By Lynn, on February 8th, 2012%
Happy Winds-day, as beloved Pooh Bear would say! Oh… Little Pooh Bear is what I called my son Daniel for the first few years of his life. In fact, I bought him a little stuffed Pooh Bear not too awful long ago, and I still call him Pooh Bear from time to time. How the years do fly away! They come bearing gifts and they leave tossing out memories like rose petals on the wind.
Ahhhh the challenges of finding places to take pictures! I fear I am going to have to set up some sort of photo booth in Rose Cottage so that you don’t have to look at the same old background over and over! But at least I have some natural light on this picture, to show you the true colors in the dress.
To me, fashion is a number of things:
- having fun but acting your age
- not being afraid to follow the trends
- but not being too trendy
- knowing what to wear when
- wearing what flatters you
- staying away from things that absolutely don’t flatter you
- buying only what you really love
As much as I miss the 90-year-old farm house and my long dresses and aprons and all that. It. Does. Not. Work. Here.
My lifestyle is walking Annie, it is parking and living in a huge apartment complex with lots of cement and landscaped “yards.” It is running around multiple times a day shuttling kids to and from school. It is buying groceries in spurts due to budget and convenience. It is leggings, fun heels and shorter dresses. And I love it!
My dress find is from yesterday.
dress: apt 9
gray shirt: dodi
legging: gap
shoes: unlisted
I really feel like Alice in Wonderland — I am so LARGE in front of this comparatively SMALL house.
My other dress find was a dress that Michaela and I can both wear, but believe me, I would have to do it with leggings and in the right circumstances. She is so teenager-y and cute, I think she could manage it just about anywhere. Even with knee socks. Which seems to be the fashion right now.
Sorry for the red eye. This was taken at night, and try as we might we could not get the photo editing program to cooperate. It kept turning her lips blue. We felt you’d understand red eyes better than blue lips!
Enjoy this day! I found a lovely lace shirt this week as well. Beautifully made! It’s right around the corner! And you will hopefully see Michaela more. And (one last thing) we are going to try to get you some better scenery for the pictures!
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on February 7th, 2012%
I am going into Goodwill. Think I’ll find anything?
If so, what?
xoxo
By Lynn, on February 7th, 2012%
Happy Tuesday Morning!
Let’s get right down to business, shall we? Because I (once again) have a ton of work to do today! I admit, if I could get away with it, I’d sit here all day and have fun, but alas somebody’s gotta pay the bills!
You may have noticed lately that the face of my blog is changing a bit. I have changed the header, put more of my affiliate links in the sidebar and cleaned up some of the blog roll. Over the next few days to weeks, you may see even more changes as sections of links are moved to where they make more sense. I suppose I felt the need to tell you all this because I don’t want to seem like I suddenly feel like I am “all that” and that I don’t need to have the links of friends, blogs and resources in my sidebar! No. Not at all. It is just that my life has changed, and with that the focus of this blog has changed. In all honesty, I do not expect to live here in this apartment for the rest of my life, and who I become in the future (another Mrs?… an adoptive mother?… a new career?…) could change as well, so the focus of this blog could change yet again!  I do hope one day to have loads of garden pictures and creature pictures here again.
In the meantime, I have fallen in love with fashion and thrifting again. It is like a treasure to me right now. Ahh friends, you know (I hope you do) that I know the difference between a want and a need, and a real treasure and just a fading treasure. Fashion is a fading treasure — like youth, like looks, like lots of things. But it is fun nonetheless! I have gained some new blog lurkers and readers lately (Welcome!! — and I treasure your comments, while we are on the subject of treasures!) and I want the blog to make sense to everyone who visits. Over time, the still active links will be put in a safe place (I do have other websites, you know) and sorted to make more sense.
Can you tell which treasures are mine and which are Annie’s?
Recently I found a pretty, black, beaded bag to sling around my shoulder when I walk Annie. It holds my apartment keys, my phone, and her treats. I guess looking on the outside a person could never guess what is on the inside. Pieces of dog food? Really? Sometimes I feel exposed over the fact that I will very soon be divorced. It goes against every grain of my makeup when it comes to marriage. After all, I used to write articles about the importance of a marriage staying together: Bittersweet Magnolia Memories
From the outside it might look like I gave up. Or changed. But if a person jumps off of a sinking ship into a life raft, did they give up? Actually they were getting away with whatever they could salvage and hoping to just stay alive. I fully intend to stand by my original decision to not air it all here, but as my life changes, I want all of my dear internet friends to know that my beliefs about vows and marriage never changed, even as I moved away from the home I had lived in for 23 years.
