Mosey Cottage

Howdy ya’ll! As usual I have been quite busy taking pix, working on my art and crochet, and babysitting my beautiful granddaughter. She recently turned a year old! What’s that got to do with the title, you ask? Oh, just about everything! You see, I always had prayed for a house from my late husband. Well, since his passing, my daughter and her little family decided to use some of the monies to buy me a house! There’s a story here too but it needs to wait for another time….

Mosey Cottage. A name to memorialize my late husband whose nickname was Moe. A name to depict the house. A house for an artist. A house that’s only a “mosey” away from the granddaughter. No “over the river and through the woods” here!

Mosey Cottage

Doesn’t look like much from the front. My son in law had mowed and consequently moved the step off to the side. This is what’s called a “shot gun” house. Narrow and long. Each room is as wide as the house and follows the next in line. It has/had a garage with a breeze way between. Every bit of that is now part of the house.

The south Side

As you can see, there is a LOT of work to be done. I am looking forward to getting started on the landscaping which doesn’t exist as of now. I did manage to plant my nearly dead irises next to a badly rusted clothesline pole. The other flowers are yellow lilies that are common here. Provided my son in law hasn’t mowed these I am praying they live.

My poor transplant of irises

I am not living here yet. The house had previously suffered a major water break. Hence the entire center of the house has mushy floors. Also, since the house was built circa 1940, it needs electrical updating.

Would you like to see the inside? Or part of it? When the kids bought the house the contents were part of the bid. There’s a houseful of furniture, dishes, linens, and even toiletries and clothing! The lady had died in a nursing facility and the family just didn’t want the house or her things. Sad, really, both for the lady and for me. My kids aren’t allowing me to keeping anything!

Glimpse of the Bathroom

The bathroom was poorly planned. No room for two people for sure! Kids tell me that they are going to update perhaps with a new tub. Definitely new plumbing!

Sad bathing

Yep. Even the bathing stool and potty hat were left behind. GROSS!!!

The place I plan to spend all my time is NOT in the bathroom! Haha! Since the garage is enclosed with both interior and exterior doors the kids say they are making me a dream come true! I get to FINALLY have my own crafting workshop/artist’ studio! I’m so excited! Especially since THIS is what it currently looks like:

Garage Dreaming Of course, this is only a partial view. It only shows about half. Or perhaps a third. As you can see there’s a LOT of items left to sift through and sell. This picture is lighter than what the room really is because I had the outside door open. It’s actually much darker and depressing. Hopefully I can get a bigger window. I’ve got my fingers crossed!

And so Mosey Cottage starts with a hole. Not Whole yet. But I am soooo looking forward to sharing the progress with ya’ll!

beginning work full view

Until next post I pray your life is wholly full of life and love and whimsy.

Enjoy!

Bonnie (aka Peabutton’s Mom)

 

Keshia’s Kakes on Super Bowl Desserts

This is SOOO good! I just have to share!

Super Bowl parties are all about food you can eat with your hands.  Fussy cakes and pies are for another occasion.  When it comes to parties like this,  your guests will be grazing throughout the evening, so having food you can leave out for a bit, is easy to eat, and portable is key.  These little Football Peanut Butter Truffles will give your guests something they won’t forget in one tasty bite.

Football Peanut Butter Truffles

Ingredients

½ cup Peanut Butter

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

8 ounces chocolate-flavored candy coating (Wilton and Nestle make these, but be sure to buy something labeled for use in candy.  Not all chocolate is created equal.)

¾ c white chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl stir together peanut butter and butter. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until combined. Shape into 1-inch football shapes; place on waxed paper…

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DIYdea for the Artsy/craftsy

Hey Ya’ll! Been missin’ me yet?  Me too!    🙂

I’ve been really busy working on new art ideas. I am an artist and also quite crafty.    😉    I have been working more with my paints recently. In my artist world I came upon a fantastic little quart (or so) bottle with gesso. The art store I bought it from bought these jugs and filled them with gesso. That way a customer could come back in for refills of gesso! Clever! In my own starving artist need I decided to just buy a gallon of “Kilz” style primer and fill the jug myself. After many, many times of use this jug would build up the primer on the screw rings and lid thus becoming nearly impossible to open!

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I’ve had the jug long enough that the lid attachment finally broke. Can you see what I mean about the buildup?  Well, recently I had an epiphany. Honestly, I get tired of scraping that stuff off the rings with a sharp knife. AND I really don’t know why I’ve never thought to do this before!  I use plastic shopping bags all the time under my artwork while I’m painting or gluing. Much less expensive than wax paper!

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Now I want you to know I’ve seen people do similar with gallons of house paint and such. It just never dawned on me to do the same thing on the smaller paint bottles and jars! AND this is MUCH less expensive than saran wrap too! Looky here:

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I simply cut a piece of plastic shopping bag big enough to fit plenty over the opening. Since I already use the bags for everything else I figure why not this?  TADA!!  It works!

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It works like a dream! Each time I open the jug, I like to pick up the “gesso” that’s on the plastic cover with my paintbrush so as not to waste any.   Yep, I can be overly frugal sometimes. However, frugality is not necessarily needed with making plastic covers for the paint bottles. Just throw the cover away after opening and apply a new one each time. With the shopping bags being abundant in the USA it’s quite easy to acquire a pile of them in just one trip to the store! I’ve since cut numerous squares of plastic to use on this jug. Just clip with a clothespin or small binder clip and stash in your art box.   🙂

I hope my little light bulb moment helps you too! Have fun being creative. I definitely do!

Until next time ~ Enjoy!

Bonnie