Bird Nest Cottage

China cabinet progress...

This is the bottom of the china cabinet, missing the base trim and molding.  Not to worry...Mr. Bird Nest is on the case.

The veneer on the base of the cabinet was all chipped and being the great husband and carpenter he is, Mr. Bird Nest is repairing it.  See that curve on the wood.  This wasn't an easy job. 

I'm hoping by the end of today it will be installed on the cabinet and maybe, just maybe my china will be displayed.  He also has to install a new back on the cabinet but that's a piece of cake for him.

This is Mr. Bird Nest's day off.  He works 4 ten hour days or 4 twelve hour days and gets one day off each week.  He thinks I work him to death on those days, but he has so much energy he would do it anyway.

Stay tuned for updates.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Filling in for Rick and Noelle...

Noelle called me last night to let me know that Nicholas was receiving two awards at a school ceremony today and she was scheduled to work and Rick had work also.  Would I mind attending?  I live for this stuff.

Nicholas received two awards.  One for perfect attendance and one for most books read.  I think he had read somewhere near 200 just since school began.  Yep, he's my grandson.  Now if he only started reading mysteries. 

The best part was that he got to come home with me and spend the afternoon.  We did his homework for tomorrow, he rode his Big Wheel  and we baked brownies.

The only problem was that Rick came to pick him up before Mr. Bird Nest got home from work so he didn't get to see him.  He's going to spend a weekend with us soon and then they can spend some time together.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen 

Dessert servers...

I've been looking for two more of these glass cheese toppers.  The cake plate on the back left came from Michael's on sale.  The one on the right I got for $5.50 at Home Goods and the plate in front came from Home Goods for $.35.  Sometimes I like to just buy a couple of different kinds of dessert for dinner.  Whether we have company coming or it's just the two of us, it's fun to have some choices.  I also thought these might be fun to use for Thanksgiving.  

Here are two more larger cake plates.

The cloche on the right came from Pottery Barn.  It's huge and it still doesn't go all the way over the plate.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

A weekend getaway...

Our oldest son and daughter-in-law gave us tickets to a concert at Clemson University for Mr. Bird Nest's birthday so we decided to make it a little getaway.

We left our house early in the morning to run a few errands (parts we needed for the repair of the china cupboard) and stop at one of our favorite restaurants to have brunch.

Mr. Bird Nest also found a little town on the way in Easley, SC where they were having an Antique Festival in their downtown.  I left him outside taking photos while I went through some of the antique stores.

He was probably thinking he could take a nap on the other end of this bench.

They had some really great places to shop.

They also had outside vendors.

I guess this was when the boredom for him hit.

I started collecting cast iron dogs but now that also extends to china ones.  He was only $5.00.

I had to have this footed bowl and in a second you will see why.

This bowl on the left I have had for about 30 years.  I use it for punch, trifle, etc.  So I had to have the one on the right and it was only $12.00.

We had reservations at a great restaurant for dinner before the concert..."Pixie and Bill's" in Clemson, SC.  First, we had spinach salad with homemade bleu cheese dressing.  Mr. Bird Nest had his favorite, a hunk of rare prime rib that was about 3 inches thick and as big as his plate.  It would have fed a family of four for at least two nights.  I suffered through filet mignon, well done (I'm a farm girl and we like our meat cooked).  It also included baked potatoes, broccoli and a loaf of warm wheat bread.  I couldn't have eaten dessert if my life had depended on it.

^{Now, live from LittleJohn Coliseum...........finally after three warm up acts, JASON ALDEAN.} 

I've been lucky enough to see him 3 or 4 times.  Mr. Bird Nest has now seen him twice.

He is a country artist but I consider him more Southern Rock and he's a Georgia boy.

It was a really late night for us....11:45 and thanks to Mr. Bird Nest we stayed overnight in Clemson so we didn't have to make the hour drive home until the next morning.  (He was up, showered and dressed by 6:30).  UGH!   I was planning to sleep in till at least 7:00 but it was his birthday treat.

 Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Cow head...

I got the white cow head on the right of the window at an estate sale this summer.  Mr. Bird Nest hung him up this week.

He doesn't really have any special purpose but to just look cute.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

I got a china cabinet...

Mr. Bird Nest had a day off this week, so we picked up the new/old china cabinet I bought at a consignment shop.  They sold a piece of furniture I had taken there, so I got a discount on the cabinet.  Mr. B was less than impressed with my purchase.  In fact, I believe his direct quote was, "They sure saw you coming when they sold you this piece of _ _ _ _"! 

To the right of the Craftsman tool box are some pieces that go with the cabinet.  A lesser carpenter would have tossed those out, but Mr. Bird Nest says we are going to redo them.

After a quick online purchase at Restoration Hardware for a few brass items, we're on the right track.

Brass cleaner did a world of good to the hinges and knobs that we are saving.

We won't have anymore quotes until we are finished, but let me just say Mr. Bird Nest is coming around to the fact that this will be worth it.

We had to have the discussion that anyone with a check card could go out and buy a new china cabinet but it takes a special man to save a beautiful piece of furniture.

This is really a tease for the future because this won't be completed for a couple of weeks.  You just can't rush a craftsman.

