The Feathered Nest

This Blog is Now Closed

(red & yellow toile plate - my Mother's Day present to me)

Hi everyone,

This is my last post as I'm taking a break from blogging. I'm not sure if this will be temporary or permanent. But this is the last post for this blog.  If I do come back to blogging it will be with a different blog. Actually, this is the second blog I've had. The first one dealt with simple living/gardening (which honestly is really what I'm more interested in). This blog will be up for the next few weeks so that people can have time to access the archives. All my posts are organized by categories which are on the right sidebar.

I want to thank each and every one of you for visiting this blog. I've enjoyed getting to know so many of you! Like most blogs, when I started this one, I had just a handful of regular readers and now there are over 1000 page views most days! I've had requests for advertising (all of which I've turned down), I've been given books to read by publishers (sorry I didn't get around to  reviewing them all) and other things that would be classified as "success". I'm not complaining, it's just that it's turned blogging into a job of sorts.

I'm spending way too much time blogging, thinking about blogging, taking pictures for the blog etc and I'd much rather spend the time actually doing some of the things I've been wanting to do but haven't had the time to do. I'm not trying to start a business where this blog would be useful to either market myself or my items, I don't have any desire to be in a magazine, the only reason I blog is to share what I do with other like minded people. Somehow it's turned into more than that. I'm really a very simple woman and I guess what I'm saying is that it's all become just too overwhelming for me. I need to step away.

Anyway, thank you for your support and understanding.

Patio Table & Pottery Barn Hack

We needed something to eat on outside in our screened in porch and a friend gave us this round table. He kept the chairs though. I couldn't understand why he kept the chairs until I went to Home Depot a few weeks ago to buy them and they were $55 each! The table by itself is only $79. So figured I could pick up 4 chairs at the thrift store. Of course, when I wasn't looking for chairs they always had a ton and at $5 a chair (for a wooden dining chair). Finally I found two great chairs!

Hopefully I'll find two more this weekend when we go thrifting. That's what I said I wanted to do for Mother's Day. Go to some thrift stores I don't usually go to (cause you know I hate to drive)!

Did you see these cute chairs in the recent Pottery Barn Catalog?

I've always loved these too!

So I decided I would paint each of the four chairs a different color (I painted the table white). So far we have a yellow and light green chair. When I find the two others they'll be Robbin's egg blue and cream.

I already had this stencil with letters and numbers.

Now ideally the numbers would be big like in the PB Catalog, but I worked with what I had and I think it's a cute touch.

My husband is letting me paint the screened porch floor instead of staining it. He suggested yellow so I think I'll paint it the yellow he always wants to paint the walls - surfboard yellow. It's way to bright for a wall but I think it would be a cute color for a floor.

Also, I have an announcement to make on Friday.

When Is A Throw Not A Throw

When it's a tablecloth.

It's got a few holes and some stains and I was going to cut it up and make pillows. But I thought it would look pretty on our table for a while. You can really see the pretty design. It almost looks like Redwork (which most of you know I collect) but it's just an old chenille bed throw/coverlet.

A Skirt For A Little Bookcase

I've been wanting to make a little skirt to cover this bookcase that I use for storage in my dining room. It was the perfect project for a rainy Saturday. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them, if you like)

I looked through my stash of fabric and found this one piece that was just the right size - about a yard. But the right side was a bit too vibrant, so I decided to use the wrong side. Now I'm by no means a "sewer"! But I can sew a straight line. It did take me about 20 minutes to figure out how to wind a new bobbin and insert it back into it's little bobbin doohickie! But once that was taken care of, it was just a matter of sewing a straight line on three sides and making a pocket for the rod on top.

Now all those things I was storing are hidden AND I have some more lovely fabric in that room!

What's Blooming in the Yard

Enjoy the pictures, comments are off

(You can click to enlarge all pictures if you like)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. We had a very rainy day so I did some sewing and watched a couple of bad sci-fi movies on TV.

Some Spring Reading

(click to enlarge)

I just re-read the whole Little House Series and now I'm going to start on the new ones about her mother Caroline when she was a little girl. The thing that really strikes me about these books is how hard they worked just on day to day living, how they all worked as a family-kids too, and how they enjoyed, I mean really enjoyed their free time. Makes me feel like a sloth!

Clarice recommended Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.  I'm looking forward to making some bread using the recipes in the book. Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle sounds soooo interesting! It's supposed to be about how she and her family ate only what they either grew themselves or what was raised in their own neighborhood (hopefully she lives by some farms!).

I love everything Austen so I can't wait to read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict!. It's about a woman who is an Austen fanatic and one day wakes up in Regency England in another woman's body! Doesn't that sound good! I can just see "them" making this into a movie.

We have quite a lot of garden projects lined up for the weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Does Your Home Have A Name?

(click to enlarge)

Front of my house

I've been fascinated with this idea since I read Tracey McBride's book Frugal Luxuries by the Seasons. She  tells how her first house came to have the name Planncee House - her builders model was labeled "Plan C" and how she decided to name her current house Grace Cottage ("it came to us by way of Providential gift").

After all, I live in the South and all the Plantations had/have names. But what to name my house? I think it might be easier if your house looks like a cottage. Then you can name it "_________ cottage". But what if your house doesn't look like a cottage or what if you don't even decorate cottage style? What if your house is a split-level, contemporary or ranch? What if your house is a condo? What if you don't live on a farm so you can't name it Creek Farm. What if you don't have a creek or river or mountain or any other big geographical feature nearby?

