What a week! It's truly been a blessing, I hope you enjoy a peek into the Cottage :) During this week, the only electricity we used was for the Refrigerator and a few small space heaters. PS) We don't have central heating, lol! It was a great experience for the family! ~ Mother started Scrap booking... ~ My sister playing the piano... (we went without radio/tapes/Cd's, so this was extremely hard for my sister and I as we *love* music! We compromised by playing instruments, singing together, and writing songs!) ~There's a curtain that covers the computer area, so I didn't think about Blogging as much...out of sight, out of mind!! :) ~ Natural decorations... ~ Here I am journaling in the parlour... ~ My sister preparing a dessert... ~ Washed green beans It was fun to snap the beans in the parlour while talking to my Mother and sister...it went much faster! ~ My sister writing in her journal... ~ After dinner, my sister and I put on a "concert" for the family...playing a few songs each before dessert was served. ~ My Dad showed me the correct way to level/work the ground before laying down mulch... ~ The mulch was from a tree stump we're removing...I couldn't wait to put that out on the future garden area. ~ Caught up on my baking... ~ I made soda bread to serve garnished with egg salad and fresh lettuce from the garden. ~ While I finished up the bread and my sister made cookies, my Mother read aloud to us. ~ Cookies!! She made a large batch to save some for later... ~ My brother worked with my Dad to seal in the back porch... It's being set up as shelter for the animals on cold nights ~ Playing cards... ~ A parable come to life: "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." Matthew 25:1-4 ~ We ran out of oil! It was a great time to make reference to that scripture of always being prepared! We (thankfully) have more oil now, but it was so convicting to realize, that without oil or sufficient candles, we're stuck!! :) ~ It was so beautiful to literally be covered in fog! ~ Down the lane... ~ Cotton fields... The cotton blows into the road, so we used some when decorating the parlour! ~ Nearby creek... ~ ~ My brother, sister and I all went out to the woods to collect straw/mulch on the ground to lay over the garden soil...It was hard work because parts of the garden area are so saturated in rain water, that you can easily sink on a soft spot! Well, we did...frequently. We had some good laughs, though! ~ Evening sky ~ We have to make sure we prepare supper early, because when it gets dark (between 5-6pm) it's candle-light only! One night I made a late supper, and it was *so* frustrating searching through ALL the deep cabinets, holding a dripping candle, all in pursuit of a strainer! :) But I found it. hehe ~ Journal ~ For a while I wasn't playing my guitar as often, but during this week I have! When you're left without an outside source of music, you quickly compose your own! :) A few nights ago, we were in the parlour, and I played guitar while each family member made-up a verse about living at the cottage! It was so much fun!! :) ~ At the kitchen table... ~ My sister took a walk through the property after the rain shower... ~ My mother brought in sprigs of Cedar branches ~ Later, she prepared hot tea... ~ Dinner and a Board game ~ When we're asked if we have a dishwasher, I point to myself and my sister and say, "We have two!" We're used to washing dishes the old-fashioned way!~ One of our favorite times is using the late night hours to read before retiring for the night. It's so quiet, and it's a wonderful time for reflection.~ Inspired by my Gardening magazines, I went out to the woods and "pruned" some trees to use as garden stakes! They're not exactly the size I wanted, but it's better than nothing! Hopefully I'll have a huge stack by Spring :) ~ I'm so pleased to see that my strawberry plants are doing great! (I really let them run wild!)They've sent off many runners, so I'll grow some in the greenhouse soon. ~ Mother writing in her notebook... ~ SecondHand Treasure I purchased this cute rocking chair for only $5! It's really heavy, but thats a good sign to me, it should last a while! Anyway, I thought you would like to see it, It's a new item for my hope-chest (not literally to go inside it, lol, it's for "later") ~ Well, my sister and I have been working on a crochet project together this week...and it's finished today! Even though we didn't knit, I still love this above photo! :) ~ 1860's style Sontag I'm pleased with how it turned out! Because it's crocheted it's *really* hard to find patterns (usually its knitted). We found a large (Womens size 16) and my sister studied the pattern, and converted it to my size (8/10) and changed a few things. At one point, it was too narrow, so we hard to start all over again! ~ I'm wearing it right now :) The sontag is very comfortable, perfect attire for daily wear or at (re-enacting) events!! ~ Inspiration Meg (on the far left) is wearing a sontag. ~ I hope you enjoyed the update! I'll update again on December 26th! *Mia