Last round of cabin photos from the July trip

I'm linking up with some blog parties so bear with me - some of the info you've probably seen on my blog before...but to make it fit with the blog party we're going to do it all again!

I was not feeling overly inspired and frankly, we won't be back at the cabin until October, so I didn't do much with the mantle. It will get changed up for October / November / December since we'll be there back to back. Yippy!

So here it is as I left it on Saturday morning.

I added the Evening Chores framed piece on a black metal stand (it's at an angle, but doesn't look like it at all in the picture) and I added the black metal candle lantern. Yep, zero thought put into it. Those were just things that were in a crate of stuff we hauled up there that didn't have an obvious "home" calling out to me.  The basket on the hearth was a Goodwill find...and the white shutters came from my neighbor's trash can (oh yes I did). The chair that you can see part of, is one of a pair that I purchased from Craig's List. Of course the cabin itself is also

Here are the Norman Rockwell prints that a co-worker gave me. I will be painting the shiny gold frames black...I just wasn't in the mood for it when we were there. These are the four seasons print series. Black frames will help them pop don't you think? Norman Rockwell IS Americana right? :-)

I took down the green Welcome sign and the green spigot coat rack at the bottom of the stairs and replaced it with a quilt hanger shelf.

Before...(Look on the left side of the photo...I guess I never took a photo of just that corner...don't mind the flag...I bring it in when we aren't there) In this photo, the shelf, half of what is on it, the lamp, and the sofa were all from yard sales or Craig's List.

After...in this photo, the stuff on the shelf was all from Goodwill.

I need to figure out a few more things to put on the shelf, but that shouldn't be too hard. You can't really tell in the photo but the red thing is a tin "bucket" with tall straight sides and a wooden handle. It has a star shape cut out on one side. In the corner is a blue enamel speckled coffee pot. I might flip the lid up and put some berries or flowers in it. Then again, maybe not.

In the downstairs bedroom I hung two art tiles over the headboard (a vintage tailgate...from a yard sale and the red checked pillow was another Goodwill purchase). They used to be along the stairs where the Rockwell's hang now.

I know they don't look even...it's the dang design LOL - I measured AND checked them with a level! Now that I look at them...I might swap them. Maybe that would help...

I rearranged some stuff on the dresser and added the "quilt box" - another OTP store closing piece that was practically free. The framed print is one of a series of three...purchased at a thrift store.

Upstairs in the master bedroom I have two canvas pieces sitting on the headboard (another vintage tailgate from the same yard sale as the first one)...I can't decide if I like them or not...plus there's that stupid outline of a half moon thing that the previous owner had on the wall and the sun faded the wood and left the design for me to work around.  The lamp was a Goodwill find, and the table it's sitting on? It's actually a vintage luggage rack (from an antique mall) topped with a piece of beveled glass that was left at one of my dad's rental properties (I actually ended up with 2 of the end table glasses and two different coffee table tops as well).

What do you think about the pieces? Any other suggestions as to what to put there? Should I hang them with the one on the left higher to follow or accent the ceiling / wall line? It's a vaulted ceiling but kinda A frame down the right side of the bed.  Too many stars and stripes? I could use them on the back deck or something. I didn't pay much for them - the price tags were $7.99 from Old Time Pottery, but I snapped them up when they closed the store by my house and they were at least 70% off. 

I added another "quilt top" piece to the dresser up in the master. It's actually a CD holder...the dresser was a $30 piece from Treasure Hunt Thrift Store here in Florida and the Longaberger Hostess basket I picked up on ebay.

I really need to distress and / or glaze that dresser...too red.

Down in the kitchen I decided to move that giant enamel stockpot up (antique mall) off the top of the fridge. I hung a sign back there (one of those ones that's made with wallpaper border) ... and promptly hid it with a Coke crate. In the upper left corner there's a hint of the next shot...where to start? The picnic basket was a Community Thrift Store find for $4, the layered star against it came from Goodwill, the Coke crate came from another thrift store and the milk can on the far right was bought off Craig's List for $25.

Mr. Crow returns! The giant crow I picked up at Goodwill a few months ago is no longer sitting on my front porch in Florida. He's now perched in the cabin. I got him for $3.99 - funny thing (ha ha) when I unpacked him in Tennessee...I realized his original price sticker was on the bottom of his feet (seriously...I never looked). He's from Restoration Hardware! And he was originally $29. Too funny...oh nice...now I notice that Mr. Paisley left a neon green bath sheet hanging on the door upstairs. *ugh* why didn't I see that when I TOOK the photo so I could RE-take the photo...minus the dumb towel? Oh sure...I could Photoshop it out, but where's the fun in that...

