Birdsong Cottage: Saying Goodbye

There is an expression that states that all good things must come to an end. And so it is with our beloved little mountain getaway, Birdsong Cottage. You may realize that I have mentioned her very little this summer, other than to say that we were away, or were in the mountains. The truth of the matter is that we have sold her, and her new owner is moving in this weekend.

Last week we moved out our furniture

and tidied her up. 

She looked so sad and lonely.

But not for long...

Before we left earlier this week,

we supervised the installation of a brand new storage

shed that was purchased by the new owner.

I think that she will love Birdsong

as much as we did. 

I hope she will, anyway...

It was hard to say goodbye after we put so much into her

over the past two years.

But where one door closes, another one opens,

and one has opened for us.

I hope that you are having a great weekend!

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!

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!

On leaving Birdsong Cottage...

Good morning to all! 

Well, as all good things must come to an end, so ended our nine-day stay at Birdsong. Here are a few last photos snapped before we left.

Rosie loved the new-old wicker settee,

and didn't seem to realize that there was no cushion on 

it yet....

Ollie loved seeing the world from the vantage 

point of the fridge.

This was the first time he jumped up there...

Sue loved the fact that we started decorating

the guest bedroom, so now only half of it

is being used as a storage facility for 

Mr. Perch's tools. 

This is not saying much as the room is only

about 8 by 10...

And Mr. Perch looked forward to the five-hour

trip home, time in which he had nothing to

build, fix, replace, or shop for. 

Well, that lasted until we got home to 

"real house", anyway!

The saddest part about leaving was knowing that we will not likely be back until August, as July is the month in which we go up to visit Bob's son in Massachusetts. We are taking the motor home and hope to visit some other places while we are up there, perhaps Vermont and upstate New York. 

On a happy note, for the first time I heard Hubby quietly say: "Maybe we should start checking out permanent real estate the next time we are up there". I can only dream.

A Saturday of antique-hunting...

Good morning! 

On the Saturday of the week that we were in the mountains, we went downtown Hendersonville, NC (the town in which we have our place) to spend some time at the street antique show. Many different vendors brought in their antiques and set up "shop" on the sidewalks along Main Street. Unlike the Garden Jubilee, which we attended last month, the street was not closed down, so it was a win-win for not only the vendors who came to sell, but also for all of the shops.

One of the first things that I fell in love with was with one of the first few vendors that we visited. So of course, I had no rest until we went back to make sure that no one else bought it. I paid for it and they held it until later when we could move the car closer to load it.

Though I didn't originally set out to put

wicker in our porch, I couldn't resist this settee, 

especially with the Victorian scroll in the middle

at the top.

When I went back to pay for it, I also saw this

old "home" sign on an old cabinet door,

so need I say more...

Though we didn't buy anything else at this show, we did break for munchies at what I think is one of the best bake shops in the world, McFarlan Bakery. They even have "no sugar added" goodies. What could be better than this?

The shop is on the left...

Yummy almond pasty...

Mr. Perch drinking coffee...

Sue stuffing her face with pasties...

Hubby suggested that the day was yet young, so we headed up the road towards Asheville. We decided to explore Smiley's Flea Market in Fletcher. We had passed it often, but never stopped in. I am not much of a flea market person, because I don't have the patience to spend hours wading through the kind of junk that I got rid of 30 years ago just to find the one steal that I can't live without. But I did indeed find a steal.

This beauty to add to my newly started collection

of cutter quilts.

(A cutter quilt is one that is not likely to be

in good enough condition to use on a bed,

but can be re-purposed into other

craft items.)

It didn't even smell musty, and...

...the nice gal who sold it said it was $40, but she would

give it to me for $20.

I didn't even have to ask!!...

On our way up to Smiley's, we had seen a sign on a place for estate sales and liquidations. It was on the other side of the street, in a town called Mountain Home, so we decided to hit it on the way back. It was called TEAM Estate Sales, and was a group of dealers that get together every couple of months to pool items that they want to sell. You basically go in, choose your item, remove the sales ticket, which has a number on it that matches a sticker on the item. You go to the desk and pay for it, show someone your receipt, and he brings it out to your car for you. 

They had a huge array of wonderful stuff from dishes to jewelry to beautiful old pine hutches. Below are a couple of photos that I took. I was afraid to take too many, since it was getting crowded and I wanted to protect innocent bystanders from this blog. 

So, we came home with this sweet little table.

It will be painted next time, along with the

settee...

As our Native American friends would have said, it was a "good hunt"! What are you hunting for these days?