Outdoor Shower Dreaming

Mr.Cabin went up to the cabin this weekend- the first trip of the year.  I have been sitting home insanely jealous that he is there and we are not. The first time he usually goes by himself to make sure everything was ok over the winter. This time he was also delivering a trailer full of wood to build our new wood shed with.  I am not too upset about missing lifting all of that heavy timber. Then he called to say he arrived safely but that the truck and trailer are now stuck in the snow- really happy I am missing that entire catastrophe altogether too.

So while I wait for Mr.Cabin to un-stick himself and return home, I have been thinking about what the new wood shed will mean. Tools out of the living room- woo hoo! It also means that once the wood shed is built we can also build our outdoor shower. I will probably get in trouble here for thinking ten steps ahead- there is a good chance it won't even get built this year-but I can't help dreaming anyway.

Last summer when we had our whole extended family camping with us, we set up a little outdoor shower area using a pop-up canopy tent, shower curtians and a camp shower. Everyone loved it. There is nothing quite like taking a shower in the great outdoors. So I have been scheming ever since to build a more permanent structure. Of course while I was originally scheming, the shower was not going to include a bath tub....but look at how incredible all of these inspiration photos are. A girl can dream.

                                 

"I went to the woods..."

Have you ever come across a quote that when you read it your heart skipped, your breath got caught because the words, the sentiment, resonated so deeply within your soul that you wanted to memorize the words and make them your own?

Here is mine.

"I went to the woods because I wished to lived deliberately.

To front only the essentials facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,

and not, when I came to die, discover I had not lived."

~ Henry David Thoreau.

I ordered a canvas of the quote...before the first logs were even stacked.

I know disappearing into the middle of the woods might not be for everyone, but I think discovering the most important parts of our lives is.

Easter Inspiration

This is my grandmother's spoon rest.

Just one of the many treasures I was able to take when we moved her out of her home into assisted living two years ago.

This little carrot inspires me.

It is not so much the carrot itself, although it is darling especially this time of year. My entire life this carrot has been on my grandmother's stove . I like to think about how this little carrot was right there as  my grandmother cooked and served meals for her family year after year. There is a crack in the back and I am sure my grandfather crazy glued it back together for her. I like to wonder about about that little "accident" and think about the story behind it.

I have many treasure from my family...my great-grandmothers dining room set, my grandparent's clock. These are the things that inspire me the most. Far more than any treasure I could ever buy in a store. They represent our real inspiration, the people we love. The reason why we decorate and nest, refresh and renew and seek to create homes that nuture.

So on this Easter weekend filled with bunnies and chicks, eggs and carrots, I share with you my favorite little carrot. I hope it inspires you as well to treasure our true inspirations.

May you enjoy a Happy and Blessed Easter with the people you love.

Inspired By Easter: The Inspired Room

Bookcases: Project & Inspiration

"The greatest university of all is a collection of books." ~Thomas Carlye

I adore books. They are by far my biggest weakness. My dream home would have bookcases in every room.  So building bookcases for our office was a given. I am one lucky girl to have a husband who is a carpenter. Even luckier, that he gave into my crazy scheme of building our own custom shelves.  Especially when it meant that he had to toil for hours in our low-ceiling basement with barely an extra two inches of clearance for his head!

Here are some photos of the man at work.

Here is the bottom portion. He custom built them so they would hold all my 12 x 12 scrapbooks. Ah, love!

I still have to take photos of the finished project, but in the meantime I thought it would be nice to share some other bookcase inspiration.

Coastal Living

Country Living

House Beautiful

Better Homes and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens

House Beautiful

Better Homes and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens

House Beautiful

Southern Living

Southern Living

Country Living

Cottage Living

Southern Living

Linking to:

Twice Remembered: Make It Monday

DIY Day: A Soft Place to Land

The Inspired Room

Inspiration: Garden Show

Went on a little picnic this weekend and bought some flowers for the garden.

I WISH!

As I write this, we are being buried under feet of snow. The photo is from this past weekend when we went to our local flower show. We have been going faithfully for the past several years and I love the reminder that we will not be snowbound forever. Soon, hopefully, I will be able to get some dirt under my nails. The flower show always gives me that extra boost of inspiration at the end of February when I am starting to think I will never see my garden again. Here are just a few of things I found really inspiring this year.

A rustic gazebo of sorts built out of branches. I can totally picture this somewhere on the mountainside.

A closeup of the ferns that were hung on each of the corners.

Some daisies in an arrangement. Just because they are my favorite.

My must-do idea I walked away from the show with this year was to add more sculpture to our garden. I am always hesitant to add any statutes to our garden. I think there can be such a fine line with garden sculpture between just right and too much and I am always afraid I am going to cross that line accidentally. But look at how cute these owls are.

Aren't they a hoot?

And Mr. Ribbit just jumped right into my heart. Love him.

At our show, they even have table centerpiece displays. This was one of my favorites. I love the lanterns hanging from the branches. I always see these lanterns in the store and would love to use them.

 Isn't this a great idea?

Hope you enjoyed our highlights from the show.

I am inspired enough now to get through a few more weeks of winter.

Do you have any place special you go to for inspiration to beat the winter duldrums?

Linking to other inspiration @  The Inspired Room

Inspiration: Ferns

Today I read a wonderful  post by Melissa over at The Inspired Room Inspiration from Farmhouse Style: 10 Things I Love.  It showcased some of the same things I had been admiring too in the Pottery Barn catalog that came a few days ago. It got me thinking how similiar farmhouse and camp/cabin styles are. The lanterns, the time worn furniture, the cozy blankets and pillows- bringing the outdoors in. My wheels were starting to turn thinking of writing about it.  Then, lo and behold, in my mailbox today was another Pottery Barn- their smaller Bed and Bath catalog and on the cover was one of my favorite things. Ferns.
Ferns are all over the mountainside of our cabin. When we arrive, usually late at night, one of the first things I do is take a deep breath and inhale all of that wonderful fern goodness. That smell means relax- you are where you really want to be.
In the spring, we watch for the little fiddleheads popping through the leaf cover on the forest floor. In the summer,  I sit on the porch and watch the lacy fronds sway in the breeze. I have even tried to transplant a few into our cottage shade garden. Ferns are simple, elegant. A symbol of the forest to me.
Tucked in here and there among the trees, like we are tucked in, in the middle of our mountain.
 I am not sure that I would use all of these new fern "lovelies" from Pottery Barn. They are not exactly the vintage rustic style I am want to create for the space. But perhaps I can use them in our little cottage in the middle of suburbia-  a constant reminder of the cabin and the forest of ferns waiting for us there.

Country Living

Linkin' Love: Inspired Room