Wonders of the natural world

Some very strange occurrences have been transpiring around here in the animal world lately... yes, the most strangest of things indeed... 

Yesterday morning when the Fisherman and I arrived home from a little rendezvous of a breakfast date we were confronted with a very strange scene like what you see here... 

Just like horses do, these two feral, 'Winter' and 'Tiger Lily', were found standing next to each other facing opposite ways in a frozen-like manner. I have never seen cats doing something like that... you? But the strangest of all things is how they remained in this position for the longest of time... not moving, never paying attention to the sounds of our approaching vehicle or our proximity... something I had never seen them do...     

Do you suppose they were being hypnotized by some invisible entities of the woods or something? Perhaps they were confabulating against me?  Again?  Oh oh oh nature forbids!  

You see, right after we got back home from our Florida holiday vacation I found the most disgusting and messiest of poopiest cat disaster ever in the whole wide world waiting for us in our front porch... the 'guilty party', Tuxedo.  The owner of our front porch...  so he thinks! 

There was cat poop all over the floors, furnishings and pillows, poop on and under the settee.  I even found cat's poop between the two shelves of the little country table I keep out there for my plants and lantern... how did this 'beast' of a cat managed to do this and why, it escapes my imagination...

Every pillow and fabric there had to be put into the trash...

A cruel war against wills, I supposed that's what it is... when night drew in I still could not stopped thinking of why this cat hates me so.... well, he's validating his space I guess, but so am I.

I must have some heart problems or something... going up this hill has proven me faulty time after time and out of shape in a big way... I either need to slow down or just die... but the nippiness in which the January mornings wake up wrapped in these days, it is most invigorating and you keep trying, wanting for more, more sunshine infused days and lovely crisp blue skies... 

Yesterday morning while out walking, I heard the most strange of sounds all of a sudden... I swoosh of a sound like a fast-moving train in the distance or some invisible something rushing pass me... when I turn around to look, I was amazed by the sight... a whooping mass of thousands of birds whirling just all above and around me... a mass aerial stunt that has continued on all day long today.... 

I did a little research and learned that these birds are European Starlings.  When starlings flock together, wheeling and darting through the sky in tight, fluid formations, they are referred to as a 'murmuration'.  And that's exactly the sound I heard... a murmur of birds... isn't this the most sublimes of names!

The answer to the 'hypnotized cats mystery' unfurled in subtle ways this morning...  These cats must have been working on a settlement or resolution of sorts between them before going into war... like some pre-war meetings or something... you see, this morning Winter showed up looking like a total mess.  I couldn't see any visible injury on him, but its lovely white fur was all muddy and he looked terrible. When he saw me, he stopped for a minute and looked straight into my eyes before disappearing into the woods... I haven't seen him since, but hope he's doing just fine wherever he is and will show up again real soon.... Tiger Lily did showed up too this morning!  

Guess we know who the winner was!

He's so beautiful...

Do you think he'll be offended if he finds out I call him 'Tiger Lily'?

Oh oh and one final tale before I say goodnight... this evening just before dusk, I spied on a cardinal eating some leftovers turkey bacon I left out for the cats...  boy, and I thought birds only fed on seeds and worms... this one most had been some opportunistic omnivore! Whatever is going on in the natural world? ;)

Do you have any tales of animals behaving in a funny, strange or unusual way in your part of the world?  Do share! ;)

This book here it truly is beyond words: "What animals think and feel". Check it out, if you want to learn some really cool stuff!

Window curtains and table lamps

Our days are still dawning up wrapped in nippy blankets, but this morning the sun has finally emerged, and its robust light is bathing my little world in golden globules of cheerfulness and hope.  We like to keep the heater on low, and although the cottage slumbers on the chilly side, I love it.  On my CD, the soothing voice of Rod Stewart rocks my morning... "Darling you oh oh oh thrill me... honest you do... honest you do whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh... and could you coo... could you care for a cunning cottage we could share. The world will pardon my rush cause I've got a crush, my baby, on you..."

                            

Oh I do I do the Fisherman and I!  And I'm so in love with our little cottage too.  Sunshine coming through the window in our master room hits on the crystal curtains I have there making all sorts of furtive and enchanting figures of light all over the room... dancing blotch of light that I tried to capture with my lenses in impossible momentous. 

