December 3, 2010
"It's been many years since I had such an exemplary vegetable"
Last night L and I went to dog sit at our boss's house. First let me provide you with some insight on the wonderfulness of Gael. Gael has two children both who are in their mid 20-30's, she has traveled all around the world and the Bakery where I work originally started out as a boat that sailed all around Nova Scotia, Gael down below baking bread and husband steering to different ports to sell the baked goods. She has impeccable and eccentric tastes which I adore. She is a giving woman who cares deeply about humans, animals and the environment. She is a hippie.

I had heard of "The House" but really did not expect it to be as magical as it was. My jaw dropped when we finally reached the end of the hand cut driveway which is more like a trail through the woods. The wooden shingles, the obviously hand built roof, the barn doors with no windows as her front doors.

The dogs Effy and Davy (which are Gaels parents names) greeted us with loud barks and wet kisses, jumping all over our work drained bodies. L fed them dinner as I wandered about in the dark of the powerless home in great awe. I saw a stuffed canary in a glass bottle and a stuffed cobra as well. I saw an old wood burning kitchen stove from the 1900's. The exposed wood beams in the ceiling, the antique furniture, the greenhouse everything hand built by Gael and her friends. I kept thinking to myself " I wish I lived here, this is what I want for myself". L lit the fire and told me stories about the chickens being kept warm for the winter in the coops with purple and blue and yellow cashmere sweaters that Gael had found at thrift stores. L told me all about the house as we took a tour. It is very difficult to describe such a house, it is modest yet royal.

Gael told us there would be enough solar power to watch a movie as it had been charging for days. We lit the candelabra and looked in the fridge for drinks. She left us a note letting us know anything we wanted to eat, drink or smoke was ours for the taking.

We grabbed the one bottle of beer we found in the fridge, the ketchup flavored chips we brought and two clementines L smuggled in her purse from our place and proceeded up the boat stairs to our bosses bedroom. In the bedroom there is a hanging human skeleton facing the bed and what i would presume to be the matching human skull sitting on the top of an antique dressing table (straight out of my dreams). Off of the bedroom Gael has just built a personal library for herself,the shelves painted white and calling out for the many books that are currently strewn about the house. Next to the library is a bathroom (her first indoor bathroom ever, built only three years previous). L tells me this is Gaels dream bathroom complete with a claw foot tub bigger than ours and the most unique sink I have ever seen.

We snuggle into bed (imagine sleeping in your bosses bed!) with her computer, Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 remake, the only movie in the house)our one beer and snacks.

I have to say this movie is definitely one of my favorites. I love this time period. We decided that in modern times Mr.Collins would be considered quite a narb. I cried at the end of the movie (as I always do) and told L movies like this ruin my life. I could feel the wind through the cracks in the walls. We both read until we fell asleep.

In the morning I awoke to Effy licking my face, 7:30 am on my day off and I was ecstatic. We got up and L took me to the tower. The tower has been a dream of Gael's since she was a little girl. It reminds me of the story Rapunzel. The door is a golden yellow medieval style with a brass parrot for a handle. When you open the door you see a trap door in the floor that leads to her root cellar. You must climb 5 stories of wooden spiral stairs to reach the top of the tower which has matching medieval style windows and houses a brass framed bed and personal sized wood stove. L tells me that Gael likes to sleep in this tower when it storms.

My boss is an amazing person, I love her taste, the way she lives her life and her energy.

I have had the most peaceful, reflective week which I attribute to this sleepover and visiting my Grandma's house (which I will write about next). Magical.

Here are some photos of the tower being built:



Courtesy of Dollface 12:09 PM December 3, 2010
1 comments
1 Comments:
Blogger Carie said...
great poset. I would have loved to see the way she positioned te skeleton. Love you xoxox
December 3, 2010 at 7:39 PM  

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