Taking a break from blogging...

Hello!

 

 

The little boy in this picture is not the only one who is sad.

Unfortunately, a nasty virus seems to have taken hold 

of the computers in our house,

so I have not been able to post.

Due to this, life pulling me in some other directions,

and a recent nagging problem with my back,

 I will be taking a break from blogging for now.

And because it really bothers me when bloggers

just all-of-a-sudden stop posting without 

telling us why,

(especially on blogs that I love to read!),

I would not want to do that to you.

 

I guess all bloggers feel like this at times,

but lately I feel that posting has taken more

of my time than it should.

I am therefore going to assess the future of

Miss Phoebe's Perch,

think about where she and I are headed,

and determine exactly what I think this

blog should be about.

 

If you have any suggestions,

I would love to hear them!

 

Thanks for your support and friendship.

As ever, I'll be thinking of you!

 

 

The Anniversary of 9/11: Work or Fight?

Good morning friends. On this, the anniversary of 9/11, I just wanted to say hello and wish you well. I gave some thought as to what the tone of this post would be, and felt that I couldn't say it much better than I did last year, so I have repeated that post at the bottom of this page in case you didn't see it the first time.

In light of the goings on in Syria, and President Obama's speech last night, I am going to break with my tradition of trying to keep the tone of this blog light-hearted and without voicing my opinions on matters over which I have little control (and believe me, I DO have my opinions, as my husband and children would tell you!).

The vintage photo above was likely taken during World War I in an era when our men went off to war, and we ladies stayed home to "hold down the fort", so to speak. You may need to enlarge that photo to see the detail, but the sign says "Work or Fight. We Work". I found myself wondering if the women in that picture, and other women of that era, were more forward-thinking than having had been credited for. If you saw a modern version of that picture, say, perhaps, a group of women in modern attire riding in a 2013 convertible Mustang, and holding the same sign, would they possibly be saying "Work or fight? We would rather work towards a peaceful resolution. We would rather let the United Nations assess all alternatives before running the risk of again sending our military off to fight in yet another foreign land. We would rather do what it takes to avert the possibility of another 9/11, or worse." What do you think they were saying? What are we saying now? Just some thoughts on this day.

Anyway, here is the post that I did one year ago. Thanks for stopping by, friends.

Hello friends.

I thought that this day should not be about pretty gardens, home decor, or creativity, but rather a day of reflection and thanks. We all remember where we were on that awful day 11 years ago. I remember that I was at work,  and we were all called into the conference room to watch something on TV. It seemed that a jet had accidentally crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers up in NY.  I was living and working in Florida at the time, but had grown up in New York not far from Manhattan, so I couldn't believe what had happened. I thought it must have been something like when the Empire State Building was hit by a plane many years before. We watched in horror as a second jet hit the other tower, thinking briefly that it was yet another accident, and what were the odds of that? As the truth unfolded, we accomplished little that day and worked at our jobs through a fog of shock.

Years before the events of 9/11, my Dad had worked in the City, watched those towers being built, and had worked in one of them for a period of time. I could not help but identify with those that on that morning watched their spouses going off to work and their children heading out for school, never realizing that this would be the last they would ever see them again. To this day, like so many of others, I cannot think of that time without a catch in my throat, a tear in my eye, and a loss of breath. It is the same feeling that I get when I am reminded of the Kennedy assassination, and the little boy that saluted his father as his casket went by.

I was, and still am, thankful for first responders, unsung heroes, American flags that fly everywhere, and living in a great nation that comes together when the need arises.

I hope that you and yours have peaceful day.

Sue

Sweet Peas and the bushes and driveway at our "real" house...

Good afternoon friends. I hope that you're having a nice Sunday!

Yesterday I mentioned that my husband and I just discovered a nearby antiques store that is only minutes from our house. I have no idea why we had never seen it before, other than the fact that it is off of a street that we do not drive on very much. In any case, we are thrilled to have made the discovery. The store is Sweet Peas Antiques & Garden located on Holden Road in Youngsville, NC. It is owned by a gracious lady named Linda who is so friendly and eager to help you find just what you want. (This is where we purchased the white chair with burlap seat cover and little green table that I showed you yesterday.)

