COTTAGE LIVING BY FIONA CUMMINGS

A cottage is typically a small house. The word comes from England. Where originally it was a house which had ground floor with a lower story of bedrooms which fit within the roof space. In many places, a cottage is used to describe a small old fashioned house. In modern usage, the word is used to depict a cosy dwelling, typically in a rural location.

 

I believe in the US, the word cottage is used to describe a holiday home. In Canada, there are no connotations with regards the size at all. I’m sure in Scotland; a cottage is called a croft. Finish cottages are built from logs and almost all of them have a sauna. Sounds so lovely.  

 

In Russian a cottage is known as a Dacha, which is a summer home oftern not too far from a body of water. I have written before about our time spent in a dacha. Sadly now days I’m not sure a dacha in Russia will have the same feeling or atmosphere. More like a luxurious manor now I reccon!

 

 In Dutch, a cottage is called keuterij; In Norwegian the word is hytte, from the German word hutte.     

Sorry to my friends in those countries if I have wrongly spelled those words.

 

Originally in the Middle Ages, cottages housed agricultural workers and their families. The term cottage denoted the dwelling of a cotter. Thus cottages were smaller peasant buildings.

 

Now days a cottage doesn’t really have any land, but in the Elizabethan statute, the cottage had to be built with at least four acres of land and    the owner of the cottage would be known as a cottager.  

 

Our typical old cottages have exposed timber. They also have restricted height. They normally have four basic rooms. Two up and two down. Upstairs is smaller than down as the bedrooms are in the roof space. Though subsequent modifications can create more spacious accommodation.

 

So how did I decide upon writing about cottages today? Its winter and I love the fact that it can feel cosy. I always dream of a cosy Christmas and who knows, perhaps in my future, I really hope, this is my dream, I can be in a Christmas cottage with an amber log fire burning the fragrance of wood smoking from the chimney, a lit up Christmas tree with the smell of fresh ferns coming from the decorations tied on the needles by collected ribbons all the history of our past Christmases on one tree. And under the tree are gifts for all of my family. Now that family have not arrived as yet, and who knows, they may never. My ideal dream is as follows.

 

All of our three children are (happily) married. The love they have for their partners and its clearly returned will be beautiful. And they have at least one child each. Echoes of laughter can be heard as I’m in the kitchen making hot chocolate for the family. Hahaha. And all of this takes part in a typical English cottage.

 

Now in the summer, the cottages are so different. I imagine baked smells. Freshly made biscuits. Cookies. And the rustic kitchen table is full of happy eaters. Outside the cottage has a totally different feel. The cottage has romantic connotations. A small rickety gate leads you down a narrow path framed with peach coloured roses and yellow chrysanthemums. I love that idea.