Just moved.

But actually getting here was quick.  It was unplanned, unexpected.  I would need my job more than ever.  I could not miss a beat with work . . . → Read More: Home Office Solutions]]> When I first moved into the apartment, everything was fast.  Well, the feel of it all was slow and solitary, as you can see in the first picture I took.

Just moved.

But actually getting here was quick.  It was unplanned, unexpected.  I would need my job more than ever.  I could not miss a beat with work and had to work, actually, the day I moved in.  I knew I wanted the sunroom for my office, but really had no time to plan a layout for where everything would go. 

I knew I loved the large window, but I really did not like the look of a sea of cords and screens from across the apartment.  While I’ve enjoyed the window, I also did not like looking directly into the sun and having the computer desks block access to easily opening and closing these lovely windows.

It was this past Saturday evening when the sun was shining right in my eyes, I was trying to work, and I was distracted by the activity going on on the computer right next to me that I stood up and said, “something’s gotta change!”

Sorry the pictures are so dark, but that’s what you get from all that light coming from the huge, wonderful window in the background!

I began moving things around, and I love that it looks more closed off and yet draws the eye to the window rather than the computer screens!

My hope is that I can get a bookshelf custom made, or find another bookshelf just like the one already there so that I can double the length of the bookshelf, making the “wall” more uniform (rather than half bookshelf/half plant stand), but this works for now. 

My office is truly a little cubicle now, and I can still see out the windows, I can easily open and close the windows and blinds/curtains, but I am not distracted by anything in any other part of the apartment, or whatever is going on on Facebook or Club Penguin or You Tube, blah blah blah, when one of my children is on there, and I am not looking directly at the sun. 

I just wanted to share my ideas for taking a small space and creating a smaller space within it for a home office.  I seriously considered getting a refrigerator box to put my desk in, and putting a little lamp inside, cutting out a door and windows, and hiding in it while I worked.

I am serious.

I am.

But I figured that a bookshelf to define the space would be better

Keep your eyes peeled!  Stay tuned!  I am scouring the thrift stores for just the right shelf to make a more uniform “office wall!”

I just think this looks so much better!   Here’s to my new little office!

Enjoy this day!

And it’s not even a long hair thing.  Her hair looks like . . . → Read More: Victoria-Inspired]]> I was leafing through an old Victoria the other day.  I love my Victoria magazines, and every time I think to get rid of them, I think again.  Anyway, this hair style caught my eye:  the neatness of it and the flower at the side.

And it’s not even a long hair thing.  Her hair looks like it might be short.  It’s the “romantic” of it.  It is the neatness and the coolness and the sophistication of it.

So I set off for the craft table (way across on the other side of the apartment) and started pulling out flowers.

Not quite the same.  Not as elegant.  But I think that a ribbon with a couple or three flowers hot-glued in place turned out okay!  I was happy.  I felt quite Victorian.  And that, folks, will come in very handy for when I go to England to become a nanny. 

Anyway, enough about that.

Now, are you ready for what was in the Goodwill when it screamed out my name?   Are you sure?  Are you sitting down?

Well, are you? 

Are you sure?

There was nothing with flowers, really, but there was something bigger and better!

Lately I had almost given up on finding a sofa for the long half wall in the apartment.  I wanted one long enough and firm enough that either of my two oldest boys could sleep on when they came to spend the night.  But everything was too expensive.  I knew I’d have to wait.  And then I kept thinking that if I did find something it would be too big to get in the van. 

You won’t be believing this, but the one and only Goodwill I went into yesterday (a different one from the one with the farm table) had this sitting in the back of the store.

Almost as soon as I saw it, I could tell it was a sectional.  It was clean.  Oh, very clean.  It was firm.  It was nice.  It was $26.99. 

WHAT?

I think the reason it was donated and the reason it was so low in price was because of a large tear along the seam of one of the cushions.  But it’s along a seam.  Anyone who sews knows that that might be repaired!  I can probably stitch it up.  But since I am covering everything with flowers anyway, why could I not cover it with a large quilt?  A yellow, creamy white, and lavender quilt fit over it perfectly.  The quilt is king size if that gives you an idea of the size of this sofa.  The magic of it was that I could carry it home in pieces.  The other magic was that this is the Goodwill closest to my home.  Five minutes?  Maybe?

I am so grateful.  What would life be without little (and sometimes big) surprises to look forward to?

Enjoy this day.

Can it really be four days since I posted?  And I was going to post every day!  Life is busy, though, and I find myself needing naps.  I suppose that’s normal.  I have also continued to weed out STUFF, taking almost daily trips to the dumpster, Goodwill or the consignment shop.  So therapeutic this is.  . . . → Read More: It’s Becoming More Like Home]]> My Dear Friends,

Can it really be four days since I posted?  And I was going to post every day!  Life is busy, though, and I find myself needing naps.  I suppose that’s normal.  I have also continued to weed out STUFF, taking almost daily trips to the dumpster, Goodwill or the consignment shop.  So therapeutic this is.  I cannot even tell you how good it feels. 

