The past few days of rain have caused a wonderful cool down of the unbearably hot temperatures. It feels like fall, as leaves are covering our little front yard, and I have been nesting...and thinking on Beatrix Potter... her influence can be seen all over our cozy Rose Water Cottage. (And this makes Miss Eliza feel so much more at home...and very much easier to write her sweet story:)

Yesterday, I pulled on my Duck Egg Blue Wellies...since I'd be splashing like a duck through puddles and rain...


...and made my way to the Country Charm Antique Mall, just at the end of our street...hmmmm...I know what you're thinking...it is just so close...they always have JUST the thing I'm searching for...that I NEED...

So, I had been in NEED of a tiny little iron..cast iron...miniature. I had looked and looked...even spying one on the checkout counter of said mall...which I was told, was NOT for sale. I had googled and searched, to no avail. But on this very special day... I lifted open the lid of a wooden box, which had been under a crate... and would you believe, there was not just ONE iron....there were SEVEN!
They were $2.50 each, so I scooped up all of them...placed them on the counter, next to the one that was NOT for sale, and realized, once again... God whispers in my ear.... if you will wait, and be PATIENT, I will supply more than you need. Now, friends, this is a trivial little thing...these irons...but it was the lesson HE was giving me, to be considered in all aspects of my life. He is such a gentle teacher, He knows I need gentle lessons. I got the message.  So if someone comes to my home and says, "what a darling little iron ..." I can share... Or on days that I wonder if he hears my prayers ...for our children, our grandchildren, our families, our livelihoods,  our government, our country.. He whispers, "Be patient, I will supply more than you need. Share what you have...your time, your talents, your gifts, your food, you."

Here is a little tour of the cottage as it prepares for the Autumnal Days ahead...

A tapestry wall hanging I decided might be nice as a valance for our incredibly tall front windows...

It has the scene of a grist mill...which reminded me of England..
Doesn't it give a cozy feel to the room...
I decided to leave the lace tablecloths...I mean..Curtains... hanging at the sides..

The Tulip Poplar is fast losing her leaves, and the window was going to seem quite bare. This valance was found at the charming mall, whilst searching for the iron.

Into the kitchen we go...

The rain has caused the roses to bloom with abandon, and these two little blooms looked so sweet in the bunny creamer...

I did a little rearranging, and I will show you more in the next post, just so you know...Aunt Marguerite's table has been moved to the sunroom/studio...so now "Grammy's Rocker" is more accessible being in the kitchen...(note the clothespins at the window ...they are holding up the sweetest pair of pillow cases/curtains...also found at the country charm...for a song...with the most beautiful tatting at the border...I will decide on a permanent way to hang them. I have to ponder ...and will accept any suggestions...thoughts..) Jemima, Tom Thumb and Benjamen Bunny peek out over the ruffled edge.. The two little cups were a gift to my sons, after the birth of the second, from a girlfriend who had just visited England...25 years ago...
The quilt is made up of cross stitch pieces I did in the eighties, the baby raising days. Recently, I had a dear friend sew the pieces onto toile squares to form a quilt. I then realized, the toile pattern is exactly like the pattern on the chair, which the same friend reupholstered.  Daughter, Tia, and I had purchased the fabric separately, and I had sent her leftover toile to be fashioned into the quilt...serendipity strikes once again.

I love this Laura Ashley fabric...well, anything Laura Ashley... but mostly because of the scene...
Picnic, children playing, folks doing a little dance, puppy dogs wanting a tidbit from the table...all the good things.

Here is a close up of the little table next to the rocker...
Now, isn't that the sweetest little iron? And I am quite sure Mrs. Tiggy Winkle laundered one of these red napkins and certainly a little nottingham lace handkersniff...this one was a gift to me, from the same girlfriend who visited England. The little books belonged to my children, and you can see they show the wear of little hands, puppy dog bites, and lots of love. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was my gift to my oldest, Matthew, on his first Christmas, in 1983, along with a stuffed Peter.  The framed picture is of Xavier and Sophia, two of our grandchildren.

