The Total December Experiment
replied around another painful yawn.
“I won’t keep you. I just want to let you know that all the
staff has been contacted. Everyone is able and more than
ready to get back to Live Oaks. I set a tentative time in
two days for you to meet them, pending your approval, of
course.”
“Sounds great to me. Thanks Mr. Lanier.”
“Ten o’clock Thursday morning OK ?”
‘Fine, I’m looking forward to it.”
She replaced the phone and sat on the edge of the bed
trying to pull her thoughts together.
“Good morning, Hon,”Teresa said, appearing in Manda’s door
tying the sash of her robe together.
“Hi, Mom. I guess the phone woke you.”
“No, I was awake-just being lazy.”
“That was Mr. Lanier. The staff will be back to work in a
couple days. I’m supposed to meet them Thursday morning.
I’m glad you’re here Mom. How on earth am I supposed to act
around a staff ?”
“Can’t help you, Sweetie. I’ve never been so lucky,” Teresa
said with a smile,” but I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“Mom, would you order coffee ? I’m going to see if a shower
will wake me up.”
Manda shrugged her robe on.
“ Order some breakfast, too…and some pastries.”
“I can tell you’re my daughter,” Teresa grinned. “ It’s a
good thing our metabolism is high !”
#
A short time later, they both sighed with pleasure as
they began their second coffee.
”I feel so much better. The shower did wonders for me. The
food didn’t hurt either.”
Teresa answered with another satisfied sigh.
“Mom, how about going to Live Oaks today ?”
“That sounds perfect, Manda. What a great way to spend the
day. Let me pop in the shower for my wake up call, then
I’ll be primed for the day.”
Manda spent the next half hour listing what she wanted to
accomplish while at the estate.
After showing the main house to her mom, she wanted to
check out the grounds and the cottage where Nanny May had
lived. She had decided that she would live in the cottage
for now. After all, the main house had no furnishings.
I can’t wait to see Mom’s face when we arrive at Live Oaks.
Manda rechecked her list and put it in her purse….laying
the purse and her camera on the table by the door of the
suite.
I hope the cottage is in order. I’d like to move in as
soon as possible.
Excitement began to quicken Manda’s pulse .
“Mom,are you about ready ?”
Teresa walked through her bedroom door armed with her
purse, a pair of sneakers, and an umbrella tucked under her
arm.
“Mom ?” Manda burst out laughing. “You packed an
umbrella !”
“You never know what’s going to come in handy, Hon.”
“Are you expecting a rain storm? The sun is dazzling-it’s a
beautiful day!”
“See what I mean ? Not only am I ready for rain, but I’ll
be carrying my own shade while we walk around.”
“I see your point, Mom,” as her grin flashed her dimples
and humor twinkled her eyes.
Teresa brandished her umbrella toward the door with
impatience as Manda picked up her camera and purse.
“Brace yourself for a big surprise, Mom.”
#
Teresa gazed in rapture at the sentinels of oaks guarding
the lane to the manor.
“Oh, Manda,” she breathed, “Such beauty.”
“I know, Mom. I just can’t believe its mine.”
Manda drove slowly up the lane so they could feast on the
magnificence of the grounds.
As they rounded the last curve and the house came into
view, Teresa sucked in a gasp of delight.
“Oh, my God ! Honey, I had NO idea ! The photographs just
didn’t capture the overwhelming essence of this mansion !
This is…unbelievable !”
Teresa began to bounce in her seat with excitement.
Manda laughed with delight at her mom’s reaction.
They parked in front of the entrance and jumped from the
car. Manda fumbled with the keys as Teresa continued to
bounce with impatience.Manda inserted the key and turned.
The massive door swung open on its own without a sound.
They stepped into the foyer and both stood in silent awe as
their eyes embraced the magnificent interior.
“Oh, Manda, Manda, Manda ,” Teresa gushed.
She grabbed Manda’s hands and they began to dance around
the foyer like two children on Christmas morning.
“Whew, Sweetie, show me everything.”
They tripped from room to room with Teresa ooohing and
aaahing at every new sight.
Even though Manda had seen it before, she was stunned anew
by the majesty of her inheritance.
“What have you chosen as your style of décor, Hon ?”
“I haven’t thought much about it. I know I want it as light
and airy and out doorsy as possible. No heavy dark
monstrosities for furnishings will be allowed in my
palace,” she laughed.
“ I think you are going to need some professional help,
Manda.”
“I KNOW I am, Mom. A lot of help. I guess I’ll ask Mr.
Lanier and Kate for some suggestions. They both knew Nanny
well so they may know some designers I can talk to.”
“I don’t have to rush. I’ve decided that I’m going to live
in the carriage house for now.”
“Good idea, Honey. Let’s check it out.”
They walked through the threshold . As Manda turned to lock
the door, it was closing without a sound.
“That door must be very well balanced,” Teresa observed.
“Think so,” asked Manda with a slight puzzled frown.
“Sure, they were very particular about building homes back
then. Built with pride, love and no shortcuts. Unlike homes
today !”
They got into the car and Manda studied the platt and
blueprints to determine where the carriage house stood. Her
first thought was that it would be close to the house but
she didn’t recall having seen any buildings close to the
house other than the kitchen in the back.
“Um, let’s see,” she mused, “We’re talking horse and buggy
here.”
A few seconds later she found the answer.
“According to this map, its close to where the old stables
were.”
“Well, that certainly makes sense, Hon. Back then, they had
to consider the, shall we say, aroma that’s associated with
a stable and horses.”
“Very true,” Manda laughed.
“Here we go, Mom,” as she put the car in gear and crept
around the circular drive.
