Time spent at Birdsong Cottage, Part 5: Downtown Hendersonville, NC

Happy Sunday! I hope that you're having a great weekend.

When we were up at Birdsong the earlier this month, we spent a day browsing downtown in Hendersonville (our town, if you don't generally follow this blog), so here are a few photos that I snapped while we were walking around.

Pretty little shops.

Often, the upstairs units have been redone 

as rental and condo units...

Outdoor eating everywhere.

This is Hubby patiently waiting

while I shop.

His favorite pastime.

HA!!...

In spite of the fact that this is a great antique mall

with reasonable prices, I came out with nothing.

Music to Mr. Perch's ears!...

Since this is an historic town, 

may of the buildings bear these plaques...

...which make for very interesting reading while you are 

roaming around...

That week we also finally hung up our bird(song)

hook rack in the master bedroom.

Pardon the patched holes 

from owners past!

It is carefully hidden in an alcove by one of the windows

so no one looking in can see all the "junque"

that we will no doubt hang on it...

Many thanks for coming by today!

Time Spent at Birdsong Cottage, Part 4: A day in Black Mountain

Hello there! 

We've taken advantage of some of the cooler weather this week by beginning some Fall yard cleanup, so after killing crabgrass, trimming bushes, and so forth, I finally have a little time to say hello. I thought I'd resume by sharing some more pictures that I had taken while we were in the mountains.

A few miles outside of Asheville, and a 45-minute ride from us,  there is a sweet little town called Black Mountain. It is an artsy little town, with nice restaurants and shops, somewhat smaller than Hendersonville but really fun to visit. We spent a day up there, so here is a glimpse of what you will find there.

Through the looking glass,

or should I say windshield,

this was on the ride up...

Cute shops,

both on the outside...

...and the inside...

Interesting signage...

...and the sweet old railroad depot...

...which is now an arts and crafts gallery...

And what would be a day without food?

We ate at a place called the Black Mountain

Bistro.

It had both inside and outside dining,

but who could resist eating on the porch

and looking at the mountains?

Not to mention, 

the food was delicious

and the service great!...

In one of the shops I bought this...

...which I couldn't resist hanging over the toilet in the bathroom,

at Birdsong, of course!

I hope that you had a great day today!

Great news from Sew Somerset magazine!

Good morning! I hope that you had a great weekend.

In the spring I mentioned that I was working on a large art project, but I shared little about it. What I did not tell you was that I had recently submitted it to Sew Somerset, and last week I received an email from the editor that my work was chosen to be in the next issue, to be released in December. I was also asked to write a technique-based article about how I created it. I will not say much about my submission, but I will share these two partial photos of what is part of the larger project. Needless to say, I cannot contain my excitement!

Thanks for coming by, 

and have a great day!

Time spent at Birdsong Cottage, Part 3: Dancing on Main...

Good morning! I hope that you're having a great weekend.

On the last Friday night that we were in the mountains, we went downtown Hendersonville (NC) to walk around a bit and to have dinner. We ate at a restaurant called The Square Root, and the food was delicious.

Afterwards, we went to the last "Music on Main" of the season. Each Friday night during the summer, they close down Main Street to traffic, bring in a band, and everyone brings their chairs to sit down and listen to the music, which is set up down by the Welcome Center. That night they also had a classic car show, so we looked at the cars while the music was playing. Below are some of the photos.

Some very cool old automobiles...

This one is similar to one that my dad bought new when I was a kid.

I guess I don't have to tell you what era I grew up in!...

I want this one! 

I can see me cruising in this sweet powder blue cream puff, 

with plenty of room for my antiques in the back...

Here are the people dancing up front close to the stage...

...and here is an idea of how many people attend this function

each week...

May your day be filled with classics and music!

Time spent at Birdsong Cottage, Part 2: The horses that live down the street...

Hello friends!

When we are up at Birdsong, we drive around and explore different areas near our town. I guess that in the back of our minds we would like to live up there full time, and are therefore hoping to someday find the perfect piece of propery with just the right house on it. In the meantime, we are sure having fun exploring the area.

We knew that the man who lived up the street from us had horses, but we hadn't driven up there before, so we decided to drive up the street. The horses were out in the pasture, and as soon as they saw our car driving by the gate, they all came running up to greet us, I guess because people are always going up there to feed them (which we were told the owner doesn't really like, and I can't say that I blame him). So we stopped to say "hello"! Would you believe that they all actually took turns meeting us?

These photos are not great,

but it sure was fun taking them...

I hope that you see some sweet animals today!

Thanks for visiting.

Time spent at Birdsong Cottage, Part 1: Pretty hosta blooms...

Good morning friends!

We just returned on Monday from ten days in the mountains, so I thought I would take a few days to share a little about that trip. We only did a little work on our place, such as painting window trim, installing all new window shades, putting in a new ceiling fan in the master bedroom, and painting the wicker settee in the porch. None of which was very picture worthy!

Unfortunately, we missed the bloom period of all of the daylilies last month, but the hostas along the side of the porch were all in full bloom, and I was so happy to see that they were all white, unlike the ones at home that are mostly pink.

Did you ever notice how beautiful

a hosta blossom is when you look at it closely?

Here is a shot taken from a little further away...

...and from yet a little further back...

And this is what the sea of white looked like...

If you recall, I thinned these out in the spring.

You would never know that now!

So now the side garden blends nicely

with the white petunias in the front garden,

shown below...

I hope that you find some simple beauty in your

lives today!

Thanks for stopping by!

More paper crafting finds...

Good morning and happy Saturday!

When I was in Hobby Lobby shortly before our trip to New England, I couldn't resist buying this Tim Holtz paper pack called "Wallflower".

Here is the cover....

...and some samples of what is inside...

Imagine my excitement when I was in

Absolutely Everything in

Topsfield, MA

and I found these coordinating

art stamps...

Can anything by Tim Holtz be bad?

............................................................................

We are leaving early this morning to spend the day in an historic town about two hours from here. We have never been there before, and I won't say exactly what we will be doing there, but it has something to do with this post.

I hope that you are looking forward to your day as much as I am to mine!