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Sunday, July 31, 2011

mon potager





Mon potager - my vegetable garden - is a reflection of our life here.  Fairly simple, nothing showy, often a bit untidy and rambling round the edges.... relaxed.   We have four squares, each measuring about 3 metres or 12' square.  That size is easier to maintain and looks rather pretty.  Looks are important when it comes to the potager, that is why flowers are allowed to self seed, rhubarb is left to flower and little boys like to plant in straight lines.





The potager is  in the corner of the garden, edged on two sides by the garden wall, and on two sides by a picket fence that I made from scrap wood.  I had a brief and uncharacteristic moment of genius when making the fence, and created each section  to be lifted off for mowing the lawn.  ... pause for maximum effect, my good ideas are so rare, I have to make the most  of them ...!!





Our bean frames are home made, and restrung each year with the string that come off the horse's bales of hay.  The heaviest task is each spring, when we trundle in wheelbarrow fulls of compost  to feed the ground.



One square has a little apple tree and our herbs, the other three rotate each year and we grow tomatoes, beans, courgettes, sometimes red peppers, parsnips, rocket .... Nothing exotic, just the stuff you really want to have an unending supply of close to hand.  In the stone wall corner is bordered by raspberries and pumpkins for ground cover.  Poppies self seed themselves and we leave them in situ because they are too pretty to pull up.  Same for the fennel, whose stalks are great with fish and whose lime yellow flowers are useful in bouquets.










How about you, do you have a potager, pots on a balcony with tomatoes and herbs, or a full size walled garden that could feed an army?!





Quiet Time

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

A special post for my Brother and Sister-In-Law who welcomed a baby boy yesterday, congratulations!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Fat Quarter Shop Fabric Giveaway Winners


I'm so excited to announce the winner(s) of the Fat Quarter Shop "Meadow Friends" jelly roll giveaway.  Did you notice how I said winner(s) plural?  Well, Fat Quarter Shop contacted me this week and said because you guys did such an awesome job at visiting their shop and ordering fabric, that instead of just giving away one jelly roll, they are giving away FOUR!!!

Here are the FOUR lucky winners.........








Congratulations to all four of you!  Each winner will receive a jelly roll of "Meadow Friends" by Deb Strain from Fat Quarter Shop and can choose whether they would like the boy or girl version.  If you were one of the lucky winners, please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information, your boy or girl selection and we will get you your prize as soon as possible!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and if you didn't get a chance to visit Fat Quarter Shop, make sure to pay them a visit - their shop is like a slice of fabric heaven!

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Cottage Home blog, please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for rates and more information.

weekend puppies




Life continues to be quite exciting here for Gibson and Ghetto, into all sorts of trouble, game for most things.   Ghetto is still in denial about his tiny size, this morning he tried herding the horses in the field - a 1 kilo heavy dog, rounding up a 450 kilo horse? - I don't think so!!  But he couldn 't see the problem.

A few weekend shots of them in various degrees of cleanliness ... and sleepiness














wishing you all a fun weekend!


Friday, July 29, 2011

French summer in Deauville




  Deauville is one of the great seaside resorts of France.  
Made especially chic by it's proximity to Paris,
it's elegant shopping,  summer polo and its Casino.  
But what I love the most are it's 
coloured parasol tents on the sandy beach.



Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway if you haven't already done so -
a great grain sack is up for grabs!!


Morning Snack- Feeling Funky

Lately I have been doing a lot Traditional work, which I love. You can never go wrong with a Traditional aesthetic. But then, I come across something like this and my funky side comes marching right out to the beat of its own drum.
Chair CB2

{ Guest Post - Meg Little Blue Prints }

Today I'm hosting my first guest poster ever!
If you don't know Meg, from Little Blue Prints,
you're gonna want to run right over there.
Meg has the best fabric, vintage paper, burlap,...
ideas, so be ready to sit for a while.
Her guest room is what inspired my guest room.
And, I'm dying to make a lamp shade like hers.
Today she's sharing here
at The Painted Home.
E N J O Y
thanks Meg! 

Hi everyone! I was so excited that Denise thought of me to do a guest post for her. I feel honored to be here today to share some of my projects I've done, especially since I love all of Denise's work. My favorite is her recent book page project, I'm a sucker for old book pages! My name is Meg and I'm the designer and author of Little Blue Prints.

I'm a stay at home mom to 3 little boys, married to my high school sweet heart, and a wanna be designer. I have an etsy shop where I create and sell vintage inspired one of a kind pieces. Little Blue Prints is where I share my design adventures and all the projects I take on, whether my family thinks I'm nuts or not.

Today I thought I would share a confession with you. My name is Meg and I'm addicted to fabric! There I said it, it's out in the open... it's sick really the obsession I have with pretty fabrics. I tend to buy any I see and love without having a plan for it at the time of purchase. I tell myself I NEED this and that fabric because in the future I just may decorate a room in those colors or style. It has led me to having an embarrassing pile of fabric stacked high, it may or may not be folded nicely. Since I love fabric for it's patterns and texture you can add to a room, I thought I would show you some of the ways I use fabric.

I use fabrics for slipcovers...

{see full post here}

{see full post here}

I use them to create pins you can wear in your hair or attach to your purse or top...



{to purchase one click here}

I use fabric to create one of a kind pillows...



{see full post here}

{go here to find your own one of a kind pillow}

I even use fabric to create a new look for lampshades...

{see full post here}

My most recent project involved making some art work for my mom's 2nd guest room...


{see full post here}

The use of fabric is endless. You can use it to bring in color, texture, and add layers in a room. How do you use fabric in your own home?

Thank you so much Denise for inviting me over today. I hope you all will stop by and look around at Little Blue Prints, feel free to stay however long you'd like.

~Meg

grazie mille !!


I would like to thank Annarita Triarica of Lotus Publishing  for featuring me in two Italian magazines this summer!  am very  happy to have been featured in two of their lovely decorating magazines.  One specialising in restoration and the other in brocantes!

In Ristrutturare con Casa Chic (the restoration magazine) they ran an article about my bed makeover in the  July-August edition.




Then in their sister magazine Arte del BROCANTAGE  they wrote about me having fun at brocantes. in the August-September edition, just released.  I received my copies yesterday YAY!!









The magazines in the Casa Chic group are only distributed in Italy and France (I think !), but if you were able to get a copy of the Brocantage issue, you'd  LOVE the article that follows mine, with photos by a talented lady called Jennifer Dery - exquisite styling - great photography!



This is the wonder of blogging, one minute you're sitting at home, having fun, and the next minute your pictures are in Italian magazines!

Grazie Mille !!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Love The One You're With- Zuniga Interiors

It is hard to remember a blogging time when I wasn't reading Michelle's blog...
I continually go to it for inspiration- for serious visual inspiration, she always has something a little different. As you can tell from this post she has some seriously great taste!


Marianne's blog is one of the first blogs I fell in love with- she is so genuine, talented and such a beautiful person! Marianne- thank you for asking me to be a part of your series "Love the One You're With" This is one of my favorite rooms- my studio, {the other side houses shelves and cabinets for fabric baskets, catalogs, files, etc.} maybe some of you have seen it photographed before, but it's a studio with all of the things that I love- Colour, Moroccan and Indian details and that vintage chandelier, just a special space to relax in whether I am working or having fun! The key to making a space your own is all about your favorite pieces that become your special space!
Thanks again Marianne!
xo-
Michelle


Now that is a studio, looks great Michelle!!!!
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