Sharing Shadymont, My Mountain Cottage

I moved the plants into the sun room the other day to get them out of the cold. It looked so crowded in there, I just couldn't stand it, so I made about six trips up and down the stairs (all 18) to the basement and finally got the ladder and all the plants moved down there.  Whew!  That was a job!  I only kept the Aloe, Christmas Cactus, and one other plant upstairs.   So here are the ones I kept upstairs, all in one little corner!! I changed what I had on the table and now only have a faux plant, and a bird sitting in a Fall candle ring. So much cleaner and neater. Moving the plants out gave me so much more room.   Here is a canvas I painted today.  I had tried to paint a scene on this canvas last night, but it turned out really bad, so I just painted over the whole canvas with latex paint and left it to dry!  This afternoon, I sat down and just started painting and this is how it turned out.   ...

Well, we are back home in the mountains!  We came home Saturday, and have been working to get everything back to normal here.  We get everything looking so good at the lake, then come home and start here.  So are the days of our lives!!  :)   We do enjoy keeping everything done, and at least we don't have a schedule or deadlines we have to meet.  We can go at our own pace, which is a little slower than it once was.  Just no need to rush now.  Retirement has its good points!! I've puttered about in the house today and did the mopping, vacuuming, dusting, and other cleaning.  Then I put on a pot of chili to simmer for supper.   It's much cooler now so the plants were brought in when we got home.  My daughter came one evening while we were gone, and placed some of my favorite plants inside because there was a freeze warning.  Don't know what I would do without her!! For the moment, we moved the ladder where I had the plants ...

Au Naturel, early 19th century French word meaning, literally in the natural state. Imagine, I've been here, at the lake house, surrounded by all types of natural elements, and just today, made a wreath using some of these gifts of nature! I pulled some Magnolia leaves from a nearby tree, picked up some pine cones, and some Magnolia cones, and several sprigs of berries from another tree, and hot glued all of it to an old picture frame.   Anyway, here is my wreath. Love. It. !!! I tried to wash the spots off the leaves, but I couldn't remove them. Not sure what type of tree these leaves and berries came from, but they look so pretty.  Maybe it's some kind of holly. The cone to the left is from a pine tree, and the one to the right is from the magnolia tree.  The magnolia produces seed cones in the Fall.  They are pretty, but rough on mowers! This took all of 10 minutes to make.  I just glued...

Our purpose for visiting the lake house this time, was to have new gutters put on.  That was supposed to happen this past Monday.  However, due to glitches in the logistics with Home Depot, it was Wednesday afternoon when they were installed.  Finally!!  Isn't it frustration to sit and wait for someone to come and do work?? It was only a 3 hour job because our home here is only a little over 1000 sq. ft.  Easy to clean!!   Hubby is pressure washing everything today.  The new gutters showed how much the vinyl siding needed cleaning.  Thankfully, it is a warm, sunny day in SW Georgia. While waiting for all this to happen, I got busy and tweaked and added a little more Fall decor.  I know we are only going to be here a few more days, but we will enjoy it while we are here. I got some "pups" off the neighbors aloe plant, and planted them in these two old planters I had here.  I like them sitting in the kitchen window. The pu...

You might have noticed an ad for Craftsy on my blog sidebar.  Know who they are???  It is a worldwide craft community that offers online classes. It also has a patterns marketplace where independent designers can sell their patterns; a supplies shop with great deals on yarn, fabric, and class kits; and a projects section where members share pictures of their latest craft successes. With over two million members and counting, Craftsy has something for just about everyone. You can actually log in when it is convenient for you, and learn a new skill! You can also go back to the website over and over again to review a particularly difficult technique where you may be having trouble.  That's the beauty of on-line classes.  They are at your convenience!! You should check out all the online classes they offer?  Some are sewing, quilting, knitting, photography, cooking, cake decorating, and many more.  And right now, many of these are free!   Clic...

Today I'm sharing some pictures of the scenery at our lake house.   Our place is across the street so this is the neighbor's dock area.  They are elderly, and have been unable to come down for a year or so.  We plan to do some work around their place while we are here this time.  They are such dear friends. This bush, below, is in our yard.  I hope to find out the name of it from another neighbor tomorrow.   This is a closeup of the flowers.... and the buds. These are in the neighbor's yard, I loved this pile of flower pots she had stored below an out building. Below is a hydrangea my hubby transplanted for me.  Hope it does well. I got a cutting from this aloe plant today.   Our little cottage. Our neighbors philodendron. Where our birdies bathe. So there you have a tour of our little place at the lake and that of our sweet neighbors. ...