Saturday, April 30, 2011

Garden Toys

As spring seems to be here, finally, I am out poking around the garden daily. Besides the plants, there are "constants" in the gardens...just as there in life. I have bought some of these adornments, have inherited some and have built some! Some are quite old, some are a little newer but as always, they all have a story.


The garden wheelbarrow and the garden weeding baskets are my favorites. I have had one for 30+ years and the other for only a short time. Aunt Katherine's basket and Grandma Roche's wheelbarrow are put to good use as tools but also as garden art.

Other treasures include a sundial given to me as a gift for a favor done...and resides in my front yard.


Then we have the statues! We have Little Dedo..the smallest gargoyle on Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, and Madonna & Child.  All are set so that we can see them from our eating area window. (Remember that citron colored table?)

A garden gate made of fallen branches is the final but last thing in the garden. I hope to make more branch structures! For now, the yard and garden can grow and flourish until I can get back to it and the sun and rain do their magic.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Tomato Tomatoes

Today I hung my new "back hallway" addition! This is a scanner photgraphy print that I fell in love with and purchased while attending the Garden Expo in Fairfield a few weeks ago. The artist is Ellen Hoverkamp and her website is www.myneighborsgarden.com. She has developed a unique method to create absolutely beautiful designs from nature. Check it out! I also found a cool frame at Palooza in downtown Fairfield....very fitting driftwood design to complement the weathered Peggy Roo sign.

I have to admit, I love tomatoes. I grow them, I eat them and I think they are beautiful. These are some from last summer on a window sill.....

And these are my "hopeful thinking" store bought tomatoes set beside my garden growing lettuce! Looking forward to a fruitful harvest this summer....and thinking of the many fresh tomato recipes I can't wait to eat.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Seaglass Festival 2010

Sometimes you look back and say why didn't I do this! Well, I said, considering I love seaglass I should go to this festival that happens yearly when it is within driving distance this year!  Fortunately, I have 2 lovely daughters that understand me. They knew it was going to happen. We had also established the yearly tradition of a mom-daughter get away weekend...perfect!

So, with our "shards" in hand, we went...thinking we would win the Shard of the Year Contest.

My entry was a deep red piece I found along my beach walk out to "Pleasure Beach". It looked like a brown but when I held it up to the sun, it just glowed....it was such a find! Along with this gem I entered a pale pink piece. I thought....who has found such "rare" pieces!!!


Well, we did not win but we had, as always a fantastic Mother-Daughter weekend. We went on to visit the Potato Chip Factory, have a few good dinners and drink wine. What else could anyone want?

I KNOW WHAT ANYONE COULD WANT!!!...our next Mother - Daughter get-away is going to be someplace warm, sunny and have no hidden agenda. I promise.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

Seaglass Sunday is here again...only this Sunday we also celebrate Easter. A new start, a fresh outlook or in some cases....a new puppy! Sally has come to live with us for a little while... or possibly a long while? She is an adorable English Springer Spaniel and belongs to Kate. I will be the babysitter along with other members of the family.

Although Sally was too cute to walk away from this morning, I did just that. I try to walk for an hour, ending along some stretch of beach where I find new treasures. Today was a success! A nice handful of aquas, white, cobalt blues and of course some green have been added to my "recent finds" pile.


One of my favorite crafts and favorite gifts to give is a Seaglass Suncatcher. Many, many people have received one of these in various shapes and sizes. This one hangs in my sunporch.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The "Peggy-Roo" Story

I am keeping my promise tonight. With the help of a newly purchased scanner, I am able to give everyone a glimpse of the past and the reason our back hall beach cottage sign is so special.  Peggy-Roo, the Lordship cottage built for Papa D's grandmother and grandfather on his mother's side was named after Peggy Rooney.  It was a second home, a get-away from "the city" a.k.a. Bridgeport! Built by W.A. Trolland in 1931 or at least designed on that date, it obviously became an adventure haven and gathering place looking at the photos we have from the day. Notice the sign atop the cottage!




