PROGRESS HAPPENED THIS WEEK

A COTTAGE IDEA!  OUR COTTAGE DOESN'T LOOK THIS GOOD YET,
BUT WE HAVE HOPE IT WILL IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

AS WE INCH ALONG WORKING ON THE COTTAGE, I felt like we made a dent in what we are doing to create a comfortable place to call HOME next SPRING.  People do a lot of different things when they retire.  Some are planned and some are a huge surprise.  We are making plans that are in part to what we want.

We have some health issues that we drag around with us, not because we want to, but because we have to at this time.  Challenges that we are dealing with.  SO with that said, I move forward.

Hubby got the cooling/heating unit fixed so we will have warmth when we are at the COTTAGE this Autumn and WINTER working to make this lil place a cozy HOME.  

Friday, I cleaned on the Living room ceiling fan only to have to stop because I couldn't physically get my hands on the blades to thoroughly dust and rub furniture polish on the blades.  I got the glass globes off and cleaned them with Watkins Cleaner then rinse them with cold water.  Dried them off.  I pitched the light bulbs as one was burned out and three others looked like they were about to.

I'll get 25 watt bulbs to replace the 40 in the four sockets.  A trip to the store on Sunday so I can replace them, finish dusting the fan blades and turn it on to admire the very clean ceiling fixture in motion.  

It was nice to enter the COTTAGE today walking into an empty Living room.  I have put in many hours getting to this special place in time as the COTTAGE has been used as a warehouse while we got back on our feet after our house fire in 2016.  In a few days, it will be our 5th anniversary since the fire.  I am just now getting to where I don't have horrible thoughts about what happened.  I still have many boxes to go through and boxes of papers to thin out.  Eventually it will be a completed task that will not have so many emotional ties attached to thinning out.  I can do this.  Amen.

The COTTAGE carpet seriously needs replaced with hardwood floors.  This will happen hopefully this Winter.  The leather sectional sofa that I will turn lose of was shuffled into the Living room.  She's still in pretty good shape.  

This week-end I will shuffle the exercise equipment into the empty Dining room so I have to vacuum the carpet and thoroughly clean the ceiling fan as well.  We'll have to take over a ladder to reach the fans with ease.  After I get these two rooms temporarily like they will be for a short time, I will scrub the wood trim and clean the glass windows.  

Off to the Kitchen I will wash the cabinet fronts until they are thoroughly clean and looking better than before.  The pantry will be dealt with at this point.  Everything that is presently in there will be removed so I can wash the walls, ceiling and wood shelves.  Painting this space shouldn't take very long.  This will be a simple victory as I begin to restock the pantry.  I have cook books in it right now with odds 'n ins.  

After we move in, the pantry will actually hold food and small appliances such as crock pots, air fryer, blenders, etc.  I have stood inside the pantry to imagine where things will go.  Up on the higher shelves the small appliances will go.  Potatoes and onions down on the floor.  A shelf for large jars holding spices, oils, sauces will take up some room on a medium height shelf as a lower shelf will hold popcorn, nuts, seeds, and legumes where it is cooler as heat rises.  Other shelves will hold vegetables, baking items and other food items.  I have been working at getting glass jars to store much of our staples.  Doing away with plastics.

It's entertaining how an empty room can be an adventure to give much thought on what will fill the rooms and spaces.  This will be a time to live in a small environment without so much clutter crowding the spaces.  Curtains, draperies and shades are being thought about as are wood floors and area rugs coming to mind.  Paint colors and tiles takes some time to think on.  What books will I keep?  What pictures will I hang?  What knick knacks will I display?  Will I use the bedding I already have?  I'll use my everyday white dishes stored in the Kitchen and keep my Blue Willow China in a antique China Cabinet in the Dining room. 

What storage space will I have to store extra glassware and dishes?  In the Dining room's antique Corner Cabinet or in the Cellar on muscle racks along with Holiday decorations that have been seriously downsized?  Coats and jackets will be fewer as will clothing that will hang in a small walk-in closet off the Bathroom.  

Extra Cook Books will be stored on the Utility room book shelves that will be built in 2022 by the back door along with my portable sewing machines and sewing notions.  An old fashion treadle sewing machine will be parked in the Utility room along with a Victorian Wash Stand that will hold laundry detergent and other laundry supplies.  

I have to downsize my Doll Collection and every other collection I have.  Special books and small framed pictures of my Grandchildren and other family members will sit on the new floor to ceiling bookshelves that will appear in 2022 built by my dear Husband.

I think I have it figured out where our furniture will sit in each room.  This has been a difficult task for me as I am very attached to my furniture.  They are part of our family and I don't want to do without, but I have to downsize in this area as well.  Somehow I will manage and being a CHRISTIAN HOMEMAKER in a small 1900 Folk Victorian COTTAGE will happen.

Blessings,

~d👵