Let's go outside shall we?

Ok, so you can see how badly the cabin needs to be stained...aside from that, we now have a Robin's Nest barn star -it's at the front corner of the porch when you come off the parking area.

Then I added a few goodies down at the far end where the rocking chairs and porch swing will live at some point...

The white thing is a faux Birch wood double plant holder...It's sort of peanut shaped. It was $2.50 on clearance at Marshall's. The metal flag wall pocket was a Goodwill find for $.99 and the red, white and blue star shaped pip wreath came from Big Lots. Since we don't live there full time I didn't put potted plants in the hanger. In October I will add some faux greenery or something fall-ish that doesn't require watering. To the far left you can see the next shot...

Voila - red, white and blue barn star garland...and an empty black plant stand, and an empty hanging basket (actually there's one of those in each railing section along the deck)...and my new wind chime.

I know...enough with the barn stars...

Here's a fabulously blurry shot of all the new rail planters. They have sweet  potato vine in them...the two at the end closest to the deck also have dusty miller and asparagus fern in them. Neither of which was anywhere to be found. My auntie Alyce replanted those two (the others were here in Florida) and two weeks later when we showed up, Lowe's and Home Depot were both out of the other two plants. Go figure. That's Mr. Paisley over there and you can see my other empty hanging baskets. Those will get some nice faux ferns I think...again, not there to water them.

We also rounded up an assortment of Hostas...because they don't really grow that well here in Florida and I just love them. 

Mr. Paisley set up a soaker hose on a timer for these. They're under the Dogwood tree and they only get sun in the mid to late afternoon. We got Patriot, Wide Brim, Fragrant Bouquet, Francis Williams, and Queen Josephine (in memory of my grandma Josephine)...

Here's Mr. Paisley figuring out that digging in Tennessee is NOTHING like digging in Florida.

Poor baby ended up with blisters from using that redneck backhoe.

After the second hole, he went and bought a pickax. Yep...no sandy soil here! Just rocks...and really hard clay. The curtains were repurposed from my family room in Florida and my mom covered the tapestry dragonflies across the tops with blue ticking.

The bunnies were out hard core this trip...he's right there in the middle of the picture...blending in - framed by the greenery.

We also have a new pet! Blog readers...meet Skink! Skink lives under/on our deck. We love reptiles!

He's there under the railing...on the very edge.

He's curious...my friend Janet told me her mom was deathly afraid of snakes. Lizards are a fact of life here in Florida. No big deal...they eat bugs...they have no teeth. They want you to stay as far away from them as possible. Janet used to taunt her mom with lizards. "Look mom...it's a snake with legs!" Now lizards really don't look like snakes...at all. Skink however....is most definitely a snake with legs! I don't love snakes. I've made my peace with them...but we stick to our boundaries. I don't mind skink....weird isn't it?

Skink likes to lounge in the sun...just like my iguanas do here in Florida. In fact...Skink is "flung" in this picture. When an iguana is content, it will "fling" it's legs back alongside it's body. I actually watched little Skink fling his little legs back and I laughed out loud and HAD to take a picture. You have to look close at this picture...but you can see it! 

Here's a photo of Smirnoff "flung" in her bed...obviously not the "i'm on high alert and ready to run" pose. That's the "where's my blanket, I want to go to sleep, stop taking pictures of me" look.

While we were in Tennessee we HAD to go to the bestest steakhouse on the planet...

Mmmm....

Super casual...come as you are (our waitress was wearing denim capris, sneakers and a UT tee shirt and had her hair up in a pony tail...and she was NOT a college kid...aside from the UT shirt...rock on!) no stuffiness here...no coat and tie required. Jeans and flip flops are just fine. The inside is like a log cabin and they decorate for each season...

This is in the main downstairs dining room. As you can see...it was not busy at 8pm on a Tuesday night. Sometimes it's pretty quiet...and sometimes it is packed to the rafters! Not the greatest photo, but there are floral garlands over every doorway and all kinds of farm baskets and flowers up on top of the restroom cube there...and more stuff all over the place. Plain old ladder back chairs...only most of them have sayings written on them...fun to read!

That's their pretty flower garden out front...and that's my big white truck you can see reflected in the window LOL. Fabulous!

I know I said this was the last round of photos...but there just might be a few more tomorrow...because they're on the other camera. Stay tuned for some aDOErable photos from our run thru Cades Cove last Thursday!

 

Linking this one up to...