I kept my promise!

I never meant to take such a long break from blogging. Getting the house in order has consumed me and I am not finished yet. I did keep sorting my lifetime accumulation of goods (good stuff!). I had promised to have the garage ready to park cars in by winter. Today we drove a car into the garage!

This picture is of one side of the garage soon after we moved in. The whole garage looked like this!



We thought we could get two cars in but - not yet. If you follow my blog you remember that I first tired to get rid of my excess by having a yard sale. When there was a lot left over Mr. B and I took the small things to a flea market where we only earned enough to pay for our entry and table. Then I checked out an auction as a means of selling the furniture but prices were incredibly low. Then I checked out consignment shops and decided to list things on Craig's List. Most of my responses were scams and nothing sold. I ended up selling things to a consignment shop for half the used value even though the furniture was new! That loss really hurt! But it helped me clear out the garage. Now I still have many boxes of antique collectible items to sell.

Some of my children are home and we have baked tons of cookies. A neighbor sent a wonderful box of fruit. More children still to come and friends will be spending Christmas day with us.

Have a glass of wine and sit by the fire. Merry Christmas!

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White Flower Farm

To start our garden at the new house, we took a trip to White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT. It was a cold windy day so I didn't tour the 5 acres of gardens open to the public. I focused on the sale items and bulbs.

Here is the house at the farm.



There were lots of wagons waiting for shoppers. It would have been easy to fill several wagons with good stuff!

This bench looks like a nice place to sit and contemplate things.

There were several areas with shrubs, bulbs and pots for sale. It was hard to set limits, but I knew I couldn't buy more than I could plant before winter.

Here is a hydrangea that was still in bloom.

I bought two hydrangeas, two peonies, two astilbes, three hostas, and lots of bulbs. It has been a real push to get it all planted. I finished a few days ago. Many days I had to forego planting to rake leaves.

After shopping we drove slowly through Litchfield. It was full of lovely houses, nice fences and an interesting downtown.

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Reflections and Gardening

While working in the yard I looked at the house and was amazed at the reflections in every window. Here is a picture of one of the windows.

Most of those beautiful leaves have fallen now and I think we have several tons of leaves! As much as I hate leaf blowers, when our neighbor offered the loan of his, we accepted. (I had already spent two days raking.) Even with the blower, the mower and the rake, my SIL and I only managed to clear the front yard in a day. There are several piles still to be picked up.

We made a huge pile of chopped leaves in the middle of the yard. This will be our lasagna garden next spring. We started the garden with the moving boxes that were too worn out to use again. They were collapsed and put on top of the grass and some dirt scattered on top to hold them in place. The leaves were next, then the kitchen waste gets dumped into the leaves. It is amazing how much we generate - coffee grounds with the filter, tea bags, egg shells, peelings, etc. By spring it should all be nice rich compost and we can plant in that bed on top of the ground.

I have planted bulbs - daffodils, crocus, autumn crocus, tulips, iris and grape hyacinths. Also planted peonies, hydrangeas and astilbes. There is a garden club in town and I have been invited to attend. I'm looking forward to meeting other gardeners. Now that it is winter, I'll tend my house plants and write up my order for some David Austin roses!

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Yellows in Fall

The rain storm and big wind did not take down all the leaves. There is lots of color still. The light has been golden, especially as it shines through the yellow leaves. Our house has many windows which provide views of the large trees.

These photos were taken today as I walked around the yard when I took a break from digging flower beds.


I'm joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Check out some of the mosaics.
Thanks for stopping by Porch days.
Nancy

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Great Photo Opp!

We were enjoying a perfect day of exploring and savoring the fall weather and colors. The road was following the Connecticut River. We saw a pond that drained into the river and we crossed the bridge with the pond on one side and the river on the other. And there they were - five swans. Three were the gray youngsters and these parents. Mr. B stopped on the bridge and I quickly took a few shots as the traffic pulled around us. Perfect!!!


I'm joining Claudia at Finding Beauty Fridays. I'm sorry she is discontinuing this. Unpacking and settling in has consumed me and I'm sorry for not participating more often.
Nancy

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I Need to see the Ocean!

Today I just felt the need to see the ocean. Do any of you have days like that? It really isn't far from us so we drove Route 1 along the coast starting at Guilford Center. We found a lovely beach where I picked up gorgeous shells and made some photos. Then we drove through Madison (picturesque) and on to Old Saybrook. The weather was perfect, the sky and water a bright blue. The foliage was colorful and I loved seeing all the picket fences and the beautiful churches. Since it was my birthday, we did everything I wanted, even stopping at Blue Moon Artisans Shop where I could drool over the crafts. Snack was French fries and senior cokes at McDonalds. What a great day we had!

