My Quotidian Pursuits At The Cottage

Hello lovely friends,

These past few weeks have been full of all sorts of particulars. Let us have tea, shall we? I'm sipping some green tea {I am forever in need of an eensy bit of natural caffeine} with buttered biscuits {nothing fancy, the utmost simple Bisquick recipe} and the remaining bit of my strawberry preserves from last summer. 

I have managed to capture some delicate photographs as I've been really trying to create a much more lovely portfolio of imagery. I think I am well on my way to having never taken any professional photography classes. What do you think? 

I spent several days cleaning and deciding on a few lovely pieces of furniture for the cottage. I love the refinement of the Victorian Ornate era, but I also love the simplistic primitive humility of a little plain cottage.

I spent one whole day cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, drawers, pantry and guest room. I made 3 trips to the donation center. I must say I feel so refreshed and the energy is full and bustling through the cottage as if there's anticipation of wonderment to ensue. 

I rehung several of my iron skillets, revived a few that were rusted. I also found a new one that I picked up at the thrift store. It's the perfect size for a few scrambled eggs for breakfast mornings.

My BG and I spent time at the fresh market. I am always admiring their displays. It has such a quaint ambiance about it. I believe its the dim lighting that creates a moodiness effect.  

I found some yummy Walker butter shortbread cookies for my tea. I am sorely addicted to those cookie biscuits. I can't help myself from eating the package in its entirety. 

I have gardened and walked this little row of pebbled rocks so many times and yet I came upon these three hearts and I was so tickled to know that I was being blessed by the universe with my most favorite of signs.

More playing with my camera, lighting, and angles. I have not a clue what I'm doing but this is my place of creating and figuring it out as I go along. I hope you'll be patient with me as I find my way.

The gardener and I have been sleeping on a certain side of the bed. I have an injury in my right arm and my BG wanted to switch sides to see if he fared better too. Do you have a certain side of the bed you sleep on?

This week I stripped the bed and started fresh. I donated all the old comforters and sheet sets to the thrift store and picked up a new set at TJ Maxx with a high thread count. We now have one sheet set and I have always gone with white, for white is very versatile. I can bleach them and hang them on the clothesline. There is nothing more refreshing than the faint smell of fresh sun-dried linens.

Some brie cheese tossed in the oven with a touch of garlic and olive oil. I also toasted some sourdough bread in the oven with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. This to me is a meal in itself.

I spent some time on the internet looking for a china teapot to match some thrift store plates that I picked up for a few dollars. I am seeking a bone china teapot, and truly want it to match. I love the softness of the pink in this plate. Soft pink is also one of my brand colors, so I love using it for flat lays and styling.

courtesy of pinterest

I kept Jayne Eyre the movie playing in the background for almost a solid two weeks. When I am working I play the soundtrack at nausea. What type of music do you enjoy?

courtesy of pinterest

Blue is another of my brand colors so I like playing with teacups as they are one of my favorite things to collect. I think I shall eventually gather my bearings on a signature style that is all my own. I did some cookie baking this week. Lemon poppy seed cookies, they are not my favorite, but its variety I seek. I won't be making these again for quite a long time.

When organizing and purging, I take everything out and then sort through. I ask myself these three questions as I hold the items: Do I love it truly? Does it hold a negative memory or energy for me? Is it useful?

The Gardener and I went driving and he helped me seek places to scout out for photo shoots for my blog.

courtesy of getty

I wrote a quite eloquent author proposal for the Mercedes Benz dealership. I am shooting the photos for it this weekend, if the weather permits.

Florida weather has a peculiar way of teaching its residents a sense of adapting to the fickleness. Just when we are getting comfortable, the temperatures rise or we get rain showers with an inconsistency. The mugginess is definetly something to get used to.

I hung some photos of precarious gentleman folk in the hall, and painted up a few silhouettes of the gardener and i.

I made the gardener his tea. I love to try all sorts of different kinds. loose leaf tea is my favorite. We have a darling Teavana tea room in the mall about ten miles away from the cottage. I love to go there, smell and taste the samples of the day.

