First room completed and ready for guests. It's taken a long time to get to this point, but everything is clean and in place, and I'm pleased with it. Vintage hooked rug with butterflies, a local find. Pulled some vintage lamps from the closet of lamps for my Etsy shop. This one is clear pressed glass and brass. Vintage silk lampshade. Vintage woven spread, another local find. Another piece I was going to sell and decided not to. I like that it's reversible, I tried both sides, but the darker gold side felt right with autumn on its way. Vintage white cotton sheets with hand crochet edging. Vintage hand embroidered pillowcases with crochet edging. Embroidered piece to brighten up this corner.
Mike came and put the gate in. I spent Saturday clearing the path to the parking space while Bob was in Knoxville book buying. Next on the list is Dennis coming back to do some grading and bringing in the truckload of pea gravel. Once grading is done, I will be able to lay the stone path from the front porch to the gate and begin planting! The path and the fenceline are full with Rose of Sharon in various colors. There are so many seedlings I wish I had the time to pot them all and sell them, I hate to mow over seedlings, but I have to learn to let it go! I plan on planting specimen Rose of Sharon, the Azure Blue, Strawberry and one named Blueberry Smoothie which is a swirled blue and white, then there are the carnation varieties that are nice and fluffy! In between the Rose of Sharon the Poke Berry is just starting to turn color. The Joseph's Coat rose I planted this year has two end of season blooms. I'm looking forward to seeing it in full bloom next year. I planted a monkey grass border at the main house and plan to do the same at the farmhouse. They are in bloom right now, there are also pink which bloomed first. I have so many of these, another thing I would love to be able to pot and go to plant swaps and give away. Last weekend if felt like fall and we decided to go to Asheville to go to some antiques stores we haven't been to in quite a while. This tree is amazing and everyone notices it! I needed a glass shade for this bronze light fixture I found quite sometime ago and was going to sell, then I found my chandelier for the kitchen, it had a similar design and decided to keep it and put it above the kitchen sink. Locally I could not find a single shade that worked. I didn't want to buy one on Ebay without seeing it on the light. I found the perfect, lightweight, cream colored shade with a chimney built in!! It was the last booth I went to, the man was going out of business, everything was 60 percent off, and I got it for $5! The light itself was made in Philadelphia, which is nice. So the light with the shade cost me a whopping $8, but it cost $54 to put on a new cord, oh well. I tried! While Bob was checking out purchasing some books, I spied this handle, perfect for the sliding farm door to the bathroom. The other farmhouse door in the bedroom already has a doorknob. I love the quirkiness of it and the rust. It's perfect! While in the bamboo forest I found this very old bottle partially buried and full of mud. Took some time to get it really clean, I will use it for a bud vase with a flower that is blooming at the moment.
Thank you Sue for the tip on this cleaner, it really works great! The difference with just the cleaner was amazing, but then when you put the luster coat on, it really brings out the grain. I love these old floors! You can really see the difference from the hallway after cleaning to the bathroom that I haven't cleaned. Originally the plan was to clean and poly the floors, but after talking to Tom at the local paint store who is an expert in these things, I was talked out of it and just decided to clean them, and I'm sure glad I did. The piece on top is the kitchen which was finished and varnished, I wanted the hallway and bedroom to match, but it will look a bit different, but not bad. Can't understand why they did not do the floors in the whole house, wish they had, but working with what I have. Maybe we can add these floors in when we refinish the floors at the main house when Bob retires and we start traveling again as we will have to be out of the house for that to be done. The bedroom floors turned out just as nice after cleaning. I also used the cleaner on the walls and will do a section with the luster to see if I want to do that, but the walls look really good now that they're clean. A LOT of wood in this room. Timber is the inspector and has to give his approval! So in the bedroom the electricians drilled holes in my beams for the fan wiring not realizing we were leaving it open. I filled in the holes on the first board and it makes a difference, at least to my eye, so filling in the rest. In the living room I noticed a "box" had been made for over the shelves. Don't know why, I wasn't consulted or around when they did that, but that is something that must go. Jake will eventually be back to work on doors and other little things, and that is number one on the list. What's up with that?!!! Found this crewel work recently and placed it over the hole in the chimney where a pipe from a wood stove used to be. The walk home from the farmhouse, love the shade, especially with the heat. The tithonias in bloom, the ones Baby didn't eat. Can't wait for fall!
