WATER - LOGGED...

We are becoming waterlogged once again, but rain isn't going to be the subject for today.

Today we are talking technology...

...phones to be exact...cell phones

Now, I'm not even sure they are called cell phones anymore, but back twenty or thirty years ago, when we purchased this one, that is what they were called.

This phone was just fine by me.  It served it's purpose well.  It was lucky it got turned on a couple of times a year when we went on vacation.  It hardly ever was turned on in the house and to this day I still don't know the phone number by heart.

One time while on the road, we saw what appeared to be a drunk driver. When I called 911 the operator asked me for my phone number and I had to hang up on her because I didn't know it. 

So now when I tell you that I am technically challenged, you will believe me!

The kids were always nagging us to replace the phone and come into this century but we held out.  That is until my lovely friends out in Blogland started posting their beautiful photos transformed by the app Waterlogue.

Well, I had to get one of those so that's when this little beauty came into our loves...

...my brand new beautiful little Smart phone.

I was so proud.  I picked it out myself and it was free.

The only problem is that the Waterlogue app doesn't work on this type of phone.

WHAT'S SO SMART ABOUT THAT?!!

To make a long and tearful story short...my SIL and grandson (I really would be lost without them) showed me that I had a program on the phone called SketchGuru.  It may not be quite the same as the Waterlogue app but it's pretty close and doesn't just do watercolors, it also does colored pencils and crayons and I'm really liking it.  It also takes some awesome pictures, some better than my camera.

This is a picture taken with the Smart phone.

The same picture transformed into a colored pencil sketch...

...a crayon sketch...

...a watercolor #1...

...a watercolor #2...

...watercolor #1...

...same doorway in colored pencil...

...a David Austin rose in watercolor #1...

...the actual rose taken with the Smart phone...

...the Cottage in living watercolor #1...

...a corner of the garden in the same...

... and the flag in a colored pencil sketch.

This is Jake and Jacenda taken with Jake's Iphone and using the Waterlogue app. I will admit there is a difference.  Waterlogue has a more intense color and watery look, but I'm not hating mine.

A corner in the sitting room that really wasn't set up for a pretty picture but I loved how it came out in the colored pencil sketch so decided to show it anyway.

This is my absolute favorite. Teddies turned into a colored pencil sketch. I think I will definitely frame this one.

Well, I guess this little phone was smarter than I thought and oh yeah, I think it might make phone calls too. I guess I'll have to try that!

...Judy...

This is called the 8bit. It reminds me of cross-stitch..

I'm sharing today with:

Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

THE TWO P's OF DECORATING...

There is one letter that is very apparent in my decorating alphabet.  It is the letter "P", and while this isn't River City and it doesn't stand for Pool, it does stand for two other words...     

Pretty..and..Practical

Case in point:

A few years ago, almost twenty to be exact, there was a sun porch in the Cottage fixed up as a sweet room for a new grandson...

It had clean white walls covered in little boy pictures, blue wainscotting, a child size white iron bed, colorful quilts, and a wallpaper border with frolicking teddy bears.

Very Pretty...and...Practical

The ceiling was painted like the evening sky with shining stars that glowed after the lights were turned off.

There was a shelf around the room holding all sorts of vintage toys.

Very Pretty..and..Practical for sweet dreams.

A poem was stenciled above the toys...

"Between the dark and the daylight

When the night is beginning to lower

Comes a pause in the day's occupations

That is known as the Children's Hour."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1860

Very Pretty.

As the years passed that little boy outgrew the pretty room and so, little by little, the pretty things were removed and replaced with boxes and bits and pieces of things and was no longer...

Pretty..or..Practical

So now the room has been taken to task.  Everything has been boxed, labeled and stacked so it is readily available when needed and the floor is cleared for easy access.

Not very Pretty...but very Practical

Remember the Snuggery?  A very pretty little spot to get away from it all.  It was practical as well, as it stored a few collectibles and was a light filled sewing spot.

But as time passed, and I was still using the dining room table for certain projects and needed to move the comfortable chair into another room...

...and the painter's cloth skirt was not convenient to access the drawers and cubbies of the work bench...

...it became less Practical and not at all Pretty...

...as it started to fill up with the overflow from the storage room next door.

Not very Pretty..and..far from Practical.

So now the Snuggery has just become the plain old work room...

More Practical than before.

We have brought in more storage and everything is in sight and is easily accessible.

There is more bench space readily available to sit and work on a project...

...there is still a light filled sewing area...

...and Mabel has a new pocket book to hold all the "change" that has occurred in the room!

Not as Pretty...but certainly much more Practical.

I am so happy with what we have turned these two rooms into.

But, along with all that Practical...you simply still must have a little Pretty...

...Judy...

I'm sharing today with everyone's pretties over at:

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

...and..

Home and Garden Thursdays at A Delightsome Life

GOOD MORNING...

Good Morning, Sunshine...

"My name is Margalo," said the bird...

"I come from fields once tall with wheat,

from pastures deep in fern and thistle;

I come from vales of meadowsweet,

and I love to whistle."

E. B. White, "Stuart Little"

I'm really not trying to be mean...I know that some of you are still in what seems like the throes of winter...but, here for now anyway, we are throwing open the windows and letting in sunshine and bird song.  Can't you hear the screen door slamming?

The lilacs are blooming and soothing our senses with their sweet scent...

...and Lady Banks is spilling her soft beauty over the garden gate...

...and Cecil Brunner is preparing for a grand opening...

...and...

"White silver bells upon a slender stalk,

Lilies of the Valley deck my garden walk."

- from an old song

The wisteria is once again putting on a show up in the 'sky garden'.

To celebrate all nature's beauty, and to send along the warmest of wishes at this Easter time, I have set the table with a nod to the sights and the sounds of Springtime.

Chirp bowls:  Magenta Exclusive - Home Goods

Yellow salad plates:  Cramisia - Italy - Home Goods

Nest and Chirp small platters - Rae Dunn, Artisan Collection - Home Goods

Yellow napkins - yard sale

Eyelet edge napkins - Pier 1

Chicken napkin rings - I made years ago

We, at Gold Country Cottage, wish you all a beautiful and happy Easter...

...and after a small brunch of cheerios, soft boiled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice, we are off on a ray of sunshine to spend a few days with the kids.

I'd like to tell everyone how much we appreciate all the kindness that you shared with us over the loss of our sweet boy, Buddy.

We can never tell you enough how much all of your support and compassion means.

Thank you.

...Judy...

I'm sharing today over at:

Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted In Thyme