Wish You Were Here!

SNOW! Doesn't this photograph of Cape Coop look like a vintage postcard? Our little Cape Coop is so sweet, in every season!
La Principessa went out and took these photos of our cozy Cape Coop this morning. The snow had begun to fall a few hours before. When we awoke at *:00 AM or so, we found ourselves surrounded by a soft and chill blanket outside.
Gray, white and black have overtaken the world.
These photographs ARE in color. What is the name of this unusual color, you might ask? First Snow.

Oh! This snow is so soft! Very cold, white, a heavy blanket of powder on every surface. I shoveled the front walk and cleared off the post box a bit later, in hope of attracting the mail carrier. The snow practically floated off of the walkway- it is that soft and dry! We are enchanted.


Our little car, Kim Chee Kia, is even MORE buried now, as it hasn't stopped snowing as yet at 5:00PM, and these photos were taken at 11:00AM. 21 ½ inches so far, according to my tape measure.
Our neighbor's son came by and shoveled the alley for her this morning, and we gave him a hot cup of oolong to warm his dear self. We have heat, we have lunch and tea, and, oh, the world is lovely and quiet.
I look out of my window here and see a flock of birds flying West. I feel sheltered and peaceful.
The world feels so calm and sweet as I look upon the snow outside, there just isn't a proper phrase come to mind to explain.
So, yes, I am homesick, for the warm, the endless summer that is our home state of Florida, but NO, I am not weary of this adventure in Salem, New Jersey. I do not tire of the seasons and the challenge, the lovely of it all. Wish you were here!

Insert Disappointed Sigh HERE

Today I ripped at the dining room carpet a little bit, to see WHAT WE ARE FACING.
Um, not good, it seems.












The dining area is Cape Coop's North front room.














In the rear it is the kitchen, which has cloud gray vinyl stick-em-down tiles. I suppose that the flooring will be a double room job now. Bleagh. (Pay no mind to the odd placement of the refrigerator- PLEASE. And, don't get excited over the five feet of cabinets- they are in scary disrepair.









UNFORTUNATELY, the floor beneath the carpet is NOT lovely- but isn't this photo close up of the disaster gorgeous? I can't discern even if this is wood, or some other odd sort of surface material that is something like cardboard. The hidden surface is covered in swirls of old flooring glue, dusty and dark brown. I imagine that I can pull up the carpeting and either recover the floor in some stick-em down tiles (we're not enjoying carpet in the dining/kitchen area!) or, even, just clean up what's there now, if it turns out to be something usable (I fear not!). I'm not inclined for now, because my secret hope is to eventually do a remodel of the entire area, turning the dining 'room' and the kitchen into one large, more cohesive area- an eat in kitchen/family room sort of idea is in my mind. An old fashioned kitchen similar to the main rooms of colonial times- although NOT in a colonial theme. SO, I would like to cover both floors with ONE material, returning them to their original singular state- because I do believe that the chicken house did not have multiple flooring surfaces, unless the lady of the main house liked decorating that much? Or thought to inspire the chickens to a happy mood with a variety of decor choices? I can imagine a woman thinking to herself whilst choosing floor coverings "Ah, THIS vinyl will be the perfect accent for the West side, and THIS lovely wood for the East!"
FORTUNATELY, although she DOES have a virulent dislike of the 'Horrid Carpet', La Principessa does NOT have a sense of time, or urgency, regarding these things- my darling Kiddle is in no hurry to GET THINGS DONE.
This will be a daunting job, and I will need to ruminate. For AGES, I think.
Again, FORTUNATELY, today is bank day- our monthly adventure to the city of Glassboro- and we have been invited to dinner by new friends... yes, a 40 minute drive is what we consider to be neighborly here- we're thrilled!

ALSO, FORTUNATELY, we had these sweet whole wheat biscuits for lunch, while my cake offering for dinner baked in the oven, warming the kitchen up to a toasty 52 degrees Fahrenheit!

Photos of the cake may or may not be forthcoming- it is a naked cake, and while fruity and moistly delicious to eat, Kiddle may not feel inspired to photograph it.


Can you tell that I'm having difficulty figuring out layout code? Yipes.