I also reminded him that when people come in our house and admire the cabinet and how lovely my grandmother's china looks in it, he will be the one who receives all the praise.  You just gotta love him!

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Chloe's new bedroom...

Today I went to Columbia, SC with my daughter-in-law Noelle and Chloe to buy her a big girl bed.  She will be three in November and it's time for her to be out of her crib.

Chloe will love seeing her picture with Hannah Montana.

This was a bunk bed set with a slide.  It looked like a broken arm or leg waiting to happen.

This was a Disney Princess Bed.  Chloe liked this one a lot.  Okay, Nana liked this one a lot too.

This was Chloe and I while Noelle was making the final choice.  I'll show you pictures next week but she got an ivory full size sleigh bed, a dresser with mirror and a night stand.  Best of all, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch after wards.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Our new sidewalk...

BEFORE

Just to give you a little background on our ugly sidewalk.  When we bought our house just after it was built, it didn't have one.  We added it after we moved in, but then we rebuilt our front porch with TREX type decking, etc. and it didn't meet the walk.  Mr. Bird Nest had to demo the part at the bottom of the steps.  Also, the walk was really narrow and when you started around the turn by the light post it was at an angle and we were afraid someone would fall.  (Probably klutzy me!)

See the bottom.  No step.  Just gravel.  Lovely!

The guy we hired to do the work ran the bobcat.  He picked up that old sidewalk so fast, I could not believe how fast he was done.

As you can see, when he regraded the area he made it flat, gave it a nice curve and I love it.

The guys who did the bender board and worked the concrete were really super at their jobs.

This is the truck with the concrete in it that costs the big bucks.

 

Look.......we have a step at the bottom!  YIPPEE!  Now old folks like me can use these.

I don't know why I took this picture this way.  I don't even drink.

See how good this guy is at his job.  The edges of the sidewalk are like glass.

Now for the finished product.  We moved the entrance down the driveway a little bit.

You can see it made the curve a little smoother and easier to walk on.

 

Now you see all the additional work we have to do.  We have to move all the stones that were the wall.  I'm still working on a plan but I'm probably going to move the stone somewhere else, reposition the border grass and then add mulch.  The left side of the walk will just have grass growing up to it.

This is probably way more information than any of you care about but I've waited to have this problem corrected for so long and I'm ecstatic.

Of course, I'll post pictures when we're all done so I can bore you some more.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

My never seen pantry...

You've heard a similar version of this story a few times, if you read my blog often.  I've told you our house is small and storage is something we strive to find everywhere we can, especially since we don't have an attic or a basement.  One year for Christmas Mr. Bird Nest built me a pantry.  Now, this is not your ordinary sized pantry.

Mr. Bird Nest cut this doorway into the garage and gave up some of his work space to make the pantry.  Fortunately, we do have an over sized garage so we still have plenty of room for our car and truck.

The pantry is 12 ft. by 5 ft.  He designed and built the shelves.  This is the last room (including closets) that still has a popcorn ceiling.  We had planned to redo the pantry this fall but we've had so many extra projects and costs come up this fall, we decided to wait until spring to do this.  To be honest I couldn't take the mess of the popcorn coming down and having to pack this all up.  Once you see all the stuff in here, you can just imagine what it will take to pack up this space.  

It's so hard to keep this space organized to my satisfaction and that's why it has taken me so long to take photos.  It's still messy to me but this is as good as its going to get.

In the new space, I want to get wire baskets so I can see what is inside and make grocery shopping a little easier.

This is where I store some of my extra china, baskets, jars, etc.  The pink teapot with the black lid is my part of my childhood tea set.  I have lots more dishes than this, that's why I've been looking for a china cabinet.

I use the cart on the left to store gift wrapping materials.  The cart on the right has miscellaneous craft supplies.

My newest plan has been to separate most of my craft supplies into plastic shoe boxes and label the boxes.  It makes it a lot easier when I'm doing a project.

These red notebooks contain recipe clippings from magazines, blogs, etc.  They are all separated into main dishes, salads, desserts, etc.  Below are some of my small appliances.

These are some more of my cookbooks.  I've told you how much I love books.

You can see I was really having fun with my label maker until I ran out of tape.  Thankfully Mr. Bird Nest ordered me more.

More labels.

I have one shelf that is just for candles and candle holders.  You can never have too many candles.

I actually took before photos of the pantry but they were so disgusting I was embarrassed to include them.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Another cabinet door gone...

We've had all our canisters on the counters since I bought new jars last Spring and they were always in the way.  You can just see the lids at the bottom of this picture.  So....I talked Mr. Bird Nest into removing one more cabinet door.  I painted the inside white.

Doesn't that look better?  I can still reach the flour, sugar, etc. easily but they aren't in the way on the counter.

This is about as clean as my counters get.  Dang they're so clean, I may have to bake some cookies or something.

Tomorrow is a big day at our house.  The contractor is coming to tear out our disgusting old sidewalk and put in a new one.  He's going to move it, give it some curves, make it wider and make it level.  I'll take pictures and let you know how it goes.

Then I'll be bringing in the "Cedar King" (my son the contractor) to add some touches to the entrance.  He may do some fencing at the entrance or whatever he can think of to dress it up.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen