A Joyful Cottage

Bummin' It on the Beach

Sunday, July 7, 2013

It's been six days since we began what I call the Reinkes Excellent Adventure. We left the Colorado Rockies on July 2, after closing on the sale of our home the day before, and arrived on the Oregon coast yesterday. The photo above was taken just outside of Yachats.

I'd like to share more of our trip, but right now I'm looking out our motel room at the ocean and I've just got to get out there and do some beach combing.

There's a time to blog about life, and a time to live it. This is a time when I'm living it. Blogging can wait.

Hope you're having a great day, wherever you are.

Linking up with Weekly Top Shot

The Kewpie Knows

Saturday, June 22, 2013

I think I've moved at least thirty times in my life. The last time I counted it was 23 times, but that was more than eight moves ago. The first half of my relocating adult life I wouldn't let anything go and kept all memorabilia, most of which never left their original packed boxes. I hauled the boxes from state to state, town to town, house to house, and stowed them in the garage or basement until the next move. But the second half of my adult life I began to let go. Each move I whittled down the number of boxes until now all I'm taking in the way of keepsakes this time are a few things that belonged to my grandfather, and my mother's pink depression glass (which I'd show you if it wasn't packed away in the storage unit where I put it the last time I moved). I'm holding onto this kewpie doll, too. I'm keeping her (or is it him?) because #1 - he/she is vintage and in excellent condition, #2 -- it's the last thing I have from my childhood (a gift from a beloved aunt), and #3 -- I've finally matured to the point where this silly doll no longer gives me the heebee jeebees. Honestly. There's just something kind of creepy about this winking kewpie in his/her birthday suit. But maybe it's just me that thinks so. Anyway, it's finally time to grow up and stop turning this kewpie upside down, with its face away from me, before I turn out the light next to my bed. Yes, I really did that as a kid. But then I also was convinced that the lilac bush outside my bedroom window morphed into a monster at night and the only way to stop it from eating me was to hunker down under the covers and pray it didn't know I was there.

I've always had a vivid imagination. Just ask the kewpie.

What kind of things scared you when you were a kid?

Learn more about Kewpie dolls at this History Channel page: http://www.thehistorychannelclub.com/articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1472/the-kewpie-doll

Linking up to

Weekly Top Shot

Saying Good-bye to Our Cottage in the Pines

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The day of our departure is getting closer. Right now I'm spending a few days with my grandchildren near Denver, enjoying a break from packing and giving furnishings away.

A few days ago I snapped some photos of our cottage and the grounds. It was a beautiful morning, as is often the case this time of year in the Colorado Rockies. In the early morning light the easterly mountains appear blue.

Our cottage rests on a 1/2 acre lot filled with Ponderosa Pine, wild grasses, shrubs and flowers,

Strolling through the grass I spied Mountain Bluebells.

I love the way Primrose pushes its way through the rocky soil.

This is Rubus deliciosus, commonly known as Delicious Raspberry. Its fruit is dry and not highly valued. But the bush is very hearty and the flowers are lovely.

Menodora brighten the landscape.

I think more than anything I'll miss our log barn, which is now my husband's art studio. It dates back to the 1800's and was the original homesteader's cabin. About 400 acres were part of the homestead in those days. Now it's subdivided into much smaller parcels.

If we were staying here we would install window boxes for flowers and plant more flowers and shrubs around the cottage.

We really accomplished a lot in two years, though. The first three months we went from this. . .

to this. . .

Last summer we finished the remodeling by tearing off the broken down back porch, moving the door and adding an eyebrow over it, and putting in new windows. I love the way it turned out.

It's fun to imagine how our next home will look. I wonder how the view from my new kitchen window (wherever it is) will compare with this one.

