Hello July - Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

Am I the only one who is denial that it is July already? Good gracious....it's going to be Labor Day before we know it. Time is just flying by! This sweet little White Rabbit was a gift for my 50th birthday from my dear friend Lydia. He is handmade and is only about 2" tall. I love him!

So how have you been? Has your summer started off on a fun note? Mine has been full of work. Work in the form of painting the exterior of the house. We are still at it six weeks later, but I can now say that as of today, the body of the house is complete and we are moving onto the trim. Thank you for all your comments last month. Blogger has been having an issue and not sending comments through to my email or anyone else for that matter. I'm not sure if they got it fixed. I don't think they really care, but I may have found a way around it so I can reply if you leave a comment. Ok... moving on.

The shutters or no shutters decision. It was really fun hearing from you and getting your thoughts on the shutters. It was a hard decision to make so I decided I would make it slowly as we painted.

Here, only the porch area had been painted. You can see the original color up top and to the left. It sure made the trim look really dirty and the rest of the house for that matter.

Next, we started painting the upper gable. At this point, I painted one shutter green and one a dark coffee brown and placed them on the right side of the porch.






Next we moved over to the lower part of the garage. It was here that I thought that our window trim was just too small and didn't have enough architectural interest against the new paint color. It just blended in and looked flat.  I love the paint color and so does everyone else. People kept stopping by to tell us how beautiful our house was looking and that they couldn't believe all the beautiful changes we made since we moved in. That sure made us feel good!

I decided I loved the dark coffee shutters over the green shutters. I love how they tie in the brown roof and the mulch in the yard and also how they look with the brick foundation. In addition, I love that clean, classic look, which is what I loved about having no shutters. So this was a good compromise.

I think the front porch looks so inviting now. We still have to paint the columns, trim and the porch swing. I'm painting the porch swing the dark brown.

Oh! I found this brass doorbell and just HAD to have it! Perfect huh?

David finishing up the left side of the house.

Another angle showing the garage shutters.When our bushes get bigger, it's all going to be so pretty!

So here it is for now. David is painting the ceiling of the porch as I write this. I think it is coming along nicely and fits into the "cottagey" feel of our neighborhood and the houses around us . Bunny ears crossed, I can show you the completed house next month.

Here's a few more photos from outside.

Our backyard is so peaceful. I love hearing the owls at dusk. Oliver and Olivia Owl have the most wonderful conversations every evening. I know she is asking him, "What do you want for dinner?" Like David, he is probably saying, "I don't know." hee,hee,hee.

My Gerber daisies are so pretty. I love watching them bloom.

The other side of the yard.

Our Hostas are loving it here beneath the trees.

Sylvia loves to stop by and visit as well. Not sure what she was eating, but she was really enjoying it!

This is a new plant I got to replace the one that the snow and ice killed. I can't remember the name of it, but it gets about 5' high by 3' wide. Oh and I had to have the bunny too. His name is Theo. ;)

This is Beverly. She came by one morning as I was headed out for my walk. I think she was coming to lay some eggs. Or perhaps she was headed back home. She lives in the forest behind my house.

This is a Southern Oak. It's across the street in my neighbor's yard. I look at it every day from my studio and from my kitchen. I love these magnificent trees. They take years and years to grow. My neighbors had it pruned last year.

Now every time I look at the tree, it looks back at me. See its eyes? I always tell it how beautiful it is and how happy it makes me to see it every day. It's so magical.

Moving inside, I got a new dining room table. I moved the other one up to my studio. I'm hoping to offer a few classes at my house. More on that later.

We also painted the ceiling. Only a few things left to do in this area, but it's looking pretty good so far. I love having a small house and not a lot of stuff. It's freeing not be controlled by too many things or too much space to take care of.

I make sure the things I have are special like this wooden mushroom I found at a local shop. I put it on the bookshelf with my hand carved soapstone bunnies. They like napping under it. ;)

On a side note about classes, my neighbor, Brandee, is expecting her first baby and wanted to learn to make a quilt. I was excited to teach her. However, she brought over this drawing of what she wanted to make. I told her it is more of a Quilting 105 class instead of Quilting 101, but I would give it a shot. LOL! Good thing I'm a designer.

I drafted the design, figured out yardage and she is now on her fourth lesson. It's turning out really cute and she is having fun. I will show you the finished quilt when she is done. There's a lot of things in this world I'm not good at, but I know that teaching and designing are my gifts that I am suppose to share with others.

We had a wicked storm the other week. The sky was evil, angry and dark. It was so weird watching clouds swirl around above my neighbor's houses.

Then all of a sudden, this beautiful light broke through the clouds. It felt so peaceful and surreal. It reminded me to let my light shine even if the world around me is dark and angry. Kindness and love for each other and all living things is what matters most.

It's been three months now on my "Within an Inch of my Life" project and I haven't missed a day. I have so much fun stitching these.

I'm also reminded to stop and smell the flowers and enjoy just being. Jules painted this birthday card for me and it sits on my desk near my computer. I see it every day and it makes me smile when I think of my dear friend across the pond.

Finally, how lucky are we to live by the sea. I still pinch myself every day that I get to live in this beautiful place.

Sabrina thinks it's pretty special too.

The end. :)

Hugs to all and see ya next month!
Michelle