Moon Gate. . .Our Little Cottage by the Sea

Hello my friends,
As many of you know, we recently took a trip to Carmel, CA.
 
We stayed in the sweetest cottage and I wanted to share it with you.
 
One day in early May hubby walked in after work toting the latest issue of Victoria magazine he had retrieved from the mailbox.
 
As I started to browse through it I came to an article titled:  Coastal Getaway:  CARMEL BY-THE-SEA
 
It was about the 5 cozy cottage rentals,  Carmel Cottage Inn.
 
 
 
The article pulled at my heart strings and hubby said, "book it"
 
Let's just say, he didn't have to say it twice!! :)
 
Moon Gate cottage, here we come!!
 

Easy to see how it got it's name.  Hubby seems to be pleased with it as well.

 
The cottage was surrounded by gorgeous greenery and flowers.


The gardens were very well manicured and had sweet paths leading to each cottage.

 

 
 
 
 

 
 This was our own little private seating area.

 
That large hedge is fuchsia, if you can believe it!  Here we just plant it in shade pots as trailers.
 
 
Great place to relax at the end of the day!
 
 
 This is the view as we walked down from our cottage.

 
 

Now that we've toured the gardens, let's step inside. . .
 
hand stenciled wooden floor.
 
 
 
Lots of cozy seating.  This cottage actually slept four.

 
 

Folk art on the wall and I loved the running rabbit pillow!

 
A cozy fireplace for those cool evenings.  We actually did turn it on one night.  It had rained that morning.

 

Most of the time we enjoyed an open window. 
 



Oh look, a welcome gift.  Sparkling cider, A large bag of delicious almonds, and one of pistachios as well.  Maps and info to help us navigate the small town.  There are no numbered addresses.  A shop simply lists it's location between two streets, and cottages are often referred to by name alone.

 
The kitchen is the heart of the home and this one certainly
did have heart!
 
 
Vintage style appliances and I adore that checkered floor!  I would have loved to have stayed in 'Log Haven' simply because it had a green fridge and dishwasher.  It sleeps 10, so wasn't going to pay up for that!  lol!  You can see photos of it in the magazine.

 
Not only was the kitchen cute, but they sure knew how to stack the cupboards.  Colorful mugs of Fiesta ware.  I had to play with them a little to show off my $5 thrift find scale for Instagram.
 
Rusty and worn!  Just how I love it!!
 
 
The bedroom was sweet and simple.  The mattress was super comfy.  Always a plus!!
 

 
Looking out the bedroom window to our courtyard.


The ocean was just a hop, skip, and a jump away.  In fact when we arrived we met one couple from Canada that had just walked barefoot to the beach.  It was so close, they said, "why bother wearing shoes?"  This was their 2nd stay at the cottages.
 
This was their cottage.
 

 
 


Hubby enjoyed strolling along in the sand,
 


 While I captured the wild life. . . (wink)
 
 
and gathered trinkets that had been washed ashore.

 
and look what it shared with us come sun down.
 
 
Oh, isn't life by the sea simply grand?  Too bad it had to come to an end.  At least for now, but it will forever live on in my memory!
 
hugs,
Jann

Share Your Cup #254

Hello and welcome to Share Your Cup, (SYC for short).
 
The party where you share what makes you happy.
 
 
Thanks so much for dropping by to share!
 
 
This week I shared My Summer Time Happy Place
 
 
and took you on A Garden Stroll
 
 
Now for the features from SYC #253:
(remember to pin from their site, and not mine)
 
Infuse with Liz created the cutest lighthouse out of clay pots for her garden.  I love the addition of the rocks!
 
 
Jackie from Maybe It's Just Me gave us a tour of her gorgeous Wyoming garden.
 
 
 
Jack from The Bearded Hiker shared his recipe for a yummy Beet Salad Napoleon`1. I love it when we can start eating from the garden!
 
 
 
Shiju from Cranium Bolts shared some fabulous macro photos he shot on a rainy Sunday morning.
 
 
 
Thanks so much for sharing and please grab my button if you were featured.
 
 
 
Now let's party!
 
