12 Days of Christmas from British Cottage

 
On the 12th day of Christmas I wish someone gave to me:

12 Hayforks Hanging

11 Plates Displaying

10 Pots with Spotting  

9 Buckets Standing

8 Cans a Watering

7 Dogs from England

6 Quail Escaping

5 GOLDEN THINGS

4 Trinket Holders

3 French Hens

2 Mailboxes

And a Large Print of Old London!

Time to Shop...

    For everything there is a season and now is the season to shop. You can wimp out and buy gift cards, take the high road and contact Heifer International (which we highly recommend) or you can man up and buy meaningful gifts that will not only bring delight to the recipient but will also last for generations. It's all up to you.
    From the British Cottage collections come the following holiday gifting ideas:

1. Dough Bowls:

     These wooden bowls were once used for mixing bread and then letting it rise before baking. Back in the days before supermarkets most bread was made at home and each family would own at least one of these.   Hand-hewn, then ehanced by nearly a century of use, each bowl has its own patina, its own personality.  Clearly (we think) not needed for its original purpose these vintage vessels lend themselves to many decorative and useful functions in the modern household.  Fill with fruit, flowers, candles or all of the above and make a killer centerpiece.  Line with plastic and make a planter, or fill with magazines, the dog's toys, your knitting, and you've cleaned up the clutter and decorated at the same time!
     Or do nothing.  Just let it be.  A beautiful object from another century, it has a sculptural quality all of its own.  Plunked in the center of a dining room table even the most decorating challenged can enjoy success.  Sometimes less is more...

2. Glass Pickle Jars

     Why not continue with the vessel theme?  Originally used for pickling, these large glass jars have imperfections in the glass, different hues and wide openings.  We've chosen to fill ours with dried artichokes on a bed of moss for a soft, autumnal vignette, but 

anything would work: pine cones, vintage ornaments, sea shells, live plants, baked goods--even homemade pickles.

3.Oversized Maps  

    Our maps are reproduced in England by a master printmaker who enlarges the originals, then applies them to a linen backing.  Shown is Stanford's "1859 Map of Italy".  At 63" high by 55" wide it makes a bold statement on any wall, but also provides a way to remember that totally terrific journey through Tuscany or Bologna.  Or the region your family came from.  Or the best dinner you ever had in your entire life.
   Besides Italy, we have Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Paris and lots of London views.  How many gifts are educational and decorative, allow you to remember the past and look forward to the future?  Not many.
  Well that's it for today.  As we head into the holidays I promise to come up with more gift ideas that recycle the past and beautify the home.  So before you go to  a big box store and load up with things that won't last a season, stop and think how something old can be something new again. 
Happy Holidays!!

And finally Autumn has arrived!

    I'm embarrassed to see I have not managed a post since June. Alas, it was that kind of summer.  Three funerals and no weddings-- but we did get a visit from the beloved grandchild. Who, his parents report, at 8 months and change has become a whirling dervish so we feel blesssed to have had him in a less mobile, more snuggle bunny phase.
   I lie awake at night hoping they have been diligent in their baby-proofing and marvel that decorating around children--and pets--is no longer an issue for me.  At one time, besides two children, we had a couple of lizards, something called an erf, gold fish, a lab mix, a sheltie and a pygmy African hedgehog.  The challenge was to keep all those animals healthy and happy without the house looking (and smelling) like a barn.  Now all I have left at home is a husband who is fairly low maintenance; as long as there's food in the fridge and I toss him a beer or two, he's happy.

   But our decorating hasn't changed all that much, in fact, surprisingly, we still have a lot of the same stuff we had when the kids were toddlers.  We've never had a formal living room or dining room.  Our couch, bought second hand years ago, is a decidedly dressy camelback style with mahogany trim, but I upholstered it in a tone on tone blue denim so it was instantly more inviting.  I can't show a photo of it because it is decidedly tatty and I can't come to grips with the idea that it could--after 20 years--be time to move on and get a more comfy couch that may be a little larger in scale than I would like. Want to vote family? The coffee table is a child friendly, cut down antique pine table with a big drawer for coasters and reading glasses and then there's a couple of slipcovered wing chairs.  