Yard sales and estate sales will never elude the gardener and I, even if we never buy a thing it's still so much fun to window shop.

Our Brandywine tomatoes have finally stopped dropping, but I can say we had the best bounty we've ever had. They were so wonderful. I had sliced tomatoes and cucumbers every day with my black eyed peas and johnny cake cornbread. The most perfect southern meal to be had surely.

This was an image, as well as the one below I found on Pinterest and its a great inspirational piece for a painting I'd like to paint this week. Do you keep secret pinterest boards?

I ripped apart a bunch more fencing and I plan to patch the pieces together and create a makeshift desk so that I can have a surface to sew on.

I'm purely desperate to get my hands back to smocking, embroidery, and sewing some beautiful summer dresses. I found a wonderfully soft weaved Pima cotton, and I'll be making a shirt out of it with ruffled sleeves, pearl buttons, and a peter pan collar. 

Heres my pile of original victorian clothes that I've collected over the past few years that need to be mended. I have such a pile, I think I may be forced to find new uses for them, as they seem to find themselves in the mending pile more so than I am able to wear them. They are in constant need of being tended to. 

Heres another cabinet {below} that holds medicines, vitamins and essential oils. I aged labels from the office supply store and then used my quill pen to calligraphy on the bottles. 

Here's a TTT {Treasure Trove Tip} when I had to start all over from scratch and I no longer had a supply of old bottles, I made sure that whenever we bought new spices, I'd always buy glass. I then would age the lids with paint to make them appear like they were rusted, and soak the labels off. The metal file drawers were one of the few things that my ex-husband mailed down to me so I stamped some labels with rubber stamps for the bottles. The oils and gummy vitamins are always being used up so I keep them in the same bottles and just hide those in the metal drawers.

 I spent many hours working on my book author proposal so that I can afford to pay for my 13 city book tour. I think it's going to be so much fun, that I can hardly wait. 

How have you been spending your spring thus far? Ihope your'e having a lovely time. 

If you havent signed up for my newletter "The Current" I'd love it if you did. I'm working on a giveaway for signing up, but I havent thought of anything spectacular yet. Do you have any ideas? I'd love to hear from you. 

My Love For Beatrix Potter

My cover for The Tale Of MerryMaid Scarlette Rose

Hello, dear mermaid hearts,

I wanted to begin an eensy series about my book "The Tale Of MerryMaid Scarlette Rose ©®".

As I've been swimming along my way, it's incredible how "The Great Creator" is leading me on little adventures to continually take me on my voyage of the neverending love of Beatrix Potter. She's actually one of my spirit guides.

Let's talk about Beatrix Potter, shall we?

If you've ever read my about page, you know that I have been enthralled with the wonderful woman Beatrix Potter ever since my teens.

I became pregnant with my first son at the ripe ol' age of twenty. I have always cared for and adored the old-fashioned life. Let me share a little backstory before we get into the Beatrix Potter part of this post.

I was born in the beautiful ol' state of Georgia. I grew up in the country. One of the only ways to escape my unpleasant childhood was to strike a lucky day of outings with my mum if she happened to get the family car for the day. Growing up, my mother never had a vehicle, and we lived out in the sticks, so the only time I could visit the village library was either on a Saturday or a day my mum needed to run errands. I was in luck. So when that rarity happened, I'd select the maximum of books, and even then, I'd ask my brothers (I have 3) to check out extra on their card so I'd have enough reading material to last my insatiable appetite til the next library visit.

I would regularly check out Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beatrix Potter, Strawberry Girl, and Little Women. Those were my regulars, and I read and reread them all throughout my childhood.

Here's the reason those books had such an impact on me. For me personally, when I was growing up in such an unpleasant childhood, where abuse and chaos were constant, reading books created an outlet of escape for me. I would pretend I was Beatrix Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder. It made me happy. I then started to want to dress like them because that made the pretend world even more real for me. I believe that's why people love to play characters in movies. It's a way to escape. I truly think if a little Anthropology was done on most actors, their love of starring in a film would have a lot to do with the ability to escape something that happened to them in childhood. Or they are reliving a wonderful time in their lives, and they enjoy re-experiencing that feeling again and again.

