The Enchanted Tea Cottage....

I'm finally sharing pictures of the Tea Cottage we remodeled for Caralyn's birthday last August. Better late than never right? ;) Cute, huh? Look at the before!!!! We've had it for years but it was only being utilized as a giant toybox for the grands. So 2 weeks before Caralyn's birthday (back in August in 104 temps!) I decide that I'm gonna remodel it for Caralyn's 5th birthday. I promised you pics then but am just now following through....sorry! We ripped off the log cabin roof & added shingles, put in a new floor & painted it white.

I know I have a pic of Caralyn in her playhouse somewhere but I can't find it so I'll share one of my favorite pictures, of my beautiful Caralyn Camille.

OK, back to the tea cottage. This is the view as you look through the dutch door & as you can see, we painted the inside pink. But I didn't go w/ the more muted, subtle pink I did in my studio. Caralyn likes her pinks bold & strong! It's actually a brighter color in person than it appears in photos. It lights inside & out at night.

The tea set I gave her to use out here. The little boys enjoy this cottage also (Noah calls it "the baby house") but neither bother any of the breakables. They are only allowed to play w/ the babies & a plastic tea set I keep in there for them. And believe or not...they leave all the china alone.

Looking through the front window. The tea cottage is cute but is it ever tiny!!! Even when I can squeeze my big butt in, I can't stand up. ;)

It's full of ballerina stuff...this is a thrift store frame than I hung a tutu (actually intended to be an ornament) on.

Most of her tutus are in the house in her dance drawer but this one is just for play.

Even these boys love the tea cottage. LOL

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I've got crafting plans w/ the grands. Connor & I need to finish up some shadow box eggs we started over Spring Break & then all of us are going to make mini-Easter baskets for their mom. I'll share pics of their creations next week. As well as pics of my Easter decor. It's all up & I am very happy w/ it this year.

What do you do when it's over 100° out,

your granddaughter's birthday is in two weeks & you are completely insane? You remodel a dilapidated, log cabin "playhouse" into an enchanted doll house fit for a Princess.

This "playhouse" has sat in our backyard for several years. We got it from the neighbors when they moved, as it's made of solid wood & very heavy & they didn't want to take it w/ them. We had to rip out a fence section in order to move it from one yard to another. It's sole purpose has been as a giant toy box...to corral all the outside toys that 5 grands, of all ages, accumulate. Basketballs, footballs, baseballs, bats & huge bouncy balls....ride-on toys, soaker guns, plastic tea sets, pogo stick, slip n slide, sprinkler toys.....wagons, picnic basket, pull toys, dump trucks, etc etc etc. But it's all gonna get condensed into one huge bin that we'll store on the side of the shed & I'm converting the log cabin into a charming, pink doll cottage. Where Caralyn can have tea parties & play house & get away from her brothers. ;o)


Here's a before picture of the outside. The canopy you see is only temporary...we just put it up to provide some shade while we worked. We've replaced the roof & the floor, shingled the roof, painted it white on the outside & pink on the inside, wired in a porch light & inside light & rehung all the doors & windows, adding hardware. All that's left to do is paint the floor, paint some odds & ends decor, spiff up the "garden", lay stepping stones & decorate. Fun! Fun! Fun! At least, from here on out it will be, but it's been pure hard work up til now.


These aren't true before pictures of the inside, cause we had already emptied it of the 2 foot pile of toys. No lie! It was knee deep in toys! I put the shelf in there for them to keep it organized but of course the shelf was completely empty & the floor was a sea of toys. It reminded me of the show Hoarders. My grandkids are hoarders! LOL

The vines kinda scared me when I first saw them...reminded me of the Stephen King flick Creepshow, where the plants are taking over everything.

Wait until you see it! It is still totally empty but already so flipping cute that I can't stop thinking about it. These two are gonna have such fun in it!!!! (Rudy is a willing participant in all tea parties, games of patty cake & dress up LOL)

I'll share w/ y'all lots of pictures of the Enchanted Doll Cottage after it's all completed...I can't wait!

