~~VICTORIA ** A Return to LOVELINESS~~

Once upon a time & for many years I thought I lived in my own little "VICTORIA World"! But I have learned otherwise from so many bloggers that love this magazine TOO! I was ecstatic when I discovered that VICTORIA was back! I subscribed for years & still have all my many stacks that I look through over & over & I still enjoy them all these years later. Every once in a while I run across them at garage sales & pick them up to sell on ebay.

So last week I went through every cupboard, shelf, & cabinet where I stash my old ones & sorted them by month & year to make sure I only sold the extra ones that I already have. AND "ditto" with my other two favorites - Romantic Homes & Home Companion. I can't part with any of them unless I have two! So once I got them all laid out & sorted I wanted to look at every one of them right then ~ every Victoria cover makes you want to open it!

When I looked at the new Victoria website & read "The Bliss is Back"...."Fall in Love All Over Again"....& "A Return to Loveliness" I was overwhelmed with that cozy ~ old fashioned feeling again.....I'm so looking forward to getting cozy with that very first issue & I'm so happy it's back!

~~A Little Red Jewel in a Sunny Spot~~

The back room of our house is our "mud room" ~ just a little room where we come in from outside....it's main purpose is for packing ebay stuff because my ebay closet where I store what I sell is just off of this room. We've had an old plaid couch back there just to have something to sit on but during a walk through our favorite flea market there sat a little "red jewel"!

This little antique love seat is very old, with springs & straw inside, wooden turned legs, & best of all it's RED!....my favorite color! And even better than RED it was only $20 & happened to just fit in the back of our Santa Fe so that I could bring it home. I really fell in love with this little antique ~~ it's not perfect so it fits in perfectly ~ but still in good shape for it's age & I adore it!

Some of my favorite things in this room are the picket fence garden picture & the red geraniums picture, both painted by my very talented mom ~ she also made the stained glass hanging in the window ~~ the little girl mask with grapes is Fitz & Floyd - one of my favorite garage sale finds that I've researched & have never found anything like it....I bought it to sell but couldn't part with it - she's so unique & too cute!

I've filled the wicker basket with some of my favorite Fall back issues of Home Companion & Romantic Homes - a nice reading spot. I love sun rooms & since I don't really have one I like to think of this as my mud~sun~room~parlor! It's bright & sunny & a quiet cozy corner in kattz*cottage! ~~

~~Bloom On, Summer~~

Wow -don't know where the time is going but I can't keep up with it! Where have I been? I've spent so much time with Ebay & on the dance floor that I can't seem to keep up with anything else ~~ But, I HAVE taken time to enjoy the last of my summer flowers ~ the blooms just keep blooming & hopefully they will keep on keepin' on awhile longer. I'm never, ever ready for winter & wish I could have a year-round garden~~

It's almost time to bring my house plants back inside which is a big job - I have a 30 year old ficus tree on the front porch that comes inside in the winter & several more larger plants & trees that I have to "make room" for inside. I would love to dig up everything that is blooming & bring it in! If I could I would!

For now though, I will enjoy my end of summer flowers & then wait, anticipate, & watch for them all to come up again in the spring! I will miss my angel watching over the pink periwinkles & zinnias, the red hibiscus, yellow maximillion daisy, red salvia, heavenly blue morning glories, four o'clocks (those are coming out my ears....lol - I will have a zillion seeds if anyone wants some), purple mexican sage, yellow esperanza, purple jack hyacinth beans, etc. They are still giving me so much joy ~~ and this weekend I will be on a Mums & Pumpkin Hunt! I really do love fall!

~~LUCKY Winner of this PRECIOUS PACKAGE!~~

What a lucky girl I am to be the winner of such a sweet & lovely package from Kathy at Kathy's Cottage!

This gorgeous Lace Bag that Kathy made is just beautiful with a pretty sparkly rhinestone pin on the front! Tucked inside were the sweetest goodies ~ delicious Chocolates & a scrumptious Verbena Soap both in the prettiest boxes! The Toile card is the nicest little keepsake & the package was wrapped almost too pretty to open! I have been the lucky winner of two drawings so I'm anxious to pay it forward & do a drawing soon of my own! I'm not close enough to 100 posts yet but do I have to wait??!!.....LOL Thank you Kathy ~ everything is just lovely & I am thrilled to have won it! Be sure & check out Kathy's wonderful blog!

The cutest thing happened a couple of weeks ago ~ I saw a little Bluebird on one of Kathy's posts & on the very same day that she received it from a friend as a "Bluebird of Garage Sale Happiness", I found a pair of the same little Bluebirds at a garage sale! I gave one to my dad & the other sits in my kitchen window! Not only do we have the same Name, we have the same Bluebird!
"FROM ONE KATHY TO ANOTHER" :-) Thanks so much!

~~FINALLY FEELING FALL!~~

As of today I know it's here! I LOVE AUTUMN!! I walked outside at 5:30 this morning & was overwhelmed by a rush of COOL air, an awesome breeze, & that wonderful fall feeling! There's nothing like it! It's a very welcoming thing & when it happens I feel a new energy & comfort & coziness in my cottage ~~ and that's when I'm hooked on candles! The first thing on my list for our weekly wal-mart shopping trip on Sunday was my very favorite Pumpkin Spice Candle~the minute I lit it I was surrounded by a cozy feeling I can't explain - I just feel it. And today, being fall - not officially - but in my world ~ starts my daily lighting of candles all over the house. I love them as much as I love fall! This wonderful & finally cool day comes after a crazy week of no internet because of a burned out modem, trips to the library computer & mom's computer to keep up with ebay until my computer was back up & running. So now, finally being almost caught up with ebay, I will open more windows, go light another candle & enjoy MY first day of Autumn! Hope you're feeling fall in your world too!

~~End of Summer Texas Evening~~

Just after supper & world news we head out the back door to spend some time outdoors to do projects & just to enjoy our gardens, our animals, & to take a walk through our woods ~

Our spring chicks are nice big hens now & have just started laying ~ every new warm egg we discover is like finding a jewel! Some of them are Americanas that lay colored eggs - I love the blue eggs ~ Our Rooster Butterscotch has a funny crow but he's a big & very pretty "woosta" ~ Unfortunately we've lost so many hens, roosters, & our huge pet turkey that we loved so much to raccoons that come out of the woods.......but this spring TZ covered the top of the pen & so far they are safe & sound. Our new baby turkey gets to leave the coop to follow TZ on grasshopper hunts - he heels like a dog & never leaves his sight ~ if he loses sight of him he makes a huge ruckus until he's back by his feet. Our second baby turkey is so wild we had to chase him all over the woods to get him back ~ so he doesn't get to do grasshopper hunts anymore.....lol

Our chihuahua Cookie follows turkey while Cabo pushes the croquet ball all over the yard with his nose. He never tires of this & barks at the ball the whole time ~ he does this inside the house too with his tennis balls. Our cat Kharma lazes around but almost every night catches a frog beside the pond ~ I have to chase him till he lets it go ~ I love the frogs & we have them everywhere this year because we have had so much rain.

And our girls Violet & Vanilla Bean are LaMancha goats - very funny looking because they have no ears.....well, really they do but you can't see them - they look like they're wearing earrings.....but they're very pretty girls & very sweet. The full moon this week has been so pretty - last night TZ hung our new/old $5 garage sale porch swing from the big bois d'arc tree by the pond ~ nice little nights in the country & hope you're enjoying your end of summer nights too - they're almost gone ~ But I DO love Autumn & it's almost here!