It arrived at last!

I was totally thrilled yesterday afternoon when my first issue of Victoria finally arrived. I had been hearing about it from online friends and couldn't wait to get mine. It is really wonderful and in the style of how Victoria was in the beginning. This promises to be a good start for the relaunch.


Isn't this a fun irony? This article about Tasha Tudor's historical dresses started with this title page which shares the name of my blog. The dresses were beautiful too. It is wonderful to have our old Victoria magazine back once again!


Our tiny half bath has been totally stripped. In just a few short hours, Jos and a friend's husband ripped out the toilet, sink and the tiles on the walls. This meant lots of dust downstairs and I am now giving the entry hall, laundry room, and living room/dining room/kitchen a deep clean. I am wax cleaning the wood floors bits at a time. While I dust, I have been playing with rearranging the vignettes on my tables. This is now the autumn arrangement on my coffee table. I moved this quilt and cornucopia to the living room as it had been by the front door on a sidetable. I like having it here for Thanksgiving.


I have now placed the sidetable in the living room behind the couch and no longer have it set up as a writing desk. I am missing the way it was before but it is fun to try something different. I put out a book bound collection of the family magazine from the Victorian period called "Sunday At Home". On this book is a pair of antique eyeglasses. I wish I could find more of them to add to my collection. I have four pairs so far.


I had to keep my red antique and vintage books in the book ends. These are some of my favorites! The lace you see on this sidetable has my own homemade bobbin lace.


My mother bought this paperweight from a charity shop in England on one of our visit and gave it to me.

A few responses ~
Sophie and Julie ~ I will try to post some more photos soon of the cottage. It is very small but yes, very magical and romantic. We love our weekends there!

Mary ~ We are not allowed to live in the cottage permanently. The law says you can stay there 40 weeks a year unless the status changes for the road. We do love it up north and would like to live there permanently one day which would mean selling the cottage and buying a house. We found out that the red and vanilla of our cottage are the original colors from when they were built. There is a sweet little old lady in her 80s across from us who is still the original owner of hers. Have a fun weekend at Emerald Isle, NC and share some photos if you can.

Nancy ~ I wish you could come by for a cup of hot chocolate! I did not jump into the leaves. I don't think that would be a good idea with my back.

Andylynne ~ The chest is something we purchased when we lived in Sweden many years ago. It has the year were were married stamped in the lid also which made us want to buy it even more. We like using it as a coffee table. The house is so small and this chest works very well there.

Gail ~ Planting bulbs in the grass is very popular here. It gives a wild and natural effect. You simply mow the leaves away when you mow the grass 6 weeks after they have bloomed. It also is effective as you don't 'use up space' in your flower borders.