A Good Day At The Cozy Cottage

Today was such a good day.  On weekdays we are usually up between 5 and 5:20 am, so sleeping in until 7:30 on Saturdays is a blessing.  A certain furry one does not believe in sleeping beyond that time and infers that breakfast should probably be served soon thereafter.  This is usually my time to have a leisurely couple of cups of coffee in my jammies, while watching design shows and catching up on a week's worth of email.  I love this part of a Saturday morning.  It is quiet and peaceful and feels very decadent. 

As I mentioned yesterday, the cozy cottage was starting to look as messy as a dorm room.  It felt so good to clean.  My kitchen needed a good deep cleaning, and rugs needed a deep vacuuming.  I got the laundry done and scrubbed the bathroom.  I would love to clean the closets but I think it is a better reserved for the upcoming three day weekend.  Unless, of course, something else more fun comes up.  :)

After my morning of housecleaning, I decided that a nap was in order.  Every time I suggest to Liesl that we take a nap, she always looks at me with a smile that says, "Splendid idea!"  I took my book with me and got under my blankets and was asleep in minutes.  I am a big believer in naps.  I have since been since my children were little.  I felt pretty rested after my nap and announced to Liesl it was time to go to the park where the lake is.  

We took a longer walk than usual.  At this particular park there is a bridge which leads to a road where there is a large playground on one side of the road and a beautiful, well tended cemetery on the other side.  We always walk on the side with the playground.  What is weird is that Liesl will not walk past that cemetery even though we are across the road.  The other day when we went there, she just put on the brakes and would not go forward.  Mini schnauzers have a low center of gravity and when they hunker down and decide they are not moving, there is nothing you can do to move them without picking them up.  They are also one of the most stubborn dogs you will ever meet.  The other day I just assumed she was tired and picked her  up and carried her past it.  In general, Liesl does not liked to be picked up ('cause she is a big dog.)  Today she stopped in the same place and I had to carry her again.  I wonder what she senses.

Whenever we take a long walk we will usually find a bench to stop and relax for a bit..  When Liesl sees a bench she will usually stop. She loves to sit and watch bodies of water and the activity around them.  She goes into a Zen like state and will lay down on my lap and nestle into my arm.  Today we were just relaxing, watching the boats and the ducks.  A couple of the ducks started swimming towards us, got out of the water and started walking towards us withing about six feet of us.  I could not believe it.  I think they are probably used to people feeding them from that bench.  I was seeing disaster coming and tried to shoo them.  In the meantime, I could feel Liesl starting to get excited like, "oh, boy, this is gonna be the best day EVER!"  I could see there were some geese heading over to join the party.  I decided to vacate quickly.  I put Liesl down, pointing her away from the ducks and held her leash tightly.  She made a couple of tough girl noises, thinking that she was thugalicious.  The ducks looked like, "whatever."  I made haste away from that spot and found a better bench with less drama associated with it.  (And there was no fowl play.  LOL)

So now it is all peaceful.  It feels good to relax in my clean house. Liesl has put herself to bed.  I am getting ready to get my stitching out and watch some British comedies on Netflix.  Tomorrow my DS and DD are taking me out to dinner.  I am thrilled that I will get to spend some time with them.  So tonight I will say my prayers of gratitude for such a joyful day.  It is amazing how a clean house can bring on a clear mind.  I have had extra sleep and exercise.  It is hard to believe that it all got packed into one day.