Trying to find a way...

to go visit our beach cottage....hmmmm, let me see????

Our renters have returned to Canada, and I am itching to go back to the beach! I feel like a need a vacation! After being on the road for over 3 weeks in Round Top Texas for the Spring Antiques Week Shows for my shop, The Red Door Antiques, it's time for a break.....don't you think! Since I have been home, it has taken me one week to put my shop back together....and now I need to start working on the paperwork from being gone...ugh! Help! I've fallen and I can't get out of this mound of paperwork.... :)

My mind is always on creative (but inexpensive) ways to update the cottage! Our original plan was to head back down to the cottage after my next show in Brimfield, Mass....paint the exterior and possibly start by tearing out the kitchen, but this time, I can't get it done....dang it!

I even thought of taking a van load of gal pals for a long weekend......but I just see time passing before my eyes....so much work, so little time!

I guess I will just keep dreaming for now!

Cheers!

Sweets for the sweeties...

Happy Valentines Day!

Before & After...

Before....there was once a nasty ol' fountain that wasn't working...



After....a beautiful pigmy triple palm.

One of many before & afters to come...

Our Palm Tree Gets A New Hair Cut...

Here is a small video clip of one of our palm trees getting a new hair-do....

Here is Jerry holding one of the seed pods weighing over 30 lbs.

Ice Storm...

Ohhhh....does the Chic Shore Shack seem oh so appealing now!

You know the weather is bad when... Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel is on location near your town.

On Monday evening, this terrible storm that you have been hearing about on the news hit our area with awesome force. We have lost all electric, land phone lines, cell phone lines. The news says it is above freezing here, but it is not. The current temperatures are 25 and doesn't look like it will go above freezing until Sunday. Our tiny town of Eddyville is completely out of electric, which means our shop is closed. The estimated time of our services being reconnected......2 WEEKS!

We have been staying in our neighbors basement, as they have a gas log fireplace so we are not freezing to death. Thanks John & Paula! Today, the guys in our neighborhood chain-sawed our way out and we drove about 100 miles to find a motel and get some hot showers, buy more supplies & get in touch with family & friends to let them know that we are still alive.
Kentucky Utilities has at this time 176,000 homes/business currently out of power and the number is still rising. They are getting assistance from other utility companies around the U.S. and some of them are saying that the damage they face here are worse than the conditions after Hurricane Ike.

The cracks & pops of the trees in our woods around the lake sounds like gun shots being fired as the trees filled with ice fall to the ground. It's hard to imagine being in the middle of one of these "situations" that you hear about on the news, until you are actually in one. It's easy to take for granted things like heat, water & the basics until you are without them. We are making the best of our situation, but it makes me think of the elderly people and the ill...it's also scary not to be able to make contact with people via phone. I have been unable to speak with any of my employees at my antique shop, as they are all in the same boat as we are. I am hoping that they are all doing well. At our neighbors, we are at least warm, eating well (anything that can be made on a BBQ Grill & Drinking (some adult beverages)....and being thankful for what we do have.

A hot shower felt fantastic........we will be heading back to our homes tomorrow A.M. so we will go back to no communications at all. If you don't hear from me, we are doing as as good as can be expected. Today, we are working on trying to find a generator....and enjoying HOT water! Cheers for now!

White...

Primarily the cottage will be done in a White palette, but what is the correct white color to use without it looking like primer? Can you use multiple shades of white? Should the ceiling be bright white? So many questions....about White.

Normally I am a color person all the way. But I am always drawn to white rooms, white displays, so I asked myself....could I live this way? I really don't know, but since the shack will not be my permanent dwelling space, I say what the heck, I'll give it a try. With one small caveat....we will also be renting the cottage, so we will have to be mindful of what renters may due to WHITE.....eeek! So that being said it has to be user friendly in every way!

I am so torn between using a monochromatic color scheme of whites or using the coastal colors accents and white basics......orrrrrr maybe nautical colors like navy blue, red & white???? Oh the possibilities are endless....and so are the choices. I think I need another beach drink...

Cheers

Longing for warmer temperatures...

We are about 1,000 miles away from our Chic Shore Shack, so this week I have been longing for some warmer temperatures, dreaming of ideas to update the shack, but still trying to stay focused on getting the year of 2008 closed out back here at my antique shop...I couldn't even go if I wanted to because we have renters in the cottage until early April....dang-it!

But I can dream....ahhhh! Here's a toast to Tax season!

Cheers for now...

1980's Grandma gone bad...

OK....this is my first post to my new blog about our soon to be (well like I said before Rome wasn't built in a day) chic shore shack....that is currently not so chic or shore for that matter. Recently we purchased, with some friends of ours a double wide mobile home about 10 miles from the beach...I know what you are thinking "A MOBILE HOME"...but hey we didn't have an unlimited budget, and you do what you have to do if you want to be near the beach!

We will not be living in this home full time, we will use it a few months a year during the winter and weeks during the summer with our family & friends. We will also be renting the cottage so if you would like to take a trip to the beach...just shoot me an email.

So having said that, we will not have unlimited time to work on our projects because we have to save time for the beach! Jerry keeps reminding me that this is a marathon not a sprint....so I am holding myself back. (Boy it's hard!)

The mobile home is going to be called "The Get-A-Way Beach Cottage"....and currently the cottage is well how can I say this......1980's Grandma that loved strawberries fabulous! OMG...it's everything that you can possibly be thinking and more! But let me say that it has sooooo much potential and is clean and comfortable now, and usable until it becomes our "Chic Shore Shack", and that means alot!

I don't want to have a kitchy beach theme....I think the 1980's grandma theme is enough to last me a long time as far as themes go. I would like to go for a clean, uncluttered, cottage style with a twist of farmhouse at the beach....can you feel it?