Hello to all of you. Hope this finds you all well and safe.
Welcome to Wednesday, and what looks like another lovely and hot day. It is lovely out this morning, and boy oh boy, what a sunrise we had. It was so beautiful. Always a promise from God in my opinion. I have been out and fed everyone, had my quiet time, washed my head, washed the kitty dishes and now it is time to write and reflect.
Yesterday got pretty warm out. I did go out after the dew dried and did yard work. It was hot and I kept hydrated. It has felt good to get outside some and work after the past week or so. It was way too oppressive with heat and then the rains - just stayed inside a lot.
Home sweet home, is the place I love to be. The place I have memories. The place I live with my kitties. The place that holds pieces of the past - both things and memories. The place my heart and soul feel at peace.
What makes HOME to you? Is it the people? The things? The memories?
I love old things, things that have some meaning and belonged to people I loved. I keep those things close. I love my pictures and have many on shelves and I have a gallery wall as well. I can see those people (here and gone) every day and even walk by sometimes and say hello or I love you. I often just touch a picture - kind of a connection for me.
My grandparent's old books - things they held and read. Mom's cookbook and baking items she used all her life. Daddies old books, that are still teaching me things. Glen's tools, that I still use.
I am surrounded with things I use and love. That and the people in my life is what makes a home for me.
I don't need new, I don't need fashionable or fancy, I don't need the latest and greatest, I just need the things that were loved by others and passed on to me.
Tell us what HOME is to you. I can almost bet I know many of the answers.
Have a beautiful and fruitful day. Blessings to you all.
Make someone smile today!!!!
I am surrounded by old things too, furniture, books, china. I much prefer them to what I see in stores. Books especially. The library is full of things I don't want to read! ;) Some of these things are family but some are simply older things I bought over the years.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the hard parts of downsizing or weeding the house. How can I get rid of this, it belonged to Nana and I love it! These are things that make a house into a home, full of memories and shadows of people long gone.
MaryB
Boy did you nail it with that question. That is so much my problem. Stuff I purchased, is one thing - but the things from my ancestors is another. I know they are just things - but they do hold special memories. They held them, they touched them and used them. I am with you on this.
DeleteI am home. It felt so great to walk into my house last night. I loved my trip, saw most everything I planned and was proud of myself for going on my own terms. But there is no place like home. (Travel is nice but flying is SO stressful with crowds, delays, cancellations and worry about missed connections.)
ReplyDeleteUnlike many, sadly I have no close family left. Home to me is the house where I grew up with furniture that has a history with me or my family. There is the coffee table mom bought at the flea market for $3 and refinished and the other coffee table (in what I call the “family room”) that I purchased for $5 at an Virginia auction where a co-worker was the auctioneer. Almost every piece has a story. My grandmother’s piano, the bookcase my dad built out of an old TV cabinet, the cat castle (keeping for when I have another cat) that a neighbor helped me rescue from the trash. I have almost nothing new except appliances. If I lost it all, I’d still have the memories and that would be OK. Barbara M.
So glad you are home and that you have a very memorable experience. Good for you doing it your way!
Delete"Almost every piece has a story". I like that. That is the special part and the HOME part.
We can have memories in our head - but I sure do love seeing them as well.
Home has always been my sanctuary. My safe place away from the rest of the world. I like my home to be clean, cozy and comfortable. I do have a number of things from family that I will always treasure and like you sometimes when I walk by a photo, I have to touch it. The kitchen/dining room table has always been THE spot throughout my life. My parents, grandparents, everyone always ate at the table, had conversations good, bad, happy and sad at the table and I've continued that tradition. It is definitely the heart of our home.
ReplyDelete"My safe place" - indeed. There's no place like home! I like cozy and comfortable as well - sure don't want to live in a museum of sorts. You can put your feet up here, pull a book off the shelf and just snuggle up. Funny how families have always migrated around the kitchen. Food and family and friends - what memories are made of.
