As Promised!

Hi!!
I know it's been a while. Sorry about the absence. Things around here have been a little bit more busy than usual!
I'm going to do something silly, and start at the most recent events and move backward. Unusual, i know. Just thought i would mix it up a little. Keeps you on your toes!

First, i would like to state that i am typing this out as i listen to a RAT scurry about within the walls of my cottage. That is right, a RAT. Scratching along, leaving its giant turds, and eating my darned stuff! It ate the plastic and cotton out of some of my monthly items that were stored in the bathroom closet, and it ate some nice thick cocoa butter lotion i had. It was possibly one of the thickest plastic things i have, and it ate right through it! Bastard. I told the landlord about it but he doesn't seem to believe me that a rat is in the house. I tried to tell him "well maybe it's a bunny!" but he wasn't havin' it and wouldn't come have a look. Oh well. Guess he's too busy. He said that because there's so many cats on the property i shouldn't have a rat, and if i did i should probably have expected it, living near the cows and horses and their food... sigh.
Humane, schmumane, we put out mouse poison. It ate it all. Good. It's still around though... because i can still hear it... or it's mate... best friend... whatever.

My stuff came from America the day before yesterday! Our cottage is CHAOS!

It was a really good feeling to go through it all though. I was happy to see that it was mostly unbroken, despite how the boxes looked...

Some of them came literally ripped apart and taped back together. Fortunately, nothing is missing. The only casualties were to two of my grandmother's Fostoria Crystal goblets (from possibly the 1920s?), but i think it was really my fault... i didn't pack them well enough. I have several more pieces of that set. Not to worry.

I got my cookbooks! YAY! Less online searching! That photo on the end, is actually a xerox of my brother Mark's face. LOL! He actually drew a little character for the front of that binder too that reads "Gwammas wessipie book"! It made my mom laugh whenever she saw it, which, i'm sure, was the point. :)
Already, i made a pound cake and some raspberry sauce for a friend's birthday party from my Better Homes and Gardens book! Win!
i just love cooking and baking... *sigh*

Speaking of which, V wanted to cook last week, so i let him. He made some yummy foods!

This was V's variation of stuffed bell peppers. I must say that the yellow one was the best i've possibly ever had. They were filled with a wild mushroom risotto. Period. Yum.
He also made something the "green" way!

Atop the stove! He made an incredibly delicious vegetable stew sans electricity! It was perfect, really- the slow heat of the stove... ahhh yum!
(i can still hear the rat, btw... ewww!!!)

This week, i made a vegetarian version of "sloppy joes" that was in a word, TERRIFIC! If you hadn't known it was vegetarian, you'd have never guessed. It was substantial, spicy, flavorful... Good times.

Click the photo for where to find the recipe ;-)
This above photo actually was the inspiration for a sewing project. Can you guess what or why?
...
Look at the steam. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but it is billowing TOWARD me, not UP like it's supposed to. Talk about a draft! When i saw this, i immediately put my hand toward the seams in the window and was horrified to feel a steady stream of COLD air coming IN! No wonder we have been so cold! It's drafty!
So i made curtains.

I re-purposed an old door curtain from V's last place (we have blue and white checked ones now... not amazing, but they match) and the swag of another set of curtains that i made about 4 years ago. They don't match perfectly, but i really like the cheer it brings to the window. At night, i'll draw them closed to slow the drafty draft.
While i was making these curtains, i was inspired otherwise too! If you have a look at the previous photos showing the chaos of the living room, at the end of the clothesline you'll notice a bare lightbulb.
Bare.
Cringe.
It looks lame during the day (and all the time), and at night it's quite glaring on the eyes... Maybe just mine because they're sensitive to light (i have a hard time driving at night, too) BUT i decided to make a shade for it, and i'm happy with how it turned out.
I didn't want just any shade... i didn't want a boring, plain shade... and it had to be small because our ceilings are fairly low. Am i picky? Maybe. I just know what i want, and i didn't want to have to pay for something.
SO i searched... aaaand i searched... and finally, i found something awesome.
BEHOLD! After cutting out a million little bits of curvy, bendy, pattern and about half an hour of assembly, i give you:

THIS! it is glorious, isn't it. Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make one for yourself :-D