Christmas has arrived here at the Cardinal Cottage

We just couldn't help ourselves this year. The temptation to spoil ourselves after a very hard year just couldn't be contained. My wonderful husband found a very good deal on my gift. A very sweet and gorgeous 8 megapixel Canon Digital Rebel arrived at our doorstep along with a macro lens for about $100 dollars less than the body itself retails for in stores. I am looking very forward to taking some great shots for the blog. I couldn't help myself and started playing with it the day we got it, and of course he insisted on also being able to go and purchase his gift.
I'm currently sitting here regretting the purchase of the xbox 360 for my overzealous sweetie as he sits for the second night in a row "fragging" (gamespeak for killing) 11 year olds in Halo 3 online. The only really annoying part about the whole thing is that each time one of the 50 people in the game dies the game emits this grunt of death sound. It gets old after awhile. One can only hear so many grunts of death before one must leave the room for quieter pastures.

But back to the camera. It shoots so fast, no lag at all. I loved my Fuji and all, but the lag was killer. I've always wanted to go to my favorite place in Louisville, the Architectural Salvage Store, and take some cool photos. Now I have just the camera to do that with. And of course I will need to get back to Cave Hill and shoot some. I just can't shoot that place in the summer, its too cheery I like the backdrop of the bare trees much better.

In other news Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and once again we will be heading to the inlaws for the feast. Daniel will be making his "famous" cherry and italian sausage stuffing, his dad is in charge of the turkey (deep fried this year, maybe?), and his mom has taken on the rest. As most of the people that know me who read this blog know, I don't cook, no one would want to eat my cooking, and so this absolves me of all responsibility. Ahhhhh to be spoiled. Of course I'm the only person I know, that doesn't work retail, that is required to work on Friday. This is what I get for being new I guess. Hope they don't plan on me actually doing anything resembling work on Friday, because they are going to be greatly disappointed.

News of the deck is about the same. We are still working on it. This weekend we may get something done on it, but at the moment our yard is a carpet of maple leaves so that will be on the agenda first and foremost. We will also be decorating the cottage for Christmas. Time for a trip to the thrift store to see if they have any cool Christmas goodies. I will be posting pictures of the new Christmasfied cottage next week along with a revamp of the layout and colors for the winter/holiday season. Until then I leave you with one of my favorite Thanksgiving themed photos from the wonderful people at my favorite magazine Real Simple. Coincidentally, this picture was on the front of the first Real Simple I ever purchased.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Best Seat in the House

That black lump on my chest impeding any typing at all is my cat Willow. She really does get the best seat in the house.

The Deck! (In progress)

We are finally doing it. We are finally completing our deck on the back of our house. We had and still have some big plans for it. We were going to build a frame around the entire thing, put lattice all the way up on one side to block the ac, and then keep the rest of the frame open with lattice only half way up. We were also planning on building a pergola across the top to plant a very pretty vine on called a purple passion flower.
So far, we have built the frame around the entire deck. We also replaced a very rickety pair of stairs that originally attached to the deck.

Full view of the whole deck. Notice how the frame is finished, but we haven't attached any of the lattice, so it looks a little odd.





A Closer View that includes the stairs. We will be enclosing the entire left hand side of the deck to create an intimate dining area and to block the view of the AC




A View of the Lattice we'll be putting up and the right hand side of the deck that we are leaving open except for lattice on the bottom half.




For the dining area on the right side we are planning a pergola over the top of the deck. On the other side we are planning to leave it open for a seating area, outdoor fireplace, and the grill. I also want to get a chandelier for over the table in the dining area. I'm thinking about something that is rustic and informal. I think it will just look stunning hanging from the pergola over the table.





For the other side of the deck in the seating area. I love this set from Smith and Hawken at Target. Its called the Marlton Collection. I also want to include an outdoor fireplace for those cool Autumn nights. I'm so excited just thinking about it!