Countdown To The Dream - Day 9

Welcome to our little coastal home. Located in the town of Rockport, Texas this is where we will be going to escape, recharge, and get reacquainted. Today the countdown begins; we close next Friday. 

 

This house has many things that I have always wanted in a home. They may seem small, inconsequential to most - but it really is always about the little things isn't it?

A sidewalk that leads right up to the front door is a symbolic welcome home sign. It is traditional, it is a path straight to the heart of the home and it provides many decorating opportunities.  I'm not sure I have ever lived in a house with such an entry. What is the allure? I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe it is wanting something I don't have, but I want to think it is more.

The back yard is a nongardener's dream come true. It is low maintenance with a deck and path: a trifecta! I counted a total of sixteen live oak trees on the property - most small, but this one in the backyard is large and provides a great deal of shade.

I have dreamed of a path in the backyard, here at Stately Means Manor. Our hard clay soil combined with St. Augustine grass makes it very difficult to remove sod and create flower beds and pathways. On the coast we have a sandy soil that will be so much easier to deal with. The fact that the previous owner started the process for us makes it even easier.

Rockport is a major stopping place for hummingbird migration and hosts a hummer festival every September. I want my backyard to become famous in hummingbird society - we will party down on all month long. I will be reclining on my deck while they are feasting from the bounty of my garden.

Rediscovering Joy

It happens to me every single time I do it.  Why do I forget?  How could I forget?  How can I be too busy for something that feeds my soul?

What am I talking about?  

Creating.  

The simple act of making something brings joy to my heart.  I love it most when I bring random items together to tell a story, evoke an emotion, or simply bring pleasure to the viewer. 

I have developed an affinity for Victorian-esque statues. I have a dancing man and woman that belonged to my Grandma Woodring and now whenever I find one that makes me stop to look, I generally buy it. I love the colors, and just the dainty beauty the exude.

As we prepare for moving day, I spend many hours looking at my collection of decorating magazines, plotting and planning the look of our little beach home. This will be a new outlet for my need to create. The wonderful thing about creativity in a variety of disciplines - one feeds the others. As I decorate I get ideas for crochet design. Not to mention just spending so much time in a place that is of God's most beautiful creations. More on our little house tomorrow.

Bring a little beauty into your life today - it is the little things that make such a difference.

Hope Springs Eternal

Last year I started 13 posts. Today I still have 13 drafts waiting to meet the world. Some will make it, others will remain private. Reflecting back I found some of the plans came to fruition.  I do not look back in regret; I see where I was, where I went, and now ponder what roads do I want to take in 2012?  Where are you headed this year.  May it be a journey that brings love and purpose to your life.


I started a post about our vacation.  Then I started a post about Christmas.  So much time has passed since all of that that I decided to skip right up to the present.  One of the beautiful things about a blog is being able to record life as it happens.  Thanks to the movie Julie and Julia, one year ago I vowed to blog everyday.  Well, that got me nowhere; when I began to slack I just gave up - my personality in a nutshell.  I realized that I didn't have enough interesting stuff to say everyday.  So, this year, I am trying for a weekly blog entry.  Hope springs eternal.

As I look into the new year I have no idea what will come our way.  On January 1, 2010 I had no idea that by the end of the year we would be sharing our home with our daughter and her three children or that I would be a few signatures away from owning my own home (yes, we own our home, but this time I get to help choose the house!).

I can look into the year and plan what I would like to happen, but only God really knows what will be coming our way.  I plan, but always defer to His wisdom, grace and love.

With that introduction, here is what I hope for, will plan for, and focus on in 2011:

Health for all those I love - I know that is generic and not very creative, but without good health nothing else matters.

I want my grandchildren to have a stable home - this is why I am getting another home, more on that later.

Quality time with my husband.  When we actually have time to ourselves we really have fun - what a refreshing thing to discover.  What has always caused difficulties in our marriage is the outside forces of others impacting us.  Couldn't we just live on an island?

Time and space for creativity.  This is my lifeblood.  If I am not creating I die inside.  

A new home - this is actually the first thing that I hope happens this year.  With this all the above can happen as well.  I have never been a part of choosing the home that I live in.  I chose apartments, but for reasons I will not go into, I have not chosen houses.  I want to choose my "forever house."

Earn money.  For many years now I have gone without earning any money.  I am blessed to have a husband who makes a good living and thus far I have not needed the money.  But, I would really like a monetary reward for my hard work.

I want to give back.  I will find a charity that touches my heart and not only give money but also of my time.  This is an important part of life that I have neglected of late.  Because of my dad, military causes always touch my heart as does hospice - those are amazing people.  And, of course there are the animals, the creatures God entrusted to our care and are so often neglected and abused by people.  I can't adopt them all (maybe a new kitty for the new house), but I can find ways to help.

Well, those are my hopes and dreams for the new year.  Where will 2011 take us?  Only God knows for sure.  See you same time next year and we'll compare notes.  

God bless us one and all.