A few years ago, yet another girlfriend went to England...visited Beatrix Potter's Hilltop Farm and gifted me with this beautiful dish towel, featuring the lovely Lake District flowers...

While we're in the kitchen...let me show you how Miss Eliza's cottage is fairing along the baseboard by the baking pantry..
Scout continues to show great restraint, so we add a little more at a time. There is now a little porch light/street lamp so she might not be so afraid at night (purchased from dear blog friend Christine LeFever's online antiques), a tiny new broom (a housewarming gift from Mother) that Xavier uses to sweep 'round her threshold...as he loves her and wants to do his part to care for her sweet home, and of course, her Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car (refer to older post "an evening with Xavier").

I think the fact that the pantry stool is positioned, just so, serves as a distraction to Little Scout....

Now, onto the laundry room....where I spent much of the rainy days...catching up...

Little bunny Lulu's family has grown...and she has a cozy big bed and a night light, as well, to snuggle up for a long cold night. She is pictured with her mum, Christine, and two little brothers.... Kyleigh, oldest grandchild, believes the mum looks like her mommy, and the two boy rabbits are Xavier and Colin...we'll have to acquire a baby one to be darling Sophia...

And here is the hamper...
Now, all I need is Mrs. Tiggy Winkle to help me with the ironing... There is another one of the sweet irons sitting atop a vintage sniff, nice and soft, found during the search at the antique mall.  The framed photo was taken by my mother of the progression of puddle ducks lovingly worn out...one at a time...by my second child, Cale...when he was a toddler.  He just loved how soft they were. He had already gone through 3 or 4 little stuffed Peter Rabbits, when he decided the Jemima we were saving for the birth of daughter, Olivia,  he just could not resist... of course, it went to him, and  he had just received his third duck when Mother decided we needed a picture of this. (after the fourth, he began to wean away..."growing up" began....)

As you know, if you have followed for any length of time, I have been knitting Tasha Tudor cottage shawls this year, since learning how to knit around the end of last December. Along with the several I have made for ladies in our family,  Eliza has two, her city mouse cousin has three, Linnie's Milly the mouse has two, Anita has her own Miss Eliza and her pink rose water shawl,  and now Mrs. Rabbit has one...

So everyone at Rose Water Cottage will have a pink shawl, once I complete the lace on mine...



...and when I'm not wearing mine, "Old Gal" says she'll be happy to oblige...

Yes, every female in the cottage, except Scout...she has no tolerance for Frou-Frou (southern term for girlie, fluffy, prissy) whatsoever. Little stubborn thing. She wouldn't have to crawl under every blanket in the house, or look for a spot of sunshine on the floor ...as Grammy is suffering through many a hot flash and keeping the air on cold...if she'd just let me make her one...

and, yes, I said spot of sunshine on the floor...
she finds one...

and then stands in it...

Silly little girl...
but, oh,  how we love her...
and, OH,  how spoiled she is!

Well, at the end of the rainy day, yesterday, husband came home with yummy hamburgers for dinner...
and a little treat for me from the bakery in town...
Reese's cups are my favorite...and I only keep them on hand for emergencies...and he knows this about me..
So when he spied this Reese's Cupcake... he was compelled to treat me to it... I sure do love that man.

On this day, which feels like a glorious fall day, I am hoping that you, as well, are feathering your nest with warm quilts...like this one, that was made by my grandmother...from feed sacks...

...and enjoying something warm in your tummy, which, by the way, there is nothing in this world that tastes better on toast than this...
...Spekuloos Spread by Wafels & Dinges..good things Belgian...a Christmas gift from sister...(Yes, I've been rationing it. Such a treat on a rainy day.)

...and the little things which keep you warm with their memories...
and the people you love...
and the pets you spoil.

Come ahead, Fall...we are ready.
Miss Potter, thank you for your influence in our lives...what a courageous woman you were.
May we have the same courage to go with our dreams.

Blessings, Friends.