I am so friggin’ tired this morning! Too much going on, horrendous humidity (which broke, thank goodness, overnight) and a day spent in the beautiful Berkshires where we really didn’t have time to acknowledge that beauty because we were frantically driving from one antique shop to another trying to find a substitute for the island. By the time we got home around 7:30, we were exhausted. Don pulled a dinner together and we watched “Singin’ in the Rain.”

The first shop we went to ended up having the most possibilities, but no matter what we looked at, it was basically a table and not the right height for an island. After endless measuring, chatting with Shirley, who ran the shop and everyone else who worked there, we were dehydrated, tired, and in my case, overwhelmed and in mourning for my island, which I know darned well is too big and had to go. We tried every other shop before coming back to the first shop. Finally, we acknowledged that whatever we bought would be a place marker until we found the right substitute. Whatever we eventually find will be much shorter in length and much less of a presence in the room because Don is loving the room to walk around and do what he has to do when making dinner. He’s a big guy and he needs space. We  need space.

Sigh.

We ended up buying a small primitive table because I loved the original blue paint. We figure it can go into storage if we find something better or maybe there will be another place for it in the house or in the mudroom we’d like to add someday.

And the wood bread board I got earlier in the summer fits on top. The Vernors crate is there for the moment, but I have a feeling I’ll move it somewhere else. It’s taking up too much real estate. Where that is, I don’t know, as every corner in this little cottage is taken up by something or other. Love our cottage but sometimes we yearn for more space.

We also got this vintage crate with the great graphics because it has a hinged lid and I’m going to store the dishtowels and linens inside. Today I have to clear out one of our cupboards so that I can reconfigure where we store our pots and pans and baking dishes. And I have to paint the trim on the window. And work on Act 4 of Midsummer.

I also got this because I love vintage graphics and display items.

We might hang it above the vintage stove as a container for spices, sort of like this (courtesy of Don):

Or it might go elsewhere. A lot depends on the stove and how it looks here in the kitchen. As Shirley, who must feel relieved not to have to have any more long indecisive conversations with us on the ‘island’ that isn’t really an island, said – we should wait until the stove arrives to see what we want or don’t want. She’s right.

Gosh, this stove has upended everything here at the cottage!

We bought one other item, but it’s impossible to get a good picture of it this morning, so I’ll work on that later in the day.

Change is always hard for me and there are a lot of changes happening around here right now. And I leave in four days for five weeks away from home. It’s all too much for me at the moment, which is why Don and I sat on the porch this morning and cuddled on the glider while I cried a little. That helped.

Happy Sunday.