Mourning doves....

We've had a mourning dove nesting every year in teh same tree, on the same limb. I think this is the 4th year. The limb she chose is not very high...only about 5 feet off the ground so it's really easy to keep an eye on her.

Here she is the first time I noticed her this year.

But she hadn't laid any eggs yet.

The next day, she had laid one egg. This shot was taken July 4th.

She's gotten quite tame over the years & even though we get really close....she never becomes frightened.

I had the camera w/in a foot of her to get this next shot! Isn't the blue rim around her eye beautiful?

She kept her babies well hidden until last week & then revealed that she did have the usual two.

I was tickled pink when she proved she trusted me w/ them, by feeding them right in front of the camera!

Again, the camera wasn't more than 18" away when I got this next shot! It has not been cropped.

She didn't become alarmed until a neighborhood kid rode by on his bike.

LOVE this shot of mother & baby!!!

This photo was just taken yesterday. Their feathers are already filling in & it won't be long now before they leave the nest. *sniff sniff*

I sure am gonna miss my babies when they're gone...they're so much fun! I'll keep y'all updated on their growth!

Outdoor Wednesday...house finch w/ a sweet tooth

Hello & welcome to another Outdoor Wednesday...hosted by one of the friendliest bloggers I know, Susan @ Southern Daydreamer. If you're a little shy & hesitant to join in one of the blog parties then Susan's is the perfect one for you to start out on. She has a wonderful knack of making people feel welcome & liked.

I haven't been to many blogging parties lately...mostly because they have all gotten so popular, w/ so many participants, that it's hard to visit everybody. So I am going to start limiting myself to no more than 2 parties a week.... hopefully I'll be able to get around to all of the players but it may take me a few days to do do. I'll skip around to each party & plan on doing each once a month, instead of weekly as I have in the past.


For today's post, I wanted to share an unusual visitor I recently had to my window hummingbird feeder...a male house finch! I've seen orioles @ hummingbird feeders but never a house finch, have y'all?

Checking to see if the coast is clear.

This pic shows that he wasn't just confused & hoping there was seed in this feeder...he drank from every portal he could reach & returned for more several times over teh next few days, then he never returned. ????

Maybe he needed a temporary sugar rush to keep us w/ his young'uns! ;o) House finches are probably my favorite birds (it's so hard to pick a definite favorite!)...they're beautiful, have a lovely song & a sweet temperament.

There are always lots of interesting posts in the Outdoor Wednesday parties...come w/ me to Susan's to see what everyone else is up to!

It's Pink Saturday's birthday!

Today is Pink Saturday's one year birthday! Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound has graciously hosted this fun event, week after week...be sure & thank her for all her efforts.

For today's post, I wanted to share this shot of a song sparrow that visited my backyard last month. No, the bird's not pink (wouldn't that be too cool....my granddaughter Caralyn would be thrilled) but the rose in the foreground is. ;o)

I love song sparrows....the name implies that they have a lovely song & they do. If you'd like to hear one, go here . They're also fun to watch as they will run across the yard like a robin...they just look so comical.

Hope you are all enjoying Spring...summer & the heat it brings is just around the corner!

The Last Rose of Summer

Welcome to another Rose Wednesday! Today I thought I'd share some photos of the last of my roses (maybe the last... Texas weather can be very unpredictable so I may have a rose or 2 in December)

My rosebushes aren't laden w/ roses but nearly each one still has a couple of fall stragglers.

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'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone;

No flower of her kindred,

No rosebud is nigh,

To reflect back her blushes,

To give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee,

thou lone one!

To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,

Go, sleep thou with them.

Thus kindly I scatter,

Thy leaves o'er the bed,

Where thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,

When friendships decay,

From Love's shining circle

The gems drop away.

When true hearts lie withered

And fond ones are flown,

Oh! who would inhabit,

This bleak world alone?


Poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore

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Thanks for stopping by! Now I'm off to thank the hostess & see all the other Rose Wednesday posts!