White O'Morn Cottage

A Picture Paints a Thousand....

...stories...well, yes I know it is really words.

I took this shot at home in Dublin of my back garden through the conservatory window. Nothing much happening..right? Well - What does this snapshot in time tell me about what was going on during that week?

*The vase of gorgeous roses were given to me by my students to mark the end of term at end of May so I know it was taken about then.

*I can see cans of decking oil on the garden bench and the shed door is open so I know I was (at least) planning to do the deck.

*At left you can see my dog Holly. I snapped just as she started to cock her leg for a pee..huh? (yes, I said SHE and "cock her leg") She is the only shedog I know who lifts her leg to pee!

*My neighbhour's sweetpea are just beginning to drop beautifully down my wall. He plants them every year, which saves me from the trouble!

* The garden bench along the wall is one of my favourite spots for a nice cup of tea.

*At the bottom of the garden on and beside the wicker chair are my pots and bag of compost. The flowers I planted at that time are now coming into flower at the cottage.

*Paul's collection of frogs (well, some of them) can b e seen on windowsill and on deck near the bench.

*And beyond the wooden fence of neighbours garden can be seen the trees that grow in the field at the back of my house where we take the "Girls" ...eh..I mean dogs for a walk.

Thanks for visiting...now you know me a little bit more!

Here's one I accidently collected earlier!

I had just painted and hung a shelf unit and could not decide what to display on it. I decided I should collect old teapots from now on. But of course...when I gathered the ones I already had...it was filled!  Who knew I had a collection around me!

I finally finished my hand knitted tea cosy so what better place to show it off!  It is a replica of White O'Morn. Kimme has some gorgeous tea cosies on Irish Cottage Dreams and she is doing a PIF on there at the moment. You'll find it on my sidebar...Will you have a tea cosy? Ah ye' will go on..go on go on....

Tomorrow Angie and I are going to a huge fete in Celbridge to help sort the donations. We are sure to find lots of goodies for ourselves. We'll be showing and telling on here and Angie's blog  - The Old Schoolhouse..see sidebar for the link.                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the original!

PIF on my blog why don't ye'?

I have just joined in my first PIF...which means Pay It Forward - on Linda's lovely blog, Somewhere In Time (see sidebar to right)

What happens is...She is making something for me and I promise to PIF on my blog by sending something nice to three people commenting who agree to PIF on their own blog. You can still comment without joining the PIF of course. Also it does not have to be handmade or expensive. Visit her blog to see details of the lovely gift she received in her last one. So, let's all PIF all over the place!

Oh -Photo has nothing to do with it...I just like it.

A Grandma's treasure trunk

A lovely woman contacted me this morning through Jumbletown (the freecycle site we have here) to say she had a couple of old things that might be nice in the cottage. She had been cleaning out her grandma's attic and wanted to pass these on to someone who would enjoy them rather than her having to dump them. How exciting to go down to her not knowing what was waiting for me....

First these pretty pieces of vintage linens including a set of new mens linen hankerchiefs that Da will love as he never took to paper tissues. Also some damask tray cloths, pillowcases and pillow ticking fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then this crumbling, dusty, moulding box....what could be tucked in here for decades?....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what I found when I opened it....

A lovely roses china tea set that had never even been unpacked from the box. It is in the dishwasher as I type. Gorgeous!...

(Here is the china used as a prop for this vintage shabby chic tea cosy I have listed on Ebay this week - item no. 170222471232  If it does not sell on Ebay it will be listed on my vintage website www.vintageretrolingerie.com)

 But the best was yet to come..........

........a large antique, dome topped travel chest complete with the old destination labels on it! I love it...thank you Mimi!...and thank you Mimi's grandma.

I will enjoy restoring it and using it in White O'Morn Cottage to store my bedroom linens.

The labels are hard to read but say Dublin, Westland Row (a city train station), and Shannon. I have included some close ups of the antique cobwebs and spiders that came with it. These are the before pictures...I will - of course, be adding afters.

Goodies for me!

I woke up this morning whining "I don't want to go to school!"

"You have to go to school" says himself

"Why do I have to go?" whinges me.

"Because you are the teacher!" says he

Well, I'm glad I went 'cos it's coming to the end of term (adult ed. finishes end of May) and the students presented me these lovely gifts: Roses in a fabulous shade of orange, Max Factor make up set, a garden centre voucher, and beautiful cards that I will treasure. A big big thank you to you all. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you. Imagine! ...getting paid to have such fun!

29 Years Married Today!

Happy Anniversary Paul...how are you fixed for the next 29?

Here is the card I made for him...We're off to Leitrim for the next few days to celebrate! I'll be taking lots of photos to share next week. Cheers...for now.

Happy Birthday Catherine!

My sister had a birthday this week and I decided to make her something hand crafted for it. I bought this little wooden shack designed to hold a photo in the frame at front and it opens to store hundreds more.

It was as plain as can be so I added:  her surname- Sweetman, in plaster molded letters, I used Tippex to write "Photo Shack" added the gold sticks, roses, bumble bees, punched paper butterflies and vintage photo. It makes for a very personal and useful storage for all her loose photos.    

Three Things That Delighted Me This Week

Delight in the little things...that's my motto and I even have a rubber stamp that says that. If I ever find it I will show it to you.

So here's what delighted me this week. I found my antique silver thimble ( I had thought I had lost it but it was in the safe place I had put it (I blame the mentalpause)

Paul bought me this last Christmas...because...

What do you buy the girl (I use the term loosely) who has everything?

That is the problem facing my husband every time a birthday or Christmas comes along. I have the same problem buying something special for him too. We have been married for twenty nine years on 15 May and were together for six before that  find that we have exhausted the list of possibilities…a nice problem to have.

