I Can't Sit Still

I just discovered PicMonkey.

I know I am behind the times, but I still work full time teaching middle school so the fact that I find any time to blog or be creative at all is pretty amazing.

Anyway, back to Pic Monkey.

I began my morning in a hospital waiting room at 5:15 a.m. 

Steve's surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m.

At 7:30 a.m. the head of the hospital dropped by.

I have had enough surgeries to know that the head of the hospital doesn't usually drop in on routine surgeries.

He wanted to let us know that someone (not him) had forgotten to order the replacement parts (as if Steve was a vintage car) and they couldn't proceed until they arrived.

And, the parts were coming from Los Angeles.

And, if you know Los Angeles, distance is never given in miles, but in time.

The surgery ended up starting 3 hours late.

I cannot sit still.

So, I played with PicMonkey.

I signed up for the paid version and I wanted to try out some of the features.

First, I created a collage of our front yard which is actually our back yard.

You can read why here.

Next I played with pictures of the back of our house, which in reality is the front of the house.

I wish my garden looked this pretty right now.

And in hunting down pictures, I thought I should show you what the back yard
(which was the front yard in 1928)
looked like when we moved in.

Believe me, had I known that one day I would write a blog, I would have moved the hose and the BBQ before shooting the picture.

The French doors on the left side picture lead to our bedroom then.

 Now, they are  the entrance to Steve's studio and that room is our guest room.

The French doors you see in the photo above are the exterior entrance to the studio we added so Steve would stop dripping oil paint on the floor and furniture.

The one thing I really miss from the yard when we moved in is the boat abloom with flowers.

When we were looking at houses, KC and I called our house "The Boat House" because of that boat.

Unfortunately, it rotted away and the jungle took over its spot.

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I still have a lot to learn about PicMonkey.

Steve is out of surgery and doing great.

I don't have to sit still any more.

Unfortunately it will be a few days before Steve is home and many more before he can pick up a paint brush.

Maybe I will let him learn PicMonkey and he can create the collages of the inside of the house.

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You can find me partying at

The Busy Bees

Savvy Southern Style

Lavender Garden Cottage

Vintage on a Dime

Cozy Little House

Fluster Buster

And Now, To Work...

Spring break is usually my signal to get to work in my garden.

There was no food in the house this morning since we came home from skiing a day early.

Steve surprised me with lox and bagels from Noah's Bakery.

We took a leisurely walk on the beach.

We played tennis.

And now, it is time to work.

After tennis I headed to the nursery to buy flowers and went a little crazy filling my cart.

Some of the flowers are for the front yard, but most are for the back.

I planted everything in the front first.

One day I will do a post to explain why the back of our house is now the front and why the front is now the back - city ordinances!

The wall around the front had a trellis covered with ivy when we purchased the house.

It made the kitchen and the entryway very dark.

After we removed the trellis and painted the wall, I put an old wagon in front and filled it with flowers.

The wagon in full bloom posing in the back yard for a painting

 One day I was putting in some new flowers and my trowel went right through the bottom of the wagon.

We have tons (literally tons) of rocks in the back so I created a stone planter around the wall to plant flowers.  

I used our big fish ( bought it in Mexico years ago) as part of the planter.

The otter on a stick is a gift from a friend who was moving from the beach to the mountains.

My next post will be about my back garden and you will see the great chairs she gave me.

Right now the only flowers blooming are the nasturtiums, but the lavender is beginning to flower.

I have no idea what is planted there - I just buy what I like and don't always know the names.

Last summer we had the house painted and our porch looked horrible compared to the crisp white and blue of the house.

At one time it had been painted a rusty red, but it was chipped and looked disgusting.

A new house was being built on our street and they had the most incredible stonework being done.

We talked to the stone contractor about doing our little porch.

He asked if we could pay cash - yes!

He asked if we could do it the next week - yes!

He gave us an amazing quote and we said - yes!

We absolutely love the porch now.

I painted the bench yellow and added a wooden box (TJ Maxx) for flowers.

I replace the flowers every few weeks.

I plant the old flowers and buy new flowers for the box.

The flowers are ALWAYS red and yellow.

You might notice the buoy hanging on the wall.

Buoys are a favorite of ours.

You can read about our buoy love here.

I always read posts where bloggers talk about their great freebie or cheap finds.

I always envy them their good fortune.

While working in my yard today I looked at my bench and realized that I am one of those lucky people too.

Steve bought the bench for $1 from neighbors.

It is not safe for sitting and some of the slats are loose, but it functions fine as a bench for flowers in the front.

Our red adirondack was purchased by a friend to replace one she broke.

I assured her that she did not need to replace it, but one day I came home and found a box on my porch.

She had ordered a chair and arranged for delivery.

It doesn't match the chairs in the back so it gets a special place in the front.

The front yard is ready for spring.

I should start on the back yard now, but I am still on vacation.

I am going to sit in the yard with my book and an iced tea and relax.

Enough work for one day!

Beach Cottage ABCs

Several years ago I cut out a Cottage ABCs article from a magazine.

I came across the article recently and thought about my own ABCs...

A if for Adirondacks

A neighbor's front door

B is for baskets filled with books

Little handmade books

C is for checks

 My buffalo check chair

D is for dishes in red and yellow

Favorite red & yellow pieces

E is for Expedit from Ikea

An ever changing display

F is for fresh flowers

Petit fleurs

G is for glass

Glass jar full of ceramic letters

H is for hearts and hands

Hands from my collection

I is for inspiring quotes

I'm still working on creating myself!

J is for jars 

Jars filled with supplies 

K is for kayaks

Kayaks are perfect beach house accessories

L is for living simply

Live well with less!

M is for mixing fabrics

My window seat 

N is for numbers

Numbered magnets

O is for an open door policy

Open door...please drop in!

P is for polka dots

F

Favorite utensils

Q is for quilts

Favorite quilts

R is for reading books on decorating

Actually more looking than reading

S is for seashells

 Little shells tucked into vignettes.

T is for treasured keepsakes

My father's tobacco canister

U is for using things in ways they weren't designed

Little red ladder holding books

V is for vintage

Favorite vintage table cloths.

W is for windows

lovely mullioned windows

XYZ are for letters of the alphabet

Letters all over the house

Every Cottage Needs An Adirondack

Almost the first purchase we made when we bought our beach house was 2 adirondack chairs.

To me, they are the epitome of beach living.

We have adirondacks in the back yard 

and in the front yard.

There is something about the chairs that calls to people and makes them want to just sit and relax.

One morning the beach was particularly spectacular so I suggested to Steve that he "stage" a photo
of an adirondack and his colorful surfboards.

That photograph became this painting

which became this wine label.

DISCOVERIES wine

There were actually 2 paintings

Red Chair Lookin' North

and

Red Chair Lookin' South

Fortunately, the label became a poster that hangs in our home because the paintings sold long ago.

The poster hangs in the homes of at least 3 of the local beach houses of friends and as far away as Oslo, Norway.

All of them framed it much nicer than we did, but we were limited in space.

When an adirondack has reached maturity, we don't throw it out.

It is simply retired to the beach where it can rest all day in the sun and watch the sunset every night .

If you are ever in the area, drop in to sit a spell - in the front, the back, or out on the beach.

Adirondacks are always waiting.