Savoring Summer. . .A Stroll Through Hilltop Cottage

 

 

Hello my friends,

can you believe that tomorrow is the 'official' last day of Summer?

 

 

I must admit that I am anxious to decorate with pumpkins, but boy did it fly by fast!!

 

Soon I will be filling 'Hilltop Cottage' with outdoor furniture and décor to store for the winter.

 

I thought I would take you on a tour of my treasure trove.  It's been a while since I shared it on my blog.

 

Here's a picture of what it looked like last Spring and Fall.

 

 

 

 

Hilltop has two entrances.  A Dutch door in front and these sliding barn doors on the North end.

 

Wanting to add some fun handle.

 

 

Open the doors and this is what you see.  Junk to some, but treasures to me!

 

 

I use the old dresser to store garden supplies.

I have a need for a bit of whimsy.  When my bee pot broke I knew it would make the perfect tile top!

 

Garden gals must have string!! (or jute)

 

 

Some small pots, seeds, cloches, and bug sprayers are displayed on an old stove top sitting on an iron rite machine.

 

Hilltop is perfect for storing my garden collections.  Things are easy to pull out and use when I want to.

 

I love funeral baskets!!

 

 

Do you remember when I hosted estate sales for my friends Aunt Bunny?  I spied this oil display cabinet at her house and had to buy it!  I love vintage graphics!!

 

It holds my small oil cans, a few sprinklers, and birds nests.

 

More sprinklers and small watering cans sit in the rafters.  Some watering cans made it out to the deck.  :)

 

 

I had just the right number of thermoses to sit upon a shutter shelf above the front window.  Don't you love the fun colors?

The junk wood wall hubby and I built is still one of my favorite things in Hilltop.

I love vintage containers.

 

Soon the green one will come out for fall.

 

I have a couple of sweet lights, but we have yet to hook up electricity.  Hopefully, some day!!

 

This is what you first see when you open the Dutch door.

 

Lots of photos today.  Hope I didn't bore you and that you enjoyed the tour!

 

Happiness to you from me and Hilltop Cottage!!  :)

 

 

Changes to Hilltop Cottage. . .

 

Hello my friends,

 

I've made a few changes to Hilltop Cottage, so I thought I would share them with you.

 

My Summer time Happy Place. . .

Hello my friends,

do you have a summer time happy place?

 

I certainly do!

 

 

It's not a place I can hang out in the heat of the day, but it's my little retreat after my early morning garden stroll and some evening relaxation. 

 

We've made a few changes this year.  One is we purchased a new patio set.

 

 

Hubby and I went to Home Depot one day and when we entered I spied this patio set and fell in love. We weren't really shopping for a new table set, but sometimes things just catch our eye.  Lucky for me it was on sale.  Unlucky for me it was the last one and the table was scratched.  The sweet gal helping us said that we could order it on line for the same price and free delivery right to our home.  :)

 

 

I love the lighter chairs and how the darker table matches the faux wicker pieces we already had. 

 

 

The table looks wood, but it is actually metal.

 

Happy accident that the table, faux wicker, and pergola

 are all dark brown.  Nothing really planned, it just fell into place.

 

 

The pops of aqua and coral make it bright and cheery.

 

 

I have two of these chairs that I used with my old table.  I can't decide whether or not to hang on to them or give them to one of our kids.  They rock and are very comfy.  It makes the space pretty busy with so much furniture, but when we all get together we certainly can use more seating. 

 

You can see our old table at the end of the patio.  It will be going to one of the kids.

 



 

I have wanted to hang this old window from the pergola for a few years.  I finally talked hubby into it.  lol!  I love the way it looks.  The only problem is the wicker love seat use to sit here.  It was a little scary having a huge window hanging over your head.  We moved the love seat to the other side.  But now when you sit in it you have a view of the back of our house instead of

our beautiful mountains.  :(

 

My planters are looking prettier each day.

 

Another seating area that is super cute, if you ask me.  (wink) However, it's not too comfy.  Every now and then, cuteness wins over comfort.  The little ones don't seem to mind.

 

Here's a wide view so you can see that there is quite a bit going on.

Too much for some I'm sure, but I love the cozy feel!

