More of daily life at the cottage

I’ve been here at Nab for nearly 3 weeks, and have settled into the routine pretty well. Some days I work breakfast thru lunch into the afternoon, other days the afternoon and dinner time. Above is the room I share with my lovely Czech co-worker; tight quarters but with our own bathroom and we manage to move pretty quietly if the other one is sleeping. Lunch is the larger meal here, and I have gotten accustomed to eating some pretty fantastic vegetarian dishes like Nut Loaf with side salad, Creamy Cauliflower, parsnip and carrot soup with homemade rolls, and veggie Thai curry the other night.

This is the salad that the cook left the cilantro out of for those of us who don’t like it. It was really good with the fresh mango and a sweet sour dressing. Every dish and pot that doesn’t go into the dishwasher is hand washed and dried. One of the evening tasks after dinner is to lay the tables for breakfast, cut the butter for small dishes, and make sure there is fresh fruit to go with yogurt, cereals, etc.

I’ve learned the way to place the cutlery and dishes….For breakfast itself, one of us makes 2 pots of coffee (plunge pots), and a pot of tea. After lunch and dinner, it’s whatever people want: black or peppermint tea, coffee or espresso.

Last week there were several students who asked if they could learn to make scones since most had eaten them in a tearoom or restaurants. Liz, one of the school’s owners, asked if I would do the workshop with the students. I had a rapid- fire lesson from the cook, then measured out the flour, sugar, cheese (for savory scones), cherries, etc, for 4 bowls. This allowed for 6 students to work together in pairs on a bowl, and for me to have a bowl to demo. We had a recipe to follow, and the center kitchen work table is big enough for all of us to stand around it. We mixed and rolled out about 4 dozen scones. Fortunately Liz helped with the baking part since the Aga doesn’t have gauges to tell you what the temp is. It has 3 ovens: a warming oven, a lower temp oven and a hot oven… The scones were planned as part of a high tea we were having as a surprise party for another student’s birthday. The scones were successful and we laughed as we learned a lot together. They also tasted really good along with the smoked salmon and cream cheese, and cheese and cucumber, sandwiches we had- all outside in the beautiful sun that heated the day to 80 degrees.It’s not all gorgeous sunshine here, but the sun does manage to show up just as I’m feeling desperate to see it again. I much prefer to hang the laundry outside than hang it in the drying room– it smells alot better for one.

And even though I am working hard when I’m working, it’s also a good thing I’m walking a lot with all the good food we have here. I had the afternoon off yesterday so I got to join the group that Tim (other owner of school) led up the hill to a swimming pond. It was a pretty steep climb on a warm day. The reward was jumping into the cool clear water. Sahara the dog was in her element racing around to make sure everyone got in, and out.

Last night I walked back from a concert by the lake when the sun was going down about 9:45. It was very clear, with the sunset reflecting in the lake.