Before and After...

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the treasure I found at Attic de Provence (a consignment store) last Saturday when I was looking for shops to take Penny to this week.  My husband was waiting outside so I didn't get it then.  I called them when they opened on Wednesday and asked them to hold it.  Today I picked it up and I love it!  Guess what I paid for it?  $30.00.  Can you believe it?  This was a great deal that I had to share.

Gretchen

Lunch with Friends...

I know I've already shown you this picture of me with my friends but dumb me forgot to take my camera along today.  The lady on the far right had to fly to FL last weekend to tend to her ailing father so she couldn't be with us.  We went to Twigs in Greenville, SC.  Today they were celebrating Spring with a special lunch and displays of home and garden creations.  I can't believe I didn't have my camera but Christy took pictures with her phone and is going to send them to me.  The food was fabulous and the tablescapes were to die for.  I got several things that I'll show you next week.

We were celebrating my birthday, which was in March.  Stephanie wintered in Arizona and we wanted to wait to get together when she got home.

My friend Joy got me this little sign I can hang.  It's so me, I can't believe she knows me so well.  She also got me a lovely necklace, a cake server and a few other things. 

Stephanie got me several gifts but the big one was this gorgeous planter from Pottery Barn.  I've put it on my table on the screened porch and will have to find a plant to be in it. 

My friend Christy got me this purse, scarf, wallet, earrings and a pink striped umbrella.  She had a real theme going and I love everything.

As long as I don't have to get a year older, I kind of like this extended birthday.

Tomorrow, I spend the day with Penny.  What a great week I'm having.

Gretchen  

The House Whisperer Cometh....but not till Friday

First, let me tell you that we had hail and rain all night and Penny is North of me.  She is getting it today, so we postponed her visit until Friday.  The question is......how will I keep Mr. Cottage from destroying my cleaning efforts until then. 

This bowl of tulips on the table will welcome Penny.  I got this ironstone vessel at an antique shop about 18 years ago.  I'm not sure what it was used for when it was made, but I'm guessing there was a chamber pot that went with it.

My plants I ordered from Burpee came today and I'm anxious to get them in the ground.  I'm supposed to let them rest for 48 hours and then plant them.  That's going to be perfect with my schedule.

This is where I blog.  We turned our third bedroom into our den/library when we bought our house.  Mr. Cottage built me the bookshelves one year for my birthday.   

I got my desk from Target's catalog and the chair came from Home Goods.

This is probably the most organized my desk has looked in a while.  Penny is going to help me redo my header on my blog, so I needed this to be neater than usual.

Tomorrow, I'm going to lunch with some friends at Twigs Tempietto and will also visit their garden and home shop.  It's one of my favorite places and they always have things I need.

This past Saturday, I visited a store called Attic de Provence in Greer, SC where I spied something I really need (okay, I just want it).  I'll show it to you on my Friday blog.  It's sooo pretty! 

Gretchen

New Books and No Cleaning...

These two books arrived in the mail today.  Now, I'm supposed to getting ready for Penny from Comforts of Home to visit tomorrow.  Well, I'm already into Country Wisdom and it's a great read with lots of good tips. 

I had a chance to browse through Villages of England and it makes me want to travel to England tommorow.  A friend of mine, Sharon, recommended it to me and it has lovely pictures.  You know, I love anything English. 

It's not just these books that have stopped my cleaning process.  I actually went to the Emergency Room on Sunday morning because my middle finger on my right hand was throbbing and had turned an ugly shade of purple.  After lancing it open (that was really painful) and cleaning it out and the doctor gave me antibiotics to take for 10 days.  He told me to visit my family doctor when I could.  Well, I made an appointment yesterday for this morning and Dr. Steve thought it looked awful.  I can't get it wet other than showering and I got a shot in my posterior (you get it, right?).  Wow, that was almost as bad as the lancing was!  Needless to say, there's not much getting done today at Bird Nest Cottage.  I just hope Penny doesn't see the hall table where my husband wrote, "Dust Me".

Gretchen 

Before and After...

Before:  This was how my china cabinet was decorated for Easter. 

After:  I've tweaked my arrangement on my china cabinet recently.  I've added more ivy, feathers and twigs to the arrangement on the left and removed the Easter decorations.

Gretchen

The Final Reveal...

This is what I started with.  A pile of very weathered barn board. It came from my what was my grandfather's old dairy barn and was over 100 years old.  There was enough wood to build two shelves and I always try to make sure I have one for each of my sons.

  

 I took all this wood to a woodworker I found through Woodworkers Supply (it's a woodworking store).
I dropped this wood off in late October and Mr. Nest said these shelves would be my Christmas present.
Well, time went on and he said those shelves would be my birthday present (that was in March).  I started to put pressure on the woodworker because our anniversary is in June and I knew Mr. Nest would try to milk this gift one more time.  I finally picked up my shelves on Tuesday, April 10.  What a relief to have them!

This is what they looked like when I brought them home.  Can you see all the roughness?  I wouldn't have been happy with these as they were.

I was so glad to finally get them and I figured I could fix them (I'm a middle child so I think I can fix anything).  My house is very traditional and keeping the shelves like this wouldn't have looked right.  I got out our orbital sander and used it on every part of the shelves.  I wanted a barnboard look but not all the weathering.    After sanding and dusting, I applied Johnson's Paste Wax heavily to every part of them.  This is how the look finished.

I put the smaller one in the guest bathroom.  I'll try to find a picture of the shelves that were there before so you can see a before and after.

The shelves are now smooth as silk and although I tried to leave some of the barn look, they appear slightly traditional.

The second and larger shelf I put above my desk in the Master Bedroom.  This little desk is the one my parent's gave me for my High School graduation.  It was made by Pennsylvania House furniture and I plan to keep it forever.  Enough about that.  I think the shelf looks good there and it's nice to have a place for a few books and pictures.

I put just a few things on it but I can now look for more "stuff" for my shelf.  Mr. Bird Nest will be soooo happy.

Hope you weren't disappointed in my first reveal.

Gretchen