So maybe YOU like bunnies, cows, pigs whatever and you could name it Bunny Cottage. But what about the other people in your house? What if none of them like the same thing?

When we first moved to this house the backyard was covered in crabapple trees. So I thought maybe something with crabapple in the name. Crabapple House, Crabapple Corner (we're a corner lot). For some reason I couldn't commit. Good thing, because I came to hate those crabapple trees! Every fall we'd have to spend days picking up and bagging crabapples.  The squirrels wouldn't even eat them. The sanitation workers complained if we filled the bags too much saying they were too heavy to lift!

I had all the crabapples removed. Most of them fell down in various storms. They were old. I'm planting much nicer trees to replace them. I don't miss them. I'm glad I didn't go with Crabapple _____.

But now I'm back to what to name the house? Most of my neighbors refer to our house as "The White House" - that name is already taken! Of course the funny people I live with come up with all sorts of "great" ideas. "Hey Mom, how do you say "house of dust' in French?" Ha- ha.....

Maison, Casa, House.....something that goes with that maybe?

My property is very park-like. I have lots of different garden areas and am planning on installing more as time and money is available. This plate has been in my closet for over a year.

When I saw it I thought  this  may be it. "House of the Gardens, Garden House" something like that. But I still couldn't commit. The more I think about it the more I feel the house would be sad if I named our property something that just focuses on the garden. I need something  more inclusive, I think. Maybe " ______________ Homestead" would be better.  I don't know. I'm stumped. Crazy as it may seem, I've been thinking about this for 8 years!!

Tracey McBride says "Naming your home is a lovely, easy, and frugal way to embellish the ordinary." I'm not finding it easy! So, does your home have a name?

My Screened Porch & Award

Last fall we had this added on to the back of our house.

Now I get the fun of decorating it!

I found a chenille throw at the thrift store and I was going to cut it up and make cushions for those 3 pieces of faux wicker furniture but I think I like it thrown over the chaise instead. This pillow is my inspiration for the look of the room (click to enlarge photos)

So part of the floor is the old deck and part is new and they're different colors.  One of the first things I have to do is decide what color the floor is going to be. My husband kind of wants it the same color as the hardwoods in the dining room so you get one continuous look. I kind of want to do something more "fun" with it. Like paint it sky blue. I am planning something a little more ambitious for the deck that's next to this. So I don't think I want to do any type of design or stenciling. I just think I'd like the floor to be a color. I don't know. My husband and I are not seeing eye to eye on the look of this space. I want it all cottagey and cozy and he wants nothing to obstruct the view and no "clutter". We'll see how many plates and pictures I'll be able to put up!

Look what I got at the thrift store for $3.23! It has a Home Interiors tag on the back. My Goodwill is getting better and better. There were things there the other day with TJ Maxx tags!

I'd like to thank two very sweet ladies, Debbie Kay My Vintage Daydreams and Linda Linda's Blue Gate Blog for the Arte y pico award. I'm really honored and thrilled to receive it!

Growing Your Own Veg and Fruit

We've had some beautiful weather last week and I was able to get most of my veggies and seeds planted. Behind that white picket fence is my veggie garden (you can click to enlarge but don't look at the messy cottage garden in front of it- I still have to weed it.........I know you're looking!)

One of the blessing of having my husband unemployment happen in the summer is that I know I'll be able to grow food to supplement our groceries. I started growing some of our food about 5 years ago because we try to eat mostly organic. As you know, affording organic food can be tough. So since I have so much land (even though we are just 10 minutes away from Atlanta) I decided the best thing would be to try to grow the things we like to eat. According to Consumer Reports (the complete list) you should try to buy the following organic:

1. Apples
2. Grapes (Imported)
3. Cherries
4. Raspberries
5. Strawberries
6. Pears
7. Bell Peppers
8. Potatoes
9. Celery
10. Spinach

Potatoes being planted

Some extra potatoes that didn't fit in the bed being planted in an old container from the nursery

5 different varieties of tomatoes plus I have a few in pots - room for the 1 watermelon plant I bought.

The strawberry bed you've seen before. The other bed has garlic, yellow onion, chives, cilantro, lettuce, radishes and two herbs leftover from last year - rosemary and sage. Have you seen the price of lettuce lately!! It's so easy to grow your own. Last year I even grew some in containers since we eat a lot of salad in the summer. I've found that the way to deal with the heat of the south is to grow lettuce in semi-shade during the summer. I've had great success with Black Seeded Simpson.

We have blueberry bushes

See all the nectarines on my tree! Hopefully I'll get them before the squirrels and birds!

We also have two types of blackberry bushes, two apple trees, rhubarb, grape vines, a quince, a pear and I planted two bush cherries last month. My goal is to have a mini suburban orchard. I plan on adding more fruit trees like plums and peaches. I'd love to be able to grow citrus but we do get below freezing  temps in the winter and I've never had any luck with the lemons or limes I have tried growing.

If you think you need a lot of land to grow food check out the The Little Homestead in the City. They grow their own food on 1/5 of a urban acre in the city of Pasadena! Even when we lived in apartments I always grew herbs and veggies in containers. I think that growing some of your own food is one way to deal with the rising cost of food. Even if you just grow your own tomatoes - there's nothing like a homegrown, just picked, warm from the sun tomato! Kids love seeing things grow so get your kids involved too.

Think Victory Gardens!

****Edited to correct the link

Let Sleeping Dogs.....

sleep! Especially if they're snoring!

Oh to be him for a day! (click to enlarge)