The Apple Street Cottage

The Good:  We now have a rebuilt front porch that can  be decorated for the season. The Bad:  This indoor/outdoor carpet that was on the porch floor. The Ugly:  Pull up a chair, pour yourself something to drink and I'll tell you the story. When we bought the cottage, we knew the porch floor had a "soft spot".  It was at the top of the "to-do" list, so shortly after arriving, we peeled back the carpet and had a look.  It wasn't pretty, as you can see above.  There was also paneling on the sides of the porch.  I didn't like the look. So, it was pryed off to expose this: Seeing that rotted beadboard broke my heart! And this: Fortunately, the wasps were long gone! Next. some of the floor was opened up and the extent of the damage was apparent: The job was getting bigger by the minute.......time to call the professionals!   The demolition continued: Our contractor was able to save us some m...

Welcome!  It's my last Wordless Wednesday to Co-Host with Karren at Oh My Heartsie Girl.  This month flew by and I've enjoyed seeing the wonderful things that all of you linked-up. They've been fabulous!   I hope you'll continue to stop by the cottage, even after I'm no longer co-hosting. So, let's get started.......link-up, visit as many as you can, and leave them a little love with a sweet comment.  Here we go.....................   We invite you to Enter For A Chance To Win one of 5 Co-Host Positions for November, Ends 10/31. The Winners will be featured in each weeks Wordless Wednesday post and be seen on 5 blogs with links back to their blogs and a feature each week.Gives us all a chance to meet new bloggers and help them with visitors too. We would love for you to follow our Host and Co-Host For October {Co-Host}  Ann Hi, I'm Ann, the person from The Apple Street Cottage . This is my new blog that chronicles the ...

Recently the wonderful people at Hometalk contacted me.  They were looking to feature a clipboard on inexpensive wreaths and wanted me to curate it.  Naturally, I said, "Yes!" As you know, wreaths can be very expensive to make.  This board represents a wide variety of wreaths, all of which can be recreated at a reasonable price.  There are 20 wreaths on it now, but you know I'll be adding more! Click the picture and take a look for yourself.  I'm confident you'll be gathering your materials and making a new wreath in no time!  Be sure to let me know what you create - remember, I want to add more wreaths to the board! Thanks for stopping by the cottage!

We had friends over for dinner last night at the cottage and I tried a new dessert recipe.  It was delicious.  It was decadent.  I just had another slice! I found the recipe on Pinterest   from Taste of Home.  It's called the Chocolate-Strawberry Celebration Cake, and, believe me, it IS something to celebrate! Keep in mind, there is nothing low-cal about this cake.  Heck, the frosting alone has 2 cups of butter in it.  Yes, that is a whole pound......but, it is soooo worth it! Click the Pinterest link above for the recipe.  It's pretty simple, and guess what?  This beauty starts with a box cake mix!    Sooo, if you're looking for a special dessert recipe, you love chocolate, and you're throwing your diet out the window, make this cake.  You won't be disappointed!   Thanks for stopping by the cottage - have a great week!

Yes, you read that correctly!  $3 - that's it.  You know how I love a deal!   Since there's always a story, here it is... The Craft Room is still packed.  Repainting the basement has begun, so, with a little luck, it may emerge soon!  Keep your fingers crossed for me, OK? I was really feeling the need to "get my craft on" and, while at the Dollar Store, spotted a small grapevine wreath.  Two flower springs and the wreath came home with me - total: $3. I had already started shaping the flowers to fit the wreath when this pic was taken. I needed 2 more items that I KNEW I had...somewhere...packed in a box...burlap ribbon and a hot glue gun.  The ribbon was found in the first box I searched - YES!  The hot glue gun was another story.  I searched through six boxes with no luck.  I knew it was there, but I was trying to avoid totally emptying the boxes because it was IMPOSSIBLE to get everything back in again.  (When I pa...

Life at the cottage sure has been busy - cleaning , painting , decorating , trees coming down , (feel free to click those links) and so much more!  Welcome - I hope you'll take a look around and stop back for more stories.   In the meantime, I am Co-hosting Wordless Wednesday again this week and can't wait to see what you link up.  Be sure to enter for a chance to co-host next month.  It's so much fun!   Sooooo, here we go ....... We Welcome You To Our Wordless Wednesday-We hope that you will enjoy the features from our Co-Hosts, they are winners from Septembers Contest. And if this is your first time to stop by Oh My Heartsie Girl ~Welcome!! We invite you to Enter For A Chance To Win one of 5 Co-Host Positions for November, The Winners will be featured in each weeks Wordless Wednesday post and be seen on 6 blogs with links back to their blogs and a feature each week.Gives us all a chance to meet new bloggers and help them with visitors ...

Just in case you thought this was a blog that would only share the clean and pretty projects - let me clarify.  Rescuing an older home involves a lot of DIRT - and I am not afraid to share! Presenting..........the fence: Ewwww! The cottage came with a vinyl picket fence that stretched across the back yard.  It's a nice fence, but it was incredibly dirty!  As you can see, it was covered in mold, mildew, and a few lichen. Initially, I had no idea how to clean it and I certainly didn't cherish the thought of scrubbing every square inch of a fence that stretched about 60 feet.   Then it hit me......bleach! It's used to kill mold all the time!  I grabbed the bottle of bleach and a spray bottle, added bleach and warm water in a 1:5 ratio, and sprayed one section of the fence. The grime melted away!  I sprayed the next section and then went back to look at the first one.  Since my husband had already turned off the outside faucets for winte...