New arrivals

This last month has been an odd one to say the least. It has been a wonderful time to find and connect with family and also the sorrow to lose a family member.  I have been most grateful for those experiences.  And also grateful and thrilled for the new arrivals which have found their way to my little home.

The first is an amazing and gigantic cabinet which I have coveted for years. I LOVE it!  The second picture is of an exquisite love seat from the mid-1880's.  It has a noble provenance. I will strip it back to its original walnut finish, retain the old stuffing which is still in good shape and re-cover it with needle point.  This is going to be a huge project and I may regret the needlepoint idea.

 

 This little love seat had been on my covet list for many years also.  I have been pinching myself all month for my blessing and good fortune, the gratitude has been overwhelming.

 The vanity?dresser which Tasmanian is sitting his fat butt on, is part of a bedroom set my grandparents bought for their wedding. I am unsure of their exact wedding date but I am guessing around 1910.  I am thrilled beyond words to be it's caretaker.  The lovely dresser and headboard have also joined it, and I will cherish them too. 

The last picture is of my beautiful stained glass windows and the linen covered antique couch, and yes it is covered in plastic, there are too many animals around here I don't trust and that would mainly be Hemi, he is a renown pisser to use a earthy phrase.  Excellent cat in every other way but his mother never taught him properly about using a cat box, he marks things as his own constantly and  he is a fixed cat too.

There are so many projects around here to finish it seems absurd, and I keep thinking of more to do.
The chicken house needs to be expanded before winter and I would like to finish all the trim work in the house....sigh.
There is a ton of research too for several large paintings I am planning and instead of doing what I should be doing I have been spinning.  That will be for another post, and I will show you what I have been doing.

The garden was poor this year, probably got too hot too quickly, the gigantic squash plants we had such hope for succumbed to mildew and they were a total bust, we were so disappointed.
The tomatoes were gigantic but have not set fruit, the ones at the top of the garden are setting huge fruit and hopefully will continue and we will get something out of them before frost.
The chickens and ducks ate the beets and lettuce. There were curse words involved on my part, but the peach tree yielded a bushel and a half of lovely, small but delicious peaches.  They have been bottled and some frozen and right now in the fridge is a delicious concoction of peaches sugar and heavy cream.
We have dined on fresh little potatoes and fresh beans, zucchini literally seconds away from the stalk, light delicate honey from our own bees, and eggs from the chicken and turkeys.
Speaking of turkeys, Benjamin the tom has grown at a spectacular rate. We are crazy about him, what a wonderful bird.  He walk right in the house to get his bowl of cat food. He loves cat food!  We are so glad we have him.  The turkey hens like him too and though he is twice their size, he is scared to death of them. Very funny.