   I must confess there is another probem couch, a Biedermeier beauty bought in Denmark, not like anything else we own, but it was a good deal so we took it (temptation is a hazard of the trade I'm afraid.) This sits with a pair of bergere chairs, once gilt framed with green and gold upholstery but Keith painted the trim an antiqued white and we reupholstered them in linen so they feel much calmer.  Then there is a Danish secretary in original buttery paint, a long Chinese sideboard, three or four end tables and that's my living room.

  The dining room is open to the kitchen at one end and the living room at the other and in there we have a big, battle scarred pine hutch stuffed with old blue willow platters, and a farm table.  There is a grandfather clock with peeling paint, (we do have one young visitor who comes once a year who I have to keep an eye on because she likes to peel it a little more), and a glazed cupboard from Spain that holds the spoils from years of buying antiques abroad.  But these treasures are up high and behind locked doors, safe from little paws.

   The beauty of buying antiques is that one more knick or scratch-- unless you are of the high gloss, Chippendaled mahogany crowd--generally is not a big deal. Signs of wear are to be expected.  Do I use coasters?  Yes.  Do I go crazy when my family and friends don't?  No.  A little bit of furniture polish and the marks go away.   Slipcovers are key--easily washed or dry cleaned when mishaps occur.  Just not white slipcovers;  but that is for another blog and another day.  "My experience with shabby chic" to be continued...

It's Summertime and the Living is Easy...

     Finally!  Cold winters & wet springs make summer more worth the wait.  Breezing along in the car with the windows down and the radio cranked--you can do this when your kids are grown up too--life doesn't get much better.  Unless you are home and looking out the window to see your garden in bloom, or on your deck or patio looking in at your nice clean house because no one wants to be inside long enough to mess things up.  Yes, summer is just about perfect.

    I'm actually much fonder of patios than decks, but my deck is so much nicer now that I've added two vintage style wicker chairs to the mix.  There was already a table and four chairs, an antique English garden bench and at least three little tables, but it definitely needed something soft. 

     But not as soft as this snow.  My camera is acting up so I can't show you what my deck looks like now but how about this picture taken on December 27th after the Boxing Day blizzard?  When I win the lottery I will make this deck a bluestone patio with mulitple levels stretching all the way to the river, but right now I have to work with what I've got.

Road Trip

    Keith and I just got back from a sweep around New England.

First stop was Bennington Potters in Bennington, Vermont.  Just a four hour drive north from Red Bank, it was like stepping into another era, with its covered bridges, white clapboarded houses and beautiful gardens.  However we couldn't linger; there were tables to unload!

     The Bennington Potters store--or actually I should say complex-- is a combination of retail store and potters yard on a beautiful four acre site.  You can tour the pottery works where beautiful and functional dishes have been produced daily for the last fifty years or so and then browse through the company store, where now you can purchase a British Cottage signature pine farmhouse table to go with your dishes!

    We could have stayed in Bennington for a night or two, but the next stop was six hours northeast in Camden, Maine so we had to get cracking.  Half way up the Maine coast, Camden must be one of the most delightful seaside towns in Maine.  Far enough from Boston and the hordes of daytrippers found in southern Maine, people come to Camden to enjoy Maine the way Maine should be.  Coastal views, deepwater harbors, delightful lodgings, great food and fabulous shopping.  We went there to deliver an antique pine table to Amy O'Donnell, proprietor of Sugar Tools, a delightful shop on Bayview Street.  (For those of you unfortunates not in the know, Bayview runs parallel to the harbor on the left when coming into town from the south.)

Amy sells a nicely curated selection of items in her shop: a little bit of garden, some vintage furniture, and the most beautiful handbags and accessories.  Definitely worth a visit!

After visiting with Amy we strolled up the hill to the Hartstone Inn and some much needed R&R.

Owned by Chef Michael Salmon and his wife, this is a must stop if you are beating a culinary path through Maine.

Another not to miss culinary hotspot is the Brunswick Diner, an iconic bit of Americana conveniently located just outside of Brunswick, Maine just before you leave the coastal route to pick up the Maine turnpike.  We especially loved the breakfast menu.

Of course I may be a bit biased because I have known the owner, Jane Douty Davis for probably 40 years.

     Jane invited us for a boat ride to Boothbay but sadly it was time to get back to New Jersey and our own store and the gym!
 

Can you believe it is Memorial Day already?

