Cottage Caretaking

February school break has come and gone leaving mom with her head spinning. Numerous play dates, doctor visits, dentist appointments, late night TV watching, bowling competitions, and more pizza than I care to remember have left their mark. So once those dear little student bodies half dragged themselves to school on Monday I set out to reclaim the house! After taking stock of the situation it was determined a good deal of scrubbing and sorting would be in order. And it seems I wasn't the only one with some housekeeping on her mind...

...for Lily Red was hard at work over at Wayside Cottage! With apron on and broom in hand she tackled each and every corner of the place. By mid-morning the cottage had been cleared of all its' jumble.


No sooner had the broom been set to rest than Lucy popped in for a visit, as was becoming their habit. "Oh, I'm ever so happy to see you," said Lily Red. "And what good fortune you've brought your scissors along as I'm ready to start unpacking my things. If you'd be kind enough to help by cutting the twine I'd be forever grateful!"

Lucy of course was more than happy to assist her friend. Luckily, Lily Red had a ladder (previously employed to reach the ceiling cobwebs) and so Lucy was able to reach just the right spot to make the perfect cut.

As the twine tumbled down Lily Red was able to pull away the lid and finally release the contents of the box. A lift top desk and a four poster bed were revealed along with some smaller treasures. Lucy relished hearing all about them. She was most interested in a portrait painting which Lily Red explained was of a very famous author. "Someday I hope to be an author just like he was," explained Lily Red. " I've even got the tools of the trade, a journal and a favorite pencil. With them I'm going to write about our adventures to come!"

Before long everything was tidied up. Lucy was hoping to cut some wire to hang the painting but Lily Red wanted to wait. "You may think me attempting to be a Renaissance Woman, but I do believe in addition to becoming an author, I'll try my hand at painting...walls that is! "