Before The Rush

It is Thanksgiving eve, and in homes across the country, the mad rush in the kitchen is about  to begin.

I will post pictures of our first annual Thanksgiving breakfast on Friday, but for now I want to focus on life and the things for which I am grateful.

A couple of weeks ago I had breakfast with a good friend and very wise observer of the human spirit.  As we were discussing life and what we want from it, he asked me a very interesting question.  He asked, "What have you always wanted to do?"  I went to the typical answers - "Well, at first I wanted to be a teacher, then I wanted to be an interior designer."  He clarified, "No, what have you always wanted, what is your purpose in life?"  I had a classic light bulb moment - without hesitation I said, "All I ever wanted to be is a wife and mother."

I have spent more than half my life as a wife, but I never was able to be a mother.  At least not in the biological sense.  Without hesitation he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "There's your answer.  The kids (my 3 granddaughters) are living in your home for your sake."  I never thought about our living arrangement like that before.  I saw allowing my stepdaughter and her young girls to live with us as a favor to her.  What my friend showed me is that God is allowing me to experience that one thing I always wanted but never got.

Suddenly the screaming at 5:00 in the morning because Savannah doesn't want to wear shoes isn't the worst thing in the world.  The peace and quiet I claim to want is really the sound of emptiness.  The toys on the floor, sippy cups everywhere, and girl emotional outbursts are just a part of the life I am being allowed to experience.  The scales have been removed and I see life through new eyes.  Thank you, sweet friend.

So, this year I am especially thankful for my noisy family.  I have the privilege of helping to raise my grandchildren.  I get hugs every night, I see the minute changes that happen to children every day as they begin to discover the world around them.  What a gift.

Cottage Inspiration: Random Lace Wall

I love to daydream and plan.  Sometimes I like it more than the actual carrying out of the plan.  This  picture is one of my plans.  I want to make a random lace display in my cottage.  I will have a rotating selection of designs, displays, and color themes; lace will definitely be apart of the plan.

I found this photo on a search of window display images.  I don't have any claim to it and wish I could remember where it came from.  I find it absolutely delightful and inspiring.  

I have started collecting vintage crochet doilies from antique & thrift stores.  I can picture expert fingers, dainty cotton thread and a minuscule crochet hook working in unison to create lace from a pattern passed down for generations.  The fingers are gnarled from years of hard work, yet given the right tools they produce strips of delicate beauty.  They are someone's history, their art.  I feel an obligation to save them, preserve them and pass along to the next generation an appreciation for a craft fading from our world.

Until next time,

Sheryl

Modern Jane

I love, love, love this look.  Clutch purses are my absolute favorite bag to carry.  They aren't always practical, but they are infinitely feminine and the perfect accessory.

Another thing I love to do is combine looks - lacy and feminine with a bold bracelet.  I don't want to wear head to toe frills, I just want a touch of glamour.  

If you want to summon your inner Modern Jane Austen, what would you wear?

Modern Jane by sherylmeans featuring vintage jewelry

Free people dress
$128 - revolveclothing.com

Fogal crochet stocking
€22 - pret-a-beaute.com

Luna pink shoes
$20 - product.madeinchina.com

Givenchy clutch handbag
$1,945 - barneys.com

Manumit hammered jewelry
£12 - fashion-conscience.com

Dorothy Perkins tahitian pearl jewelry
£6.50 - dorothyperkins.com

Alcozer J vintage jewelry
$245 - forzieri.com

Finding The Beauty

I sit in the same place everyday and all I can see is a bunch of stuff.  On their own merit, these things are beautiful.  As I said last week,  I have collected and inherited many beautiful things.  In this I am very fortunate.  What I am having trouble doing is maintaining a unified sense of beauty in my home.  


As we have made room for our extended family to live with us I have just shuffled stuff around from room to room and, at some point, I gave up.  This isn't their fault, it is mine.  I grew up with a mom who flew off the handle whenever we made a mess or broke something; and I now live with a husband who reacts in much the same way.  Determined not to follow in her footsteps and make things more important than people, I have allowed the pendulum to swing too far in the other direction.  Oh, and for the record, mom has mellowed greatly with age.


Back to the subject of beauty in the home.  I have used the kids and our tight living arrangements as an excuse to let the house go.  Because I don't want them to spill, scratch or break these things I hold dear.  Somewhere between living in a museum and a warehouse must be a beautiful life worth living.  My challenge is to find that place.


The first step is to teach mother and children about how to care for things while providing a safe place where they can eat and play with messy stuff.  Then I can feel comfortable decorating our home.  Providing a beautiful and safe home is the job of the woman of the house.  Yes, I am just that old fashioned.


Here is a montage of some of the things that I consider the beautiful components in our home.

1940's era chair and a book case.

Slipper chair, recently recovered.

Marble top table.

Gentlemen's windsor chair that I found in a group of stuff destined for the trash.
After refinishing it is fabulous.

Antique writing desk in need of refinishing.

I am surrounded by beauty...it is up to me to create a home for my family that is filled with love, beauty and memories.

Live in love....

Sheryl