Oregon Cottages

Friday, June 7, 2013

I am a total delinquent. It's been over seven weeks since my last post. This is such a no-no in Blogland. I'm pretty sure blogger gremlins are going to show up on my keyboard and heckle me. I do have a pretty good excuse for my absence, though. We've been traveling, I had a three week writing assignment, we put our house on the market and it's now in contract, and for the past two weeks we've been giving away furniture, household items and bunches of other stuff to lighten our load. Oh, and I've been helping a friend with his new vacation home cleaning business. (Do I have your sympathy yet?)

We made two trips to Oregon: one in April, and one in May. The charming cottage in the photo above resides in the quaint seaside village of Yahatz, Oregon, where we stayed in May.

When we left Colorado, our cottage was covered in two feet of snow. Sure it looks beautiful, like a Christmas card, but instead shouldn't we see a May pole on May 1?

I long to live in a climate where Spring actually arrives on time. I like the Rockies, but our growing season is very short. Spring comes in June. Not good for a girl who loves to see daffodils in April.
The gorgeous florals in the front of the Yahatz cottage is my idea of a perfect May garden. Delightful.

The flower boxes outside our room at the Ocean Cove Inn brought a smile to my face. I love those little benches.

The room's back door opened up to these lovelies.

This was my first visit to the Oregon coast.

Its rugged beauty is very much what I expected.

After our house closes on July 1 we'll head back to Oregon for a serious look at real estate. One of the towns that intrigues us is La Grande, home of Eastern Oregon University. It's a small northeast town (population 13,000) with an abundance of cottages and vintage homes. My blogging friend Connie at Crafty Home Cottage recently blogged about La Grande and its wonderful vintage homes . I asked her if I could share some of the photos she took and she graciously said, "yes".

Here are three cottages from Connie's post:

Community Pride, La Grande Oregon. Photo by Connie of Crafty Home Cottage:

These photos were taken in April. See the flowers. See the trees leafing out. See the green grass. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Be sure to stop by Crafty Home Cottage to learn more about La Grande and see more of the town's homes. Victorian, Prairie, Tudor. They're all wonderful. Connie does a great job as a tour guide, with barns and the countryside thrown into the mix.

Have a great weekend. I promise I won't wait so long to post again.

Blessings,

Sharing with Friendship Friday at Create with Joy.

Bread Baking at A Joyful Cottage - Honey Wheat Bread

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

I was going to post this yesterday, but after hearing of the Boston bombings I just couldn't. My thoughts and prayers are with those families who have been touched

by this tragedy.

Welcome to the Colorado Rockies in April. We're in the midst of a major snow dump. So far (as of Tuesday afternoon) about 21" have fallen, and we're expecting another 2 - 4 inches in the next 24 hours. The elk gals were outside my hubby's studio yesterday morning. They didn't seem too bothered by all the white stuff.

Usually we have a view of the mountains from our front window. But not today. It's like one big white blanket out there, except for a few residential landmarks and trees.

That weird looking spikey thing to the right of the geranium is my attempt at forcing daffodils. It's only been a few weeks since I started them. I had a few left over from planting last fall, so I threw them into a pot and covered them with soil, just to see what would happen. I'm happy to see the ladies shooting up. I think I'll get a couple of blooms, at least. I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday I decided to bake bread. I've been doing this regularly the past couple of months for four reasons.

#1 - Whole grain bread that doesn't even taste good is close to $4 a loaf where we live.

#2 - Homemade bread is superior in taste and texture, and it has no preservatives.

#3 - I love the way baking bread makes our cottage smell.

#4 - I really love seeing a freshly baked loaf sitting on my counter.

Yes, that's my loaf of bread up there. Can you believe it? Honestly, I can't. I've made bread before, but never at high altitude. I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle it. Then I came across this miracle cookbook.

Susan G. Purdy is my new heroine. This lady rocks my world big time. I tried her recipe for Boulder White Bread and it was a smashing success. Feeling confident and very thankful, I then went for the whole ~~enchilada~~ loaf and made the Honey Wheat Bread my second time out. Another yeast bread triumph. Currently, that's all I make. But one of these days I want to try her recipe for Grassy Creek Multigrain Bread, a rustic round bread.

