The Cottage Around the Corner

This year has brought about a lot of change for me and our family. The economy has been awful and we have been affected by it in a negative way.... which just stinks!! So, it is with great hope I look forward to this next year.

I have been gone for waaaay too long. But... to be fair... everyone got sick. And then they got sick again. Then something else came through. This past Friday, my daughter Faith had a tonsillectomy and an adenoidectomy. She has had a real hard go of it, but she can breathe again. The Dr. said that her tonsils were the size of golf balls and they were also infected, so I know she will be feeling much better. These next 2 weeks might be a little difficult for her though.

Every time I say that, I feel like playing disco music. And maybe dancing like John Travolta. I don't think it's that weird.... do you???

you mix 5 sick kids and 1 sick Mommy? NO FUN!! I now have 4 out of my 5 kids on antibiotics. I am sure the 5th one will be on them soon, too. I just haven't taken her yet. (Sometimes I think our pediatrician would make a ton of money if we were his only clients.) So, needless to say... I am now sick AND frustrated. Frustrated because I am not a good sick person. Also because I have projects that I want to complete. Did I mention I am not a good sick person?

Two finally got to go back to school today, but only because they are on antibiotics. The baby has the croup for the 10th time in his first year. His birthday is tomorrow... poor guy. ;( Three are home with me. One that went to school today will have to have her tonsils removed October 9th. The nurse said she will probably stay in bed for a week sleeping because of the pain meds and the Phinergin(sp?) she will be on. So now I want to make her bed super pretty and very cozy. I won't have time to get the room painted, but her bed should get extra pillows and lots of pretty things to look at. I think she will also need a steady supply of fresh flowers. thank heavens Aldi's has bouquets of flowers for $3.99. And they are beautiful and last quite a while!! (Hint hint, Mr. Hunny!!)

So now I just need to put my big girl panties on and fix up her room. Thank goodness we live less than a mile from a JCPenney outlet. I should be able to get her a pretty quilt or comforter complete with pillows for less than $50. We will also be making sign for the front room requiring the admission price of 1 milkshake before they are allowed to pass to visit the patient. She LOVES that part!! Of course, we will have backups on hand for people just in case they forget!! So just in case I am not here for the next few days, you know where I am. I hope to be back really soon. There is always so much inspiration to be had visiting all of these wonderful blogs!! Two children requesting I feed them now. Gosh they can be so demanding!! ;0) Now if I could just stop sneezing...!!!

It's a cloche party over at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ !! And who wouldn't want to go?!? Cloche is such a fun word, I just couldn't stay away. I don't have a lot of them, but it is more of how you use them than it is how many you have. So, in that spirit I am qualified. My pictures are a little bit blurry. My camera was throwing a fit this morning. I can handle that better than when my kids do it, so I am ok with that!! ;0)

So, this is all I have. But there are so may other gorgeous displays out there!! Check out http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/. There are so many other ideas out there that I myself would never be able to come up with!! Really!! What are you still doing here?!? Go get inspired!!

Wow!! I actually did it!! Actually, I did it about a week ago and haven't had any time to post, but I am finally getting it posted. Yes, I know this is a very simple thing. But it sure makes me happy!! ;0) After painting this red, my 3 year old went up to my husband and informed him that he needs to paint our coffee table red. And soon because,"I don't think it looks pretty right now!!". LOL! A girl after my own heart. Maybe she will get him motivated to do it. I just thought it was precious. Then she started telling us we need to paint everything red, "Cause I really like that color so we should paint everything red!!". I can't really disagree with her since I looove red, too!! We will see. So, I can actually accomplish things I set out to do, they just sometimes take waaaay longer than they should. That's ok. I now have a motivational speaker living with me!! ;0)

Ok, I am too confused. I can't make my mortgage payment because the Feds closed down Taylor Bean. I also can't get any info because the lines set up to answer questions has nobody answering them. Where is the news media? It seems to me they would be rather helpful in helping customers with this. And where has all of our bailout money for the banks gone? Yes, I know. They say there will be no late charge. But, don't they always say that? I am so frustrated, I can't get a hold of anyone. My BIL is in the mortgage industry and he has been able to answer some questions but, by and large, no one knows what is going on. Aurgh!!