It’s feeling like home here, and I find myself adapting, which brings about inner change.  Life is just that way.  Our minds and our bodies respond to our surroundings.  We encounter new things.  Maybe we like them, maybe we do not, but there’s suddenly a new normal.

Annie is loving it here.

She sprawls out on the floor with her deer antler and chews.  And chews.  And chews. 

It’s a sight to behold.  Did I say already that Annie is my baby and that she is the spoiled rotten fatso beagle of the universe?

Finally, after a prolonged photo shoot, she wonders what I am doing and she stands up to look at me.  Go back to your antler, Annie.

I have continued to put new little touches around the apartment.  Pictures of family members sit atop a round table that came from the old house (it’s a garden table) and makes a perfect end table for the loveseat.

Some things make me sad, like glimpsing something Michaela and I were in the middle of for homeschool and will likely never finish.  Do you remember our Prairie Tuesdays?  We started our nature plates back then and still pull them out sometimes to reminisce.   I am so thankful for the years we had together homeschooling.

It has been a beautiful day here.  Fresh baked cookies, which I cannot partake of, but John and Michaela enjoyed them.  Sunshine so bright it was hard to see the computer screen!  All of our clothes washed, dried, folded and put away.  A new collection of farm charms for the shop. 

Enjoy this day.

I’ve collected lots of scraps, both paper and fabric.  I’ve jars of . . . → Read More: Straightening Out The Art Cove]]> While I love my little space, it is very very cozy.   Storage comes by way of creative cubicles and containers and allowing shelves to creep high up the walls.  Perhaps it’s turning into an art cave.  No, we won’t think like that.  We just won’t!

I’ve collected lots of scraps, both paper and fabric.  I’ve jars of buttons, jars of beads, cigar boxes full of thread, and cans of colored pencils.

Odds and ends make good doll houses.  Bits and bobs.  Bottle caps.  Cardboard tubes.  Old containers.  Tiny sweet bottles.

I have rubber bands and strings–oh, string after string!  I have envelops and old general store receipts for tags and cards and vintage-y things.  I have, I have, I have…nearly collected myself out of any space.

So tonight I’m organizing and cleaning.   Trying to make more room.  If I don’t get control, my crafting will cease.  How can you craft when you cannot find anything?  It’s a good thing pretty labels are fun to make.  It’s a good thing I’ve got tins and boxes and clear plastic containers going to bad.

Good night.

And that is just what I did last night.  I think what started it was a trip to Hobby Lobby.  I had never been!  Can you believe it?  So after work I . . . → Read More: Pretty in Pink]]> Sometimes you just gotta sit down in the floor and paint something:  preferably an old cabinet that you found at a yard sale for 20 dollars.

And that is just what I did last night.  I think what started it was a trip to Hobby Lobby.  I had never been!  Can you believe it?  So after work I drove to a Hobby Lobby and shopped for a couple of hours.  I didn’t buy much, but I did find some charms, some ribbon, a large flower and these great dresser knobs that were on clearance!  I bought nine of them — all they had left, knowing that I would use them somewhere in the house.

My tiny little art cove is crowded (and there’s always bits of paper on the floor), but I love it!  It is truly the center of the house.  I used to apologize to our visitors that they had to squeeze through the hallway, but most of them stop to look around and we talk about art, so now I just enjoy our art cove moments.  (Unless they are trying to come through with suitcases, and then I still apologize.)

I’ve had the cabinet for a long time and had primed it a long time ago.   I kept thinking I’d get it painted but just never did.  Isn’t it funny how one little thing, like dresser handles, can spur you on to doing something!

This morning is worktime (and schooltime), so I better run.  Enjoy this day.

PS – did you notice that I used my new art technique that was first practiced in my art journal?  Using a paper doily as a stencil to make a lace-looking trim?

There’s never enough . . . → Read More: Simplicity]]> It’s something I don’t have much of these days.  Life feels overwhelming at times with things that must be done.  As children get older, but aren’t quite independent yet, it takes a lot of driving around, emotional input and consulting to keep them on track and to get them where they need to be.

There’s never enough money, and I hear that from those on the lower end of things to those making what looks to be plenty.  It’s expensive to live, drive, eat, shower, stay cool…whatever, these days.  It is in all of this chaos that I take such pleasure in little moments of simplicity.  And this is coming from someone who thrives on clutter and can’t seem to get settled without tons of framed pictures, varied tins full of old keys and springs and things, baskets filled with children’s books and Victoria magazines, and doll house miniatures sitting all over!

In my “pink room,” the room with pink curtains, a teacup wall paper border, and my favorite purple chair, I like to always keep things clean and (relatively) simple.  I sit in my purple chair lately and let my eyes rest on my mosaic table and the very old painted crock full of roses and red. 

I let my mind wander to art projects that I need to finish, school planning that must be done — and soon! — and sometimes I just let my mind go blank.  Ahhhhh.

Today’s a work day, so I’m scooting over to the work desk now. 

Here’s to a little spot where the eye can rest and the mind can let go of a few things everything. 

Yesterday I did some more cleaning and . . . → Read More: Each A Place]]> I’m in the mood to tell a family story this morning.  Maybe it’s because of this emotional transition I’ve been through lately.  It has to do with a family name and a memory of a story told to me by a favorite great-uncle.  (I had a few favorite great-aunts and -uncles!)