Here are some pictures of the shop.

Welcome to Sweet Peas Antiques & Garden!



Things look good even before you enter the shop...

There's Linda chatting on the phone.

Beautiful finds at every turn...



Look up...

...look down...

...look across...

Don't forget to look in the corners...

...and everywhere else...

...look at each bureau...

...and the tables and chairs...

...and vintage clothing...

...and hutches...

...and table settings...

...and wall hangings...

What do you think we bought?

Well, actually, we put it on layaway because

it's too big to store in our garage until we get

some of the other stuff up to Birdsong.

That was a hint!

It is in one of the above photos.

Well, yesterday was a great day. Today, not so much. With all the work that we've been doing at Birdsong, we've neglected a few things around this humble abode (a/k/a our "real" house), so decided to make today a work day.

I trimmed these (62 of them to be exact)...

...and Mr. Perch used his new toy to

power wash the walkway and driveway...

Oh well, I guess every day can't be fun! Ha! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great evening.





More old furniture for Birdsong Cottage...

Happy Saturday friends! You must be glad the weekend is here.

Yesterday I spent the day working on painting some of that furniture I told you about, so I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the pieces that we have accumulated. They are in various stages of completion.

We bought this chair at an antiques shop

that we discovered just this week

(more to follow later on this great shop).

It has already been painted and covered

in this beautiful burlap and painted fabric,

so I don't need to do anything to it!

It will be used with the desk in the

guest room...



At the same shop, Mr. Perch chose

this lovely apple green side table.

Well, maybe not so lovely now,

but it will be after it is painted...

Here is the garage in its present state.

It looks like a furniture restoration joint.

The little white table that you see in the back,

between the chair and the green table,

is another purchased this week for $29,

and needs little done to it...

In the front of the following photo is the

little wood coffee table that we bought

in the mountains last week.

Mr. Perch did some repair work on it

to steady it. He also removed the wheels

that were on it.

Who puts wheels on a coffee table anyway? 

 Behind it on the left is that hutch that I

showed you in yesterday's post.

I have completed painting it,

but am leaving the painter's tape on it

since I think I will wax it with something.

This was painted with regular latex wall

paint. Since it had been previously painted,

there was no need wasting Annie Sloan

paint on it...

And here is that old bureau that I am working on.

I showed you a photo of it in my post of yesterday.

You see it here painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

The color is French Linen.

What a beautiful paint to work with.

The next step for this one is to wax it with Annie's

waxing product, so I'll let you know how it turns out,

as this will be a first for me.

In the back you see Mr. Perch with his hand over his face,

no doubt covering the tears that he has shed over the mess

that I have made in his man cave!...

Mixed media art? No time. Fabric collage? No time. Gardening? No time. Cleaning house? No time. Cooking? No time. Painting up old furniture for the future? Timeless. I must say, I am absolutely loving working on this stuff...it is rewarding, theraputic, and cheaper than a shrink. Well, maybe...

Have a relaxing weekend!



Old furniture for Birdsong Cottage and the continuing single wide mobile home decorating saga...

Hello everyone! I hope that you're having a great week.

I have been really busy, so this will be a short post. What we've been up to is checking around town for some old furniture that I can "facelift" for Birdsong. Here are a couple of pictures for a glimpse of what I am currently working on. More pictures to follow in another post.

The piece below is as we bought it

from SuzAnna's at

Vintage Village.

I will reveal its purpose shortly...



...and this one we found on Craiglist

for $100, shown without the drawer

pulls, which Mr. Perch

had already removed for me...

I am currently working on both of these. More to follow in a future post! Must head out to the garage now to work before it gets too hot in there! Have a wonderful day.



Birdsong Cottage: And yet more adventures in single wide mobile home decor...

Good morning friends. As promised, here are a few more photos of the latest accomplishments up at Birdsong. I promise you, these will be the last for a little while!

