I so dearly love a cottage in winter!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas Break

Hi friends!!!  Cottage De Haven will be on  break over the Christmas Holiday and into the New Year!  I will be back, hopefully with some fun stories and pictures of our break...including our trip to FL to visit Sir's brother.  I will be back sometime after the first week of January!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Evil Little Elf Games

I suppose you want to see Cottage De Haven at Christmas this year.  Well, let me warn you, this year we have a crazy-doberman-teen.  Though the destruction this little guy wreaks is formidable, it is nothing in comparison to Madam Lu's evil little elf games.  So, I will show pictures, but only to show the lowest-low in Christmas decor...Hey, it can only get better from here, right!

 Ok, we will begin with this sad little number.  When we began, the tree had about 2x's as many ornaments.  The issue with this tree would be its location, both to the floor and the door.  Heinrich the psycho-dobe does not walk out the door in a dignified manner (this is why I prefer cats)...instead he pings and pongs off the walls, chairs, couches, and people that are en route to his tinkle spot.  This means exhibit A has had quite the beating.


 If you look in the lower right corner, you will see the festively frocked little leg of Madam Lu.  She is turning to run out of the room to play the a fore mentioned elf games.  Also notice the huge swag of droopy beads.  This is where the tree's location to the floor makes it, once again, a show of disaster.  On a daily basis, oh heck...let's be real...multiple times a day, I re-drape the beads.  EVERY TIME Madam Lu walks by the tree, she "rearranges" them to look like this.  I should give up, but on the principal of "I will give in and let you play with matches, beer bottles, and finger nail polish to get you to stop screaming...but I will not give in on the blue beads," I keep moving them back.

 
 This is the family tree.  It is filled with all of the cute little things the children have made over the years, my special dove ornaments, and my girl's group bling.


 It sits in the front bay window of Cottage De Haven.  It looks lovely from the outside!



 Oh look!  Remember when Madam Lu's little leg was turning to run...yes, well while I was photographing the little white tree, she was demonstrating some of her other skills.  This was set up very cutely...all adorable and ready to be photographed for you.  I think you can now see why things can only get better after this year...



 A view from the foyer.
 And there is the big tree (we aren't speaking to or about that red ball of destruction right now). By the time we got it out, I had already been picking up broken ornaments and messes from the other 2 trees for about 2 weeks (not to mention the bead debacle).  I was in NO mood to decorate this monstrosity at ALL (aren't the pretty twinkle lights enough?).  Luckily, Sir E was feeling very festive.  He went out there, sang Christmas carols at the top of his tone-deaf-little lungs, and decorated that tree all by himself.  He even put the ribbons around the tree like I do!


 It is hard to tell in the pictures how huge this tree is, but it reaches about a foot taller than the second floor.


 I'm not saying it is the most beautiful the tree has ever looked...but I will say, listening to that little Sir sing his heart out and seeing what he came up with, will always be one of my favorite Christmas memories...

The broken branch happened the first year we had this tree (that was when we lived in Nightmare on Yuppy-Town Street)...when Esther was a dober-puppy-terror and took a "special liking" to that branch.

See that not-so-sneaky elf on the stairs...



Last year I hung the stockings from the banister on the second floor landing.  This year I tried to wrangle them over the fireplace.  Blah...


Well, that is all.  So, turn around, look at your house, and think "wow, my decorations rock " because you could be living in my mess!

Next year I plan to hire bonsavant.blogspot.com to decorate for me...you MUST see his stuff!

Watch out for that evil little elf, I may send her to your place soon....

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Squaw Stitches at Christmas

You may be wondering what has been going on over here at Cottage De Haven...Is the art room done?  Are new delicacies being fed to the dogs?  Has Sir given any new tidbits of inspired opinion?  NO.  But I will show you the things I have been working on lately...
 We went to my Grandma's surprise 70th Birthday Party...Apparently Sir only felt Madam Lu worthy of picture documentation from this event...



We went to a Christmas Party at my Great-Uncle's and First Grade Teacher's house.  This is Madam Lu with my grandfather and I love it that they are mirrored...Yes, Madam Lu's outfit does coordinate with the previous party dress.  I love coordinating party attire!