So how pleased I was when he came up with an original idea for me. I have been doing a lot of sewing lately so what could be more perfect than an antique/vintage silver thimble!

These digital cameras with the macro setting are wonderful for checking out hallmarks. This one tells me it was made by JC & S in

Birmingham

,

England

from sterling silver and the date stamp is P inside a lozenge shape. I looked it up and as far as I can make out it is from between late eighteen hundreds to the twenties.

What a little treasure and I can’t help thinking about the lady or ladies who used before me.

Next I have for you a peek at one of my favourite cosy spots at home. It delights me every week, every day in fact. I wake up here every morning....No, no, I don't actually sleep here - I said I wake up here. I get out of bed and sleepwalk to the kitchen make a cup of tea and take it in here to the couch and slowly wake up. It is my treasured ten minutes every morning and everyone knows not to disturb me until I have surfaced or they risk a vicious growl.

...and last but not least...this handsome man gave me a big hug! He knocked on my door on Saturday morning and declared..." I am José and I am back!" "Eh, hello" says I a bit wary. "Who the hell is at the door?" says himself "It is your Spanish son" says José "Ah sufferin' heart" says I...and what himself said is unprintable... I looked at him and he looked at me (I knew for sure I had not had any dallience with no Spaniards in my youth...and even if I had forgotten ...I know I would have remembered having a child out of it - Let's face it girls....it's not very forgettable is it? One might forget where one put one's rubber stamps or ones antique thimble but one would not put a child down somewhere in Spain and forget where one put him, now would one? Himself (hubby) was desperately examining his conscience and I could tell it was like his life flashing before him - when José (much to everyone's relief) made it all clear "When I was thirteen I stayed with you for the summer to study English in Ireland...I am José and I am back! I have never forgotten my Irish "parents" and I called in to say hello and give you this present" Well, it was seventeen years since he had been here and now he is in his thirties and had a touch of gray hair and is a pharmacist (God knows what he made of us!) Anyway that was one surprise visit and big hug from my Spanish son that delighted me. Imagine looking us up after so long! What delighted you this week?

Exceptional Service & People Skills Award Card

Have you ever been in a shop or restaurant and received exceptional service or have been dealt with in a very warm, cheerful manner (...you know - above and beyond the call of duty)

Of course you have, and you smiled and said "thanks" profusely and left a generous tip and...well , what more can you do to let that special person know how much their extra efforts are appreciated?

Recently RoseMary, in Life in a Cordwood Cabin left this suggestion on my blog in response to "A Random Act of Kindness....etc" I thought her idea was fabulous so I ran with it and ordered a bunch of business cards to be given out to exceptional clerks, waiters..or whoever you want to know you appreciate their help and warmth.

These cards were free and I just had to pay a few Euro for the postage. Well guess what? They sent me 250 of them!

It says on the card "Exceptional Service & People Skills Award

...has been awarded to you by a very satisfied customer...thank you!"

They sent way too many for me as I only give them out occasionally. I have given a bunch of them to my family and friends and RoseMary or course, and I still have loads left. Soo....I am having a mini giveaway for three sets of 25 cards. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will draw the names out next week.

I have given out a few of these and they have been much appreciated by the lovely people who got them. One girl was a waitress from Poland with very little English but she made such an effort to be friendly. Now...  her boss is known to be a bit cranky with the staff. 

When I gave it to her, she obviously, could not understand what was written on it and through the window as I made my way to the car I could see the boss whipping it from her hand and....HaHa! ....his jaw dropped!

Don't you just love that???

Anyway if you would like some of these just leave a comment and you're in the draw.

Scottie Quilt and Furniture Makeover

Today I was browsing through the quilting book Angie gave me and I found a pattern for a quilt featuring a scottie dog. I've never tried quilting before but this is so appealing and I have some lovely red gingham fabric for the dog jacket.

It said it was for beginners with step by step instructions and I am thinking of trying it on a cushion cover first to give to Catherine (she's our quilting sister) and she'll be mega impressed if I do this....Wish me luck!

...Thanks Angie, just what I needed...something new to obsess about! Guess what ye're getting for Christmas?

 

....and voila! Here is the finished cushion...I didn't actually quilt it just appliqued it as a trial run.....maybe I should try a quilt.  

Furniture Makeover

...and at last I have finished my wicker furniture makeover...I got this three piece suite about a year ago from www.jumbletown.ie one of the freecycle sites, with a view to making it into  shabby chic roses furniture. When I got it all the zips were broken, the wicker was gloomy and dark and the colour of the cushions was very dull. 

I could see the finished look in my mind and I made throw pillows to match from leftover fabric and vintage accordian pleat lace from slips. The fabric I used was bought on Ebay as vintage curtains. I did not even try to match fabrics. Instead I chose two rose prints with similar colours.  So -Roses is the theme and pulls it all together and the colours in the prints work so well that the throw pillows are interchangeable....I don't know why I took so long to complete this project as it only took a few hours in the end! Here is a close up of the throw cushions - I love how they turned out.

Would ye' Like a Little Break in White O'Morn Cottage..At all, at all?

One of the things I like to do with the cottage is loan it to friends and family for weekends when we can't get up there. So- when they arrive this is a notice that greets them!

White O’Morn Cottage,

Curraghnabania Co. Leitrim

Thank you for choosing White O’Morn Cottage for your Country Life Activity

Holiday

!

I’m sure you will enjoy the calendar of events we have lined up for you!

…………………………………………………………………...

5am            Rise & Shine! Milk the cows

6am            Spread the slurry

7am            Get washed and ready – the A.I. man is coming

8am            Bring breakfast in bed to the Bean An Ti  (that’s me!)

9am           Turf cutting competition

10am          Drain the septic tank

11am          Milk the goat (the female)

1 pm           Sheer the sheep

4 pm           Walk the dog!