German Apple Cake at Rockledge Cottage

It was a very nice fall weekend at Rockledge Cottage.  We were invited to a Birthday party on Friday night but Marc came home sneezing and congested and just not feeling well. It was too bad but we had to stay at home and rest.  On Saturday we did go out for a little drive....

The leaves have changed colour on the trees and many apple trees are still full of apples but

they are really picking apples around the cottage. 

They have wooden crates and these nice plastic crates. 

The fruit bowl had fresh apples and on Saturday Marc was well enough to help make a German Apple Cake Recipe Here.

We dusted it with powdered sugar....

and had a delicious bite for dessert.  Yummy.  A cold glass of apple cider would have been delicious with the apple cake.  Next time we will try the recipe with 1/2 cup of applesauce replacing 1/2 the vegetable oil in the cake and we'll add some nuts. 

This is one of the things I DO like about Fall.  Hope you had a good weekend... Judi xoxo

Less Than a Gallon of Colour - New Look

I showed you recently pics of the kitchen at Rockledge cottage.  The walls were 70s vinyl wallpaper with avacado green, orange and yellow flowers.  Lots of flower design typical of that era.  You couldn't remove the wallpaper so during my first week of vacation I painted the kitchen a Pistachio Tint....

This view...



became this view.....

These cupboards which were yellow...

are now like this....

These cupboards below ...

are nice and freshly painted...

Another wall of colourful vinyl....

looks like this....


The final windows to be replaced are the ones over the sink...then I'll paint all the yellow trim and door a lighter creamy colour.

Abby continues to enjoy her cottage vacation too and is here modelling the new rug in the kitchen.  It was just what we were looking for.

Another favourite spot for Abby is this one taken this morning....

Now.  Some of you may know I do not like painting however when you want something bad enough... I think I'm rather starting to get used to painting. 

Have a lovely day.... Judi xoxo

Newly Hatched Babies...

Less than 2 weeks ago I posted about the robin's nest in our shop window box.


Yesterday I went out and saw the 2 robins fly together into a maple tree and they seemed to be together and busy.  I went into the shop and looked out the window into the flower box and sure enough there were 2 newly hatched robins.

Marc being taller took this picture of them.  How innocent and vulnerable they look there. 

We'll take pictures every couple of days as they get bigger and stronger.  Raising 2 baby bird is a lot of work for mom and dad.

Enjoy this lovely day.... Judi xoxo

Vacation Projects At Rockledge Cottage...

This is my first week of 3 weeks of vacation.  I'll be here for the first 2 weeks straight.  Abby came with me.... She loves it here too.  Marc will have to work most of the time but at least we're all together...

Its only Wednesday and I sure have been busy....in the garden planting some new flowers in the 91F degree weather...whew...

A new hibiscus that opened up the next day....

a what will be rose hibiscus in bright red sitting by the grill...

 and some daylillies which it appears I didn't take pictures of...  The place we buy our flowers is having a sale and all perennials including peonies, designer daylilies and hibiscus are all marked down to $7.00!  I HAD to take advantage...

We've had changes to the outside of the cottage...the door and windows at the right corner have been replaced from what you see here....

siding was removed temporarily from the front and windows were taken out...nothing but empty holes on this beautiful day....

then off came the door to the deck....

and voila new sliding door and windows...

Siding is back on and we love the sliding door. 

There are many windows in the livingroom and it makes such a big difference to have even more light come in...and easy access to the deck.

and a great view of the big lake....Lake Ontario...

Now this is what we see into the kitchen....I have been busy working in there today.  I'll show you later when I'm done.  Vacations are great times to pick up and do projects....

next week I'm having a vacation on my vacation....I think unless something else comes to mind...

Have a wonderful week.... Judi xoxo

Happy Blue Monday...Momma said "SQUAAAAAAK!"

Happy Blue Monday to everyone.  I am linking with SmilingSally today.  Be sure to follow my link to visit the other Blue Monday participants...when you are done here... *s*..

It was a beauuuutiful weekend at the cottage.  It was HOT and humidity hit now and again but so did a nice breeze...now and again.   It was relaxing his weekend.  We barely cooked for one which is unusual. 

We ordered pizza and wings one night, grabbed a burger one afternoon and were invited out for dinner with friends Saturday.  It was a fun evening.  We DID have brekky at home Sunday morning and then it was time to leave.

I wanted to share the story on our window box.  We have a pretty little window box outside the shop. 

Nothing was different with it after our July 1st and 4th celebrations last weekend.  On Friday when I went to water it.....can you see what's in there?

The pictures are taken at a distance so they are not clear.....

Well I went inside to tell Marc and said I was going to get an up close picture.

Just as I was getting ready for the big "aim".... from behind me came this loud "SQUUAAAAK!" and this is the picture I snapped!!!!  I was so startled.

I told Marc "he" had better take the picture....

This is what was in the flower bed...2 pretty BLUE robin's eggs uncovered for a moment because momma was getting her dinner...

or rather....SHE was behind us up there watching..... *s*....

I recovered....and I hope the flowers will survive because we really can't water them now....for a while...

Momma sits there so proudly in her nest, hiding behind the greenery with only her tail sticking out from behind it...and a little red "vest" showing.  Do you have birds in your garden flowers?

I hope you had a wonderful weekend....one week before I start 3 weeks vacation...yay...

Judi xoxo

Cottage Pictures Transferred This Week....*s*..

It was another beautiful weekend at the cottage. I brought home the thingy so I was able to download some pics from last weekend's planting.

You may remember the previous weekend Ryan finished the skirt on the deck and Marc painted it.

It looked like this all around it....grass.

Last weekend we made flower beds around it and did some planting...

We put in plants like Jacob's Ladder..

and several different coloured Coral Bells

and different kinds of hostas..

and Astillibe...

We put bark nuggets to cover the soil to help with weeds

and helping to keep the plants moist.

and we put them along the side...

The new hydrangea is in this new corner area all alone right now.

  We have to decide what else will go in there. We'll have to finish up next weekend.  We were a bit busy this weekend.  It was Jack's 5th birthday party.

Last weekend while Marc was golfing with Ryan I planted this flower garden which leads to the kitchen door.  Its a very shady spot so I planted hosta and coleus and impatiens.  This picture was taken last weekend right after planting.  This weekend they looked so much stronger already.  I should have snapped a picture.

We'd had some rain on that Friday evening and the deck looks wet still.  I like looking at the cottage like this as it gets dim.  Next weekend I might be met with a change in this look....we'll see...

I really am so happy for this time of year and pretty plants and flowers and nice warm sun!

I hope you had a super weekend too.  Judi xoxo