DeleteCheryl, what a great prompt. Designer Nate Berkus said your home should rise up to greet you. And source unknown, create a home that you don't have to take a vacation from. My home is my sanctuary where I can regroup & recharge, decorated with a mix of old & new (to me). And an original from me - thank you for my home in the hills, the home in my heart, and the people who lead me there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that - it should rise up to greet you. Maybe that is why I don't have the desire to travel much - I am complete right here. I love everything you have said here - it is all true. Your last sentence is golden!
DeleteThis is such a cozy post! The poster says it all...pinned to my Quotes board in Pinterest. Love the 80's geese! Have you seen the movement back to '80's decor? Some folks have the originals, didn't jump on the trend bandwagon. Like you, I love meaningful things in my home. Wouldn't do well as a minimalist. I have my mom's monogrammed compact on my dressing table. It is worn but I won't try to repair the finish. I prefer old furniture versus new with a factory finish. I don't mean to sound crass, but will you have a memento of your sister? I have a couple things from two of my brothers but not the oldest one.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice when I went out to pick raspberries early this morning. The Farmer got nine huge blackberries once he discovered they hide under the leaves. His vines are loaded so we can freeze some for winter. I still can't get over how loaded your grapevines are. We have cucumbers coming out the ears so I'm going to look up a refrigerator pickle recipe. Didn't you post one?
Going out to use the chipper/shredder to go through the bagged branches Erin brought to us. Lots of mulch!
I do see a lot of the older things coming back. Geese are becoming popular again - the garden store has been selling them and little outfits this year! Cute porch decorations. I love the corning ware and have a lot of the old stuff.
DeleteI could never be a minimalist either. I love my older possessions. I do have a couple items from my sister. I was going through my phone last night and there were a couple of texts from her - I will keep them forever (as long as I can).
How great that you are getting the berries and cucumbers. I did see some little cukes on my vines out there. I am super excited as they were an afterthought and I never can get them to do anything.
I have done a lot of yard work today - nice day out.
Home is my lovely old inherited things, new is not fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. There is so much meaning and love in the older things. Anyone can have new!
DeleteHome to me is more a feeling than how it is decorated or furnished. That feeling is ease, relief and a long chest deflating sigh. I have three houses I feel at home at, my own, Linda’s and my long time friend Rosemarie’s. None of these houses would make any interior design magazine but to me when I walk in I feel calm.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I dropped an armful of parsley off to Linda to wash, chop and freeze, that’s been the only thing productive in my garden at the moment. Im a little behind after a hail storm shredded my garden, about 6 weeks ago. Unusual for that time of year but that’s the gardeners lot isn’t it? I did manage to save two tomato plants that were in pots, so that might be my lot for this season.
Mother Cat has been spotted sitting in the sun with one kitten in the very back corner of my yard. Not sure where she is sheltering, or what they are eating, as the food I’ve been leaving has been untouched. It’s a mystery.
Take care, Louise
That makes total sense as well. The feeling of being cozy and comfy and relaxed. It is always nice to walk back in the door, when being out on errands. Fancy and highly decorated means very little to me. Just comfortable.
DeleteI am so sorry you had problems with the garden due to the storms. I hope you end up with a nice harvest. Things may catch up. I hope so.
Glad you see the kitty - she must be eating somewhere.
Home for me is hearing the slow steady ticking of my grandfather clock. It was given to an ancestor in lieu of payment for some agricultural work and has always been known in the family as Sam Franks, the name of the farmer who gave it up. It is shorter than it should be because my family lived in a cottage and had to dig a hole in the floor so that it could stand upright and, of course, the bottom got damp and rotted off for a few inches. I can remember it ticking in my great grandmother's house and it amazes me to think that it would have been only a few years old and ticking strongly when the battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815. It really is the heart of my home and, although it is not really worth anything, it is the thing that I will never part with.
ReplyDeleteIt is priceless!!!! Oh my goodness, what a story. Digging a hole in the floor for it to stand up in - amazing. I just love the story. That is an old clock and to still be going strong, is pretty amazing. I can see how that would give you comfort. Think of how many family members heard that same slow and steady ticking. That is pretty darn neat. Thank you for sharing.
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