The Plague at the Cottage

Hello dear friends!  Have you been wondering..."Wonder what has been going on at Cottage De Haven?  Have not heard from the mistress there in ever-so-long."  It is a sad but true tale of woes that often accost cottages such as these...the plague...

Over two weeks ago, I noticed that Madam Lu was even more...oooh, lets say 'demanding' than usual.  She cried at the drop of a fruit loop, wept when I casually mentioned she smelled like a toxic waste facility, and wailed when I asked her, very nicely, to put the sharp sewing scissors down. 

As my previous experiences are all with raising male heirs, I was quite perplexed.  The child has all of her teeth, but perhaps she is getting her 12 yr old molars?  A quick swipe in that slimy mouth proved that we do not need to consider braces at this time.  A few days later, Sir came down with a mysterious illness.  He was bedridden but not fevered.  What could it be?  Malaria in February did not seem likely.  Typhus, the ague, consumption....all ruled out.  This does, in fact leave only one illness....the dreaded plague.

And so, your Mistress has been working tirelessly nursing the sick back to health.  Sir was a heap of pathetic, writhing and loathing.  Madam Lu would not be convinced to snuggle in her sick bed...her symptoms were only apparent in her mad desire to scream and cry at all times.

Now we come to the part of the tale where the Mistress of the Cottage realizes why her skills lean more towards the demolition, decorating, gardening, cooking-type services and not towards the nursing type.  My friends, I am not a nurse.  I am neither sympathetic, nor particularly thoughtful when it comes to a sick man without a fever.  My advisement of "take some damn Advil and get out of bed" were not appreciated.

Miraculously, Sir's plague was cured just in time for him to go back to work.  I am pretty sure it was one of those ethereal miracles.  Last week was spent trying to catch up on all of the menial tasks that got put aside whilst I was donning the red cross.

Then...I noticed a slight scratching of my own throat...a dull, pounding pain in my cranium...and realized that I was a victim of that thing we nurses fear most...I had transmitted the plague.  And so, I spent this week in bed, with strep throat, alternating between crying, sucking pop-sickles, and eating Advil like Juno's lover eats Tick-tacks. 

Today the Mistress is back from the plague and is ready to tackle some projects!  Next weekend we will embark on our yearly snow-ski trip, so there is much to accomplish before we go.  Lets hope I can hang up my stethoscope for the season! 

    

Kitchen Before and After: Phase 1

Were you worried?  Do not be... I have been quite busy!  To begin, I am still, yes, still, working on the art room.  I am getting very close to being done.  When you see the pics, you will understand why it took so long...I hope!

In the meantime, I finished painting the kitchen cabinets...finally.  This took EVEN LONGER than I anticipated because my original coat of white was a different color than my new white (really).

What can I say, the kitchen looked exactly like the rest of the entire house...

We DID replace the faucet right away...also a new dishwasher

Just to get the whole picture of, um, browness!

Sorry, no before of this side of the kitchen, but it was...brown.  Heinrich is helping to demonstrate the striking difference the white cabinets make!  I love the set of black cabinets...they add contrast to the rest of the kitchen and help the fridge to blend a bit better.  The fridge was ours (the original was, um, brown).

Ok, so you can see, the butter from the family room trickles right into the kitchen.  The double oven is not super attractive, but it works amazingly...at least it blends a bit better with the white cabinets.  Above the ovens in that super tall cabinet, we have tucked away the microwave.  It is a great place to hide it!

I am not going to apologize for the sun, because it is glorious today, but it does make it difficult to take pics.  I painted the window red (the same as the fireplace) for a bright pop of color.  It works for me.

Did you notice all of those cabinets on top?  Truthfully, I don't even use them because I have plenty of space in the rest of the room.  So, the kitchen is far from perfect, but at least it is functional.

  So, this is just phase 1...which means it is not my dream kitchen...but at least it is bright, cheery, and livable now.  I have many grand plans, much to Sir's chagrin, so stay posted!

With the kitchen complete, I have started peeling wallpaper from the chamber of Sir E and Sir M.  Let me tell you...underneath that navy and red nightmare is ANOTHER layer of wallpaper...OH.MY.STINK.

Sir has layed the slate in their privy and grouted.  It is gorgeous!  Next he will be carving out drywall and shaving the studs to put the vanity in (did I mention that the boy's vanity space is a "freakish" size).

Here is my completed bead project...to be sewn onto a pouch or something...

Sir spent about 5 hours blowing snow.

AAAND last, but not least, the Blizzard of 2011 was SPLENDID!  We have been playing outside alot!  The cottage is adorable in her winter coat!

Sir E and Sir M on the toboggan run.

Madam Lu and Esther hiking in the 12" snow layer.