We had the most fun trip to California. We surprised my father in law and showed up for his 75th birthday. He and Mom have not had very good health lately, so we wanted to make sure they got to see Mikey, the only grandchild they had not yet seen. Boy did we have fun. Everyone there kept apologizing for the "heatwave". Haha!! 105* there is like nothing!! Dry heat is not a big deal. I could have gone without air conditioning...!! When you are used to the humidity of the south, California's dry heat is pretty easy to take.

I can cook really well. And I certainly enjoy eating the fruits of my labor. So much that I might be on a diet pretty soon... after I am done nursing Mr. Chunk. Yet, this little guy has something pretty big over me... the chubbier he gets, the cuter he is. The chubbier I get... well... not so cute. Why is it that he can look so cute with chocolate all over his face and everyone gags when I do it? I don't know.... so I will just enjoy watching him in all of my green glory. Besides, these pictures will come in REALLY handy when he starts to date!! ;0)

I will never forget what our forefather's fought, bled and died for. I will never forget what our soldiers are doing right now. I will never forget September 11th. Yet, our government is forgetting. We need to remind them. We need to remember that freedom is never free, apathy breeds stupidity and if "a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

I am now!! Seriously!! How out of touch can these people be?!? They want to double our power bills. How many elderly people will freeze to death, die of heat stroke, or starve with the passage of the cap and tax? How about people on one income? Could they have picked a better time to pass this? No. Why? If this passes, then we will NEED the government just to survive. Who could afford food, electricity and medical bills? Not me and my husband with our 5 kids. How is this not an attack on middle income, single parent, lower income, fixed income or large families? Maybe if we were all "environmentally responsible", we would have known that we should get abortions after our first child... or we couldn't afford it. Can you see a limit on children coming? If they even try that, I would be more than happy to die for my beliefs. How is our government not becoming more like China.... you know... the ones that "own", I mean let us borrow money. Our government is getting so into our business, I don't see much hope for our country. Seriously, it will either come down to the death of our country or a revolution. Why doesn't anyone else seem to care? Why are we so transfixed with the death of a pop start and not interested in what will happen to our children's futures? Who could begin to afford all of these taxes? Oh wait!! Members of congress could. They make insane amount of money off of our backs already.... and can't pass a state budget. When was the last time you went out and spent $50,000 more than you had and then demanded that other people pay for your idiocy? That being said, why should Alabama pay for the dippity-doo-dahs in California that didn't notice that they are spending $25 billion over what they have. WHAT? Aren't they a state that legalized medical marijuana? Ok. Now I get it. They are all high. That is the only conclusion I could come to. Can you come up with a better one?

I never remember to do these, but I must really be on the ball today!! Thank you "A Southern Daydreamer"!! If you have no discovered Susan's incredibly inspiring blog, do yourself a favor and check it out!!

Here are some roses, a spirea and a weigela. I can't wait until they grow in. This fall, this bed will be expanded. I plan on making this bed pretty big. The more I can plant in the front lawn, the less I have to mow. I really don't like much grass in the front yard. I like it in the back, where we play. I would prefer a cottage garden in the front.

This willow tree is one of the kids' favorites. I plan on planting one in the back. They have made it into a fort. I remember doing that when I was little. Willows have always been my favorite tree. Everyone always warns how messy they can be, but I think their beauty is worth it. Watching my children enjoy this tree, I know I made the right choice!! Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I enjoyed your visit!! Next time I will make sure I set out some lemonade and some of the missile popsicles. Always yummy!!

