties and treat

 them as annuals. Old fashioned flowers.

This is my sister Liz's birdhouse. 

She collects them. I saw a red one in a shop 

in Coldwater, a small town close by, that

 I knew she would love. To repay her 

kindness and good nature, my husband said

 that he could build it for her and here

 it is, waiting outside our front door

 waiting to go home.

Our dock at dawn when my husband
goes fishing.

I want to show you my purple floor! 

I tried for a color that isn't blue and isn't 

purple, but right in the middle. 

I goes with everything.

A favorite view of mine. 

We found the nest on the deck in the spring.

My favorite quilt, and we have lots. 

The best nights are the ones where
we need 3 quilts.

View from my bedroom.

CATHY

I think we want to see more!

Links: Facebook,  My Romantic Home,
Common Ground, The Tablescaper,
French Country Cottage,
The Charm Of Home, Coastal Charm,
Under The Table and Dreaming,
Between Naps on the Porch,
A Stroll Thru Life

Ixora In My Garden

I love hydrangea bushes, but sadly
they do not grow in South Florida.
We do have ixora and I think of them as
 Florida's version of the hydrangea plant. 

The ixora is made for the tropics.

Every few days I snap off 3-4 branches

 and put them in one of my vintage Ball

jars. The coral flowers are so pretty in

the complimentary aqua color glass.

I have several bushes in my yard.
There are also lots of bushes along the
sidewalk where we walk Lucy.

They have a faint sweet fragrance that

is noticeable on our last walk at night.

 Big plus is that they flower year-round.

Ixora have large clusters of flowers

similar to those of the hydrangea. 

They come in shades of yellow, pink, orange
 and red. They can tolerate the heat and
humidity. I'm enjoying the local flora.
 Bloom where you're planted!

 Cheers!

Links:
Facebook, The Style Sisters,
Between Naps On The Porch

Build A Trellis From Wood Scraps

A few scrap pieces of wood were

 all we needed.

We had just enough to build a small trellis for

 the side of the house.

These were pieces leftover from
 other picket fence projects.

I save everything. I never know 

when a project will pop into my head.

Lay out a simple pattern.

Bevel cut the ends.

Attach to the wall. I had rooted several

cuttings from the huge Clerodendrum

vine that's on the large trellis at the 

front of the house HERE. Cuttings are easily

rooted in water or moist soil.

It's a fast growing vine.

This is how it started last year.

 We may build another trellis on the

opposite side to create an arbor.

It's on the wall just around the corner 

from the potting bench.

No one really sees it but us. 

'before'

'after'

Cheers!

Links: Between the Naps on the Porch,
Confessions Of A Plate Addict,
A Stroll Thru Life, No Minimalist Here,
Savvy Southern Style, Shabby Creek Cottage
Beneath My Heart

Front Door Before and After

 We replaced the glass inserts in the
front doors a few years ago.

BEFORE

Etched glass inserts were removed.
We were able to sell them.

AFTER

Beveled leaded glass

Larry installed them, saving lots of money.
I love having glass inserts in the front doors.
It lets in so much light and the beveled glass
still gives privacy.

Pretty from the inside too.
Remembering how much Lucky and Princess
loved looking out, along with Lucy now.
Somehow they always knew when Daddy
went to pick up the pizza! How do they
know these things? They just do!

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch,
The Girl Creative, Somewhat Simple,
My Romantic Home, Common Ground,
French Country Cottage,
The Charm Of Home

16 Easy Signs To Make

Signs are fun and easy to make. 

Using scrap wood boards and trim pieces,

 a little paint, a Sharpie and printing out 

the letters from the computer gives me 

endless possibilities. I can make one for 

each whim, season, holiday or month. 

Here are 16 I've made so far.
Click on any of the pictures below to
 read the complete post. Then just hit
 the return arrow to come back here.

Fresh Lemons

A good sign for Summer.

a little LUCK

For my March sign I used horseshoes for

 the letters U and C.

Spring Bunny

For April I painted a Bunny

for the outside entry.

M ~ monogram

The 'M' sign is for between holidays.

Kaffee und Kuchen

For my blue and white kitchen. Most signs

 hang on 2 cup hooks under this cabinet.

Fresh Baked Brownies

Using a piece of pallet wood for

another sign under the kitchen cabinet

Guten Appetit

My German sign hangs in my daughter Kim's
 kitchen. I still need to make one for me.

Chalkboard...Give Thanks

This chalkboard painted sign is easy 

to change using chalk pens.

"It's wonderful to be back."

A favorite quote from a Nelson DeMille book.

This one hangs in our North Carolina place.
I gave a tutorial on how I make a sign.

Merry Christmas

I used a stencil to make these letters.

and red wood stain for the wood.

White Christmas

For a blue and white Christmas bedroom.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I doctored this store sign by adding it

to a larger painted back piece.

...and to all a goodnight

Blue bedroom sign got scrolled corners.

Be Sweet

Small sweet sign for Valentine's Day.

FALL in love

I made these last two before I started using

 the printed font outline.

Pumpkins

Freehand and rustic.

Signing Off!

 

Links: Under The Table and Dreaming,

Between Naps On The Porch,

Confessions of a Plate Addict,

Coastal Charm, A Stroll Thru Life

Savvy Southern Style, No Minimalist Here