 The minor Sirs had their Christmas Program...which was actually a Patriotic Program.  Sir E is offering his arms in a dramatic pose...



 While Sir M sings his little heart out... (next to the tall dark-haired kid)



 Deer Hides.  I am making jackets for the minor Sir's Native American/French Trader/Whatever Else They Imagine-Suits.
 After selecting the proper hides to make the pieces of the jacket, cut the skins.  Here I have cut strips to make some fringe.



A simple yard stick does the trick to get approximate measurements for sleeves and placement.  I use a washable marker and then use baby wipes to wipe the marker off when done.


 Here are my pieces, all cut and ready to stitch.



 This is a cool poker-tool my grandfather lent me.  It makes it much easier to run the needle through the hides.  I use a scrap piece of dry-wall underneath the hides to ensure I am getting through all of the layers with the poker.


 Here I have used a Lazy Squaw Stitch on the right, which will be exposed and on the left I used an internal running stitch, which will not be exposed.  There is an extra piece of hide sticking out between the seams.  I will cut this into strips and it will be decorative fringe.


 This is Scarlett.  She is my seamstress-in-training.


 And the jacket is done.  I will probably add some beading or embroidery around the neck, assuming I have time (I still have to make another whole jacket for the other Sir).



 The sleeves are gorgeous...natural ends, about 4 inches of fringe on the outer seam at the fore-arm, and then the lovely Squaw Stitch up to the shoulder.  The hole on the shoulder is great too, very authentic!


 The back of this jacket is my favorite!  It has an AWESOME TAIL!  The sides of the jacket are fringed as well.


 Classroom Christmas parties yesterday.  Sir M's class is doing a "build an igloo" relay.


 Sir E's class was calmly snacking and watching a movie...see Madam Lu trying to steal someone's treats?

 Ok, and this is a Caribbean Lime Bar desert I made last night.  I used the rest of the key-limes from the chicken recipe.  The crust is smashed ginger snaps and coconut.  It tastes like a nice tart lemon bar to me...maybe just a bit more tart than a lemon bar...but the crust is amazing.

Well, that is what I have been up to the past couple of days.  My next post will have some pictures of our Cottage at Christmas and why decorating with an opinionated 1.75 yr old and 2 Dobermans is a study in time wasted!

Remember to put on your snow pants and go play in the snow this week...ahhhh snow!!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Pulp Non-Fiction

I am easily bored.  I am constantly trying new recipes for dinner.  Often times these creations end with embarrassment all around.

I spend the afternoon dicing and mixing, stirring and sauteing, smelling and grinning at my clever creations and adaptations...only to sit down at the table, open my mouth, and tasting something truly wretched.  Embarrassing...

Sir is staring at his plate.  He refuses to make eye contact with me...well until he is ready and then...You know, the kind where he looks up at me with an ever-suffering sigh and I look apologetically at him and then significantly at Madam Lu...as if to say "it really isn't my fault...how can I cook and raise that heathen you impregnated me with?"  Sir proceeds to "covertly" look around the room for one of those [blank] dogs...hoping one is close enough that he can give it a nudge to his plate.  Embarrassing...

Sir E and Sir M are in various states of confusion, gagging, glaring, "ochy"ing and flicking each other under the table.  Then the negotiations will begin...like two pirates bartering their hard-earned gold for rum...how many bites must they suffer in order to be released from this atrocity of a table.  Embarrassing...

Madam Lu is sitting on the table shrieking.  She has flung the offensive delicacies off of her plastic plate at the dog's face.  She then takes off her left sock...the one she has been wearing all day, walking in who-knows-what...and stuffs it in her mouth.  She grabs her sippy-cup of milk and sucks it down at once ending with a gasp of air.  The sippy-cup is then flung at my head, just to make sure that I know how displeased she is with this sad state of affairs.  Embarrassing...

Once in awhile my "new treat" is so bad that the a fore mention dog, upon eating the refuse thrown upon her snout by the baby, will immediately turn around and sniff under her tail.  She then runs to the door to go "out".  Humiliations Galore...   

