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...

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...

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...

It's been a busy few days at the cottage.  The biggest news is the landscaping ... yes, the trees came down.  Click the pic to read all of the details. On to the Linky Party: We Welcome You To Our Wordless Wednesday-We hope that you will enjoy 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.This will give us all a chance to meet new bloggers and help them with visitors too. The Rules Are Simple  ~We would love to hear what you have to say in a comment~There priceless! ~ We invite you to link 2 family friendly posts not just direct to your blog ~ We invite you to visit the Co-Hosts they would really appreciate it. ~ NO adult content please (They will be deleted) ~ We ...

Let me just start with ... Everybody heard it!   It was time to remove a couple of trees at the cottage. Take a look at that giant on the left.  That, my friends, is a Linden tree.  Now, you're probably saying, "What a beautiful tree!  All that shade ... homes for birds, etc..."  The truth?  It's a menace!!  It drops little seed clusters constantly and then there's the sap.  EVERYTHING under this tree is sticky.  (Notice the proximity to the driveway?  Can we talk about the car that gets parked under the tree?) The sap also attracts flies, bees, and ants.  It had to go! We also had another tree on the hit list.  Look here: See the small one on the front corner?  That one is a Choke Cherry Tree.  Branches were on the roof, making a perfect runway for the squirrels, it had a blight, and dropped choke cherries everywhere!  Granted, it looks pretty when it blooms in the spring, but that only lasts a w...

I t's October.  The leaves are changing (and falling), the days and nights are cooler, and the orchards are full of apples.  This means it's time for Apple Crisp!  Apple Crisp is one of those easy desserts and it's SO much easier than making a pie.   So, turn on the oven,  get out your baking supplies,  and let's get started... Here are the ingredients: 4 cups of apples - I used Cortlands 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/4 cup of water 1/2 teaspoon of salt 3/4 cup of flour 1 cup of sugar 1/3 cup of cold butter Pre-heat oven to 350. Place your sliced apples in a buttered 10X7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon & salt.  Pour water over apples. Combine flour and sugar in small mixing bowl. With a pastry blender (or fork) cut in the butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes or until the the top is golden brown. This recipe makes approximately 6 servings.  I highly recommend serving it warm with vanil...

Welcome back readers.  I really feel like I need to take a step back and talk about the type/style of this little house.  When I first laid eyes on it I wasn't sure what it was... a Cottage?  Cape Cod? or just a  small little house.  Time for some research! With the help of some friends over at Hometalk, I found a presentation from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Historic Preservation Division.  You can see it here .  Here's what I learned.  This house is considered an American Small House, a historic house that has been identified in Georgia and other parts of the country.  It originated from the sense that there was a type of house out there that fit between two types of well-known house types:  the bungalow & the ranch.  At the time, it was called many names, some of which were, "Depression-Era" Cottage, "Victory" Cottage, and "War Years" Cottage.  This information was in sync with the year it was built....

The only thing "blue" about this room is the color!  When we bought the cottage, the walls were a very tired antique white.  Since this room gets the morning sun, I thought a pale blue would be beautiful.   Naturally, I forgot to take a "before" picture, but here is one that I took when we first saw the house: Now take a look after painting, but, before our furniture arrived: Notice the blinds on every window?  They are gone now: Finding a hutch to put on that wall on the left is on my to-do list.  In the meantime, my redone farm table and ice cream parlor chairs take center stage. On a side-note, this pic was taken on a cloudy day, yet the room is still bright and cheery.  You are probably asking, "What color is the paint - you didn't tell us!"  It's Aqua Inlet - BHG103 mixed at Walmart.   Thanks for stopping by the cottage.  I hope you'll consider following and leaving a comment for this new blog.  It...