Have I mentioned we have our first Goodwill now? ;) I found this awesome table lamp for just a few bucks the other day.  It goes perfectly with all the black and white patterns in our bedroom, and I so love the tall shape of it... 

Then, I also happened upon yet another treasure... a pair of 96" World Market floral Kavita cotton tab top curtains... almost for free with the day's discount.  And a lovely match to the touches of coral I'm incorporating in our room...  I'm so in love...

Wish I had found two more... 

I prefer two panels on each window, but since I don't think I will be spending $80 for the cost of new ones any soon, a single panel on each window will have to work for now... 

I know some designers will see this as a huge 'NO" when it comes to decorating... but oh well, I'm not a designer and I love these panels so much, I decide I don't care!

Home decorating isn’t always about large pieces of furniture and expensive things me thinks.  Small details can take a room from drab to fab! It’s easy and can be a quick afternoon project... like just visiting your nearest thrift store ;)

Be happy with what you have... and always make the best of things...

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Creating moments

Will it rain, sleet or snow?  Two nights ago, Lady Fog came out of her hiding place somewhere behind the horizon, and wrapped her pale arms tightly 'round our little white cottage... thick sheets of fog hung heavily down from the night sky in ghostly-like manners.  It was so foggy, you couldn't even make out the outline of the nearest home in the neighborhood.  A ghostly night, appropriate for a Walking Dead story, indeed. 

Then, with the last day of December along came Winter.  This morning, the bare branches blew in the breezes in chilly north winds, and the sky took the steely gray color of the sky before the snowfall... over to the left where the wintry looking woods stand I could hear the incessant cry of a lonesome hawk.  Maybe Mother Nature's mumblings with the northern winds had something to do with the bird's strange behavior?   Who knows!

Today is Little Miss Fairy's last day with us at the little white cottage.  Before going back home we made sure to make her favorite dessert... chocolate cake!

She adorned it with some pretty pink and blue edible jewels and some whipping cream that, much to her disappointment it immediately melted right into the cake,... 

Oh well, at least we can't say we didn't tried! 

The other day we visited our newly established community Goodwill ( the first one ever in our little town) and found some awesome treasures... among other things, I bought a bunch of music books for a project I've been envisioning.  I particularly love this one because of the name of it... it drew my attention immediately... 

In Mythology, Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds and companion of the nymphs...  it sounded so dreamy.

And this one... as you can understand, my favorite it of all:  Down in Yon Forest 

I wanted to make some art for my Gypsy Room.  Some mixed media type of art that I could transfer unto canvas for my walls.  And this is what I came up with...  

First off, I wanted to give my music sheets an antique look.  All you need for this is hot, black coffee or tea, a teaspoon or so of instant coffee for splashing, a baking sheet larger than the piece of paper you want to antique, a sponge brush, or soft bristle brush, paper towels and an oven... Pre-heat your oven to the lowest setting and please..... keep a watch on your project just in case of flame ups, K!

I saw Martha antiquing paper a few years ago, and although I don’t remember her technique, I played around with the general idea.  I'm sure you can find some good instructions on how to do this on the Internet.  

Down in Yon Forest canvas... The antiqued paper turned out just lovely! 

For my gypsy girl canvas, 

I first Mod Podged this lovely gypsy-like wrapping paper 

(also found at the thrift store) 

onto the canvas

then I glued down the rest...  

So colorful

So pretty!

Credit for the arts I used -- Pinterest.  Now, I don't know how the copyright thing works for images posted on Pinterest, but I figure that images found on social media sites are good for public use. Many of my own photographs are all over the Internet... and that means I cannot control what others would do with them.  Well, at least I hope I'm not infringing any laws.  

How's your January coming along thus far?  Can you believe this is already the second day of the new year?  Time... time is an uncontrollable magical thing.  It goes by way too fast. It's been super cold here and I am so ready for those sunny spring days.  There's so much I want to do out there in the garden, but I must wait and enjoy each minute...

Life is a great gift and I hope you take time to do what makes your soul happy this year! 

See you soon friends!

