THE WHIPPOORWILL AND THE CUCKOO BRING IN 2017

Now that the New Year is coming,
 two birds have 

returned to our house.

We now have our Whippoorwill - Cuckoo Clock back

from the clock shop.  The a

woman who comes from Germany several

times a year to repair Cuckoo clocks so ours has been at the shop since May waiting I think

for her visit and

finally - done.  I love it!

Someone might remember when I painted this

Shabby Chic in Colorado, however, it never

worked (with our limited knowledge).
  We got it at one of the indoor

flea markets in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

The bird on the left is the Whippoorwill and he

tweets his own sound on each quarter hour going

up to to the 4 tweets on the hour.  The Cuckoo 

to the right tweets once on the half hour

 and then on the hour - however

many according to the time.  Of course there is a gong
accordingly on the hours and 1 at the half hour.

So...........yes,
a whole lot of bird tweeting going on!

WELCOME TO "QUAIL CREEK COTTAGE" for BTTCG Blog Party

I was able to spend a good 4 days in the

 last 2 weeks  working out  of doors during some very nice weather and did some

 serious digging at the front entrance

to our cottage rancher.  There was so

 much to do inside but I just ignored all

 that and got out in the glorious weather.  

 My husband thought I was

 "loosing it" as I just kept removing the lawn one shovel at a time.  I told him "look how much less you have to mow now"!  Our new
 neighbor was glad to take some shrubs that

 I really don't want from back by the deck.  

I dug a large area from the driveway over to
the pussy willow.  I did rather rush things though as the frost date here is still 7 more days beyond today.  The hydrangeas I planted were "freezer burnt" Friday night when it dropped in the 30's but my neighbor
 assures me they will come back out.

We now live in a sudivision called "Quail Creek" so we decided to name our home "Quail Creek Cottage".  I am hoping to stencil a sign sometime to go over the front door.  This is the entrance to our cottage style rancher.  Some of you remember "Miss Tabitha" who loves being our new greeter at the front.  Inside we call our center room the great room and it looks down on the backyard where we will be putting in a privacy fence and extending the patio area.

  I love hearing the birds in our

new backyard - really a bird sanctuary there by the little creek.  The creek isn't our property but is right in the back where we can enjoy it. We had 2 men come and clear out all the nasty stuff other people that thrown in the creek.  Isn't it shocking what people do?  Shame on them! 

 After they cleaned out all the overgrowth, I threw lots of my flower garden seeds there so we shall see what comes up.  Every morning

 I see big bunnies hoping all along the creek.
  Tonight we saw a big fox just a couple blocks away so I hope he stays there. 

 Below, is one of the things that have gotten done - the chandelier in the
kitchen has now been hung!

I am also happy to have my clock back together as it had loose parts sitting in the bottom when we arrived
in Columbia:

I am thinking I never shared the shabby chic piece I got for my birthday a few months ago.  We sat it on this buffet which was at my store for years but now in our great room.  We
plan to hide the VCR player inside of it.

 I hope to be

showing you my downstairs tea room next week!

"MY VICTORIAN PARLOR"

As many of you know, for many years I had a lot antique furniture  but about 3 years ago I
 was ready for a change and my husband spent quite a bit of time painting many pieces shabby chic.   I still have some dark pieces though so in our new house we have an area I am calling my "Victorian Parlor".  It is really  intended as a sort of dining area with a gas fireplace as part of the kitchen but I am using it differently. (warning: things we me are

always subject to change)

Our poor Victrola is sitting there with a broken castor foot.  We will be moving it to the tea room downstairs and putting a clock there on the wall.  We do have 4-5 things that will need repair from our move,  but not one cup or saucer got broken.  I have all of my tea sets and dishes unpacked.  See the kitchen

ceiling light fixture - well it will have to go - down the line.

This is my funny picture as we got

 new phones

 this week and they

are driving us crazy.

Just look at my poor husband trying

to figure his out:

The pussy willow out front is almost at the end of it's bloom and it is huge - I can't wait to show you the garden area I have created out front.  I spent 3 days this week digging and

have the back pain to prove it.  I really love our new home - not because it is a mansion.  It is a relaxed cottage style I was looking for in retirement
 and holds a lot of promise.

