Outdoor flower photos...

This flower bush below is called a "Night Bloomer" and a friend gave me a one foot high plant about 10 years ago.  We cut it off in the spring like we do the butterfly bushes to about one foot high.

I'll just let the blooms and bees speak for themselves.

These are my butterfly bushes near the pool.  I planted them when we put the pool in about 5 years ago.  They act as such a great screening from the street to the pool and we love watching the butterflies.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Contest at Sewtakeahike...

Sewtakeahike is having a great little giveaway you will want to enter.  There is a beautiful handmade apron, handmade bag, a book and fabric.  While you are there check out her website.

Please check out Penny's super giveaway here: 

http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/sewtakeahike/2008/07/little-beauty-o.html?cid=123915820#comment-123915820

Gretchen

Where are my pets you ask?

I would love to show you our cute little dog or our great big dog but we don't have one.  There is a good reason we don't.  I am alergic to cats and dogs.  Actually, almost any animal.  About the only dog I can be around is a poodle.  For some reason they don't bother my allergies so much.

Thinking about this topic made me pause last night and ask Mr. Bird Nest if we could get a dog.  He said, "What for?"  I said I need it for my blog.  Huh?  Well everyone posts these cute little pictures of their animals and I've got nothing.  Hey, he got me a new camera, I thought I might talk him into a dog too.  Our excuse used to be that we are never home.  Well, we aren't during the day but the rest of the time we are.   

Well, here you go....I had to improvise...

My mother's sister painted me and gave me to her about 30 years ago.

I was bought, I mean adopted by my mother on E-Bay.  Aren't I cute??

I was bought in Hendersonville, NC and my mother added this cute trim to doll me up like a sissy dog.

I was also bought in Hendersonville but I just got a little bit of braid.

My big brother was bought at Garden Ridge and I came home from E-Bay too.  My mother spends a lot of time on E-Bay as you can see.

I was puchased from the Touchstone catalog along with my brother.  If I hadn't been so darned expensive my mother would have bought all my brothers and sisters too.

I belonged to my mother's Mother.  I sat by her kitchen door for about 30 years.  Now the grandchildren come over and talk to me and pet me when they visit.  I love it! 

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Old Person Info...

This is a project I can't take credit for doing, but it has really helped me a lot. 

Our house is almost eighteen years old and we had the standard brass door knobs that pushed in to lock.  Mr. Bird Nest knew with my Reumatoid Arthritis and the trouble I have with my hands this would help me.  He started replacing our door knobs with brushed nickel ones.  These handles are so much easier to use with just a push of my hand.

He has also put them on all the interior doors too.  It really updates the house and you can always do just a few at a time so it's not as expensive all at once.

Not one to miss a single detail, he also got three new hinges for each door in brushed nickel.  He bought them on E-Bay for $1.00 each.

So, if you are thinking of selling your older house or you just don't want to get to far behind on updating your home, think about this project. 

You'll be old like me someday too.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

 

Cock-a-doodle-do...

I just received my first tassel that I ordered from Susie Harris at Bienvenue and I couldn't be happier.  He's a great little addition to my kitchen and here at Bird Nest Cottage we're all about the "nest" and he's got a super cute one.

Thanks again Susie. 

Bad news for Mr. Bird Nest.  I've got my eye on several more.

  Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Blackboard

I know everyone has one of these but this is the first one I've made.  I had this bulletin board on the bottom left that I bought at a discount because one corner of the cork was gone.

I ripped off all the backing and cork.  My husband cut me a piece of luan to fit the frame and I painted it with chalkboard paint.  Inserted it in the frame and AHA! 

Our grandchildren will love this!

Yesterday I had to bring food to work for a 40th birthday party and this is what I brought. 

Most of the people told me they hadn't ever had real sloppy joes, only Manwich.  I like these old fashioned ones.

