Someone's nose is out of joint...

Since yesterday, there's been some tweaking going on in the family room....


... and someone is none too happy about it. She won't even throw a glance in my direction.


See what I mean? Just look at her back there. It all started with this lampshade, which is now being used on a floor lamp next to the sofa. Up until yesterday it had been a spare lampshade, but oh-what-a-lampshade! Much too pretty to be hidden away in a closet until needed.


So with its cream-on-cream pattern and dangling prisms, it became Patience's favorite 'hat.'


Last year she even got festive and topped it off with a fabric pumpkin for the fall season. But with yesterday's tweaking, I wound up with an extra lamp in the family room... one that needed a shade. That left Patience rather bare on top.


So I searched through my stash and found this adorable pink fedora for her. I even spruced it up with a little autumn flower, but she is having none of it...

Come on, Patience. You can't give me the silent treatment forever...

In my next post I'll show some of the family room tweaking that put Patience's nose out of joint!

Donna

Cottage Halloween Decor, minimalist style

We awoke to a beautiful day here in New England and, although not entirely sunny, the rain was at least a thing of the past.


I want to thank all of you for your heartfelt comments on my last post about stress. It seems that so many of you are, or have been, in similar situations with aging parents, etc. Carol, you were the only one I was not able to personally respond to. Thank you so much for your sweet comment on this topic as well...


Today I decided to put out a few decorations, and I do mean a few. Unlike other years, where I've had tons of pumpkins, fall leaves, and a wicked Witchy Woman, this year I'm going the minimalist route.


One lone pumpkin sits in a birdcage in the familyroom...

... but oh, what a pumpkin! Robin's egg blue with pink roses... be still my heart.

And at the risk of sounding like a well known political candidate in her new commercial, no, I am not a witch...

...but I do have a soft spot in my heart for black cats! This little cast iron sweetie has taken up residence in a bird cage...

...while this little beauty has nestled up against one of my all time favorite chenille pillows.

So that's it for this year's decorations. Don't blink or you'll miss them!

Now the outside is another story! Lots of little ghosts and goblins will be descending on our home this Halloween, and I love to decorate the yard for them. My girls always enjoyed trick-or-treating so much, and it's still such a fun part of the holiday for us, giving out the treats to all the kids who visit! So I'll share the yard in an upcoming post...

And thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for all your kind comments, thoughts, and prayers...

Now be sure to pop over to Cindy's Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home! There are loads of links to beautiful blogs! Grab a cup of tea or coffee, sit back and enjoy!

Donna

A whining Witchy Woman... and lots more tweaking...

About a week ago I told you all I was sooooo lazy that I didn't even give Witchy Woman a scarf this year. Well she has been whining non-stop all week, begging for something a bit more than her pointy black hat...


And truth be told, I do understand. I mean Halloween is her holiday...


So I dug through my stash and found a vintage scarf and black clip-on flower for under her chin...



I'm happy to say she is feeling like the belle of the Witch's Ball now...


Okay, back to rearranging and tweaking... The pink polka-dotted pumpkin/pewter candleholder have been moved from the LR pie safe to the DR hutch...


...where the pewter candleholder now sits on the shelf beneath my Nana's photo (I am the lucky recipient of all of her china so she gets a place of honor over the hutch!)....

...and the pumpkin sits atop a small hobnail vase.

And the lamp that used to be on the LR pie safe is now on the little table next to the hutch...

It's nice to have a choice between soft lamp light and bright chandelier light at suppertime (maybe some day we'll get a dimmer for the overhead)...

I moved little Pete the Parakeet (in his HomeGoods cage) from the kitchen to the little DR table...

And last, but not least, I gave the top of the recycling bin a mini-makeover...

The swan was moved here from the half wall in order to make room for the fabric pumpkins...

I placed some of my favorite old books and a bird's nest around the swan, and it gives the top of this little recycling cabinet a whole new look...

So thanks for joining me while I tweaked this, and rearranged that, and gave in to a whining Witchy Woman...

I hear it might be SEVENTY DEGREES on Thursday so I might get to play outside, planting some bulbs!

I hope you all have fantastic weather wherever you are!!!

Donna

October's cottage living room...

It was a beautiful day in New England today as the sun made a triumphant return after the weekend's first mini snowfall... October has visited the living room in the form of "lamp bandit" in the window, "Ratty" in the birdcage, and a cottage pumpkin on the c0ffee table.

(click any photos to enlarge)

While Spotty lounged on the sofa, I 'tweaked' a bit more...


I decided that the big vase of roses on top of the pie safe was just too much in between the lamps. I love the vintage mirror that we attached to the top of the pie safe, and the roses blocked too much of it...


There... I think this is better. It's less cluttered and shows off more of the mirror, which in turn opens up the room...


The vase of roses has been replaced by a small green music box that plays Evergreen... ("Love, soft as an easy chair"... I love the lyrics to that song!).


One of my shabby stuffed pumpkins from Ronda's Tempting Textiles sits in the tray on the trunk...


...atop a small sampling of the many Halloween and/or spooky books I read to the girls when they were little (are they really both in their twenties now??? Talk about spooky!)

Wishing you all happy October memories-in-the-making!!!

Donna

A new home for the Halloween rat...

Every October Ratty scampers up from the depths of the basement to spend the Halloween season with us... This year he chose to share Pete and Re-Pete's cage while living upstairs.


Now Ratty was absolutely giddy with excitement when he heard I was announcing the "cottage pumpkins" winner on my blog today...


He begged me to let him announce the winner and he promised to have a huge smile across his face while doing so...


Ratty is true to his word ... Just look at that big, toothy rat grin! And just in case you can't read the sign Ratty is holding, it says, "Congratulations to Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage."

So congratulations, Claudia! Just head over to Ronda's Tempting Textiles shop...

...and pick out which set of pumpkins you'd like to receive!

Happy October, everyone! (It is COLD here in New England tonight !!!)

Donna

It's not your mother's pumpkin patch!

Since a few of you have commented on the fabric pumpkin in my fall banner...


... I thought I'd repeat a post I did last year about these yummy shabby/cottage pumpkins made by the incredibly talented Ronda of Tempting Textiles (formerly Cherry Blossom Cottage).

I've gotten a variety of pumpkins from her over the years (as well as slipcovers for my office chairs!)...

... and I absolutely love decorating with them in the fall!

They look great alone, as the main attraction...

...or piled high, making a colorful cottage pumpkin patch!

I think Ronda picked the perfect name for her new shop - Tempting Textiles... These guys are definitely tempting!!!!

Here's a sampling of some of the fabric pumpkins Ronda has in her shop right now:


Oooh la la!!! Just look at these white pumpkins with marabou fur trim and button accents!

Or how about these soft cottage-green floral pumpkins...

All my favorite colors... blue, pink, green, and white!

This fabric is wild and colorful and I absolutely LOVE it!!! Be sure to check out all Ronda's other fabric pumpkins at Tempting Textiles... Click on SHOP, then HOLIDAY BLING, and then PUMPKINS. And while you're there, check out all of her other creations, too... slipcovers, Christmas decor, and vintage items!

Now I know I just finished a giveaway, but to celebrate Ronda's new shop I'm going to pick a name on October 7th and one of you will be able to choose a set of Ronda's pumpkins for your very own! Anyone who entered my previous Autumn Giveaway contest will automatically be entered, as well as those who commented on the pumpkin in my banner... And, of course, if you comment on this post your name will go into the hat... So good luck to everyone!

Check back Wednesday and I'll announce the winner!!

Happy October!

Donna