Yesterday I did some more cleaning and purging, loading up four more bags of outgrown clothes and shoes to take to Goodwill.  Though I may have missed a few cobwebs, I did some organization and deep cleaning, and I’m very happy with the result.  I’m also happy to know in my heart that I’ll never truly be a minimalist.  That’s not to say that I have anything against those who are.  One of my best friends has a very clean and open living space, and I think she leans more towards minimalism.  I tell her every time I’m there that I want that openness and peaceful feeling that she has in her home.  She knows who she is.    Anyway, while I’m telling you the family story, I’ll share some pictures of my “organized clutter.”  Thanks for helping me not be lost in my mind anymore.

I had a great-uncle named Roy Shepherd.  I loved him and I loved his name.  Shepherd was his middle name, not his last name.  He was a good man and a good influence on me, and when it was time to name my firstborn son, I couldn’t think of anything prettier than Daniel Shepherd.  The only problem turned out to be that my great-aunt was a little forgetful at that point and she spelled the name Shephard with an A.  So I now have a Daniel Shephard.  But that’s okay.  It still evokes for me a mental picture of a shepherd and my beloved Great Uncle Roy. 

The more I studied the family history, the more I loved this name Shepherd.  I came to find out that my Uncle Roy was named after his Uncle Stacy Shepherd.  Oh my, another beautiful name!  And this Stacy was quite the cutie (I have a picture of him now) and they called him “Stace.”

As I studied more, I was told an even sweeter story.  My great-great-uncle Stace had 8 siblings.  There was Robert Franklin, Evander Jones (my great grandfather), John Kirkland, William Abner, Artemis, Oscar Thadeus, Jerome Corbett (Romie), and one girl, Julie Elizabeth (Lizzie–and she was a doll!).   According to the story, their mother, Foster (yes that was her name), was having a hard time delivering Uncle Stace.  The doctor was sent for and apparently was figured to be what saved the day.  The doctor’s name?  Dr. Sheppard. 

Great-great-uncle Stace was named after the doctor who delivered him.  As I studied more, lo and behold, I uncovered a census a few years back, and there on the list, four houses away from Charlie and Foster (however far that might have been), was Dr. Sheppard’s name.  It gave me chills.  I also noticed that the name had changed from Sheppard to Shepherd, and I always wondered how that came about.  Did Charlie and Foster take their spelling from the bible?  Did they just spell it the way they knew?  Whatever the reason, it always made me feel less bad that I, once again, had altered the spelling of this beautiful family name. 

I don’t like to think that all of these people are long gone, but I dearly love beyond words the family photos that are left behind and the gatherings that occur yearly to trade family stories and share more pictures and artifacts that have been uncovered.  I love the traits (most of them!) that I see of these men in my own sons. 

Uncle Roy told me a little story one time and I wrote it in my bible.  That was 23 years ago.  It’s called Each A Place.

Each A Place

God gives us each a place to fill.
May we be wise enough to know that I can’t fill yours  for you and you can’t fill mine for me.
There was a willow by a stream and a cactus in the desert.  Each glorified its maker because it grew where its maker put it.
One day the willow was put in the cactus’ place and the cactus in the willow’s.  The willow burned and the cactus drowned.  After that, the days of each were sad and few.

I’ve often thought of that story, especially when I look at the old picture hanging above of the old Thomas homeplace and those pictured in front of it:  my great-great-uncle Stace, my great-great-grandmother Foster, my great-great-grandfather Charlie, Stace’s wife Irene who (very sadly) died young, my great-great-aunt Lizze, and my great-great-uncle Romie.

It’s been good this morning to think again about having a place. 

Last night . . . → Read More: Thoughts From My Home]]> A few thoughts from my home today, a very rainy day with wind blowing gusts of rain drops into the window panes.   It’s a wonderful day to be inside with my children.  It’s a perfect sort of day for reading picture books and journal writing.  It’s a perfect day for Lemon Zinger tea with honey. 

Last night before bed, I straightened the house up so I could wake up to a nice clean house today and hopefully just enjoy a quiet day at home.  One of the things I did was to change out a curtain that covers a huge shelf in my old kitchen.  There’s not a lot of cabinet space in an old house, but this shelf I found a couple of years ago at the thrift store has been a lifesaver as far as space is concerned.  Thomas mounted it to the wall with brackets and we have enjoyed its expansive shelves immensely. 

The reason I am sharing this particular project is that the curtain is actually a king size duvet cover that tied at the open end.  It came from Goodwill for 5 dollars.  I took one look and said to myself that the ties would make it a perfect curtain. 

I love unusual things like this.  The pattern on the fabric makes me so happy!

On a Veteran’s Day note, we are thinking about my dad today, my children’s grandfather, who served in the Air Force in air traffic control, as a drill instructor, and in Vietnam as a combat controller. 

He was a handsome man with a kind, service-oriented way about him.  I miss him and think of him often.  I appreciate all of our veterans and active duty service men and women.  Thank you.

I hope you enjoy, as Pooh would say, this Winds-day, for around here it really is a “winds-day”

Lynn