Saturday 26 August 2017

A harmonious home . . .


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???I have gotten him to take his scorpion encased in plastic paper weight out of the lounge and off display, so that is something at least!  I have always HATED that thing! Its only taken me 17 years to get it out of our living space!

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


Last night was "nice" television night.  I sat here and crocheted while we watched only things that had no sex, violence or anything nasty in them. The worst thing we saw was Beaver ripping his good suit trousers!  We took ourselves back to a nicer simpler time with the Cleaver family, Andy Griffith and the town of Mayberry,  Bob Newheart in Vermont and Little House on the Prairie.  We ended with our usual episode of the Gilmore Girls and then drifted off to Dreamland on a cloud of peace and tranquility. I think you need to do that every now and then.  There is so much garbage in the world around us now, we need to make our homes sacred places, or as sacred as we can get them to be.

A thought to carry with you . . .

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.° I don't think you ever
realize how much you love
something, until
you have to give it away.
~Haley Scott.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

Spiritual Enlightenment



In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Late Summer Mixed Berry Crumble.  Delish!

It's August Bank Holiday weekend here this weekend.  Take care out there as the roads are bound to be heaving with traffic!  What say you to driverless lorries? (trucks)  Personally I don't like the idea one bit. Our motorways are full of transport lorries as it is, but the idea of transport lorries without drivers in them barrelling down our motorways, scares me to pieces!  Have a good one people!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!



16 comments:

  1. Good morning Marie,

    Maybe I will manage a longer post before exhaustion hits.

    I would love to have this place more organised and my Friday night was spent pulling dvd's out of the cases and into special folders. I wish mum trusted technology because I would like to go further and put everything on a hard drive. That would shrink them. Our recycle bin is pretty full at present. Our house has mainly 25 year old wall paper. Much of it is beginning to age and horrible mould has hit in some places. Strangely the paper walls have lasted better than the vinyl. With the baby coming this house is about to explode.

    Today I had to take Pip to the podiatrist. She prefers to let her toenails become very ugly and long before she does anything and now has an ingrown toenail. Then it was shopping an dhome.

    I ask the Lord to bess you with a wonderful Saturday.

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  2. We have mold in our house as well Suzan and its awful. At present we have bookcases in front of it, but really it needs addressing. I don't know how old the wall paper is, but I think it is pretty old. Would dearly love to redo or at least paint! when the baby comes your house will explode, with joy! I am on pins and needles. There is nothing like being a grandmother! You are in for such a treat! Love and hugs! xoxo

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  3. Hi Marie. Wow! I thought you had a photo of my flat there!! Its really similar, white walls, pale grey corner settee, coffee table, tv on the unit, wooden floor with a rug. The only difference is this one has blue accessories and at the moment we've got pink!!! I hate clutter with a passion. The flat is clutter free and I love to be able to clean it so easily like you say. Obviously there are things I'd love to change new bathroom, new kitchen new wardrobes etc etc, but a girl can dream can't she!! As George and I used to have three and four bedroomed houses between us it was quite difficult to downsize to two bedrooms!! We still have some stuff in the garage which we can't accommodate in the flat and will have to do something with it one day, but out of sight out of mind!!!

    As I've mentioned before I am a terrible insomniac and have been up again all night. But reading what you watched on tv last night has made me think. About an hour before I was going to go to bed George suggested we watch an episode of Night Shift (its an american A&E series on Netflix). I agreed, but it was so fast moving and exciting that when that episode finished we had to watch the next one to see what happened. After that I went to bed but got up after an hour unable to sleep and have been up all night. I think its the Little House on the Prairie for me from now on!!!

    Enjoy your day, lots of love xxx

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  4. I can imagine how hard it was to downsize to a smaller place Kate! I want to change my furniture etc. and would love to rip up our carpets which are wine coloured and I hate them. I would love wood floors, or oatmeal carpeting. But alas it all costs money and this isn't our home and I worry we would waste our money and then lose it. I used to watch ER and had to stop because I am a bit of a hypochondriac and it was worrying me, lol! Have a great weekend. Love and hugs. xoxo

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  5. I am pleased that you are slowly getting rid of bits and pieces, including the recipe books !! Oh my gosh I expect that was hard....but I know you feel so much better when you de clutter. I know I do, ."in my case I got a real help from Lyn and she had...things....into two bags one junk, the other for the charity shops...she got them out the house before I could change my mind...I must agree though it does make the house much brighter and cleaner....must go now and have a game before I fall asleep xx

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  6. Thanks Sybil! Getting rid of clutter is like a breath of fresh air! I agree! God bless and sleep tight! Xoxo

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  7. I hope this comment doesn't go double again Marie! This new phone is very touchy!
    I've been looking and throwing magazines out that I keep in a few containers. Then the hardest will also be my cookbooks to weed out bc I also have way too many of them!
    Then I can focus on painting my walls and taking down some wallpaper that has been there way too long,that even my daughter mentioned it recently. In my case, big steps instead of baby steps.
    Great Big Hugs!

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  9. So hard to get rid of things..I must also.kills me to get rid of wonderful books but what weight..space they take.kudos Marie.
    Jacques criticizes the shows we once found exciting..he says they are filled with nothing good ..he is right but maybe that is the attraction for me..Ozarks..great acting I find..but again..unethical..unbelievable really..certainly does not show good values..and violent.But I like it..
    Ray Donovan..same..Suits has turned into a soap opera..Blablabla.....
    Love the pics!

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  10. Marie, just concerned about you -- no posts since Saturday. I pray that everything is OK. Faith in East Texas, USA

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  11. My dear friend, this was a delightful post. I loved all your thoughts because I feel so much like you. I want to just have a hramonious flow in our home. We do have a fairly large home; but it needs to be streamlined for sure. This is a goal for when we finish our mission. I collect cook books a bit too; a few too many. We have a giganic library of church books and etc. I probably need to get rid of the extra.
    I am a bit concerned about you dear Marie since you haven't posted since Saturday! I hope all is well.
    Sending prayers and loving thoughts your way! Big hugs too~

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  12. Thinking of you today as you haven't posted in a while. I hope everything is okay! You are in my prayers. -Amy

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  13. Thanks everyone for your love, prayers and comments. I was quite unable to get online since Friday night. I am back online now and will be back tomorrow morning with my usual posting! xoxo

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  14. Don't know if you check the previous day's coments ..hope you might as a very funny thing happened to me a minute to two ago I had read today Thursday's blog ...so glad your back.....I was going to the coments but what popped up ...your day page for 1st March ??? How strange is that?? And I can't as yet get back to today...I will try later as I'm just got to go up to church for the cafe !...lovely sunny morning...if I can't get back and if you've read this bye. God bless xxx

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