This photo I made a Hammonassett Beach. I loved the dunes and the shadow of the fence.



I'm joining A Southern Daydreamer for Out Door Wednesday. Drop by and check out all the photos.
I put Southern Daydreamer's logo here as a picture.
Is there a way to make it a link?

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Fall Orchard Visit

I took a day off from "the house" and Mr. B and I went on an orchard tour. My middle son (see the side bar) is in NY and is coming for a short visit. He wants to visit a farm stand so we took a day to check out what is in this area. And we found three winners! Flowers, pumpkins, apples blue skies and perfect weather - what wonderful parents we are to sacrifice a whole day to find the best farm stand for the son. We even had to drink cinder and eat some cider donuts (delicious!) in the name of research!


On my stop at the visitors center soon after we moved, I picked up a Connecticut Farms map. It really was a help as it listed all the farms, what they sell and it gives directions and places them on the map. We had no trouble at all. Mr. B drives and I navigate.

We thought Woodstock was one of the prettiest towns we have seen yet. There is a museum on the main street I want to go back to see.



Or course we bought a squash, a HUGE mum and two kinds of apples. We have discovered Honey Crisp apples and they are a wonderful sweet eating apple as well as good for cooking. I bought Galas and made applesauce.

I love Fall, and not just because it is my birthday and anniversary month. Since I love orange, red, gold and brown, is is only natural that I love Fall.

I'm joining Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Click on the link and check out the other participants.

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Basket Collection

I'm sitting on the loveseat looking into the treetops. The tree trunks are dark from the rain and there is color in the leaves. We have been promised clearing skies today so I am hopeful after many gray days. I'm thinking I should ask for one of those special lights for SADD for my birthday. In Virginia there were many sunny days in the winter but that might not be the case here in Connecticut. I know I get depressed when deprived of sunshine whether the cause is rain or short days. I learned that when I lived in Maine for eighteen years. Plus I was always cold! Grumpy is what I was! Don't want to repeat that or the inhabitants here might expel me from the house! No, on second thought, they wouldn't kick out the cook, would they?


Those of you who have been following Porch Days know I have been trying to thin out my possessions. The word here being "trying." Finally I got to the boxes marked "Baskets." Here below are most of them. Nice collection don't you think? The large ones you can see further down. I was a good girl and culled between a third and a fourth of this bunch.


But I use my baskets, I really do! This basket full of books is waiting to head to the studio.


The next two large baskets are old ones bought at auction in Maine. The top one I placed temporarily and threw a pillow in it. Soon it was the cats' favorite place. The bottom one is an old laundry basket with a mouse hole in one corner. It has character. Now it is full of books but sometimes it holds yarn or cloth.

Today Sylvie chose the cloth bed instead of the basket. I do love to see a cat curled up in that basket!


We're switching from DSL to cable internet tonight. I'll have to change my Porch Days email address yet again. Hopefully there will be no interruption.

Have a sunny day, friends!
Nancy

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Rainy Days

It has rained for Days! We had tropical storm Nichole, one day of sunshine and back to more rain. But the sky was pretty bright today and when I went out with my umbrella to the compost heap, I noticed things I just had to photograph. Here are photos shot under an umbrella.

Isn't this leaf a standout just lying there amongst the pine needles?


You can see that we have puddles, but look how bright the leaves are in the right of the picture.


I love the pattern the water made in the pine needles as it ran down the slope of the driveway.


Unpacking boxes and sorting things has occupied me for weeks. I did take a break to create a flower bed and do some planting. I love the color of these mums and they blend with the brick of the house. I'm hoping they survive the winter and come back and bloom like this next fall.

Great strides have been made with the sorting and decision making. We gave to Goodwill what was left after our Tag Sale and the day at the flea market. But we kept the furniture. Now we have to sell that furniture plus a few other pieces. After talking with some consignment shops, we have decided to try Craig's List. I do hear stories about bad things that happen. We will deal only in cash and people can come and look only when everyone is home. Are there any other precautions I should take?

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Chaos

Many of my craft supplies are kept in units of plastic drawers. When they were moved it seems they were turned over as they were handled. One unit of eight drawers was even sitting in my studio upside down! The result was utter chaos. My drawers of thread looked like this.

After sorting you can see the result. This is only a small bit of the organizing the studio needs. My first effort was to get things out of boxes so there was room to move around. I stuffed everything willy-nilly onto shelves and into cabinets. Now I have to make sense of it all.


In the midst of the chaos, this guy sat quietly, not realizing THE HAND loomed!

