Summer Gardening at the Cottage

My flowers and herbs.
I planted pansies, violas, salvia and snap dragons, then added my herbs; Italian flat leaf parsley, curly parsley, rosemary, thyme, and basil. The vegetable garden was a late start which consisted of a bush cucumber and two patio tomatoes planted in large buckets.

How I spent my summer? Decorating the cottage.

I spent many enjoyable hours decorating the cottage. I selected a Berkshire Plaid/blue valance for the windows except in the green bedroom there is a berkshire plaid/green with only a pull down shade to keep out the light of a 4:30 am sunrise in June.

I made my special sitting place with a chair and ottoman by the window that looks out over the backyard and down the hill, ocean view of Campobella Island/Welshpool. I could watch the activity in the meadows, deer with faun, foxes, racoon, raven and finches and see the fog roll in and out as it wills.

My husband wanted a rocker or recliner as his personal chair and it was placed so that he could view the yard, meadow and ocean. He wanted a nautical theme for the sitting area and I compromised with a Maine coastal/country theme throughout the house.


I love all of Maine; the mountains; coastal Maine; and folk art especially Warren Kimble's folk art after my visit to Vermont in 1990. I have Kimble's print/framed called Coastal Breeze. I decorated the cottage with a blend of the Maine coast and my love of saltbox houses; objects from our travels to Nova Scotia, Scotland and Ireland.