Once Annie realizes I am holding a treat and have my walking boots and beaded bag ready to go, she’ll get her lazy self up from her warm, snuggly spot in my bed and be at the door stretching! We do enjoy our walks.
black boots: X-Appeal thrifted
petticoat skirt: ginger thrifted
lacy dress: hazel thrifted
long-sleeve lacy shirt: Energie new from Rugged Wearhouse
black beaded bag: thrifted
I hope your day is full of JOY. Lots of typing and errand-running in my future, as in today!
By Lynn, on February 6th, 2012%
My Dear Readers,
Happy Monday morn! It will be an extremely busy Monday here. There is much work for me today, with my transcription job. Lots and lots of work! It’s hard to even explain just how much work there is.
But I am happy; I am truly saying happy Monday morn. Life at best is brief. It’s so easy to focus on a little thing that’s not just right. A worry. A problem. Health. Money. The list goes on, but the gift of life itself is so precious! I want to just keep trying to be the best I can be in the moment. Really, what else do I have?
Today I was in the mood to wear something prairie-ish. That side of me has gone nowhere, folks. She is here and alive and looking forward to being all smocked and apron-ed up and in a garden again someday.
I recently found an off white cotton dress with the prettiest little glitter-like sprinkle of beads at each shoulder and across the upper back. Other than that, it is simply cut, simply plain, and very country-like.
Dress: JCrew thrifted $4.00
Silky flowers: Added by yours truly.
I wanted all off-white today. Something pure bright to match our cloudy-gray-white but bright skies this morning. I want to feel when I walk Annie like I am not going to stop. Like I am walking on over the hills, to a planted field where the men are working and the women are taking out a lunch. A girl can dream…
Sheer long-sleeve shirt: Only Hearts thrifted $3.00
Laugh lines and wrinkles: Free, but hard won.
White cotton “petticoat” skirt: Thrifted ginger $4.00
Boots: Riding boots that were a gift from my sweet sister from when she lived in Germany and rode for awhile; the best sister anyone could ever want in this world. Sort of like my mom. I have the best sister ever and I just won’t argue about it.
chopsticks: Clearance item from Pier I Imports, shortened to make hair sticks.
Hair is a messy bun again today, held up with combs and chopsticks.
Dear friends, I am still enjoying the Alice Tree as is. Yes, and I think I just cannot bear to tear it apart and make a Valentine tree. In fact, I am thinking of selling the whole tree on Etsy. Perhaps a shop owner would want it for their display window? Anyway, it was a friend’s idea and I sort of like it. Yes I do. I think THE ALICE TREE should stay in one piece. Well, it would have to be taken apart for shipping, but then could go right back up and be a most magical display in a city tea shop or something. 
The little Japanese-American doll sits in a Valentine box with some red and white candy. There are touches of pink and red all around Lynn’s Rose Cottage.
So, it is off to work right now. Yeah. I see lots of hot tea in my future. Today, that is. I try not to look too far beyond today.
Enjoy this day!
By Lynn, on January 31st, 2012%
It is just the kind of question a teenager asks when his mom is posing in front of a camera. You know, by herself, with the camera set up on a timer. And goodness me! if old mother should do anything other than just stand looking lost.
Well, I ain’t dead, even though when I was 17 I also thought my mother was old. Ya. But now I realize how very young 49 is! Yup. I am on the heels of 49 years old. Come March, with its blowin’ wind one day and lamb-like nature the next, I will be 49 years young.
So when I was modeling in front of my dreamy English cottage (I wish) and my 17-year-old son said with a big smile on his face, “What kinda pose is that?” I smiled right back at him.
It’s the kinda pose your mama does because she has a blog that about a dozen people like to read and you have to take pictures if you have a blog.”
He laughed and said, “Oh.”
Not to take a single thing away from my amazing son, who tells me multiple times every day that he loves me, but I get the drift. And that was the end of that. Anyway, would you just look at this delightful English cottage I have picked out? Can you hear the tea kettle whistling inside? Please come visit me there soon.