That may sound bizarre to the many people reading this if they came from an idyllic childhood, but to the others who can understand what happens in a destructive child's home, it's the way you survive. In order to survive, you create an escape. Now, after living the Law of Attraction/Law of Assumption, it's also a beautiful testament to the ability of a child to figure out a way to create joy. Either way, It's something I think many can relate to me on.

As the decades passed, my love for these women continued.

Here's a picture of my firstborn son in some clothing I made for him, with little Oxford English saddled shoes and a stick wooden sign I made that reminded me of Beatrix. I would constantly play the Beatrix Potter movies on VHS for my children and even read the books to them on a regular basis. They will still watch those movies to this day. I think it reminds them of their happy childhood.

That continued throughout my children's lives. I would sew my own clothes reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Beatrix Potter.

Beatrix Potter & Benjamin Bunny on the left. Me and Oliver Twisty Topsy are on the right.

Oliver Twisty Topsy and I dressed up for Halloween like Beatrix Potter and Benjamin Bunny.

I sewed this whole outfit for Halloween.

More homemade clothes I have sewn.

I learned to smock, cross-stitch, and embroider, and I even named my children Boyd's Bunny and Kittens after the Peter Rabbit books. Here are photos of my children's little stuffed animals. They carried them everywhere: Moppet, Tabitha Twitchit, Peter Rabbit, and Tom Kitten.

Fast-forward 30+ years, and as I have slowly begun to rediscover myself and all that I used to be, I am constantly reminded of how much I had been trained away from, how much has flooded my memory, and why it all resonates with my soul. It's like I am being reborn again and again along this transformational journey.

That's the beautiful thing about a transformational journey/voyage: It brings you back to all you've ever loved, originally and authentically.

So now let's talk about my process of writing a children's storybook, why I did it and how it came about.

As a young girl, I would constantly play in my fort. I would practically live in it. It was peaceful, and I always found fun things to do, make, and create. I would take my art books, paints, and notebook paper and practice my penmanship or paint.

So, the desire for me to write a book and paint has always been there. But you won't have to guess why many people give up those notions and dreams of becoming writers or artists. We start listening to others around us. We take on their conditioned beliefs that certain things can't be done. We slowly disregard our inner compass. That's exactly what I did.

In 2014, I was living in California, and my oldest son had been serving a two-year mission for our church (Mormon). He had been drawing since he was about six years old, and I've never discouraged him from that.

He would send home boxes of extra things from his mission, as they had a two-suitcase limit. That meant all his drawing books had to be shipped out. I had received another box from him and not thinking much about it, I set it on the dining room table. It sat there for over two weeks. At that particular time, I was extremely ill and in complete pain and agony for 11 days. As I began to feel better,  I looked over at the dining table and was curious as to what was in the box. I opened it up and there were over fifty spiral notebooks of drawings.

I couldn't believe this! Something sparked inside of me looking at those books. I had long told my children all through their growing years that I was such a terrible artist that I couldn't even draw a stick figure. That shows you how much I had forgotten the woman/girl that I was.

All of those memories started to flood my mind: the endless nights I'd sit up and paint, all the art classes I took, and the four-year art scholarship I received after graduation, which I ended up turning down for my then-husband. I literally fell down on the couch, and I think I cried a good solid half hour. That was the day I changed or actually began to transform back into who I was.

P.S. Now, the mermaid metaphor makes much more sense to you, right? {heh}

My ex-husband constantly engrained into me that I was sort of like a freak, weird and embarrassing to be with because I wanted to dress like Laura Ingalls Wilder; my ex would not be seen with me in public if I was planning to dress old-fashioned and he would tell, me I needed to do something about my old-fashioned taste." I did for many, many years. I caved and put on my pretty appropriate clothes like a good and trained little wife would do (yes, sarcasm ensues, darling). I put on my costume and played pretend for people. You learn to acclimate when you have pinched your inner being off for so long. You become someone else, or at least you attempt to.