     Finally the longest, wettest spring ever is over and we are awash in sunshine.  Normally in the light of day I would be fretting about my less than perfect housekeeping skills (it is amazing how fingerprints, dust and grime are magnified in the daylight and only recede at dusk along with an accompanying glass of wine, another blog entirely) but now that I can go outside I put on my blinders and race out the door into the garden--and suddenly what a garden it is.  The grass is green again and my flowers are starting to bloom. 

         Normally it doesn't take much to get my green thumb fired up but this year it is the beautiful gardens at Holly Hill that are inspiring me.  Holly Hill is the site of the latest VNA showhouse in  Navesink and it is truly amazing.  Perched high above the Navesink River amidst the tallest hollies you ever saw, the house is way cool but the grounds steal the show.  We furnished the little admissions greenhouse with some British Cottage classics: a pine farmhouse table and a painted hutch, a cool chandelier and some unusual
(we think) accessories.   

     You can do this at home.  It's an antique doughbowl I lined with  tin foil and then planted with some white geraniums, fennel and then stuffed a little moss around the edges.  Voila!

   If you go through the showhouse, note how cool the antique hayfork looks on the wall in the kitchen.  For $100. it may be the most affordable accessory item available and if it it is sold don't worry--we have a few more at the store.

     Can you see the vintage British sailor's hat says H.M.S. Nelson?We bought the birdhouse in the background in England; it is made with vintage building material and sleeps 11.  The polka dot jugs are made in Hungary and don't you love the green bunny lamps on the hutch?  The chandelier is made from recycled wine barrels and adds a certain rustic chic to the mix.

Sweet Baby John

    So here is the new love of my life, John Richard Nelson, all of 3 weeks old.  We visited for a while last week in his home town of Houston, while his Dad, my son, was on a two week training session for his new job. Sadly I did not get to do any shopping--there are totally great antique and home furnishing stores all over town--or check out some of the houses Joanie, the world's most thorough blogger ever  explores in her Cote de Texas blog, but I did get to hang out with John for the 8 pm to 2 am shift and at the same time soak up a ton of home and life style improvement tv.

    And lord knows I can use some improvement but with my daily schedule, sadly I am out by 9:30, ten tops, so I don't get much television time. Thus I was thrilled to be left with the baby and the remote while Mom got some much needed shut eye.  Here's what I learned...

   Let's start with Suze Ormonn.  Her parting shot one evening was, and she really means things you can tell, when she lowers her eyes and does that shaking index finger thing my English grandmother-in-law did when she was making sure you paid attention and said,  I paraphrase here, that your priorities should first be people, then money, then things. Which confuses me, where is art, nature, beauty, the intangibles that make living a life?  It can't all be about having money and owning things, can it?

  She had pared her priorities to the bone, I guess, but she sort of shook me to the bone there in the darkened tv room, guardian of the sleeping baby.  Sure some people make me happy, (many do not) but beautiful rooms always make me happy, sunsets and rainbows and  brisk walks make me happy, even hedgehogs and moonlight make me happy; but money and things just do not make me happy. 

   Then I was watching the DIY channel count down ways to save money when renovating a bathroom.  One hint was to use cheaper fixtures.  Once again I thought you are so wrong.  Crappy fixtures corrode at an alarming rate and way before you can ever dream of flipping your fixer upper you are calling your plumber.  And unless you are married to a plumber--not a bad idea by the way--that is just throwing your money down the drain.  My advice is to buy the best fixtures you can afford and you will be putting money in the bank.
   Basically I think it all boils down to quality.  Quality counts;  in relationships and in purchases--it pays to discriminate.  Chose carefully and wisely.  And I say that all the time at the store.  Do you save a lot of money when you buy cheap chairs?  NO.  Down the road you will have to buy all new chairs.  Do you need to decorate a whole room all at once?  No, buy one nice piece a year and before you know it your house will be complete.  Think outside the box; a beautiful tablecloth over a folding table, some candlelight and you have a dinner party. Maybe you don't need to buy a table this minute but it would be nice to have a hutch to display all those wonderful wedding gifts or the collection of creamware you inherited.
   Whatever you do, make it the best you can and then you will be happy.  Don't obsess over things matching perfectly; that is why decorators get paid, to mix things up. There are simply no rules when it is your own home.  And sure, save for a rainy day, but don't forget to enjoy the sunny ones.