Getting back to the Honey Wheat, I like the fact that this recipe gives me the alternative to let my Kitchenaid mixer do all the hard work.

I can use my paddle attachment to mix.

And my hook attachment to knead.

I like that I can turn the dough out and finish kneading by hand. It makes me feel a little pioneer womanish. (I wanted to take a picture of me kneading the dough, but -- uh -- I couldn't figure out how to hold the camera and snap while both hands were busy.)

After just five minutes of kneading, it looks like this. A smooth, pretty ball.

It goes into an oiled pan.

It take a nap under a tea towel while the yeast does its magic.

I remove the towel and Abracadabra, the dough is doubled in size.

I give it a few hefty punches to get all the air bubbles out, and knead it several times. It rests and rises again.

And then I flatten it out and shape it with my hands.

Roll it up, pinch the seams

and place it in the loaf pan.

(Dennis just walked by and said this looks like a burrito. I really must get a private space to write.
Preferably with a door I can lock.)

It rises one last time and then goes into the oven. The aroma of the baking bread is heavenly. And when it finally comes out of the oven and I slice it, I get a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. (And lots of yummy sounds when my hubby noshes on it.)

If you like to bake and live at high altitude (or even if you live at sea level), look for Susan G. Purdy's Pie In The Sky cookbook. She's tested all the recipes for yeast breads, muffins, quick breads, cakes, cookies, pies, soufflés and more at sea level, 3,000 ft, 5,000 ft, 7,000 ft and 10,000 ft. Her recipes adjust the ingredients at each altitude to make baking at all altitudes a breeze. I love this cookbook.

Just curious, do you bake your own bread? Why or why not?

Blessings,

Sharing today with:
Create with Joy/Inspire Me Monday
Weekly Homemaking Party
You're Gonna Love It
Show It Off Wednesday

All American Cottage Tour

Monday, March 18, 2013

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

One of the things I most like to do at A Joyful Cottage is take you on cottage tours. I often feature traditional cottages abroad for their timeless appeal. For me it's all in the details. Like deep window wells, plank walls, nooks and crannies, and little architectural surprises. A thatched roof grabs my attention every time. And, oh yes, if there's a cottage garden involved, I'm in.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

But today I'm staying in the United States. I'm going all American, and I'm delighted and privileged to feature the home designs of Ross Chapin Architects. This award-winning Whidbey Island firm has been featured in a plethora of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Cottage Living and Metropolitan Home, just to name a few. Taunton Press books such as The New Cottage Home by Jim Tolpin, Cottage by M. Caren Connolly and Louis Wasserman, and The Distinctive Home by Jeremiah Eck have included Chapin designs. And Ross Chapin himself has written a book entitled Pocket Neighborhoods.

What struck me immediately about these contemporary cottages and small homes is that their judicious use of space is not a sacrifice to charm. Remember, I said "for me it's all in the details." Come, and I'll show you what I mean along the way.

Let's start with pocket neighborhoods.

Ross Chapin and developer Jim Soules first partnered in 1996 to create Whidbey Island's Third Street Cottages, eight cheerful cottages gathered around a common green.

Third Street Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Chapin coined the name "pocket neighborhood" when the cottages "seemed [to him] like a pocket safely tucking away its possessions from the outside world."

Since the completion of Third Street Cottages more than a dozen pocket neighborhoods have been developed in North America.

Greenwood Avenue Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Designed to foster a sense of community, pocket neighborhoods remind me of vintage homes built around a city park, much like the small Midwestern town where I grew up.

Danielson Grove
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Each cottage boasts its own swinging gate and private garden.

Third Street Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Front porches act as outdoor rooms and invite lingering.

Greenwood Avenue Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Cheerful flower boxes add to the enchantment.

Greenwood Avenue Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Classic Street Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Betty Cottages
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Owners are encouraged to name their cottages.

Pears and Cherries
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

The board and batten ceiling and decorative trim on this porch are extra touches that delight.