Quite well, thank you!! It has grown quite a lot!! I must say that I am really excited. Both my husband and I both thought that it would look nice for a while, but that the veggies wouldn't actually grow. I figured it was worth a try anyway. Well guess what?!?!?!? That's right!! Everything is growing!!! Yeah me!! Admittedly, I wasn't sure how it would go so I planted a bunch of herbs, flowers, squash and tomatoes. I think I might be eating my very own organic tomato sandwiches soon. I only have a little bit of weeding to do. Had I done the mulch like I was supposed to, I wouldn't even have to do that. I think I will write "An Ode to Mulch" later today. How are all of your gardens doing? What have you found to be really helpful in your gardening? I hope that next year I will be able to plant even more!! Have a wonderful third day of summer!!! :)

OK. I admit it. I watch Jon and Kate plus 8 every week. Even though she comes across as a huge egomaniac, I doubt I would look much better. You end up looking however they cut the tape. It isn't all reality. I won't go into who is wrong... I don't know them. I am just feeling so very bad for the kids right now. Regardless of how amiable they are (or say they will be), they can't get along for an hour. They admit that. I doubt that will get better. If she is anything like me, I would spend the time apart coming up with great zingers. Funny thing about that is that I can ever think of them when I am in the situation. Kinda like Meg Ryan's character in "You've Got Mail".

We are having a ginormous garage sale next weekend. In fact, three streets around us are getting in on it. This will be heaven next week!! In preparation, I found this picnic table on CraigsList for $45... and it came with an umbrella. It doesn't have a base, but that is no big deal. I take mine down whenever it gets windy and at night anyway. It works perfect!! The umbrella gives awesome coverage. I think we will keep it in the front yard. The kids love sitting at it for their lunch or ice cream. We also have a wooden one in the back yard, but it doesn't have an umbrella. So now we are ready for next weekend. My kids know that if I find anything on the floor this week that isn't supposed to be there, I will toss it in the garage sale box. Lucky for me, they are keeping most of their toys put away!! :)

I have had such a huge thing for Coldplay lately. As I was cutting down a tree today, this one came on my iPOD. Now it won't go away and I am glad about that. Everyone is asleep right now and I know I should be in bed, but sometimes it is nice to listen to music loudly and surf the net. Gee, I don't think I have done this in years. Dear me. I may be too giddy to sleep tonight!! :) Anyway, you may think me nuts (I would agree with you), but I wanted to make sure everyone has heard this less often played Coldplay song. It makes me smile. What else can I ask a song to do??

It seems like it took forever!! The pictures' color is off. I can't seem to figure out why, but after having a behemoth amount of "issues" with my camera.... I will take what I can get. There are still things I want to do in there... like the floor and change out the vanity top, but I am not in any major hurry for that. I would much prefer to work on our bedroom and, of course, the kitchen. Here are some of the pictures we took. It is a miniscule bathroom, so the pictures were a little hard to take, but here they are!! Now if only I could get the almost youngest boy to stop "missing" the toilet.....

It seems like forever since I posted. I think it has been a month. Wow!! What has kept me so busy? Let's see...

This picture here is a little hint of what the bathroom will look like.  I know, I know. This is supposed to be a masculine boys bathroom.... oops!! My oldest son actually liked the idea of birds since we enjoy watching them, so I am not being overly evil.... muahahahahahaha!!!  We painted the walls a periwinkle color and the wainscoting is an antique white. Most of the accessories are spray painted in an antique white. We found the towel racks at Hobby Lobby for 50% off in black wrought iron, and since they are beautiful... we bought them and spray painted them. I will still need to get the towels and we need to second coat a couple spots and finish the vanity, but I can't get that done until this Saturday. 7 people (with only one diapered!!) and one bathroom is not a pretty sight. I need a few days of two bathrooms before I take one away again. I think this Saturday I will paint it after the kids go to bed. There really isn't a whole lot left, so I don't think it would take too long. Yes, I know... famous last words. It is hard to get a good picture in this bathroom as there is no natural light. Still, I think it looks pretty good. I am surprised the boys are so excited about the color. I thought they would think it was too girly, but they like it. 

Boy was this weekend tiring!! Even little Michael got all tuckered out. Just before he collapsed from exhaustion (it is so tiring being adorable and good natured all the time...) he was eating. Yep, he was eating and bouncing happily in his exersaucer and singing away. Then he rubbed his eye for a brief moment, and down he went. Right next to his favorite toy. He loves to chew on that cow!! :) Right before he fell asleep, he was telling me how much he is liking the new color scheme in the bathroom. He was happy that the walls, wainscoting, doors and part of the cabinet got painted. Some area still need another coat, but boy does he like how it looks. He suggests yellow for an accent color. He said a nice sunny yellow towel would make him smile whenever he goes in there. In fact, he started demanding that his baths be taken in that bathroom instead of the other one... it is too ugly to be acceptable to him any longer. I can't disagree with him. The painting in the guest bath makes it look so much better that the master bath is just depressing now. That is OK, though. We will be working on that one in the next month or so. After our visitor has left. 

