Harmony . . . baby steps . . .

I have slowly been trying to bring my home into harmony with the vision that I have for it in my mind . . . it is an ongoing process, but one which I am really enjoying. Where and how we live . . . what we do in our little nests, and how we embrace the space we are given is surely something which occupies the minds of much of the world . . . and not just in the female mindset either.

Many stories have been written about men . . . out in the world at large, doing "man" things, fighting wars, sailing ships, having adventures . . . but in their hearts lays the deep-hearted desire to return to their families, vineyards and homes . . . and then . . . let's not forget Dorothy, whose very quest from the minute she landed in Oz, was the simple desire for nothing more than to return home . . .



This year my quest has been to create a home that is not only comfortable and welcoming . . . but one that is the home that I have always longed for in my heart, bringing together all of the elements which sing to my soul.

The first and hardest thing has been getting rid of the clutter . . . not that we have a really cluttery house . . . we don't . . . but we still have far too much of things, nicnacs and bric-a-brac . . . books . . . and other tat. Things which after a time become somewhat of a burden. It is much easier to clean a house which is streamlined . . . and a lot quicker too, leaving your hands free to do a lot of other things, which is all part and parcel of enjoying your home.



Harmony . . . that is my quest. I want each room to flow one into the other, like endless streams in the same country. I don't want anything to jar . . . I want to feel like when I step from my living room, into my kitchen that I have simply stepped from . . . say New Hampshire into Vermont . . . not from Italy into Denmark. I'm sure you get the picture . . .

Yesterday I went through my cookbooks . . . trying to weed out any that I had no use for. This is not an easy task. I have a LOT of cookbooks . . . and they all feel like my friends, whether I use them or not. As with anything though, I have to strike when the iron is hot, and when I feel quite ruthless in my heart. Todd is under strict instructions to remove the offending articles to a charity shop immediately . . . before I have a chance to change my mind. If I start to look through the pile again . . . I just know I will be pulling books back out, and I don't really want to do that.



All of my slimming world books went yesterday. Not that I have ever gone to slimming world. I haven't . . . I've just simply collected the cookbooks. In all the years that I have had them though . . . I have NEVER cooked from them. A cookbook you don't cook from, is a cookbook you don't need. Likewise the novels that you have struggled to read and never been able to finish. If you haven't read them already. If you find that you can't get into them now. You probably never will . . .

Now . . . if I could only get Todd to have the same vision of a home in his mind that I have in mine. I think if I could do that, I'd be a millionaire don't you think???

We are slowly getting there . . . baby steps . . . baby steps . . .



It just tipped it down rain here yesterday. At one point it was raining so hard that the rain was bouncing right back up in the air again. The hole that Todd has been digging in the back garden (for his second pond . . . don't ask . . . ) has filled with water and he isn't even finished digging the hole! Mitzie was not a happy camper because we shut the gate between the patio and the grassed area and it will stay shut until the ground dries out a bit. A wet and muddy dog is not a part of the harmony I am seeking! lol

The council will be starting on our wet room at the end of this month. We expect things to be in an uproar for about two and a half weeks, but it will be worth it at the end as I won't have to worry about having to climb in and out of a bath anymore. It will be all new and pristine too . . . I am looking forward to that part. The tub we have is so old that the enamel is all worn away on it. It never looks clean . . . no matter how hard I scrub. I will be more than happy to kiss it goodbye!

The sun is shining today . . . Todd will probably want to go out on a walk-about. He has been fretting about the summer disappearing and us not having done much. Perhaps we'll take Mitzie to a country park or something akin to that for a nice long walk . . . but then having said that, I am dreaming because in my mind I would love to . . . and actually see myself . . . going for long walks . . . the reality however is that even yesterday as I stood baking cookies, my hip gave way and I was hobbling for the rest of the day.

So maybe, we will have to just take a walk in our minds . . . armchair travel. I hate that this is what I have been reduced to . . .



Time for a happy thought . . .

"Faith is putting all your eggs in God's Basket
and counting your blessings before they have hatched."


Baking in The English Kitchen today . . . Real Bourbon Biscuits.

“God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as he always has. But he can't if you don't pray, and he can't if you don't dream. In short, he can't if you don't believe.”
~Jeffrey R Holland