 

 

 

One thing I love about my happy place is that wherever I look I have a pretty view of the mountains or my sweet she shed,

"Hilltop Cottage"  I also can hear the sound of water from our pondless waterfall.  It's the perfect spot to sit and take a breather after cutting back perennials in the garden.  I rarely pull a weed, but I fill two garbage cans each week with clippings.

 

 

Whenever I go to Wal-mart I check the garden center.  They have a hard time keeping their plants watered.  Because of that they are constantly putting things on clearance.  I picked up two pots filled with geraniums and sweet potato vines for half price.  They looked pretty sad.  Tons of spent blossoms and yellow leaves.  I came home, deadheaded them and gave them a big drink of water.  Now there are lots of buds that will be blooming soon.  I plopped one into this chippy cast iron planter.  The other is in a washtub up on the rock wall.

 

This is my other 'happy place'!  I must confess, that I am not loving the color of the metal roofing right now.  Plus, you can see that there's a couple areas that is not rusting.  UGH!  Last year when we built it I really wanted the heavier metal that would 'rust'. And yes, it was more expensive.  I absolutely loved how it looked last fall.  But it continued to rust during the winter and now it's too orange for my taste.

 

  Gosh, how can I complain too much after all the work my family did building it for me?  I am just hoping it turns more brown.  Otherwise, you may find this girl up there sanding it.  I'm trying to be patient and see how it changes over the summer.

 

 

I've been going to call the place we bought the roofing and ask them what I could do about the non rusty spots.  I keep forgetting, this post will be a good reminder.

 

Things don't always turn out as planned, but it's no reason to not continue to be happy!

 

Happiness is a choice.  I choose to be happy!

 

hugs,

Jann

 

 I will be sharing with these lovely parties:
Gardens Galore

 

The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday

 

Changes inside Hilltop Cottage

Hello my friends,

 

I'm sure that many of you know that hubby, my son, and son in law built me a she shed last spring.  It took until Fall for her to be completed.  This photo was taken at a Fall Tea I hosted.  Since then hubby has added a pergola over the porch area.

 

 

 

We stored some of outdoor furniture inside for winter and I could hardly wait to empty it out and play!

 

While giving her a good spring cleaning I made a few changes.

 

Notice the teal green cabinet in the top center photo.  I used it to house some of my pots and seed packets.  Our youngest daughter moved into an apartment and asked if she could take it to hold some of her clothes. 

 

It sat on top of an old iron rite and I place everything inside of a tote that just sat on the ground inside of the shed.

 

At our last junkin adventure with the estate I am helping with I spied something in one corner of the basement.

 

It looked to be the top piece to an old stove.

 

 

 

Although I'm sure the wooden shelves originally had to be metal.

 

It was instant love!

 

This baby has curves!!  :)

 

Wonderful metal brackets and two little plates, perfect for

holding a pot!

 



 

The top shelf holds a floral tin that stores seeds and my small cloche collection that was gifted to me by my friend, Joyce.

 

I placed my small finial collection on one end.  I collect so darn many things.  lol!

 

 

 

I am loving this sweet piece!  Worth a second look. (wink)

 

 

I have this old dresser that I painted a few years ago.  It's great for holding gardens supplies.  I had it out on my deck for a few years and the veneer top pulled back.  So now that I'm a tile expert, (hardly).  I decided to tile the top using a broken bumble bee pot and a couple of yellow bowls.

 

I placed a large roll of jute on a metal pie tin underneath an old funnel.  I wove it up through, and now it's handy for tying back vines and plants.

 



On my gal trip to St. George with friends I bought 3 children's brooms at a yard sale for $2 each.  Don't know why, but I just love them!  They already had little hooks on the top so I hung them in the shed.  Handy for me and the grands.

 

One of them was on it's last leg, but I couldn't leave it behind.

 



 

I tied a couple of baskets from the garden edging I added to the beams.  One is a gathering baskets with a handle.  It's divided into three sections.  I can hardly wait to gather some blooms in it!

And last of all, Hilltop has a new guardian watching over it.

 

My friend, Shirley from Zettas Aprons made this sweet tomato farmer.  She formed his head out of clay and the Tomato Dust can is super cute.  She brought him by one day and said that he wanted to live in my shed.  Isn't that the sweetest?

 



 

I think he likes it here.

 

 

 

Hanging out inside of Hilltop Cottage sure makes me happy!

 

hugs,

Jann