Our Little Cottage.

Truth be told, it's technically not ours. But we've been very frequent guests at this tiny cottage since it opened and from day one, our hosts have always referred to it as "your cottage". And so it has become just that for us. A perfect getaway, secluded and private. To date, we are the only ones who have ever stayed more than a few days. Most people will come for a weekend. We tend to stay anywhere from ten days to almost three weeks. This trip, we're here for our ten days altogether. And we're cherising every minute!

Our little cottage, hidden away behind the trees.

The front, facing the ocean and the mountains.

So peaceful. A great place to reset life again.

Do you have a personal favorite spot to visit?

Is it a place to rejuvenate your body and soul?

To the Sea.

On Saturday, we left our frosty and chilly home to

head to the warm and sunny (we hoped) sea.

Our "carriage" flew us over farmland and mountains.

At the beginning of the flight, we were, at one point,

right over our home. Can't figure out where in the

picture, but it's down there. I'll have to blow it up

once we're home to see which plot of land is ours.

Ten days of resting, writing, picture taking, memory

making, adventure hiking and gourmet meal creating.

Have you had a holiday recently?

Was it just what you hoped for?

The Reveal!

Here's what we did with the beautiful fall leaf

garland that we bought at the beginning of October: 

A bit of extra color on the veranda, mirroring the

incredible leaves that surround our new home.

Now I feel like we're truly living here, with the

fun opportunity to decorate not just the inside.

How is your fall decorating coming along?

Did you add color to the outside of your house?

Garland!

Bet you can't wait for the end of the day

when I'll reveal where we put our garland.

Stay tuned for this exciting development

at our wee cottage in the woods!!

Worries ....

On top of a full moon, this week has been a

week of worries. So many things to sort through.

I don't even know where to start to get it laid

out so I can start with one worry and fix it.

Worrying makes me anxious and tired. I just

want to sleep and not wake up without a knot

in my stomach. Where is the worry fairy, who,

with a wave of her wand, could take it all away??

What kinds of things do you worry about?

How do you cope when worry becomes so big?

The Great British Bake Off.

We worked our little buns off today so we

could kick back tonight and watch our new

favorite show. Yup, "The Great British Bake

Off" is our treat at the end of a busy week!

The British humor and the amazing baking is

enough for us to get all our tasks done in a day.

Love the set, the location, the pale colors of the mixers

and the scrumptious recipes are to die for. Today, I found

a site that has the recipes and ingredients listed. We may

have to try out a few now that we have a "baker's kitchen".

What shows do you love to watch?

Do you have any that you use as a "treat"?

Experimenting.

Our next door neighbors have a huge garden.

And they have gifted us a ton of veggies.

Thankfully, we are veg~a~holics but we

still have lots leftover. So it was time for action.

Too many cucumbers? What to do?

Let's learn how to pickle!!

First, find a great recipe. We found

many and all were the same, so we

chose the one that seemed the easiest

to follow along. Washed our jars out.

Washed, then cut up the cukes into

spears and circles. Should make 4 jars.

Mixed up crushed, fresh garlic, organic dill

weed, a pickling spice and red pepper flakes. 

Spicy but not hot.

Filled 6 jars with round cucumbers,

tall spears and sliced carrots for fun.

Made up the brine of pickling vinegar

and coarse salt, boiled the poured in the jars.

And finally, the end product. Currently cooling

but soon will be refrigerated for 48 hours. Then

we can open them up and enjoy our hard work.

These will last several weeks. Now that we've

done a bit experimenting in food preservation,

it may soon be time to invest in canning products.

Have you ever tried making your own pickles?

Did you venture into other food preservation?

Big!!

Driving into town this morning, we

marveled at the size of this big load. 

The highway we travel in to town travels

east ~ west and there are often these types

of wide loads being maneuvered towards the

east. Not sure where they are going ....

.... but they sure are big!!