Petite Pumpkin Vignette

Hi everyone!

I don't do much in the way of fall decorating, but I did add a few autumnal touches here and there.

A sweet friend who knows how much I love Becky from Timewashed's pumpkins, gifted me with this adorable creation of hers!

Isn't it just adorable?  Of course I love all things French, so this little cutie is totally moi!

Becky's attention to detail is just amazing, isn't it?  Not only is the Parisian peat pot tres chic, but the pumpkin that she created is adorable!  From the glittery bling she added to the stem, to the velvet leaf to the "automne" tag, I just love it!

  So in keeping with the French theme, I placed it in front of my decoupaged Frenchy wooden platters that I created a few years back.  You've probably seen my little Eiffel Tower beneath the glass cloche before.  Perched on a vintage silver pedestal, it's one of my very favorite things!

 I also added the petite decoupaged basket that I made earlier this year

(from a mushroom carton!).  You can read about that here.

 I tucked inside a pair of pumpkins that I decoupaged with vintage dictionary pages 

(can you guess that I love to decoupage?).

 So there you have it!  My version of "automne"!

 Have a tres bon week!

Want to Visit a Castle in the Clouds?

It's a cold and windy day here at the chateau, the perfect kind of day to cozy up inside and work on some projects!

On our trip out east, we spent a little time in beautiful New Hampshire, and visited an amazing mansion referred to as the "Castle in the Clouds".

(The first two photos you see here are from their website, all of the rest are mine, except where I have noted.)

"Lucknow Estate" was built in 1914, by Thomas Plant.

Perched high on a mountain with panoramic views, it truly does feel like a castle!

 At 10,000 square feet, the mansion was built in the Arts and Crafts style, using field stone which was found on the property. 

 Doesn't it look like something right out of a fairy tale?

One of the things I really liked about visiting the castle was that it was a self guided tour, and they allowed you to take photos inside.  A trolley takes you up to the estate, where you are first given a bit of history of the home and Thomas Plant.

 Mr. Plant was born of poor French Canadian immigrants, and he only had an 8th grade education.  Despite that, he made his fortune in shoe manufacturing, quickly becoming a young millionaire.

He then married Olive, and the two never had children.

 The day that hubby and I visited the castle was perfect.  Sunny but cool.

I just loved the attention to detail, from all of the stonework to the adorable dormer windows (below), that make me think of quaint old homes in Europe.

The views were amazing!

 From the back of the mansion, you could see for miles!

The grounds also host many weddings.  Can you imagine what a perfect fairy tale setting it would make?

As a matter of fact, on our trolley going up to the estate was a young engaged couple that are getting married there next year.

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Below is a neat pergola heading out to the back yard.

 Imagine trying to cook on this puppy?  

At one point, they had around 30 servants (for just the two of them!).

 The master bath was one of my favorite rooms in the house!  Built at a time when no one had electricity or plumbing, the castle had it all!

 I snapped this gorgeous view thru the bathroom window.  Love!

 And just check out this shower!!!

 In many of the windows thru out the home were these pretty painted glass pieces.  I thought at first they were stained glass, but they actually are painted.

 Another thing I really loved about our tour was the neat little vignettes that were set up thru out the mansion.

 I was drooling over all of the gorgeous vintage gowns!

 As I'm sure was the custom of the day, Thomas had his own bedroom, and Olive had her own.  He wanted his to face the sunrise, she wanted to be able to view the sunset from her room!

This is her room, below.

 And her pretty sitting area.  I can picture myself taking my coffee here each morning:)

 At the top of the second floor hallway is a huge skylight by Tiffany.

Also is a large portrait of Mr. Plant. 

Ok, now we are back on the first floor!  

I had a hard time taking photos there, as the rooms were on the dark side, and there was alot of glare coming from the windows.

 In keeping with the Arts and Crafts style, there was alot of woodwork and attention to detail.

 A funny part of the mansion was this "secret room", that Thomas had designed just for himself!

Push a panel, and viola!  A private space that only he could retreat to.

Sadly, due to bad investments, the Plants lost all of their fortune, and the estate ended up going into foreclosure.  It was sold several times over the years, once to a very wealthy man from Boston, who bought it as a surprise anniversary gift for his socialite wife.  She took one step inside the mansion, and decided that she hated it!  And refused to have anything to do with it!  Can you imagine?

Thankfully, it eventually was purchased by a preservation society, and opened to the public for touring.

The society has done an amazing job restoring the mansion to its former glory.

If you ever are near Moultonborough, NH, I would highly recommend you visit the estate!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that they have converted the carriage house and stables into a great restaurant.  Hubby and I had lunch there, and it was delish!  Our table was right inside one of the former horse stalls:)

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Thanks for joining me on my little tour!  Have a great weekend!

A Visit to Acadia National Park

Hi everyone, hope you all are having a great week!

One of the highlights of our trip to Maine was visiting Acadia National Park. While we had been once before years ago, we forgot just how gorgeous it is, and somehow managed to miss alot of it!

It is even more beautiful in person than my photos can capture!  Trust me when I say it is amazing!

In the above photo, you will notice two large cruise ships.  Unfortunately they now stop at Bar Harbor nearly every day of the week, making the town pretty crowded when they are in port.  Thankfully the park itself is much less hectic!

I will let the pictures do most of the talking:)

Here's hubby, enjoying the view.  You can see for miles!

Wouldn't you love to live in this house??

Here we are at Sand Beach, also part of Acadia.  We were so excited that they now allow dogs on the beach!

We walked the beach two different days, the first being gorgeous and sunny, the second visit was pretty chilly and gray, but still beautiful non the less!

Below I snapped some "action shots" of our Katie doing one of her favorite tricks, playing "catch the feather".

 She is quite the little acrobat and can really jump high!

(Not to mention get very tangled in her leash!)

We also visited Bass Harbor Head lighthouse.

It is perched on a rocky cliff, surrounded by tall pine trees.  What a romantic setting!

 I found the photo below on line.  Isn't it gorgeous at sunset??

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While many were venturing way out on the rocks for photos, I don't like heights, or climbing on rocks!!

So this is as far as I got for my pic!

Of course what is a trip without a little retail therapy?  We stopped in the nearby town of Northeast Harbor, which is a tiny and oh so quaint little fishing village.

I just loved this cute shop, below!

Inside this super cool giant lobster print is the first thing you see.  Love!

I was also loving the beautiful hooked wool rugs and pillows.  They were quite pricy, so none of them came home with me!

I just had to snap this shot of the other side of the street.  They must have known I was coming, and decided to paint their fence the same beautiful shade of aqua blue as the awning (love that color!!).

Isn't this white wicker furniture adorable?  It was sitting outside a very, very full antique shop.  So full that I had a hard time walking inside.  I was so afraid that I would knock something over, so I quickly walked out!

I have even more photos of our trip that I will be sharing again soon!
Thanks so much for coming along on my little tour:)