Tour Of Stonecrest Cottage Living Room

 

Our loveseat finally arrived via UPS.

It fits into the guest cottage perfectly.

The living room seats four,

which is the maximum sleep number.

We donated our 8 year old TV to the cottage,

and bought ourselves a new one.

Better view of the loveseat.

I had actually bought five pillows for this living space,

and only two fit.

View from the bedrooms hallway to the front of the house.

20'x24' still feels spacious.

We are hoping to list it on AirBNB in the next few days.

Tour Of Stonecrest Cottage Kitchen

 

We are within a few days of launching on AirBNB.  It has taken so long, that it is hard to believe it is about to happen.  A few more tiny details.  Above is an overview of the kitchen.  Tiny, but everything you might need.  And nicer than my own in several ways.

The hickory table.  Seats four, extra chairs in the closet.

Some dishes are new, some are from the thrift store.

Since it only sleeps four I don't have to have huge stacks of dishes.

Part of the farm animal theme that runs throughout.

Full sized appliances and a microwave.

It is definitely going to be helpful having a second

kitchen when we host the family reunion next year.

Amish Heritage Tomatoes

 

We went into Amish country last week to order a pair

of adirondack chairs.  And stopped by the general store to

pick up some baked goods - and tomatoes. 

These were slightly brownish purple on the outside.

And made yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.

First Frost, Pumpkin Washout, and Ode To Cherry Tomatoes

First frost last night.  Sigh. These were my brave nasturtiums, which flourished despite 6 weeks without rain.  I see their cheerful faces straight out of my kitchen window.  This is the second summer I planted them there, and will probably grow them again next spring.

I also harvested my ONE pumpkin.

I planted too late, and couldn't haul enough water for the drought.

And I forgot what kind I planted.

I don't think the final product is supposed to be dark green.

Plus an armadillo took a taste.

(Maybe wasn't an armadillo, but we blame everything on armadillos.)

Better luck next year.

The frost also took my cherry tomato plants.

These were volunteer plants from ones that I planted last year --

but those DID NOT thrive.  These were SUPER HERO tomatoes.

They took the drought.  They took the chickens (who learned how to 

wait for the ripe orange color, and then would leap up and pick them).

They took the two year old who came and picked to his hearts desire.

I did pick any last night that were starting to turn.

But now I wish I would have read up on whether I should

 have picked the green ones.

The vines were not "dying back" after summer, 

without a frost I think that they would have kept producing for weeks.

The cherry tomatoes were a literal bright spot in 2020.

Making Basil Pesto With Almonds

 

I had a good crop of basil this year.

Despite quite a major draught.

I know freezing temps are around the corner,

so I decided to harvest most of the plants.

Most of it I am going to air dry.

When I looked at this recipe,

I thought "No problem, I have all of those ingredients".

I was picturing making a mountain of pesto.

Then I got my parmesan container out of the fridge.

Ouch.  Well, enough for two rounds of the recipe.

I have a tiny food processor, so it only held a single recipe.

Later I found a recipe that included lemon juice,

and I would probably add that the next time.

I searched for a cute jar,

then found out it only keeps 5-6 days in the fridge.

So I will probably freeze it on a sheet pan,

cut it up, and put it in a plastic ziploc in the freezer.

Tour Of Stonecrest Cottage Bunk Room

We made the bunk room as small as we possibly

could, to allow more room for the master bedroom.

But I still love it.

The best feature is the pipe ladder.

Which is as it should be, it was costly.

The curtain came from a thrift store,

and hangs on another pipe.

I already had two game boards, but made the one

on the right to bring in the room colors.

(White walls, gray bedspreads, gold accents.)

There was a ton of room under the bottom bunk,

so I included these three aluminum totes for guests to stow their stuff.

Each "headboard" has some space for personal items,

their own reading light and switch,

and a plug-in for games, phones, etc.

The mirror came from my antiques inventory,

but I did paint the gold parts.

Sliding barn door,

which was also part of my antiques inventory.

See that story here.

The closet alcove.

The metal light fits perfectly into the slightly 

industrial vibe.  I got the "guts" at the thrift store,

and only had to shell out for the metal shade at Lowe's.

Play Area Inside Of Old Barn Foundation Finished

 

We (he!) finished the play area.

It was a ton of work this last month.

We bought it off of Facebook Marketplace for $100.

But it needed some TLC, including both "feet" replaced on one side.

This is my favorite addition -- a rusty tin roof over the fort.

We (he) added wire "cattle fencing" (that we already had)

to two sides of the fort.

View from top of the slide --

yep, that is the back of our guest cottage.

Play area is directly behind the guest cottage.

Addition of a bench in the cellar of the fort.

Here is the "front" of the play area that faces the cottage.

Very shady.

You can see how the play area is inside the old barn foundation.

Notice the trees which have also grown inside of the foundation area.

Just west of the play area is the picnic area.

Amish made picnic table, and we just ordered two adirondack chairs for the area.

Inside of the old stone foundation.

Gorgeous.

And lastly, icing on the cake.

Bathroom Tour Of Stonecrest Cottage

 This will be a small tour, because it is a very small bathroom.

Immediately to the left as you come in is the vanity sink.  We purchased it from Facebook Marketplace for either $30 or $35.  We also purchased the lights on FM, and paid about the same for them -- happily they included 4 edison bulbs (which we all know cost about $10 each.)  I spraypainted the light fixture silver so that it would blend with the rest of the bathroom.  Oak mirror was leftover from my antiques inventory.

The vanity base was not in good shape.

My contractor did some work on it,

and I found a door off of the used cabinet we had purchased for the kitchen.

I painted, distressed and stained the door to give it some character.

Sadly, the $35 for the sink and vanity did not include the faucet.  I found a local goat milk lotion (which goes with the overall farm animal theme.)  And I am a huge fan of Mrs. Meyers products -- so her hand soap and cleaning supplies will be used in the guest house.

Next to the sink is the corner shower.

I like this style because no wet doors swing open to get the floor wet.

And it saves a bunch of space.

To the right of the shower is the toilet.

We started looking for shelves at antique stores,

and then we discovered this little white shelf in our own inventory.

The chicken pic (remember, farm animal theme!) is from a

chicken magazine from 1926.

Whose bright idea was it to use piping for an industrial look?

It would be embarrassing if I had to confess how much just

these two towel racks cost.  

Lastly, to round out the tour is the vintage door.

It was chippy, which I do adore.

But I did not want anyone worrying about lead poisoning.

So I sanded, stained, and used a clear finish on both chippy doors.