Look at that poor man!

Now this is a little of this and that:

 I will be sharing more about our home where we have only lived for a little over 2 weeks.  We have been going from one thing to the next and so many things to change when you move.  The little tin desk box and the linen runner below were treasures I found while antiquing back in Colorado as we were

 getting ready to move.

LOVING EVERY SEASON

When I think of how creative God was to design four totally unique seasons, I am just amazed.  I also know that we were created in His image and when I see how creative my blogging friends are with ideas and inspirations - I marvel!  Just about the time we start to get a little bored  with things - God moves us on to another season. 

 This week I was looking at my 1992 Victoria book "The Heart of Christmas".  This book would inspire your creativity for the holidays.

  I think I was ready for winter this week.  The last two nights it has been snowing  here in Colorado.  Fall is over.  Actually winter doesn't officially come until December 21st on the calendar but it is here in terms of the weather.

Please pour yourself a cup of tea in this Old Country Roses tea cup.  The chintz Old Colorado Roses pieces are items from the past and are English.  When this Victoria Book came out jewel tones and Victorian decorating were all the rage in the early 1990's.  Some of you will remember the way this buffet used to look before hubby painted it shabby chic Vintage White.

These past months, I have enjoyed my fall decorations but now it is time to pull things out for the Holidays!  Do you do the same thing every year or do you change things up a bit?  Don't you love it when you open some boxes of decorations and see something or several things that you found last year on sale and tucked there for this year?

I still remember the first time I opened

this book and was swept away in awe

of all the Victorian decorating.

COLLECTING ENGLISH BONE CHINA CUPS AND SAUCERS

Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite

 English Bone China cups and saucers. 

 I display them in this old armoire my husband worked

removing the doors and painting shabby chic:

These are my two newest ones below - hand painted.  The one on top is a Rosina and the one below is "Carnival" Royal Albert Crown China (before 1939 with that backstamp)

On the top left is another Rosina:

 

In the back area you can see my Germany tea set 

I have shared before with the wildflowers:

 

This cup and saucer below is a Tuscan and I have two like this

 plus two others

 with gold instead of silver.

 

I am fond of Sadler teapots (like many of you) but the one to the right below is a Roslyn and the tea cup below it matches it:

PENNY PHILLIPS MADE ME GO CUCKOO

I just couldn't resist a great title for this post because several weeks ago Penny showed us what she did with 4 broken cuckoo clocks when she turned them into shabby chic creations.  I commented to her on her blog that I knew I would just have to find one and I went lots of places without seeing any at all.

  Finally, I saw two at an indoor flea market in a booth and I made an offer on the larger one.  It is from Germany and came home with us.  As you can see it has a new paint job:

It took me a while to understand a

cuckoo clock and how it works and

in the process I have learned more 

because this is actually a Cuckoo

Whippoorwill Clock.  That means it

has 2 different birds that comes out

and sound different.

I have to admit that I love Penny's last name because my Grandfather was a Phillips and so that was my Mother's maiden name!  When I was a child there were lots of Phillips kinfolk  and great cousins in the panhandle of Florida where both of my grandparents came from.

VINTAGE COTTAGE IN THE KITCHEN

Every week I think to myself that next week I will really have time to spend on my blog.  This is a joke!  Ha, ha, ha!  Let's all laugh together.  I never have more time.  Today I am sharing a few photos:

We will be getting our warmer weather back today after having very cool weather and almost cold at night.  It has rained and rained.  We haven't had anything like this amount of rain for many years.

Those of you who follow my blog already know that this is my kitchen buffet which my husband painted earlier this year during the winter.  The coffee pot and cream and sugar are English Copeland Spode "Dubarry" and the teapot which I have shared before is a Sadler.

ARRANGING AND REARRANGING

I love to change things - you know - change the location of a teapot or cup and saucer.  I have been playing with my new Shabby Armoire and can't resist sticking more in here or there.  These best part is that I finally have room for my cake platters!

My husband has done a great job

painting a lot of our furniture

pieces which are mostly vintage and

some antique.

This week we have been getting a new furnace and air conditioning at our home and I am so happy that the wall thermostat was moved out of the kitchen where it was in a terrible location.  Of course, now the wall has to be patched and painted.