• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Lettered Cottage

  • Adoption
  • Decorating
  • Room Makeovers
  • E-Courses
    • Login
  • About
  • Shop
    • Shop My Instagram
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
You are here: Home / A Very Modest Cottage / A Very Modest Cottage Giveaway

A Very Modest Cottage Giveaway

Aug 9, 2011 By Layla

Welcome to day 2 of Wandawega Week! If you missed day 1, click here.

Today, we’re giving away a signed copy of Tereasa’s book, A Very Modest Cottage. If you’d like a chance to win it, just leave us a comment on this post between today (Tuesday, August 9th) and Thursday, August 11th at noon (Central Time).

But before you scroll down to comment, I’d like to share with you a few more gorgeous Wandawega photos, and a very special blog post Tereasa wrote about her Dad, Tom Surratt. It’s filled with love and heaps of hope, and I’m sure you’ll be as touched by it as I was…

__________________________________

“An old car, a decrepit piece of furniture, a rusty old tractor, an abandoned cottage is never beyond hope. They just need to find someone who’ll believe in them.

Tom Surratt believed.

He didn’t see a worthless, geriatric farm machine that was too far gone. He had a gift to see the youth, the former self, the beauty in everything. He saw his grandson one day driving that tractor down Main street in the annual Beardstown Fall Fun Festival Parade. He didn’t see a rust bucket of a pick-up that was beyond repair. He envisioned the ‘country limoisine’ his son Sam would drive his bride Tara home in on their wedding night.

Tom’s ability to see potential where most saw junk was a gift he passed on to every member of his family. His son Sam can bring pretty much anything with an engine back to life again. And again. And again. His daughters Amy, Lisa and Holly married men cut from the same cloth. Men who know that the right combination of ambition, duct tape, and elbow grease make all things possible. His wife, Kay, held Tom’s hope in her heart as she hammered, nailed, painted, and restored half a dozen condemned properties into loving homes for low income families with her two hands. And my father Tom inspired me to see the beauty locked within an abandoned cabin bound for the wrecking ball. I saw a quiet, happy place where Dad could go to read his books and listen to his grandkids and watch the clouds roll by.

Dad didn’t make it to see the rebirth of the modest cottage.

Or to witness his grandson – with a grin a mile wide – old enough to pilot that old international Harvester tractor down Main street and win best of show for antique restorations. But his ability to dream and hope and believe lives on.

I hope this little story of a resurrection inspires you (like my Dad inspired me) to think twice before you lose faith in that old car, that weathered piece of furniture, that old tractor, or even an old, abandoned cottage.

(Tereasa’s Grandpa, holding up her Dad)

Even the most modest of projects can be become something beautiful. There is no such thing as too far gone. With hope and a hammer, I believe there is always a way.”

– Tereasa Surratt, author of A Very Modest Cottage

____________________________________

(Photos 1, 2, 3, & 5 courtesy of Mary at at Home Is Where The Boat Is. Photos 4 & 6: AVeryModestCottage.blogspot.com)

Filed Under: A Very Modest Cottage, Featured Posts, Friends, Giveaways, Wandawega Tagged With: A Very Modest Cottage, giveaway, Tereasa Surratt, Wandawega

Click here to subscribe
Previous Post: « Camp Cottage
Next Post: Camp Treehouse »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Allison

    Aug 10, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    I’d love to have this book in my collection. Such a beautiful transformation of the property.

  2. Anna

    Aug 10, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    What a great story! I love the tree house they built and the restored cabins

  3. judy

    Aug 10, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    would love to have this book!!11

  4. Christina Cox

    Aug 10, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    How timely! Loving being home with my kids – it’s opened up a world of cooking & DIY projects. Peace!

  5. Sunny

    Aug 10, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    I have always imagined being able to resurrect things from the past. I have also always wanted to have a comfy lake home this book looks amazing!!!

  6. Tracy hall-ingram

    Aug 10, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    I love this series on the lake property renovations. I would be there all the time!

