Featured Posts

About six years ago, I REALLY started to watch what I was eating. I made a conscious effort to only put things in my body that are as close to their natural state as possible.  That means cutting out all things processed and mostly all breads and sweets (heaven help me).  While I’m not fully […]

With the interior of the cottage basically finished, it became time to shift my efforts to the exterior, in particular the new landscaping and yard. If you remember, the front of the cottage was completely overgrown with Red Tip Photinias and the backyard, well, was just COMPLETELY overgrown with ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  Years of neglect […]

If you would’ve asked me 15 years ago where I’d be spending Christmas 2017, NEVER would I have told you in a beautifully restored 1926 cottage in the seat of Webster Parish.  Never.  I said more than once when I left Louisiana I would never return (to live).  But a funny thing happens as you […]

Y’all there is nothing like seeing something old made new again! Show me an old, broken down piano turned into a desk or a coal cart turned into a coffee table and my heart skips a beat!  My mom was with me the first time I saw the inside of the cottage, and she remembers […]

Have you ever had the opportunity to watch dry bones come alive?  I’m guessing not physically as Ezekiel witnessed in Chapter 37 of his book, but hopefully you’ve figuratively experienced something dead and dry being brought back to life! If you’ve never been a part of such a story, it’s an AMAZING experience, ESPECIALLY if […]

As the cottage is being renovated, more and more hidden treasures are revealed. Recently, Forrest, with Bolin Construction Company, was removing the flooring upstairs in preparation for new electrical and duct work. Tucked neatly in the floor joists, he found five crumbling sheets of paper, the top titled “Autobiography of Belle Howard Mayfield.”  As of […]

*Repost from SimplySara.com, January 28, 2017 In the mid 1970’s, the Jim Hodges family rented a simple white cottage in Minden, Louisiana, from Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Fitzgerald.  Little did they know at that precise moment, the Lord was orchestrating a divine friendship that would change the life of one of their daughters nearly forty […]

Without any further adieu, I present to you the floor plan I selected for my Simply Southern Cottage!   If I’m being literal, the correct answer is none of the above.  HOWEVER, after pouring over all 5 options, I ultimately choose Plan Option 4 with modifications.  In all reality, this is a totally new plan […]