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The gypsy days of December

Hi y'all! Hope you're all doing great wherever you are. Did you have a lovely Christmas? I sure do hope so. We ended up driving to South FL where we spent the entire Christmas week with mom, dad and sister Lissette and her family. Making memories, savoring precious hours, great food and long lovely walks 'round lovely neighborhoods... memories, that I will forever treasure in the deepest and fondest hiding places of my heart. 

It was a super warm and super humid Christmas even for South FL. The hottest Christmas in 30 years, they say, with the loveliest of full moon adorning the southern skies since 1977... real awesomeness, me thinks. 

Here at home, it's been raining non-stop for the last two weeks. Everything is green and wet and wonderfully mossy outside... inside, we've surrendered ourselves to our gypsy side...

You see, a very dear and lovely 'fairy' is spending a few days with us

at our little white cottage...

...and thus, my usually airy and contemporary guest room is now a gypsy caravan moving at the slow pace of time... the crunch of rocks under the wooden wheels as we travel along busy cities, the rhythmic motion rocking colorful porch lanterns which throw glittering rainbows as they catch the rays of the sun on our way through country roads and swaths of rich tapestries and velvets, and the sweet tinkling of coin belts...

Sometimes all you need is a splash of color to brighten your life...  I love white, and I need white sometimes.  But my love for white can never be surpassed by the power of color.  How can people live all their life under the blank slate of just white white white everywhere they turn, it's something that escapes my imagination.... it surely is a trend that speaks of a sad life to me.    

We love the cute coral gypsy skirt!

and fairy lights...

A flowery chandelier...

Our 'Gypsy Fairy' created for herself a very lovely and comfortable reading nook where she spends precious hours reading her favorite novels....  so pretty!

She also came up with the idea of creating a mood board the size of an entire wall that we did using scraps of colorful gypsy fabrics and old photographs and mementos.  

Some of the arts there comes from her own writings, straight from the heart.... isn't this just awesome?  

A colorful bohemian room where to play, read and also pray for those affected by the floods.  

May the Lord embraces us in His light

and may our little world rest in His wonderful peace.

And to the friends and readers
of the little white cottage...
a magical and blessed 2016!

Happy New Year!

Those December days...

The cold days of December are for sipping honey vanilla chamomile tea in pretty teacups...

They are for cups of hazelnut lattes warming up your hands while you stroll the early morning gardens...  

For fleece pajamas and comfy beds 

Oh yes.... and for thick warm socks too! 

only I'm not such a fan of socks....  I know ;)

Cold December days are for little lights diluting shadows...

Until daylight comes around knocking on your door... 

...inviting you to start off your day feeling calm, refreshed, and joyful.  You’re more likely to sustain that positive vibe as the day goes on if you do... 

December days are also for cottontail rabbits and the eerie cries coming from the woods when you're outside pulling weeds.

The first time I heard these strange sounds I thoughts I was imagining them....
Cries that sound like a human baby in pain can make anyone's hair stand on end

but then I learned that it was just the rabbits...

Since the woods are both, habitats to the cottontail as well as the wild cats, one can only imagine what goes in there.  The human-like screaming noises I hear coming from the woods must probably are related to the stress and pain caused by felines... can you imagine?  It is very sad, and creepy... Any how, where was I?  Oh yes yes, December days... they are for hearty soups on chilly evenings...

And for giving and receiving...

The other day I was nicely surprised with a box filled with all sorts of goodies

from my friend Bonnie...

I was a happy little girl taking things out of the box...

That was so nice and thoughtful of her...

Thank you dear Bonnie!

I wanted to wallpaper one of the walls in our guest bathroom using fabric the other day...

But I wasn't happy with how it looked, so I took it down and tried something else...
Although I like this fabric much better I still couldn't make up my mind

and at the end left the emptied white wall as was...  

What do you think.... which is your favorite?

I hope you're feeling all holiday happy my friends... I know I am. We were planning on heading down to FL again for Christmas, but decided to just relax and take it easy here at home...  so now that we're staying, how about you come for a cup of tea, or coffee one of these days? We can even share some pie... ;)

Do have a Merry Christmas!

and remember:

Be blessed!

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