A few minutes later, they were on a small brick paved lane
that led through a copse of trees. The lane took them to a
small clearing upon which sat the most charming cottage
imaginable.
“Mom, would you look at this !”
“Sweetie, this is a fairy tale come true, but… it doesn’t
look like a carriage house.”
“Mr. Lanier said that Nanny had it remodeled before she
moved in. She went all out…that’s for certain.”
Manda and Teresa stood together by the side of the car
taking it in.
The house was small but not tiny. The exterior walls were
of a rough stucco in a very pale smoke grey. The bottom
third of the walls were of irregular shaped medium and
small size field stone in several shades of grey with
stones of light to medium green interspersed among them.
The stones were of different sizes and shapes with no
discernable pattern to their placement. There was no
conventional demarcation line between the joining of the
stucco and the stones. The overall effect was that of a
fairy waving a wand over a jumble of heaped stones, causing
them to sail into the air and knit themselves together to
form a beautiful wall, with some of the stones falling
instead into random groupings in the stucco, softening the
joining between the stones and stucco.
“What unusual masonry,” declared Teresa.
“Yes it is, but I like it. Gives it personality.”
The windows were plentiful but small, recessed deeply into
the walls, with many diamond shaped panes.The arched frames
of the windows were narrow field stones set perpendicular
to the edges of the windows, outlining the windows in an
entrancing manner, especially where they edged into the
stucco portion.
The front door was constructed in a similar fashion …deeply
set, with the same stone frame and with small diamond
shaped panes of glass set in the upper portion of the dark
grey door. The roof was steeply pitched and covered in a
lovely smooth slate gray tile.
Two small dormer windows set into the roof with tiled roof
overhangs announced the existence of a second story. A
chimney built of small field stone rose from each end of
the roof.
Growing over some of the exterior wall in a sprawling but
tidy manner was a close knit vine of tiny deep green leaves
covered with small delicate purple flowers. At one corner
of the house stood a lattice arbor covered with a climbing
red rose that provided shade for the garden bench beneath.
Mounds of low growing flowers flourished around the base of
the cottage. It reminded Manda of the beautiful ethereal
paintings of old English cottages. A thatched roof would
have completed the impression. As it was, the cottage
looked as though it had been lifted from the pages of a
child’s book of fairy tales.
Manda kept studying it in an effort to figure out how the
small house had beenconstructed to achieve the look that
was so enchanting and other worldly.
Realization finally dawned followed by delight.
She turned to her mom who was standing with her fingertips
touching her smiling lips.
“Mom, you see it too, don’t you?”
“ I see the home of a beautiful but mischievous sprite who
lives in a mysterious and enchanted wood. “
She turned to Manda and reaching over, lifted Manda’s hair
to peek at her ears.
“I’m surprised, Honey. I expected you to have grown little
pointed ears.”
Manda laughed and covered her ears with her hands.
“Well, Mom. Are they…pointed, I mean ?”
“No, they’re still my little girl’s ears, thank goodness.”
‘Mom, can you see why it looks the way it does ?”
“Well, I know that the steep roof and the small windows and
door make it look sort of ….miniature…undersized…like for
the wee folk.”
“Yes, but have you noticed that the house has no sharp
edges ?”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Honey.”
“See where the front wall meets the side wall ? Instead of
a sharp angle where the walls join, the edge is slightly
rounded. The whole house is like that. Even the roof line
is softened with smooth rounded edges and smooth scalloped
tiles. Isn’t it fantastic ?”
“Amazing !What a clever idea. The over all affect along
with the massing of flowers everywhere makes it look fae. A
pretty little fairy house.”
“Manda…Let’s go inside. I can’t wait to see it!”
The first thing they noticed upon entering was a pleasing
herbal scent.
“Ummm…smells nice. It doesn’t have that closed up musty
smell.”
“ Look how light and bright it is. With the small windows,
I expected it to be rather dark in here, Manda.”
“I did too. I guess the house just has so many windows that
their size doesn’t matter.”
The entry was very small and held only a small side table
against the right wall with an old fashioned brass
candlestick sitting on the highly polished surface. A small
oval mirror in an engraved frame hung over the table.
To the immediate left of the entry was a door leading into
the living room.
“Oh, Manda, this is lovely.”
Manda stepped to her mom’s side,”Oh, it is, it is.! I feel
like Nanny chose all this with me in mind; it’s perfect.”
The walls and ceiling were pale grey-very pale and soft.
The flooring was slate in shades of grey and dark blue.
The furnishings were of a smaller than average size;
emphasizing the fae quality of the house. The overstuffed
couch was upholstered in chintz fabric in a medium size but
subtle plaid of wedgwood blue, lilac and sage green.
Coordinating toss pillows were placed casually along the
back and sides of the cushions. An overstuffed chair and
ottoman had their place in the room; also covered with
chintz but with a pattern of cascading wisteria vines with
blooms of purple and lilac on a pale green background. A
sage green afgan was draped over the back of the chair.
Toward the end of the room close to a fireplace, was a
deep bay window with a cushioned seat. The cushion was of a
quilted chintz of wedgewood blue with toss pillows
abounding, covered in the same fabrics as the couch
and chair.
The windows had wide sills and instead of curtains, each
had been decorated with various items to catch the sun’s
rays. One window featured glass bottles of vivid colors to
match the décor. They were of different sizes and shapes
and they sparkled as the sun’s rays passed through them and
sent the colors of the glass into the room. Another window
displayed leaded glass crystals hanging from small silver
chains of varied length. A beautiful piece of oval stained
glass featuring a scene of water lilies enhanced yet
another window.
There were several small wicker tables placed at the ends