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!!  :)

 

 

River Cruise Relief

 

Hello my friends,

 

I've been away way too long.  I'm excited to be back sharing with you!

 

Many of you know that I was diagnosed with brain cancer last Oct.  I had surgery in Nov. and my cancer doctors have me get MRI's quite regularly.  So far, good; but about a month ago the images were not so good.  They couldn't confirm that it was the cancer growing back or just inflammation.

 

A pic to break up the monotony.  I loved that our cruise director, Britta grabbed Jan's (my friend) phone and snapped this of us!

 

 

My friend, Jan (with one n)  :) invited us to go on a river boat cruise with her and her hubby.  We booked it a long time before I was diagnosed.  I wasn't sure we would be able to go.  Especially, when two of my drs.  said the same thing.

 

Thank goodness for the power of prayer.  I felt in my heart that we should.  I know hubby was worried, but all went well!!

 

We cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest for 18 days.  It was just what I needed!  It revived my soul!! 

 

 I loved the windmill tour and all of the welcoming!

 

 

It was interesting to learn that they really do farm and garden in wooden shoes.

 

 

 

 Even the cows wear wooden shoes in North Holland.  I couldn't help but smile!

 

Hubby suggested I wear his hat.  What do you think?

 

The flowers throughout the towns were so beautiful!  I love the window boxes hanging on the homes.

 

 

A beautiful artichoke blossom.

 

 

Colorful houses in a German town.

 

 

 This padlock bridge of love blew my mind!  I've seen quite a few of them, but never as many padlocks as this one.

 

 

Sweet whimsy of a painted path.  Don't you love all of the cobblestone and brick paths?

 

 

It wouldn't be England without tea.  This was a fun window display!  Sadly, it was Sunday so it was closed.  I could only enjoy the scene from outside.

 

 

Luckily, we had a wonderful tea on the boat!  We had celebrated Bavarian Day.  They put out a delicious

 spread at 1 p.m. for lunch.   At 3 they hosted a tea.  Oh my gosh, they had so much yummy food.  Problem is, we were all still full from lunch.  I still had to try a few.  Posing with some of the staff is always a highlight.  They work so hard!

 

 

Our boat had a lot of Aussies on it.  They were so comical!  The gal in the yellow pants was from Florida, but joined in with them.

 

 There is so much eye candy in all of the quaint towns!

 

A sweet welcome on a home door.

 

 

I love the metal yellow planters!

 

 

 

 

Silly Jan having fun at the flower market. 

 

 

Of course we saw lots of castles and churches.  But that's for another post.

 

I hope you enjoyed what made me happy!

 

To be honest, 18 days was a bit long for hubs and I, but I would recommend a river cruise if you ever get a chance.

 

hugs,

 

 

Now for a happier note, I had another MRI this week and the images were much better.  Almost all of the white was gone.  God is watching over me!!