Actually, dears, the reason I had to strike such a pose was to show you the new lavender-flower-covered summer dress I found! With its perfectly fitted waist and its little cotton slip ready made into the dress. But it is truly made for summer, so into the closet it goes this last day of January, to wait a few more months.
In the meantime…
You are seeing the polka dotted skirt again, but mostly because I love it so much and because I especially liked it with this long very-dark-blue smock-style shirt with a perfect little black Peter Pan collar.
Set off with a brooch, the collar is in fact very striking. Hair’s a bit in the way, but this is sort of a hair post anyway, so I figured we’d work around that.
Thought I would share a picture of what the long hair looks like after a night of being braided. One of the challenges of having long hair is finding ways to style it. It’s a big plus to have long, unlayered hair when you are in the mood for a long-hair up-do. On the other hand, it’s a huge challenge to find a way to wear it up each day. I occasionally remind myself that I love having long hair by wearing it down from time to time.
I love the little heart-shaped, fabric covered buttons at the sleeves. It’s a good shirt.
Well, tons of stuff to do today! It’s bright and wonderful here today! I even have a window open! Little Annie sleeps close by on the purple chair. My to-do list has been dented severely this morning. It’s a good day!
Enjoy this day!
xoxoxo
By Lynn, on January 30th, 2012%
So, yeah, I like leopard print. Remind me, didn’t we talk about leopard print recently? I think it was in the comment section. And I think part of the point was that we sometimes surprise people who know us by the fact that we even like and would wear leopard print clothing. I mean, it would seem at first that leopard print should only be worn by certain people. And I am not even going to get myself in trouble here by saying who exactly should be wearing leopard print, but I think a fair-skinned, dark-headed, freckled girl does not immediately come to mind. Am I right?
Now, dear friends, forgive the tired eyes, but I did practically just roll out of bed and into a comfy dress and boots (for walking Annie) before sitting down to enjoy The Alice Tree. I must admit, I am excited about seeing The Alice Tree turn into The Valentine Tree!
PINK and RED!! OH MY!!
Now, dear readers, in other Rose Cottage news, do you see what I put up with around here:
Ya. John (left) had a friend over recently, and look what they did. They wrestled. With a big stick. They arm wrestled. They even thumb wrestled. They put a cheese puff in the microwave “just to see what happens.” The last I heard was, “IT’S GETTING SHINY! IT’S BLACK! LET’S EAT IT! NO! YES! NO!” (They threw it away.)
I asked them most politely, several times, “Boys, now don’t destroy the apartment. Okay?”
Boys! Will be boys will be boys will be boys! (At least they ate up a lot of the food in the cabinets that I thought wouldn’t get eaten.)
Well, friends, it is a work day today! I found two totally utterly fabulous dresses at G.W. Boutique over the weekend! And a great lavender long-sleeved T shirt. Will try to have some pictures for you tomorrow!
Enjoy This Day!
By Lynn, on January 28th, 2012%
Happy Saturday, dear friends! I do hope the weekend is good to us all. Today is a work day for me, but I am so grateful to be working from home and to have a job that allows me to support myself and my children. All is well.
I wanted to share with you just a couple of things. First, a little, most humble gift I made for a sweet friend in a nursing home.
It is a bunch of pressed flowers, from last year from The Wild Little Garden. I put them in the shape of a heart (never discount even individual petals that seem to be uselessly falling apart, for they allowed the heart to take shape!
I placed them in a laminating sleeve and then ran it through the laminator.
While not fancy at all, it can be handled without hurting anyone (no glass) and it is pretty hanging in a window. It will keep its color for about a year, maybe more, depending on how much sun it gets.
In fashion news, I wanted to show you one of the bright dresses I found a couple of months back at G.W. Boutique — a 4 dollar treasure! If ever I feel down, I just slip this particular dress on and I feel like a flower in a garden! You will see once again the favorite black shoes and my trademark white stockings, but look for some new shoes to be posted about soon! I found two really cute pairs today! Even now, my feet are covered in vitamin E lotion and dressed in thick socks, trying to make these 40-something-year-old feet as pretty as possible!
Thanks, mom, for taking pictures! Excuse the grainier ones. All were taken with a phone!
Do enjoy the day! I heard a little commentary on the radio last week. The bottom line was this:
Winners are not those who never fail, but those who refuse to give up!
May we all keep trying!