After that experience, a day later, I went to the craft store and got a little palette of watercolours and some index cards. I opened an Etsy shop account and below are my first little paintings that sold for $4.00 each.

They aren't good at all, but I was selling them. I think it's so important to just do it because it feels good inside, and I also firmly believe people love a little heroic transformational story.

Selling those little paintings gave me that boost of confidence and incentive to keep doing it. It brought back all of those happy childhood memories that I recalled when I'd spend my days held up in my fort painting.

Do you have a favourite hero? Do you like Beatrix Potter as much as I do?

Most affably, yours til my next swim, Raquel

Happy Easter And A DIY Tribal Bunny Hutch

I painted the crate and stand bronzed gold from Home Depot and the little rug is from Five Below. 

Hello my darlings,

On this Sunday evening of Easter, I am doing what I love. It's crazy that even though I'm an empty nester, I still enjoy those traditions that I created for my children when they were young, it seems like a million years ago. I spent today doing a few DIY projects and coloring eggs with seaweed. 

Today I also spent my day working on blocking out my time with the week's work schedule. Do you organize, or keep a planner? I'm so excited to present you with my Mermaid Junkie Planner Logbook. It's like nothing you've ever seen or used for planner productivity, I promise. Stay tuned...

Tonight, I just wanted to swim by and show you what I spent half of the day doing.

Making a tribal {that's what I call it} type rabbit hutch for Oliver.

Heres' the thing. Oliver roams the cottage every day, but only in the kitchen with me if I decide to work mostly curating projects or writing for the blog. Most of the time, I spend my days in my "Treasure Room" aka. my office.

If I want Oliver out and about, but need him confined so he doesn't hurt himself on cords chewed, I like to keep him in the same room with me. The reason for this is that I think it's essential to spend loads of time with our animals. The more comfortable and social we are with them, the less likely they are to get skittish and return to their natures basic instinct.

I had a dog crate {the black ugly kind} that was given to me for free by my neighbors that were moving. I never knew what to do with it, but couldn't throw it away, as I knew at some point the creativity bug would strike me. As I was cleaning out the garage at the cottage when I moved in, I found an old stand that was for a keyboard that Jeffrey said I could use for something if I wanted to.

So today as I was trying to figure out how to make a cute pleasing to the eye pen for Oliver, it struck me.

SPRAY PAINT. EVERYTHINGS LOVELY, FRESH AND NEW WITH SPRAY PAINT.

 Easter morning with my rabbit. I also gave my chicks lots of love today too. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have my dream of having chickens and a rabbit. I have longed for them my whole life.

Mermaid Sandy Sugar Cookies with gold sprinkles. It's a Martha Stewart sugar cookie recipe. 

I have to tell you how much of a fan of Martha Stewart I am. In the early 90's she had a mail-order catalog. I have always been a homemaker and I couldn't wait to get her catalog in the mail. I'd sit down with a cup of lavender/rose herbal tea and get lost. I would play Enya in the background {On cassette tape no less}, enjoying the dreaminess that makes Martha Stewart the epitome of an entrepreneur and my mentor.

I love to bake from scratch, can my own food from my very own homegrown food. I have always sewn my own clothes, my children's clothes and even love french sewing/smocking and embroidery, and loads of crafts, to name a few.

I had her mixer, extra large copper cookie cutters, baking kits, and recipe kits. Anytime I ever had a party, even though she had the finer things, I loved to make her holiday menus for parties.

Always a smash hit. Do you like Martha Stewart?

This cup isn't quite my style but I thought at $3.00 a pop wasn't a bad idea at all. Mermaid Vibes all the way!

My breakfast almost every single day.

Heres the funny thing, try dying eggs that are naturally brown from your chickens and see what turns out. It's definitely gonna be a surprise. 

Do You have any traditions that you've had since your childhood and then carried those same ones onto your children? I'd love to hear. I'm always open to new ones to incorporate into my life. A mermaid lives to be quite old ya know. {HEHEHH}

I hope your weekend was swimmingly Fin'tastic! I'll see you darling souls, tomorrow.

Yours til my next swim, Raquel