The Cottage on the Hill

"Found a wren's nest built entirely of straw in the ivy growing up an ash-tree.  At the end of this month changed residence to Olton 5 miles further North." The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady  Edith Holden

After many talks between hubby and I, we decided to not sell our house and move into a travel trailer.  Instead, we plan on staying in our little cottage for at least another year and using this year to build equity in the house where we can and making it more appealing for buyers.  Let's face it.  The market for 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses under 1000 square feet is limited.  For now, I'm purging what I can to make the house appear more spacious.  Having a family of 6 in such a small house can appear to be a turn off to buyers as the clutter of daily living overwhelms.  There are other factors to consider, too.  My outdated kitchen, for one.  No dishwasher and an apartment-sized stove aren't very appealing to many modern buyers.  The original 1950's countertops and white enamel cabinets has limited appeal.  I've made lemonade out of my lemon of a kitchen by playing up the retro look and while it is cute for me, I would understand if a buyer gags at the kitchy sig

Several years ago, I tried an online virtual make-over where I could try out different celebrities' hairstyles.  I tried a curly cropped style (it was blond, though) and it actually looked pretty good on me!  Since then, I've wanted to try it and even recently considered purchasing a wig to see if I liked it, but I didn't want to spend the money.  I'm also wary about cutting my waist-length hair!  Well, if the Downton Abbey girls can pin up their long hair into finger-weaved bobs, I can curl and crop my long hair, too!  So, here it is! Hubby says its sassy and he likes it, though he's glad I didn't cut my hair. :)

Ribbon Memo Board Before Ribbon Memo Board After! Since I painted my kitchen that retro blue color, my old ribbon memo board no longer matched at all.  It was old, too, and looked dingy.  A trip to the fabric store and about 15-20 minutes of work and my ribbon memo board now matches my vintage-y kitchen perfectly!  

I was given a rare opportunity over the weekend.  Hubby was feeling under the weather, but needed to attend a meeting out of town.  I volunteered to drive him to and from the meeting and my parents volunteered to care for the older 3 children.  So, while hubby was at the meeting, I was able to put the baby in a stroller and leisurely browse the Barnes & Noble near by. My visits to Barnes & Noble are very few and far between, but one of my favorite things to do there is browse the bargin shelves. I bought: Thomas Paine's Common Sense  (for me and for homeschooling) Sun Tzu's Art of War  (for hubby) A book on Reflexology A Boynton book for the baby "Duck Dynasty" Season One on DVD (for hubby and I....c'mon, it was on sale!) 3 books on 1940's fashion they did not have. Several other books on my list were a little overpriced for my taste. However, I did see this coffee table book: It was way too pricey for my pocket book that day, but i