Bartlett Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Are you dying to see what's inside? Let's take a peek, starting with the Hilltop Cottage. And by the way, the plans for all the homes I'm showing you are available for purchase through Ross Chapin Architect's Goodfit plan collection.

The Hilltop Cottage plan comes in two versions: A 729 sf and B 831 sf.

As an owner of a 640 sf cottage, I know the challenges of small house living. Ross Chapin understands my angst. The Hilltop kitchen is bright and cheery, yet functional, with space provided for full-size appliances. I live in a mountain community where many cottages have apartment size ranges and refrigerators, so for me this particular feature is a big draw. (We are fortunate to have full size appliances in our cottage.)

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

This plan has one bedroom and a loft.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Banquette dining conserves space, but not at the expense of design. Built-in shelves provide storage and add architectural interest. The tall window is perfect for this space.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

The living room has the deep well windows I love.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Ceiling beams and a romantic reading nook give this bedroom a vintage feel.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

More ceiling beams and three small windows -- as opposed to one large -- raise the charm level in the bath.

Hilltop Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Next up, the 720 sf Bartlett Cottage.

Bartlett Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

The Bartlett's kitchen's craftsman cabinetry is delightful. Very cottagey.

Bartlett Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

Craftsman touches repeat in plank walls, board and batten ceilings . . .

Bartlett Cottage
Copyright © 2012 Ross Chapin Architects Used with permission

and overhead built in shelves.

The Betty cottages come in four styles ranging from 708 - 838 sq ft: The Betty Lu, Betty Lu Lu, Betty Jane, and Betty Gable. (Wouldn't it be fun to name the cottages?)

The pitched ceiling and abundance of natural light keep this small cottage from feeling cramped. The raised ambient lighting is a great touch.

Glass front cabinets maintain the kitchen's openness. The island shows off its nice detail.

Banquette dining surrounded by windows. Very cozy.

Placement of windows above the living room's built-in bookcases increases the natural light.

Under the category of Small House plans 1,000 - 2800 sf, Ross Chapin Architects offers a variety of homes filled with character. The 1,824 sf Dine's House is one of my favorites.

Such a pretty entrance.

Interior space is beautifully defined with craftsman trim.

I could seriously nap right here.

The living room is filled with light and relates well to the outdoors.

Lots of cottage love in this kitchen.

Wonderful detailing.

Glass front cabinets, built-in hutch. There's so much to love here.

The Three Gable Cottage surprised me. This house seems bigger than its 1,100 sf.

The woodwork in this cottage is beautiful.

Large windows and French doors create a sunny living area.

The dining room is warm and inviting.

I really like the built-in window seat (or is it a daybed)tucked in the stairwell landing. And there's one of my favorite surprises -- a deep well window.

Spruce House is a 1,492 sf charmer, and I have to tell you it's my favorite.

This home has a comfortable, old world feel.

Craftsman appeal throughout.

Just look at the woodwork. The kitchen is reminiscent of one seen in an English cottage.

The half door in the dining room reinforces the cottage feel. Imagine sitting with family and friends around this table and enjoying the view outside those terrific windows.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of these cottages and small houses as much as I have. Do you have a favorite?

A big thank you to Ross Chapin Architects for allowing me to feature these wonderful homes here at A Joyful Cottage. And a special thank you to Debbie at Ross Chapin for getting back to me so quickly and graciously when I contacted her about doing this post. You can learn more about Ross Chapin Architects and view more delightful homes at http://rosschapin.com/.

"Just as there comes a warm sunbeam into every cottage window, so comes a love-born of God's care for every need."

-- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Bummin' It on the Beach

The Kewpie Knows

Saying Good-bye to Our Cottage in the Pines

Oregon Cottages

Bread Baking at A Joyful Cottage - Honey Wheat Bread

All American Cottage Tour

Labels

Featured Post

Front Porch Makeover

Hello, I'm Nancy

Keep Informed! Subscribe

Follow

Popular Posts

Search

Blog Archive

Recent Posts

My Blog Designer- Linda

Report Abuse

Contact Form

Translate