  7. Terry

    Aug 10, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    What a wonderful and inspiring post-looks like such fun!

  8. Cindy Chapman

    Aug 11, 2011 at 5:56 am

    Nothing like a little Daddy love!

  9. judy miller

    Aug 11, 2011 at 6:42 am

    from a cottage lover

  10. Katie Jean

    Aug 11, 2011 at 7:15 am

    Love the book!! Would love to win it! Thanks.

  11. Elaine Sirna

    Aug 11, 2011 at 7:20 am

    Beautiful! Make me think of my Dad – he was just like that…

  12. cmm

    Aug 11, 2011 at 7:27 am

    What lovely thoughts. I’d love to read the book.

  13. Julie

    Aug 11, 2011 at 7:39 am

    I would love to have her book. It sounds beautiful!

  14. Mary Ellen

    Aug 11, 2011 at 7:39 am

    LOVE!! What an amazing story about an even more amazing camp! Thanks for the opportunity to win the book.

  15. Linda @ Lime in the Coconut

    Aug 11, 2011 at 8:36 am

    Awww. Count me in!

  16. Tucker

    Aug 11, 2011 at 8:37 am

    Beautiful, inspiring and oh so passionate! Tereasa gives us all permission to reuse & re-purpose with fervor & to follow through with our dreams. Thank you for sharing her story with all of us!

  17. LeighAnne

    Aug 11, 2011 at 8:57 am

    Oh, this book has been on my “wish list” before it was released! Thanks for a chance to win it!

  18. courtenay

    Aug 11, 2011 at 9:03 am

    Such a great story! I’d love to read the whole thing!

  19. Jan S

    Aug 11, 2011 at 9:25 am

    Loved this post and all of its delicious contents so much that I made myself read it in “installments” because I didn’t want it to end. With a book, I can read, enjoy, and reference it all the time. Thanks!

  20. leslie aquilino

    Aug 11, 2011 at 9:29 am

    “Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you.”
    What a beautiful book~ I would dearly love to own.

    Blessings~

  21. Erin

    Aug 11, 2011 at 10:23 am

    What they have done with the property is amazing! It is delightful to see it saved rather than developed away. I fell in love with Wisconsin when visiting my college roommate’s home in Eagle River…my husband and I even honeymooned there :-). This book would be a such a pleasure to own.

  22. Michele

    Aug 11, 2011 at 10:33 am

    L.O.V.E. =0)

  23. Maggie

    Aug 11, 2011 at 10:36 am

    What a beautiful story and an amazing legacy!

  24. Terri Driggers

    Aug 11, 2011 at 10:42 am

    amazing project!!!! How beautiful this property is along with the cottage.. bungalows…etc.!!! would love to have the book!!!! Thanks “Lettered Cottage”!!! Terri

  25. Phillip Horner

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:10 am

    i am from chattanooga and would love to win this….

  26. Loretta

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Amazing!! What a project

  27. jenny

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:24 am

    i am doing the same thing right now to a super small cottage that was built in the ’80’s and then neglected! it’s not on the water or anything fancy, but it’s my little sanctuary away from the bustle of work and the city.

  28. Kelly V.

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:24 am

    love this

  29. becky

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:33 am

    Oh so fun!!! Id love to win this book! Thanks for the great posts!

  30. Stephany

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:35 am

    Reading these posts on my lunch break has been the highlight of my week. Thanks for sharing! Stephany

  31. Lynette

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Ok, that place looks incredible!

  32. Kim in MD

    Aug 11, 2011 at 11:56 am

    I am loving these posts about this beautiful resort! 🙂

« Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

I enjoy writing and taking pictures, and adding pages to this place whenever inspiration strikes.

My blog is my playground and passion pushes my swing!
[read more]

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 The Lettered Cottage - Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact

Pepperjam Verification
  • Adoption
  • Decorating
  • Room Makeovers
  • E-Courses
    â–¼
    • Login
  • About
  • Shop
    â–¼
    • Shop My Instagram