Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Who doesn't love a Before & After?

I know I do! So, let's get right to it.


July 2007 - just a mere five months after moving in...
and another...

humble beginnings; salvaged chairs given a seat and paint job....

So much history in and behind this door...

On the outside looking in...
So  many people who buy old houses start the process by replacing the leaky old windows.  We knew that a lot of the value in an old house IS those leaky old lead-filled glass panes and their wood sills.  We chose to keep them.  Sometimes, in January and February I cuss at them.  But most of the time I like the way they look.


Well, Welcome Home! Let the fun begin!
And so it began...
Next time on farmhousewife TV we'll tell the story of "How We Chose Our House Paint Colors!"

Coming along...
And, she is finished.  My husband, Captain Strong-Arms scraped, primed, and put two coats on this old girl all by himself.  He's my hero.


Organized Chaos

Usually, I can't stop myself from saying whatever is on my mind, but lately - I've been a bit subdued.  I was about to use the word "normal" in a sentence, but I wonder if everyone here shares my philosophy that the word is a setting on the dryer?

We are gathered here today to talk about my muse.  Er, uh - ahem, the lack thereof of my muse.

See, when time gets tight, I tend to focus on the must haves in life, like clean laundry, food, clean dishes, oh, and my little side gig - called full time work and school.  But less inspiration crosses the threshold of this wanna-be-creative farmhousewife.  Which causes farmhousewife-withdrawals.  It's not pretty, folks.

On Sunday, I carefully planned my time according to allotments of necessary chores and schoolwork said 'to hell with it' and re-arranged the entire living room which had not been touched in well over 9 months.   At first it was the gigantic lop-eared over-sized dust-bunnies that disgusted me.  As I moved furniture about, I dusted, swept, then mopped. Once the cleanliness began, then, I experienced the strong motivation to create beauty around me.  I sweated whirled about, changing the red slip-cover on the heavy couch, fluffed and punched pillows, arranged magazines and what-nots on the coffee table, angling the furniture just-so,  for a close and intimate feel, but still handy to watch the monster-in-the-room television if that were to strike a fancy.

At the time, I didn't realize this was the drive I was experiencing, as it felt more PMS-related and the fact that the house did not have 7 year old and 44  year old feet tracking mud throughout (they were on a road-trip!).  But later, as I was done, and sat down with a bowl of chicken-n-dumplings I looked around and felt peaceful.  Why, all of the sudden did I feel so much better?  So much more ready to sit for hours on end and stare into an extra-large biology book, pretending to know how many charged atoms, protons, neurons and nuclei are in a molecule of minuscule proportion.

It was because I got my muse back.

My point is; when I feel out of control it helps to create beauty, therefore re-organizing the chaos in my mind and my living room.  Beauty comes in many forms; food, home, garden, and I aim to find more time for it.  It re-inspires me.

I didn't ace the biology quiz by the way, but now I have a really nice space to retreat to when the going gets.........normal.

*no photos, I know...b o r i n g.... let me get some snapped when I get home later today and I'll upload.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Speechless Studying Saturday

Since I am in school and working full-time, I do not have a lot of time for blogging.  So I bring you this speechless Studying Saturday  in pictures.  Enjoy!

Four O'Clocks

Catawba Tree Blooms

Hattie and friends

Spencer, the Skin Horse

At Wit's End - a nice place to be


What is this leisure time of which you speak?

my grateful button