Coming to the Lake

The Grandkids are coming!!!  Four of our Six will be here next weekend and I couldn't be happier.  It's beginning to warm up a bit here on the Lake, which happens to resemble the ocean today!

I stopped by the Christmas Tree Shop yesterday and came home with these.
I thought the kids would really enjoy having lunch on them, and if it is warm enough, they may even carry their platter/trays out onto the deck.

Aren't they just the cutest ?

The colors alone make me happy.

The oval placemats came in a set of 4.

Which are perfect for the oval platters.



There were actual trays with handles, which I really wanted, but there were only two, so I opted for the platters which I thought would work fine for carrying the small plate.

The paper napkins sold at Christmas Tree Shop are the best!

A cute matching glass.

and room enough to carry a fork and spoon.

These little cabana tea lights are just the sweetest things....love the bright colors.

I think ITLLDO for our first picnic of the season!

Now be sure to stop over at Between Naps on the Porch for some great adventures in tablescaping.  Thank you Susan for hosting this event each week.

Once upon a time: The Shed

I want to share a story of a sweet little shed.  A huge thank you to Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for allowing us to join her Metamorphosis Monday.


Once there was a Little Old Shed that sat waaaaaaaaaay back behind the little old cottage.

It must have been a sweet little thing, way back then, but it was added on to and sided with that ugly old aluminum stuff.

New Owners decided it was way too small and they needed a really big garage, so they staked it out and  poor Little Shed knew it was in trouble.

After Great Big Garage was built, the owners thought they might be able to save Sweet Little Shed if they could just tear off that ugly siding and the lean-to addition.

But Poor Little Shed was doomed....It seemed her legs were old and weak.

And down she went.

Going....

Going.....

Gone!

And that was the end of the Sweet Little Shed.

The next day, builders came with hammers and wood and started to build a new shed, because Great Big Garage was not big enough to hold all of New Owner's toys.

Up and up she went.

with a new blue roof to match Big Garage.

and gray siding so New Little Shed would fit right in with Great Big Garage.

HE owned one side...

and SHE owned the other side.

And there Sweet New Shed sat through the long cold winter.
                                                              
                                                                  To be continued...............

Thanks for stopping by.  I'd love to hear what you think and take a guess at what this might become in the next episode.

Now be sure to check out all of the other transformations on this Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Dressing up the take-out

I am joining the very talented Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Be sure to stop over and enjoy all of the wonderful tablescapes. 

Our church held a Chiavetta's Chicken BBQ last Sunday, so I convinced the neighbors to support the effort and invited them to eat at our place.  I decided to set a cheery table (one of these days I will take pictures of the food too.)  I served the hot chicken halves in the pretty green baking dish.

I pulled out some new red placemats, my everyday flatware (Gorham Studio), the plain old white Corelle that I've had for years, green salad plates from a sale at Pottery Barn years ago, new goblets from Christmas Tree Shop, and two different cotton napkins.  (folding tutorial to follow)

I'm keeping this very simple and easy.....just like the dinner itself.

This sweet little radish dish was a gift from my daughter several years ago, and I filled it with Feta Cheese, Crumbly Blue Cheese and toasted almonds to serve with a fresh tossed salad.

The view from my kitchen..

Napkin Folding Tutorial

1.  Start with one large square napkin, place hem side (wrong side) up.

2.  Lay second napkin on top (hem side up) matching the upper side and right side with the first napkin.  They do not have to be the exact same size.

3.  Fold the top napkin to the right hem.

4.  Fold the bottom napkin over so edges meet.

5.  Fold the napkins in half again, bringing bottom hems up to meet top hems.

6.  Fold top napkin edge under.

7.  Fold second napkin corner under.

8.  Fold third napkin quarter toward you and tuck under.

9.  Fold 4th napkin quarter under in the same direction.

10.  Turn entire napkin over.

11.  Bring right edges back to center.

12.  Bring left edge over and tuck under the right edge.

13.  Smooth out and flip over.

Voila!

Two napkins come in handy when you eat BBQ chicken.


The sunset was beautiful over the lake, but we were too busy eating and chatting to take pictures.

Little Cottage on the Lake ~ a trip through time

A huge THANK-YOU to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting  Metamorphosis Monday.                            

A Trip Through Time

Thanks to the daughter of the previous owner, I was able to scan old slides of the cottage from 1960.

Remember the pink siding we discovered when we tore out the bathroom wall?

Jump ahead 44 years to the day we first visited the cottage....

  July 2004

The day we became cottage owners ~

September 10, 2004

This is why we bought the cottage.

November 2004 .....Not quite as pretty as the sunset.

The Work Begins

April 2005

New windows and doors.

A lake side deck.

Off with the old aluminum siding.

Might as well improve the roof line before we shingle.

Gosh, that was NOT in the plan...while I was working, this feature was added...hmmm...what to do now?

Go with it....guess we will have an upstairs some day!

New vinyl shakes...hey we don't want to WORK when we retire!

And that's what happened to our cottage in the first year.

(on the outside, that is)  If you haven't seen what we did on the inside that winter,click HERE and HERE.

Thanks for stopping by.

Come back soon for another episode in Cottage Life.

Now, be sure to visit all the other participants at Between Naps on the Porch. You are in for a treat!