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Tag Sale to Flea Market to Goodwill

After the tag sale in which there were lots of left overs, we decided to try the flea market. The largest flea market in Connecticut is only a few miles from our house. We left home at 6:30 am to sit in line to get into the drive-in where the flea market is held. You pay for a space and you can pay to rent a table. Six hours after the opening hour we packed up - only $30 ahead after the fees.

Goodwill here we come! This is a super nice Goodwill store and they have two lanes for unloading under a canopy. And they help you unload. I decided to take a quick look in the store. Geez, it looked like a regular department store! There were clothes from LL Bean and Coldwater Creek!

In housewares I found this lamp and didn't hesitate an instant. When I learned it was part of the 1/2 price sale I counted my money and realized I had the amount and even a penny extra! Mr. B ambled in at that point and asked if I needed any money but I told him I had it covered. A large, heavy brass lamp for $5!!!

It looks good here . . . . . .

And here.

For now I have left it in the entry. I like having a lamp there so I don't have to keep the chandelier on. I'm in the market for a planter for the plant here perched on the too tiny pot. Saw some nice things at HomeGoods.

Maybe a smaller version of this planter would work.

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Peaches Anyone?

Mr. B and I were driving down the road when I spotted a sign for a farm stand. "Turn there," I cried as we flew past it. So we turned around and went back and as we were going up a long lane we kept thinking, could the stand be this far off the road? The lane was bordered by a stone wall and tall trees made a tunnel. Suddenly things opened up and there was an orchard full of peach and apples trees. As you can see, the trees were loaded.

The rows were alternating, peach, then apple trees.

And in the barn were lots of vegetables, fruit and these lovely sunflowers. There was no one in sight. It was all on the honor system! You weighed your purchases and put the money in the box. How nice that things can still be done that way!

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Tag Sale

So I really did it! I made lots of decisions and that "Get Rid of Pile" I posted about (click here to see the photo) made it into my Tag Sale. Here is one of the signs we hung on the main road.

And here is what helped me get ready for the sale!

As you can see by the photo, I really did have a sale. The whole Pile was priced and put out in the driveway with the SIL's help. Mr. B was the cashier, I was the roving salesperson. Problem is, not much of it sold. I priced it low, even the furniture.


This is furniture left over from the store we closed. It is new, pine and is made in Pennsylvania. The corner cupboard was originally priced at $1,350 and in the tag sale at $225. But there was really no interest in the furniture. We did an ad in the paper explaining we had new furniture.


At the end of the day the whole pile moved back into the garage. Tag sales are not my favorite things. I don't mind the getting ready so much, but I hate people offering me 25 cents for my possessions no matter what price they are marked! As Janean of Old Sweetwater Cottage says, it is the bargaining that keeps her from doing sales. She would rather give items to a thrift shop! We really hoped to turn the items into cash to go into a special fund to buy Mr. B a larger TV, a desk and build shelves into the TV room closet to hold the TV.

Our tradition on yard sale day is to treat the "workers" to pizza out of the profits. It keeps morale up! So off we went to Willington Pizza where my SIL and I celebrated the completion of the sale and moving it back into the garage with a beer. I tried some Gorgonzola bread on my daughter's recommendation and it was mighty tasty! The cheese with herbs is on French bread and warmed.

There is a separate pile in the garage of boxes full of small antiques. We have attended an auction and it doesn't seem to be a good time to sell anything. There is another auction coming up Monday that we should attend to judge prices. I just no longer want so many small antiques on display like a copper kettle, an old rolling pin, vegetable choppers, crocks. And baskets! I unpacked at least three boxes of baskets and many of them are quite old.

Believe it or not, I still haven't unpacked all the boxes. More sorting to be done. Thank you all for your words of encouragement!

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Rockin' with Roy and Neil

As you know, we have just moved in and I am in my third (?) week or is it fourth week, of unpacking and sorting. Things were going into the discard boxes at a rapid rate. Then I had to drag all those boxes back in from the garage (up four steps - oh, my aching back!) and price them for the tag sale. I took a second look and decided to play some of the tapes I was thoughtlessly discarding. Well, I'm telling you, there was good music in those old tapes and I was having fun. I turned the volume to "loud" and got my exercise for the day by dancing. Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond never sounded so good.

Actually Neil Diamond sounded great at the concert I attended. I'd go again in a heartbeat if someone bought me tickets!


Our chadelier had six bulbs burned out. Wouldn't you know I couldn't match the bulbs. They were the chandelier type elongated bulbs. Since none of us liked the chandelier very much, Mr. B had the idea to switch to round bulbs for a more contemporary look.

This is the result. Doesn't it look great? We can all live with the fixture now and spend our money other places.

Next time I'll tell you about the tag sale!

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