#258 - Cottage and Repairs

I woke at five forty-five AM, lifted my sleep mask up to check the time, and went straight back to bed delighted that it wasn’t time to get out of bed. I figuratively rolled over and went back to sleep.

I woke again at eight thirty feeling great. Robyn was already dressed and gone. I knew she would be walking the cottages fourteen acres, enjoying the trails and exploring this new place. She came back to the room shortly after I woke to tell me breakfast was being made.

But since we are on cottage time, I took as long as I needed to get through the morning rituals before heading downstairs. Bill took me on a tour of the estate, to the pavilion, the bunkie, the glamping platforms and the beach. I think he was avoiding any chance that he would be asked to make the breakfast.

It was great to see the property by daylight. It was expansive and had some great areas to explore. It feels more like a camp than a cottage. When we returned, Barb had some crispy croissants, scrambled eggs and bacon for us as well a delicious grapefruit. And it’s not often you’ll hear me describe a grapefruit as delicious.

After breakfast we took my car to the Home Depot and picked up twelve sheets of cedar lattice and a new ladder, which we strapped to the roof of my car. Luckily, we weren’t very far from the store and the roads were quiet.

After unloading the lattice back at the cottage in the rain, we took on some indoor tasks. Robyn and Barb headed out to Walmart to pick up some items for the cottage while bill got me set up to paint a pantry and all the shelving. It needed two coats to cover the puke colour some else had once painted the wood.

After that we headed out to the garage to sand the wood siding. The paint was starting to chip off the wood in small rectangular chunks that reminded me of tree bark.

I helped Bill remove some of the things that had been screwed to the garage front by the previous owners so it could eventually be painted. This included a two man saw, some flower hangers and a wind chime and a sign with the cottage name on it. There was also a bleached horse skull over top as well. Not sure why anyone would hang a horse skull in a place that is supposed to be welcoming, but someone must have thought it was a good idea.

After all the offending items were removed, I switched over to the power tools to knock the loose paint off. I went through four belt sander belts before switching to Bills smaller one. I had started with mine because he’d said his was ineffective.

But using his made the job go all the faster.

Bill went to make us all a lunch of hotdogs while I continued to make dust.

We stopped and ate in the cottage dining room. The dogs were delicious and salty, perfect for a hard working day like today.

Then it was back to work, getting the garage ready for new paint. I sanded away and was getting into a good rhythm when the sky darkened and the air shuddered with rolling thunder.

I kept working.

It started to rain, lightly at first.

I kept sanding.

The sky opened and all the water in the world began to fall upon us.

I stopped sanding.

Momma didn’t raise no fool!

Bill and I stood in the garage hoping the foul weather would pass. It didn’t, at least not until some hours later.

We headed inside and I had a shower to wash off all the dust from sanding. Boy did that feel better.

When I came back down, I told Robyn that we had forgotten to bring the pomegranate seeds for the Chicken Ruby, so we headed out to the local Walmart to find some seeds. We couldn’t locate any, even though one of their helpful staff said there was some and even gave us the location from their inventory sheets.

But alas all they had was the fruit, not the seeds.

We headed next door to the No Frills Grocery store and tested our luck there. They had the juice and the fruit, but not the seeds. I google how hard it was to get the seeds from a pomegranate and after watching the video, it seemed stupid to look for the seeds and to just extract them ourselves from the fruit. We left No Frill with three pomegranates and a lighter step.

Back at the cottage we extracted the seeds, just like the video instructed and then I started to get supper read. I brought out my homemade Chicken Ruby, some packaged chana masala, some bagged basmati rice and some naan bread. And the pomegranates as well.

Soon the cottage smelled like a fine dining Indian restaurant.

I called all the people for dinner, and we served ourselves from the kitchen and took seats in the dining room. Everyone seemed to like the meal. Bill commented that the pomegranate seeds were like eating shards of glass.

And that is one of the best comments anyone has ever made about my cooking!

Bill served us a rhubarb and strawberry shortcake cheesecake crumble pie. It was really tasty and I always crave something sweet after an Indian dinner. We sat around the dining table and chatted for a while about all kinds of subjects happy to be in each other’s company.

The kids departed after dessert to the pavilion set out in the woods. It has a media protector and screen. They were desperate to use it to watch a movie and had been talking about it all day. To be honest, I could see the appeal and, on another day, when I wasn’t completely exhausted from physical labour, I might have joined them.

After dinner we all cleaned up and even put the pantry back together so Barb could restock it and check it off her list.

We got a lot done today, even if it felt like we didn’t. Walls were painted, supplies were purchased, things were sanded and cleaned. Horse skulls were dismantled and lattice was stacked. The weather stopped some of our work, but overall, we did alright.

Everyone else has gone to bed, except the kids, who are still at the pavilion. I am writing from the comfort of an overstuffed leather chair in the great room. I am stuffed from the Chicken Ruby and dessert.

I can hear the call of my bed. Well, the bed I was allotted at this cottage anyways.

I am ready to call it a day.

Until tomorrow.