By Lynn, on January 27th, 2012%
It’s Friday! Are we all doing the happy dance? Ahh, well, I have to work today. And tomorrow. But I am doing the happy dance anyway. The weekend does give me a break from running children to and from school, and also it makes the children happy, so that makes me happy! And actually, as the title implies, I am feeling pretty peachy. I got back on the treadmill yesterday and walked/ran for over 2 miles, and that felt amazingly good. I have been slack lately and have not gotten over there (even though I have been walking a bit with Annie) and there is just nothing for the skin, the mind, the body like exercise! I do believe it helps alleviate depression as well.
This week, instead of the usual strawberries that I love so much in my smoothies, I opted for peaches. So yummy with a frozen banana (peel before you freeze!), yogurt, a little milk, maybe some honey and/or cinnamon, and I just crush my supplements up and put them in as well.
Now my dear friends, it’s been awhile since I had my picture made in The Little Wild Garden. Yes it has. But I had occasion to be there yesterday. It was completely delightful to see my son, Big Joe, as we call him, and to see a little flower here and there, peeking out to see if spring is close at hand. (Won’t be too awful long, dear flowers.)
Veronica.
A pot full of pansies.
Big Joe agreed to take some photographs so that I could share my not-very-dressy bright stripes! Stripes up and down in this vintage-y dress. Very faint and dainty stripes in the stockings. Horizontal stripes in the bright shirt. And who does not love strappy, black leather shoes?
From the time I was little, I have had a thing for moss. I am just mesmerized by it! Is it not wonderful?
A dead limb that had fallen into the edge of The Wild Little Garden.
Hellebores starting to bloom.
Ahhh. Black leather shoes. White stockings.
Daffodils are a bit early this year, I think.
Another millinery pin. Seemed to go with the bright shirt and add some color to the gray dress.
dress: Converse One Star
shirt: Victoria’s Secret
millinery flower: homemade by yours truly
black shoes: Fabulaire
I actually saw a bee.
The old gourd birdhouse, entangled in vines; I love that it is tilted back and I don’t have to worry about babies falling out.
The goldfish pond with its black water still thrives; the fish are beautiful.
And meet my photographer, Big Joe, looking all serious.
But he does know how to smile; here’s one coming on now. Love my three young men.
EnJOY this day.
By Lynn, on January 26th, 2012%
My Dear Friends,
Happy Thursday morning to us all! I am thankful to be alive this morning. For health and strength, a warm apartment, birds singing outside, freedom, happy children, food, fabric, and all important and frivolous things that make life so wonderful!
I wanted to share with you a new polka dot skirt that I fell in love with on first glance. I felt simply RETRO the moment I clapped eyes on it. So home it went with me, a 4-dollar steal of a deal that was washed up, put on a hanger and worn the very next day. Forgive the grainy picture; it was taken with my phone!
I say, who is not happy in polka dots? Do not dots feel the most retro of all? Perhaps my own natural “dots” — my freckles — are what make me lean toward the retro, the old, the impulsive, the elusive. Then again, the dark hair and fair skin that hails from that old isle Ireland and its sister country Scotland do lend to a melancholy and dark disposition, so what a mix! By the Alice Tree. Me. And my polka-dots.
Stockings. Strappy leather shoes. Vintage garden chair. Bright floral fabric.
I finished up another millinery pin, and this one is, to me, perfection. I love the satiny fabric and the touch of golden-bronze around the edges. Currently testing for durability and compliments — it has already had a few — and then will have to get my polka-dotted self busy and get them in The Shop. My oh my. Orders are being prepared to go out. More things need to go in!
And now, without further ado, I want to express some great big blog love for a blog I came across a few days ago. It is called Esme and the Laneway and I think you’ll be busy there for awhile if you decide to visit.
Talk about a fashion darling! She is lovely and has the most amazing collection of vintage clothing ever! If only I looked so adorable in vintage dresses! The following photos are from Esme and the Laneway, taken with permission from her darling blog.
Enjoy this day! I am on to errands, a couple of thrift store walk-throughs, and a bit of letter writing.
xoxoxo
By Lynn, on January 23rd, 2012%
Good Monday morn, dear readers! Today is a rainy day here. Gray. Cold. But the little Rose Cottage apartment is warm and cozy inside. I am counting all the things this morning that I feel happy about — lots to be thankful about here in America.