One of the things that bothered Mr. Perch the most about this place was some of the electrical wiring. In the following "before" photo, you can see the front door to the left. This is a shot from the kitchen into the living room (remember the ugly gold paint?). The white ceiling fan above was right in your face when you walked in the front door. (Well, it's actually a side door that goes to the porch.). In any case, we could not understand why someone would put a ceiling fan over the breakfast bar, not centered, and so close to the entry, and remove the original lighting that was once over the breakfast bar. Not to mention that the light switches you see to the left of the door had one switch going to the porch fan and outside light (both of which go on at the same time. Really? You can't have the fan on unless you light up the whole porch? This will be corrected one of these days!) and the other switch going to, well...nothing! So Mr. Perch took down the fan (we will instead put one centered over the living room), and rewired the whole thing the way it was originally. Or, at least the way we think it was originally, according to our neighbor, who has the same unit.

Now, when you come in the front door and click the switch, this is

what you see. A beautiful oil-rubbed bronze fixture with

Edison bulbs over the breakfast bar...



...and beautiful even with the lights turned off...

The silver chandelier over the table was replaced with this one...

...and here is a shot of it turned off.

In the background you can also see the pretty new knobs

on the cabinets...

We also have the matching pendant light that will go over

the counter between the sink and stove, but the botched

wiring for that scene will become a future story!

We also began working on the bathroom. Hubby decided to use up the leftover baseboards (not shown in these photos) in the bathroom, and since we are stuck with the ugly mobile home paneling throughout, we are going to let it work for us instead of against us.

He put up a chair rail, and I began painting it,

and the walls underneath it, with white

semi-gloss trim paint.

 It will act as wainscoting, with the top portion being

painted a deep shade of greige. 

Yes, we already have the shower curtain, towels, and such! 

Here you see the funky lemon yellow that was

on the walls when we bought this place..

Completing the bathroom will be our next step, as will be beginning to paint the trim work and doors throughout. 

Well, that's it for awhile on this subject! Have a wonderful day.

Birdsong Cottage: More adventures in single wide mobile decor...

Good morning friends! I hope that you had a great Labor Day weekend. Today I'm sharing some more pictures of Birdsong and what we accomplished while up there last week.

Here is a photo of the flooring in the living

room prior to installing the quarter round

at the bottom of the baseboards.

We love the flooring, as it looks like

something that was ripped out of an old

farm house. We also love the way it

looks against the wall color

("Mineral" by Behr, but

mixed in Glidden to save money)...

...and a view of the flooring going from the

living room into the hallway...

Below is the quarter round which I had painted while Mr. Perch

was working on the flooring...

In the picture below you can see the baseboards after the quarter

round was installed.

Also shown is the small dresser which Hubby

found while up there...

His dresser is in the corner of the bedroom

for now...

The consignment stores up there are great.

We found the small coffee table shown below.

It is an old Bombay Company piece and will

get a coat of Annie Sloan paint.

We kept it very small since the rooms are not large

in this place. We can move it around when we don't

need to use it.

Also, to the right is our new Rooms to Go couch,

which was delivered while we were up there.

Hooray!

Below is a table that will be used as a desk in the alcove of

the guest room. It will also be painted.

For now it is being used in the living room under the TV,

as we have not yet brought up the piece that will actually

be used in here.

YES!! We finally have TVs!!

Pardon the ugly wires.

And we bought this little table,

also to be painted.

It will ultimately be used in the corner of

the kitchen to hold the coffee pot.

Or not...

So what would I be if I didn't try to at least

have a little fun starting to decorate?

I bought two of these pillows in WalMart

for cheap. The couch came with four

beautiful pillows, but they are too "pretty"

for everyday use,

so are in the closet for now...

The following two pieces were also

bought at consignment stores...

...as was this beautiful old statuary.

Don't you think that this little boy

holding a bird is perfect for a

place called

"Birdsong Cottage"?...

...a closeup of the bird...

Now all I need up there is a garden to put him in!

Though we tend to spend most of our time up there working, we have made some time to explore towns with great antique and consignment stores. You can get some really good stuff for very low prices, so it's been fun seeing how we can decorate for as little as possible. We've also explored the restaurant scene. Because this mountain area attracts a lot of tourists and seasonal folk, the food is great. There is also a lot of free fun to be found.

Stay tuned for our story on the kitchen lighting and the beginning of the bathroom work. Thanks for visiting today!!