Oh my!! My lawn is a mess!! But it really isn't my fault!! Really!! No, I am not making excuses. It really isn't!! You can't mow the lawn right now because it has rained SO MUCH lately that the mower would sink into the mud. Aurgh!! It isn't supposed to rain this morning, so I am hoping it dries out a little bit so it can be mowed either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I am not positive how much rain we have gotten lately, but I know it is over 6 inches, probably 7. That is not for the month, that is for the last few days. Truly God has a sense of humor. Last year we were in a drought and this year we need to buy a boat to get anywhere. 

One of my favorite things to do when I was a child was to run through the sprinkler. I thought it was more fun than swimming in a pool. Here in the south, when I was little, we would go down to the nearest lake and go swimming. You know, the local swimming hole. I never really got into that. I was always afraid fish would nibble on my toes. Yes, it is a strange fear to have, but it is one of my many quirks. I still don't like swimming in lakes or swimming holes around here. When you add in the water moccasins, I won't get off the shore or out of the boat. Yep, I am a scaredy pants. Just think about it, if there weren't so many people like me, there would be no therapists. Just doing what I can to keep another section of our economy going. ;)

Yeah!! It only took... FOREVER!!!! I have been wanting to use this for quite a while. After a frantic search for the missing laundry rope, and my triumphant discovery, our first load is up. Yes, you have my permission to think me a strange cookie, but if we all tasted the same... where would the variety be? I want to plant something near the laundry line and against the house, but have no idea what. I have thought of lavender, but wonder about the bees. Anyone have any ideas?? 

I finally got everything in the garden, now I just need to figure out what all I want in there. I know I want climbers that can climb on the chain link fence and I want it to be organic, so I will be researching companion planting a lot this week. I put in 3 marigolds already, and I know I want tomatoes, pole beans, bush beans, nasturtium, cabbage, lettuce, chives, basil, squash and egg plant (if I can manage them) but I make no absolute promises. I just know this will be a lot of fun. Really it depends on what started plants I can find around here. I waited too long to start a lot of it from seed. Next year it should all be from seed. Anyway, here is how it look planted with only 3 marigolds. Next weekend it should be fully planted. Now if I could just stop getting sunburns on top of my sunburns.... ;)

It was supposed to be so easy. And it is, really. The hardest part was digging in the wood border. Unfortunately, I thought I had enough dirt and compost. Haha!! Not quite. So today I have to go and get about another 12 bags of top soil and 6 bags of compost. At least I have enough peat moss. :) Here she lies so far. She is 18x6. Much bigger than in my mind. I am really bad about size. Still, it should be a lot of fun. I had better be going. I hafta get to Lowe's to buy more dirt and poop (my kids think that is crazy!!). Have a great day!! :)

This week has been crazy busy. I have not officially gotten over my first sunburn, but added to it yesterday by working on a lasagna garden. Yup, you guessed it. I was peeling last night. I have to chase my kids away from my neck... they won't leave me alone!! :) A lasagna garden is where you don't have to dig out the turf or rototill, you layer on right over the grass... newspaper, top soil, compost, sphagnum moss, other soil amendments. I haven't built a bed around here is a while because the old way is just too laborious for me. I can't throw my back out, I have the kids to take care of. I have heard nothing but good things about lasagna gardening, so we are setting one up for our vegetable garden. I will wait to plant until next weekend, or next week depending on rain. Frankly, I am tired and burnt. But we got the poles for the clothesline installed and most of the garden done. I only have about 12 more bags of top soil and 9 bags of compost to add. Plus the moss. Not bad though. It should go pretty fast. Certainly faster than the old school method. If this works, I will be doing beds all around my house this fall. So exciting....