Tuesday, January 31, 2017

WHICH BRINGS US TO - THE REVEAL...









What makes a farmhouse? 

 Is it a place surrounded by corn fields? 
 Where cows graze in green pastures? 
 Where chickens nest 
or 
gardens are harvested?

 Or is it just a style, 
a way of life 
carried out in 
our hearts?...





For me,
 it is a distant memory 
of simpler times, 
where I helped gather eggs
 with my grandmother 
and 
watched my grandfather
 milk the cows.






I suppose 
our Cottage 
could be considered a farmhouse
 as there is evidence of
 old apple orchards 
dotted throughout the neighborhood,
 but as far as I know,
 no farmer ever inhabited it.

 It was the home of 
a gold miner and
 his family.






My style of decorating 
is a little eclectic. 
 I have always considered my roots
 to be in country
 but over time 
changes come about
 and little bits of other styles
 creep in.

 If you have checked out
 my Pinterest boards 
you will see evidence of that
 in what I have pinned.

 The parlor has a Victorian flair
 but not to the extent of 
the true Victorian style.

 Since the Cottage dates from 1879, 
I would love to have seen how
 Mrs. Garland, 
the miner's wife, 
decorated it.





The guest bedroom 
is a mix of 
country and Victorian.






A more traditional scene 
is set in the sitting room
 where the emphasis is on 
comfort
 with a more modern update.





The dining room 
is done in a darker, 
more primitive fashion,
 which is very
 appealing
 to me...





...which brings us to 
the reason for this post.

 The reveal of the new "old" kitchen.

 If you would care 
to refresh your memory 
of what came before,
 you can see that here.

 If you do look back 
then you will know 
that I stand corrected.

 There apparently is 
a Time Line #6!! 

 Since the layout is
 pretty much the same, 
I won't give you a
 play-by-play account 
of each picture.






I will start out
 with what you would see 
as you enter from the dining room 
and then turn to your left 
as you move around the room 
to your right...






























I wasn't going to keep this chair
 in here 
as it has seen better days,
 but we soon realized that
Kai 
uses it as a "safe" place 
in the few times 
that he is left alone, 
so how could we not?!





When a neighbor moved out of her home 
we bought this screen door for $8.
  It has found
 a perfect use
 and a 
perfect place.






I have framed 
a few of my photographs 
that fit into the 
farmhouse scheme.







I consider this arrangement 
the crowning glory 
of the kitchen.

  I love the grungy, distressed finish 
of the hanging cupboard 
and the fun transformation 
of the Ikea sideboard.

 It's hard to get far enough away 
to get one good photograph.




My pretty aprons
 act as a window treatment 
on the laundry room door 
and the refrigerator 
still sticks out 
like a sore thumb.

 My hope is that
 I'll be able to talk the Captain 
into building a cabinet around it
 some day.

  I just have to be smart 
enough
 to pick my battles!





One reason 
it took us so long
 to get this job done 
was a disagreement 
that we had about paint color.

 As you might recall 
the walls were yellow 
and this was JUST FINE 
with the Captain.
  I wanted them white. 
 Something very different 
from anyplace else in the Cottage, 
and we all know,
 no matter what,
 the one item that cries farmhouse
 is white walls.

 Well,
 you can see who won 
that war! 
DUH!




Which brings us back to...
what is a farmhouse?

 It appears
 that it is a little of everything
 but mostly 
whatever is in 
your heart...






...with a few chickens 
and some farm style
 thrown in...





My heartfelt thanks
 to the Captain 
and 
his little apprentice 
who made it all possible...

THIS IS FOR YOU...




💕  ðŸ’•  ðŸ’•


...Judy...







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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

AVERTING DISASTERS...









You may have noticed 
that Gold Country Cottage
 has not been around for a little while.

 I couldn't get on line 
and even though AT&T sent a technician out,
 they weren't able to fix it. 
It worked when he left
 and then crashed again.  
I called them back
 and they sent another tech out 
and he did fix it,
 but not until we had to wait 
a couple of weeks for him to arrive. 
 Seems a loose outside line 
was the culprit. 
 Why are some technicians better than others?


Disaster finally averted.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Last week 
a large sink hole 
opened up
 in a local car dealer's parking lot. 
 It is quite an 
impressive,
 and really scary,
sight.





The hole is 
seven stories deep 
and eighty feet in diameter. 
 It occurred 
when a seven and one-half foot diameter
 underground culvert failed. 
 It has not been determined 
exactly why it formed 
and the dealership was able
 to move all the cars 
to another lot.


Disaster partially averted.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





This 
might be a reason 
to rethink 
having a faux Christmas tree
 next year!


What a disaster!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Do you remember
 when I told you 
we were working on the kitchen? 
 You do?
Seems like so long ago,
 I've almost forgotten it!
  Anyway,
I promised that I would have it
 decorated for Christmas 
(even if it wasn't finished until July).

  Also,
 I might have mentioned 
that I have a bad habit 
of starting the decorating process
 while my carpenters 
(the Captain and his little apprentice) 
are still working on them. 

 So,
 here are a few spots
that depict the holidays
 and you can make up your own minds
 if it's a little late 
or
 a lot early!











In the midst of it all, 
I baked a little
 Cottage Cake 
in the cutest little
 Cottage Pan...




























All of the above 
might not be considered disastrous,
 but I'm planning
 on the formal reveal 
next week
and if it doesn't happen -- 
now,
 that would be
 a huge
 disaster.


...Judy...





2017 Snowmen Whimsies



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