Someone was a budding photographer! In fact, the camera used in these photos was a Zeis Ikon...purchased in Germany by ? The facts that have been handed down but may be off a bit the images speak loud and clear...Lordship was a fun place in the sun. And sharks were that big and caught off shore?????




Last but not least, we have a photo of the world famous Hindenburg with the back of the photo confirming this unbelievable photo opp. A bit blurry and off in the distance but WOW. This was also taken on what looks like a public beach and I assume, out here in Lordship! I also have the old blue prints from the builder of Peggy-Roo but they have been framed and passed along to my children. Preserving family history is so important to me. Someday, my seaglass creations will be passed with a similar story and I hope someone will appreciate them and continue to keep history alive.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Succulents


In yearning for Spring gardening weather, I couldn't resist making a succulent garden indoors on my sunporch! As I said, most things in my home have a story...this one is no different! The table upon which my new garden rests is one of my father's original wooden lobster pots. Inside is the cement "brick" that is carved with his pot ID # - 1048. The glass top is actually a piece of Bonney Electric's front window! After a break-in destroyed the window, my father cleverly took the plate glass pieces and had them cut to fit a  few table tops...knowing they are thick and safe for such purposes! I have owned this lobster pot table for over 30 years and just love it.♥

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Glass DoorKnob Coat Rack

A while back I saw the same glass door knob coat rack on a few blogs. They must have all snatched it from the same original post! It was cool but I wanted to do one a little differently. My house has mostly all old glass door knobs. Some had fallen off so I had a small door knob collection for many years on various tables around the house. I knew I could make them work. Thanks to my "junk" man Brian at good ole Trader Joe's, I bartered for a beautiful old section of mahogany that once adorned an armoir or something of the sort. I had to build a frame around it and gorilla glue it to a thicker piece of pine, stain those new additions and get going to create my one of a kind coat rack! Not as easy as it seemed though. Had to find "faux" spindles, rosettes within a reasonable cost and a few more knobs. This all took a few months.



Glass knobs attached, hanging system in place (it was quite heavy!) Ready to roll.




Completed coat rack! Hung below our "Peggy-Roo" beach cottage sign...in a place of honor. This sign was saved from Papa D's (formerly known as my husband Dave) grandmother's Lordship cottage from way back when. I will tell that story another day.  Watch how fast the coat rack fills. Beach towels will follow in the next few months!

Monday, April 18, 2011

The eating area chairs...before.


We needed a whole new table and chairs for our little eating nook after adding the extra counter depth and stools. Down to the basement I went and realized Mrs. Cooney's (a lovely neighborhood friend) estate sale chairs would work perfectly! I love refreshing old furniture and especially love it when I can say this was so & so's. Most of the furniture in my home has a story...it makes everything so special.

After

The chairs sport new fabric now and are freshly painted a  bright gloss white. I used two complementary patterns on the seats just to mix it up a bit.

The new kitchen chairs and table!

These colors really give my eating area some pizazz! Sunlight streaming into the room in the morning makes for a great wake-up breakfast spot.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Finished Look






Please check out the glass cabinet "bar area"!! That was the old location of the rusty refrig....different, better, right? The hallway and bath are included here. Forgot to say this renovation included our back hall and bathroom. The floor is exactly what i wanted (thanks to Bobby at Monroe Tile & Stone!) and will serve us well. We are beach (meaning sandy feet) people and this floor is an easy yet classic look solution. I will show more details of both kitchen and hall and bathroom in following posts!

Next steps and some new cabinets!





After demolition, after dust EVERYWHERE, after seeing only destruction....we were beat. Living out of 2 rooms (thank god for the microwave and temp sink that Mike installed) we were thrilled to see our new cabinets installed. But first, notice the hardwood floors that were installed and stained a beautiful, rich, dark color...that was in itself a HUGE undertaking!