Tonight was NOT one of those nights.  Tonight we had Caribbean Lime Chicken, Spring Salad, and Raspberry Gingerbread Trifle with Custard and Raspberry-Vanilla Whipped Cream.

 Sir told me he does not like limes but LOVES key-lime pie.  It takes FOREVER to juice key limes.
 There are 2 kinds of people...those who pulp and those who do not.  If you do not pulp you are not a foodie...you prefer McDonald's and Macaroni and Cheese out of a box...with the powdered cheese...
 Ready to marinade...lots of pulp...fresh thyme and garlic was added to the lime juice (thyme from your herb garden is still good in the winter, just dig away the snow and delicious, fragrant thyme will still be as usable as in July) i cut slits into the chicken and filled them with scallions, butter, s&p.
 Oh soooo wonderful!

 Dessert is 3 major steps.  1) make the gingerbread batter from scratch.
 Ready to bake.
 2)Homemade Vanilla Custard....oooooh this is gooood! (letting it cool covered prevents 'skin' from forming on the top)
 Let the layering begin.  Gingerbread/thawed raspberries (no sugar added so they are nice and tart!)/custard...again...
3)I made raspberry-vanilla whipped cream with the juice from the frozen berries.  Madam Lu LOVED it!
 Madam Lu and Sir M were racing to see who could "clean" the bowl the fastest...
Top the trifle with the whipped cream and fresh berries...cover and refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can "meld" 
 glamorous...

and DELICIOUS!!!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The future is looking...older

Meg is healed!  Oh how I have missed her!  Now that my Mac friend is home...

So, my girlies and I went on a Christmas tour of a Historic Neighborhood in central-ish Fort Wayne...Williams Woodland Park.  Oh the splendors.  Oh the majesty.  Oh the homes crying out for some serious renovations, stripping, sanding, and my favorite....painting!!!

So, I wait an entire day to tell Sir about the fabulous needs I witnessed.  He immediately dismissed me with the "you and your ideas really exhaust me" look combined with such verb-age as "We've only been here a year" and "I'm never moving again" and "You have plenty of projects here to keep you busy".

Prudently, due to many years experience with Sir's nay-saying, I dropped the whole thing.  UNTIL...Sir's desire for Fort Wayne's Famous Coney Island, which happens to be just minutes from my new desire, led to a compromise: "I will graciously allow you to feed our family greasy, foul, and unhealthy hotdogs slathered in onions and some suspicious brown sauce, aaaand while we are down there, you get to see this incredible neighborhood and house I was telling you about."

So, we went, we saw, he was delighted (as I feel anyone should be).  The trim and woodwork was 2 feet tall...the windows...OH MY!  The kitchen is remodeled in a way that gave me a strange urge to try French cooking.  The kids all picked out their own rooms (the very ones I had already mentally assigned to them).  Even Madam Lu found a space that filled her with delight.  Claw foot tubs abound, wood floors begging to be restored, and beaded-door knobs that were lovingly forged over 100 years ago...ahhhhhhh!

This is not to say we are throwing a sign in our yard...but, the dialogue has begun.  If you know sir, you are aware that such things take time....like 5 years.  Which coincidentally is exactly how much time I will need to finish our currant cottage!

I will sign out today with some pictures of our mudroom remodel...This was our first remodel at Cottage De Haven... 

 Mudroom Before (super thick, tan striped wall paper)
Stripped the paper...lots of mudding...
 The hall outside the mudroom/garage...more wall paper...

 Sir's cubbies...
 The hall is stripped...
 Oh, how delightful!
 Splendid hide-away for our "stuff"
The children's growth charts...
I covered an old peg board with black and white polka-dot fabric
 Family-friendly hall is now butter yellow.  I have since re-painted the black door...still black but not glossy...satin this time...the kids hang their art in this hall, too...a fisherman-style light keeps the casual/cottage look...
 Yes, that is a pocket door!

Alas, my pantry and fridge are seriously lacking...so it is time to wash Madam Lu's snot out of my hair (she has a cold) and head out into the snowy loveliness....