Enjoying the Alice in Wonderland tree.
Over the weekend, I went into Target to see about boots that might be on clearance. You know, friends, the department stores are already putting out swimsuits? Yeah. Swimsuits. So, looking for a winter-something, I totally, completely lucked out!
You see, there is a pair of fur-lined boots here at the apartment that I found (looking just about brand new) at G.W. Boutique a year ago, and Michaela and I have literally worn them out. The back part of the sole is coming away from the boot, which exposes the heel of the foot, and what is the point of wearing them? They are similar to the Ugg boots, only an off brand. I just wanted something to replace them with. I do not have to have official anything, especially not fur lined boots.
So I went to Target. I had just about given up on finding any, when I knelt down to look into the back of a clearance shelf down low, and there they were — just one pair left!! — a pair of size 8, brown, fur lined boots for 10 dollars. I also got a similar pair of fur-lined slipper boots which are perfect for me around the apartment complex during the day, for only 5 dollars. That was a big score! Something to be happy about. But let’s talk food, shall we?
I am also happy about a gluten free pizza I made over the weekend. Folks, unless you have gone gluten-free and been without pizza for a long time (a year plus), you just don’t know how much you miss the occasional slice of chewy bread covered in veggies, pepperoni and cheese… Hmmmm. So, I have been looking for websites and have found one that I have tried a couple of things from: Gluten Free Goddess. Everything I have read on her site makes sense. The things I have tried from there have been great. Including the pizza. Mind you, my children could tell the difference in this crust compared to traditional white-flour pizza crust, but I think it was great!
First of all, here is the recipe.
Here is the dough in process.
Hmm. I am terrible for leaving cabinet doors open when I am cooking. See all the vitamins? And mortar and pestle for grinding them up for smoothies? I digress.
This dough was really easy to work with, and I followed the recipe instructions for wetting my hands and smoothing the dough out on the baking pan.
One thing that was a little tricky to me was that the crust seemed to split around the edges. But I took a spatula and pushed the dough in around the edges, over and over, smoothing it and making sort of a rim around the edge. It seemed to work fine.
Finally, my gluten free pizza, all ready to eat. Yum!!!
One thing I will say is that I might have done well to use a bit more water and work the edge more. Also, I felt like the dough was too thick in some areas, so I need to spread it more evenly — it’s drier and more dense than what I am used to for pizza crust, you know, back in the good ol’ days when I could eat gluten. Michaela called it “crumbly” but it was not. I think she was just not used to the texture. For moisture’s sake, I added more tomato sauce and toppings to the second one I made. But overall, this recipe gets a huge thumbs up from me! I won’t tell you how many slices of pizza I had yesterday. Oh, okay. Five!
And while we are talking about eating, and overeating, and loving every bite of it, I may as well show you what I have been hooked on lately. You may not even be able to tell what this is…
That, friends, is a sweet potato fry, dipped in a mixture of local honey and Newman’s Own Ranch dressing. There is something about that mix that I LOVE. I often eat a plate of these fries for lunch. (Someone roll me to the treadmill.)
Finally, let’s talk crafts. One of my new millinery pins got lots of compliments over the weekend, as I wore it on my dress all day yesterday! It prompted the transaction of handing out two business cards. Some day, my dream is to work only with my crafts — my dolls and accessories — and whatever else I feel like making or growing. (If I can dream it, I can do it.)
This is not the best picture — fuzzy, flash fades everything, I know, but anyway, in addition to the flower this picture also shows you the latest G.W. find. A beautiful sweater in excellent shape. Another 4 dollar score as my other faithfully-goes-with-everything, winter white sweater is just about worn completely out.
Friends, can I squeeze in one more thing? Just look how sweet Michaela’s game board looks framed? It is so cheery and bright, I love it! I think it needs not just a poster frame, but a REAL frame. Okay. Well. That’s all. Being quiet now. Sort of. In just a minute more.
I want to close with a comment someone left for me that ended up in spam, and well it should have. I get hundreds of comments that do go straight to spam. Read this and you’ll know why:
We are a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site offered us with valuable info to paintings on. You have done a formidable task and our entire neighborhood will likely be grateful to you.
So, folks, somewhere there is a gaggle of volunteers and an entire neighborhood grateful to me. Wow.
Enjoy this day!
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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