Betty's Kitchen

Let me introduce you to Betty's kitchen...all 35 square feet of it!

This is the view as soon as you enter. Under the sink (out of view) is a small bar size fridge. That's my one and only drawer where I keep my cutlery and kitchen utencils. I replaced the chrome knob with a glass one on the drawer, but all the cabinets (and the stove) are original.

To the left side of the stove there is a small flip-up counter top. This little gem just about doubles the amount of available counter space!

And this is the view looking towards my dinette area. So far I have never actually cooked in here, just made a few sandwiches :)

Confession # 9, My Thoughts On Pets

Confession number nine. I'm not really a pet person. What??? True. Probably the only person to ever write this in her blog. I'm not scared of animals, well, maybe snakes. But I just don't want a pet to look after. Please. Don't. Judge. Me. I know, I am probably in a very small minority, like let's say 0.0001%. My husband on the other hand would love to have a dog. Not a little dog, but a lab or a golden retriever. But I say just borrow a dog if you want a "dog fix". You see, in our cluster of 10 cottages there are a total of  8 dogs (and one cat). All shapes and sizes, all makes and models! No need to make it 9 doggies, just go ask a neighbour to borrow their pooch. There, problem solved. Ha!

Life Is An Adventure

Life is an adventure. Yup! It sure is. I will say this, winter was an adventure here at the cottage (our home). But it's over (thank heavens) and tomorrow marks the beginning of June. Ahhh, summer is my favourite season and it's off to a good start. We had our first cottage bonfire last night. Nothing like a bonfire to reconnect with cottage neighbours. Lots of laughs!

Then today we hit the shops since it had turned cold and started to rain. I was delighted to find this new flag. I really wanted the mini size one but they only had the large size. But that's ok because I have a cottage flag pole. I even found some Happy Camper duct tape at Michael's. I wish I could get Betty set up for the summer but right now she is doing double duty as our on-site storage unit. But that will change shortly when we get our bunkie. Stay tuned...

Snowed In

Well my title says it all. We are officially snowed in. They haven't plowed our public road which means our private road cannot get plowed. Let's not even talk about our 500+ foot driveway. Here's a pic taken from my patio door. Yes, that drift is growing. I soon won't be able to see the Northumberland Strait.

That's part of the front cottage deck in the bottom left corner. When I arrived home from school yesterday I parked my car at the end of our driveway just in case there was school today. (There wasn't, thank heavens.) I trudged out to my car this afternoon to get a couple of things and the snow was over my Bog boots. But the good news is I am half way to March Break. Yippee!

Mainly Munching Muesli

Long, long ago I had muesli at a Swiss restaurant in London, England. Strangely, I had it for supper but it is really meant to be eaten for breakfast. I am not sure whether it's this wintry weather or what, but I decided to try my hand at making muesli this week. Oh. My. Heavens. Why have I waited all these years to replicate this yumminess? It is so good and it staves off the mid-morning munchies too. Apparently it was first "developed" by a Swiss doctor (Dr. Bircher) to get his patients eating healthy foods. You can search the web (where i found this photo) and find all kinds of different recipes. I don't think there's a a wrong way to make muesli, as long as it has some oats, fruit, nuts and yoghurt. I toasted my oats with wheat germ and almonds first, then added raisins, dried cherries and apricots. Just remember to soak your mixture overnight, then add yoghurt and fresh fruit when you are ready to eat it. Here's a link if you would like more muesli ideas. 
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/oct/23/how-to-make-perfect-bircher-muesli-recipe

Our Cottage, Oops I Mean "Home"

Well here we are, all settled in our cozy cottage. I still call it "the cottage", it's hard to break old habits. Some days I wake up and cannot believe that we have sold our home and are living here permanently. But the weird thing is I don't miss our previous home. Nope, not one bit. Well that might be a stretch...I miss two things: the laundry room and the attached garage! But other than those amenities I am quite content here at our cottage. It is wonderful to see the Northumberland Strait and all the changes every day. Sometimes it looks like it's all ice from here to PEI and then a couple of hours later the ice has moved offshore and the water is this rich, navy blue colour. Yes, the view is fantastic! But inside it's a little cramped. It's getting better though. I never thought that I could throw out, give away, sell or pass along so many belongings. But i did! That's not to say we don't have anything in storage, but I think we did well considering we down-sized approximately 60%. Let me tell you it was crazy at the end but thank heavens the weather cooperated and we were able to move on our closing date of December 19th. But enough of all that. Happy 2015! Let the cottage renos begin!

'Tis the Season

'Tis Elf On The Shelf season! You know, this guy...

I teach Grade 2/3, kiddies that are 7-8 years old. You would not believe the Elf On The Shelf stories they tell me every morning. Today one little guy was so excited. He told me that his elf decorated his Christmas tree and put his underwear on top ;)  All I can think of is how stressed out these parents are running around every night staging EOTS antics! I mean I had a hard enough time playing the tooth fairy, LOL. Probably most parents get their ideas off Pinterest but even so, it takes time to recreate these scenarios. 

I learned something tonight as I was doing some blog research. Did you know that the elves all return to the North Pole after the Yuletide season? True! This video explains everything about the elves. (I love the part where they are on the treadmill.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvmOKx5-wDw&feature=player_embedded&list=PL0AE14815201C29B0
News Flash:  Looks like we will be having Christmas at the cottage. Our house just sold, but guess what? That lovely, old farmhouse sold 10 days before we got an offer. Guess it wasn't meant to be...