Sloppy Joes

1 1/2 lb. ground chuck

1 1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 T. vinegar

2 T. Oil

1 c. chopped celery

1 bottle chili sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Brown meat in oil.  Add onion, celery and pepper and cook slowly until tender but not brown.  Add other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.  Toast buns and spread mixture between halves.  Makes 16 sandwiches.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

More Books...

These are my favorite books that belonged to my Mother.  I can't remember the name of the book club she got them from but I know she awaited that arrival like a do a good book from the Mystery Guild Book Club.  She had hundreds of these but I only took some of my favorites because I just didn't have room for all of them.

My very favorites are the ones by Rae Foley.  I've read them over and over.

These next two shelves are my collection of books by Frances Parkinson Keyes.  I've picked them up at yard sales, flea markets and antique stores. 

My biggest haul came from Canada.  When Mr. Bird Nest and I were on our honeymoon in

Niagara Falls

and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.  I found a used book store that had a lot of the books I didn't have.  I considered it a good marriage omen.  OK, I had already been married once before and I figured I needed all the luck I could get.  Seventeen years later we're still together, so it might have worked. 

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Mr. Bird Nests Screened Porch

This is Mr. Bird Nest's favorite part of our house.  He probably spends 80% of his downtime here in his favorite chair.  He has a phone, TV remote and Satellite radio all within reach. 

One of the other reasons he loves it is because he designed and built it.  Our youngest son Chris helped with the decking (we used Trex and it is really heavy) and our older son Rick carried all the shingles up to the roof and helped put it on.  I love those boys so much.  I never have to ask them more than once, if we need help.  They always say, when do you need me and will you be cooking?

The two milk crates Mr. Bird Nest uses for his table are from my grandparents and parents dairy.  I can't tell you how heavy those cases of milk were when they were full.

This is my favorite place to curl up out here with a glass of sweet tea and a good book. 

This is a little fountain we have on the porch.  All the grandchildren love to play in this water.  If you look closely at the top of it, they have a little octopus and a deep sea diver they play with in the water.

This is the door to the porch from our back walkway.  My husband's grandmother had a little screened porch at her house and he wanted this one to sound the same way when the door slammed.  The little latch at the top left of the door accomplishes that noise perfectly.  He loves it when the grandchildren are running in and out.  Do you have a sound like that to bring you back to a different place and time?

On the left is Mr. Bird Nests personal domain...his grill.  When he built the porch he even added a light in the ceiling over the grill.  We need it in the wintertime when it gets dark early and we're still grilling.  Yep, we grill 12 months of the year.

To the right are all the pool and garden shoes and we hang our pool towels on that little homemade rack with hooks.

These are the required ceiling fans we need here in the South to move the air around.  And yes, that is more beadbord on the ceiling.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Cottage Laundry Room

We remodeled our tiny laundry closet this spring with what else...beadboard.  You'll continue to see that I love that stuff and would use it everywhere if I could.

We also put took out the old tile on the floor and put down a wood laminate floor.  It's really easy to clean and looks great.  It blends really well with the hardwood floor in the hallway too.

The oak splint baskets on the second shelf were part of my mother's collection that I inherited. 

I love the summertime and especially the great eating that comes with gardens and fresh vegetables.  One of my favorite meals is corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and onions.  Here is the simple recipe for cucumbers and onions.

Dressing for Cukes & Onions

4 Tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons of milk

2 Tablespoons of sugar

2 capfuls of white or apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Mix all of the above ingredients in a container with a whisk. 

Wash the cucumbers, peel and slice thin.  Also add thin slices of Vidalia onion or purple onion. 

Put a lid on the container and store in the refrigerator till chilled or overnight.  They taste even better the next day.

Tonight for dinner we're having Polska Kielbasa on the grill, corn on the cob and cukes and onions.  Anybody hungry?

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

 

Giveaway at the Gahan Girls...

Go to the following site to win these sweet gifts for Dawn's 100th post.

http://gahangirls.blogspot.com/

Dawn has a wonderfully written blog, a supercute house, a beautiful daughter and an Old English Sheepdog that will make you want one too.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen