I AM BACK! Your mistress is back and alive and healthy after a long break. My apologies! So much to catch up on...
In my absence, the Cottage has had two birthdays. Sir E turned 8 last week and Madam Lu is 2 today!
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| I cut off his long locks the night before his big day. I really like this Sir with short spikey hair much better! |
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| You may remember Sir M's Colonial Flag cake? Well, Sir E got a more modern take on patriotism! The cake was not that great, so I won't go into any more details on that. |
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| We went to Takaoka of Japan to celebrate. A darling friend watched Madam Lu for us because baby on a hibachi grill is not as tasty as fillet. |
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| Today is Madam Lu's special day, but her party is not until Sunday, so to be continued on all of that... |
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That is the family update. Now onto the remodeling....
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| Just to remind you of what we started with in the Sirs' room... |
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| I would honestly say that just taking down those dark and dreary curtains made a huge difference, but tah-dah...the wall is all clean and ready to be filled and sanded....yippee! |
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| Another before |
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| And after the peel. |
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| A close-up of what I am dealing with. |
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| Surprise! After the layer of dark plaid is peeled, I am left with some seriously old lighter plaid. |
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| Which, even after scoring the heck out of, and dousing with paper remover stuff, still only comes off inch by inch. |
I am left with the area where the Sirs' bunk beds are located to peel and then on to the wall repair. I am thinking of painting their ceiling a light gray?
Their bathroom is looking splendid...the new floor is done, the new vanity and granite counter are installed. I am working on my template for striping the room.
Right, I have no idea why this pic is turned, but actually the stripes are vertical. They have also led to a bit of controversy here at the cottage. Your Mistress wants to tape and stripe the whole bathroom in such a manner. Sir L, however, has declared that he will not spend $900 on tape and I must make my stripes much, much bigger. The B's will be blue and the G's will be green...the stripes not labeled are staying white. I tried to compromise by limiting the spaces I will be striping, to no avail. Yesterday I saw some free-handed striping in an AMAZING cottage and so now I am thinking of just free-handing them. I do love the natural and organic look of free-handed stripes, but for some reason I was thinking more crisp and precise for this room. Alas, I may need to give in on this one, friends.
So, I am wondering, have you tried Greek yogurt yet? Well, it is lower in sodium than regular yogurt, so I gave it a try. OH.MY. It is gooooood. Really. Gooooooood. I am not sure what makes it Greek, but I really enjoy imagining Brad Pitt playing Achilles in the movie Troy, eating it next to me!
Tonight I am making something with leeks. I have not ever cooked with them before, but I love the way they look and they sound so earthy...I will let you know.....
With this I say goodbye, for now, but I will not be on break again for awhile, so expect to hear from me more regularly again!
Love, The Mistress of the Cottage
