My Sweet Little Nook

Oh I am going to show off my favorite (okay, don't I say that every time - yes, they are ALL my favorites) spot in my kitchen.  

Oh you're funny!  It's not the fridge or the stove.

It's this sweet little nook....

I'm showing this off because I finally painted it.  I dare not tell you how long it's been naked wood.  Oh why not!  We're all friends here.  It took me 4 years to finally make it look purty!

I know. It doesn't look that great in that picture.  

Just trust me.  

Have I ever let you down?

The white lacy curtains ought to reassure you, right?

Why look!  They open!  

And of course, I had to paint the inside a different color.  

I'm sneaky that way.

And now those cushions cozy it up just a bit.  

(Cushions made by the Fabulous Phyllis!)

And pillows even add to the warmth.  

I'm a bit of a pillow addict.  

Are you?

Now this is my particular spot.  

In fact, I'm sitting right there while I write this post.

More pillow shots.....

Oh...avert your eyes if you want to avoid a gratuitous pillow shot.

Oh but it's not just another pretty face!  It's useful too!  (and, no, not just for sitting)

Want a closer look?

Oh my yes, it's filled with vintage tablecloths! And.......there's room for more!

I neglected to take a picture of the other bench's contents, but that's Baby Bee's spot so one cubby is filled with her Girl Gourmet supplies and tools and the other cubby is filled with arts and crafts supplies.

And - voila!  Here is the whole little nook.

My kitchen is L shaped.  Strange, I know.  Gotta' love 1951 architecture!  My uncle built the little bookcase (on the left side) for me when we first moved in here.  I found the kitchen island that has the espresso maker on it (on the right).  This same sweet uncle built the benches/banquette for me too.  I found the plans for these benches in an old magazine I got from Home Depot.  He custom fit them for me for my little corner.  

Caught the magic blue light tonight outside the windows!  

I also switched my old kitchen chairs for my former dining room chairs.  Oh yeah, you caught that didn't you.  My former dining room chairs.  Does that mean something new is going on in the dining room?  Oh you'll just have to come back another time to find out about that story.  Aren't I frightful tease?  

Would you like a white mocha or hazelnut latte?

Or maybe you'd like to stay for dinner?

I must confess, it's spaghetti from a jar. Shhh.....don't tell!  (But I sure do love the frozen turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's with sauce from Costco.  Perfect for a busy night!)

I see an open spot at the table for you.....

Thanks so much for buzzing in! 

Can you believe I'm coming up on my 2nd Blogthday?  It's almost my birthday too!

You know I've got to have a giveaway up my sleeve for you.  (Okay, it's still too hot to have it up my sleeve, but you know what I mean!)

Thank you so much for stopping by - if only for a moment.  Your visits always put a smile on my face!

And, of course, I'll be sharing over at

Cindy's My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Fridays!

 

The Day After Christmas....

Christmas morning at Sweet Bee Cottage.....

A delicious breakfast of chocolate croissants, lattes, orange juice and some fruit......

Santa brought Baby Bee a new bike.....

Worker Bee got a fun new argyle sweater (the guy LOVES argyles)....

and I got a door!

What's that you say?  A door?  

Yes, you heard right.....a door!  

Actually it's a hardboard slab (that's the Home Depot name for it) and it's meant to be a very cheap interior door.

Why am I so excited to get a door?  

Well, I'm going to be a tease and not tell you until I get the job done.  Just rest assured that there will be quite a transformation before I'm done with it.  Now just keep your fingers crossed that the rain in California stops enough for me to get the job done before I go back to school.  And please say a little prayer for those who have suffered with our recent rains. 

While we're talking about Christmas, I just have to share with you the special present Baby Bee made for Worker Bee and me.

We each got a book of hug coupons - 20 each.  We keep teasing her and saying we're going to save them for when she's 13 and might not be as free with her hugs.  She bound it together and everything. (And yes...NOW she knows she spelled coupon wrong but she says they are still redeemable.)

I also got a sweet little giveaway winning in the mail on Christmas Eve.

I just love nicely wrapped treats, don't you?  I need to remember that when I send my giveaways out.  Note to self!

I kind of fell in love with this little snowman guy!  Too cute just hanging out.

Have you seen Cathy's work at 

Tadpoles and Teacups?

I just adore the whimsy she creates.  She has a great sense of humor.  

(Whimsy is a favorite word of mine.)

She had a giveaway on her blog and I won!  

This sweet little signed print is now living at my house.  Yeah! 

 And I'm not going to put it away with the Christmas decorations.  

Thank you Cathy!

And thank you for coming by!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  I'm so looking forward to spending more time with you in the new year!

P.S.  I DID get all my gifts wrapped!  Even got them done before dinner on Christmas Eve!

Do You Remember Open House?

Well it's Open House Season in our part of the country.  Baby Bee's Open House is next week and my school's Open House is the week after.  

I love Open House!  I love all the projects the students make and how we get to really show off each student's creativity.  My students are making dioramas of a Great American Hero.

Baby Bee had to make some sort of project on the Solar System.  I thought about making one out of styrofoam balls, but have you priced styrofoam balls lately?  It would have cost about $35 just for the balls.   That's just not in the budget with all these graduations and other events, so I found some planet print outs and Baby Bee watercolored them.  

While she was painting each planet as accurately as she could (I had a picture of each planet up on our desktop) I did a little playing too.  

I saw on somebody's blog that they had watercolored some paper doilies.  (Sorry, I can't remember now where I saw it - so many fabulous blogs out there and I can't remember where I get some of my inspiration.) It was kind of fun, but I'll have to play around a little more with it.  

So after all the planets had dried we glued them onto some black construction paper and . . .

Ta-da!

Couldn't quite get all of the Solar System in the picture. 

I'm particularly proud of her Saturn - it looks a lot like the pictures from NASA.  

I can remember - now climb in the wayback machine with me - in fifth grade working on state reports.  I did Missouri and North Dakota.  We also made kites in honor of the bicentennial.  Mine had the 13 colonies drawn in red and blue marker.  Loved that kite - it never did fly right though.  I can remember even trying to make my own homemade kite at home that summer.   'Fraid I don't have a picture of that to share with you today.

Do you remember any of your Open House projects?  What did you love about them?  (Or hate about them?)  Now I sound like a journal topic for my students to write on.  So in 25 words or less - LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!  I always enjoy our little visits and I so enjoy coming by your place too.

Meet Charlotte

Baby Bee was given a homework assignment - create a three dimensional character from Charlotte's Web.  Well I was inspired by all the Liquidambar (yes, I checked the spelling on that) balls rolling around our front yard so Baby Bee and I got to work.

We painted.  We glued.  We put beads on.  We cut and bent chenille stems.

And the piece de resistance - a web that says, "Terrific."

Presentations were made on Friday and Baby Bee did great.

Edited to add:  How did we make the web?  Baby Bee drew what she wanted the web to look like.  We laid it under some kitchen parchment paper and I happened to have some silvery glitter paint that we traced the design with.  We tried this with wax paper first but the paint just ran together.

So nice of you to drop in.  I'll be happy to make you a nice cup of tea next time.  Just let me know how you take it......

Oh boy! I'm linking up with Cindy at Cottage Instincts for

Thanks for stopping by!