1.  I would love for you to be a follower of Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
2.  Link up a particular post and not your entire blog. Please limit your links to no more than three.
3.  Please have a back link to this post.  That way others will know where the party is.
  Only those with a back link will be featured.
 4.  Please find time to visit at least two other participants.
It's a great way to find new friends!

After you link up, please come back and leave a comment.  They help to fill my cup! 
 
 

A Garden Stroll. . .

Hello my friends,
do you have a favorite time to stroll your garden?
For me, that would either be in the morning or early evening.
Everything just seems to look prettier when it's not baking in the summertime sun.
Last week I took an early morning garden stroll. . .
The roses had just started to bloom.  This pretty climbing rose, Sally Holmes starts out peach and turns white when
 completely open.



I wish I had written down the names of my roses.  I have around 12, and know the names of very few.  Two of them have gone wild this year and will be replaced.  I'm going to write down their names in my garden journal!

A reader inquired as to what it means for a rose to go wild.  There is such a thing as an old fashioned wild rose.  They are generally orange or yellow, and I love them.

But, when a rose goes wild, it changes back to red, and the plant gets long straggly shoots.  The rose itself is nothing to rave about.  Just a simple single rose.  But it's the plant that becomes unappealing to me.  I am not sure what causes a beautiful rose to go wild.  I'll have to do some research on that.  :)



The salmon poppies were almost spent.  They bloom later than my other poppies.


I just love the center of Poppies!  More often than not they are filled with bees.


My ferns have actually been blooming for months, but I haven't shared a photo.  I love them because the starts came from my mother's garden!  They get bigger and I get more each year.  An old iron headboard is tucked in behind them.


Campanula Bell flowers are yearning for a drink from this hanging watering can.  What a temptress I am!  lol!


Penstemon, I cut back the spent blooms of my basket of gold months ago, but somehow missed this one in front.  It will get worked over tomorrow.  :) I always get a second bloom when I do that.  Never as pretty as the first, but a bit of yellow amongst
 all my purple.


Dutch Iris by our pond less waterfall.


Delphiniums are one of my favorites.  These are so tall.  They tower over our fence


Husker Red Penstemon was the perennial of the year when I bought it.  It's name comes from the hint of red in the foliage.


Tonight I decided to take an evening stroll.
  All of the above, except the roses and ferns are spent and will be cut back tomorrow.
The work of a perennial garden is never done.  I don't mind, the reward is far greater than the task!

I cut my Jackmanii Clematis to the ground every fall.  It comes back and puts on a glorious show each summer!


These hot pink cottage rose flowers have seeded all over in one of my front beds.  I love the cottage look and leave quite a few of them.  Each spring I pull out a bunch.


This unique flower was given to me by a friend.  We are always sharing starts.  In fact the Cottage rose was given to me as well.  I always think of my sweet friends when I look at my garden.


She didn't know the name of it.  anyone have any idea?  I have tons of bees in my garden.  Jumbo's and bumbles. . .Love them all!!


little carnations


lilies, these are a very pale yellow.


I love the lacy foliage and large white blooms of the Black Lace Elderberry bush.


I bought this Campanula for $1.50 last year.  It's very different from my others.


Speaking of lacy foliage, A few years ago hubby and I vacationed in AZ.  We took a day trip to Bisbee.  Fennel grew wild along the roadside.  I stopped and dug up a start.  Silly me, now I have more than I want!  Growing wild should have tipped me off that it's hard to control.  lol!


Feverfew and Larkspur seed randomly throughout my garden.


I bought 3 Foxgoves for $1.50 from the same nursery as the Campanula.  They are all starting to bloom.  This one is peach, the other two are white and pink.  So happy they are different colors.  Love, love, love!

Coneflowers, another favorite.


I'm not a big fan of orange in the garden, other than poppies.  I swear this lily was pink last year.  Is that possible?  It is such a pretty orange that I don't mind!


False Indigo in the shade garden and a little ladder with succulents.


This beauty is another gifted start.  I think it has to be a Campanula as well.


I hope you enjoyed the early morning and evening stroll through my garden!

And look what I'll be frying up soon.  Yum!  We love fried cabbage!!

Grow, baby, grow! 


hugs,
Jann

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:

 


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