As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Thursday, May 26, 2016

Cup of Sunshine


Enjoying my cup of sunshine this morning! 

It is a cup of sunshine according to the cheerful graphic.

It is a cup of sunshine because it is holding my "liquid life" (phrase borrowed from my blog friend Sherry...thanks, Sherry, for hitting the nail on the head! ~smile~).

It is a cup of sunshine because it is a housewarming, heart-warming gift from my dear friend Frances. (Thanks, Frances!)

The Lord has sent us several sunny days in a row and that feels good! 



Wishing you some sunshine in your heart today!!


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Weekend Snapshots


Mother's Day weekend...

We were blessed with a beautiful day and a houseful of mothers for the first holiday gathering in our new home! 

Yes, we're still working around boxes, but we are not the kind to wait for everything to be perfect before opening our home. (Who has time for that?!) 

We are learning how this house works for entertaining. This time, we set up a buffet line for food and drinks in the kitchen. We had three tables and no assigned seating: the dining room table, the table in the sun porch (it was our kitchen table in The Farmhouse), and a folding table at one end of the living room. Tablecloths are still packed, and all but a few dishes, so it was an informal affair, but I don't think anyone minded.

We are making new memories and loving it!





Last weekend...

On Saturday evening, we had a coffee/tea party on the sun porch. Some of the guests came in their jammies. Again, I was struck with the realization that Ryan and his family are only 4 miles away. Not 1500 miles or 3000 miles or 700 miles or even 200. Just 4. It is so good to be neighbors!


Then it was a more informal Sunday with plenty of time to chat and baby watch. 

(And play, if you were under twelve.)

(And move a piece of furniture down to the basement if you were adult and male. Thanks, guys!) 




We are thankful for time shared with our loved ones. It is a gift.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Five on Friday | Life at the New House


It has taken so much time to dismantle a home of thirty-five years and to (begin to) set up a new one, that I have all but lost my blogging mojo. Posts remain in my head, or even languishing away in my draft folder. In an attempt to jump start some regular blogging, I am going to post a few random thoughts and photos in Five on Friday. Here goes...


ONE
Mother's Day was the occasion for the first holiday gathering at The Pineapple House. It was everything that I had hoped it would be. There were twenty-one people here, everyone sat at a table to eat dinner, and there was room to spare. (In another post, I'd like to share a few family photos from that day.)



TWO
Pinky is enjoying the new sun room. 



THREE
I am quite excited to discover what plants are living here in our new yard. I understand that Miz Elle was quite the gardener, and we are reaping the beauty of her labors. I am especially thrilled to have many beautiful azalea bushes, as we were never successful in getting any established at The Farmhouse.



FOUR
This book. Sally and Sarah Clarkson beautifully express so much of what I believe about home life. 


FIVE
A little reading before the school day begins. Oh wait...that IS the beginning of the school day when life is learning is life. 


Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Pineapple House




When we began to consider moving, there was a small list of specifics that we were looking for in a new house...

  • All of the main living spaces to be on one level. (We would consider a two-story if the master bedroom and bathroom were on the ground floor, but we preferred one level.)
  • More than one bathroom.
  • One area large enough to gather with our extended family. This large area could be a living room or a great room or a large country kitchen like we had in The Farmhouse. We just knew we needed some kind of space for Sunday afternoons and holiday dinners and birthday celebrations. 
  • Small-ish yard.
  • A garage or shop or barn for Ron.
  • Charm!

Okay, so maybe charm was not a requirement, but after living in an older home with pretty moldings and quirky spaces and pine floors for thirty-five years, we were hoping to have a wee bit of charm in our new abode. 

I began to explore online real estate listings: Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia. One of the first houses I saw had this beautiful fireplace wall,


and I was drawn in!

The house actually met most of our criteria. It was all on one level. There were two full bathrooms and a half bathroom. There was a two-and-a-half car garage. It oozed charm! 

But...there were no pictures of the kitchen (did that mean that it was tiny, or in disrepair?) and no mention of a dining room. A space for a table was a must! Was there any large gathering place in this house? 

For weeks, we looked at house after house after house online. Every time we'd go out for appointments (which was often!), we'd drive by one or more of the houses that were for sale. None of them seemed just right. We drove by the one with the lovely fireplace wall and tried to figure out how in the world there could be a gathering space based on what we knew about the other rooms via the online photos. We finally decided that we'd never know whether it would meet our needs unless we simply went to see it for ourselves, so we called and made an appointment with the listed realtor.

On New Year's Eve, we went to see the house. We walked in the back door and there it was...the kitchen, which was not tiny and not in disrepair! And it had charm, including large casement windows that opened into the sun room!



Then we walked into the room we didn't know was there. Not only was there a dining room, but it was large and it opened into a large living room (the one with that wonderful fireplace wall)! There was our gathering space...more than adequate, and also beautiful, with hardwood floors and crown molding and lots of charm!




While Ron chatted with the realtor team about heating and nuts-and-bolts and everything else, we girls took a self-guided tour of the bedrooms, dreaming about which room could be whose.

Then we peeked into one of the bathrooms and my jaw dropped because there on the wall was a wooden pineapple that Ron had made when we were making folk art back in the '80's!

Ron's pineapple

A sign? Perhaps!

Although we did look at some other homes after this, our hearts were captured by this one, and it is the one that we now call home!

Not only does it has every single thing on our search list, it has so much more!

  • It is a very solid, well-built and well-loved home. (We have met the former owners and they have shared details of the thoughtful planning of their father when he remade the bungalow into a rancher to accommodate their growing family.)
  • It has that lovely fireplace that drew me in.
  • The house has lots of natural light, including sidelights (which I love) on either side of the front door. 
  • There is crown molding in every room.
  • I adore a multi-pane picture window...and there is a lovely one in the new living room! ~swoon~
  • Ron and I have a cozy little suite that is separate from the other bedroom area. 
  • There is fourth bedroom that we are going to use as a school room/office. 
  • There is a sun room.
  • There is a finished basement (which the grands are very excited about). 



Our first Sunday afternoon gathering in the new house...

I had to take two photos to get everyone in! (And I'm still not sure that I did...)

Looking through the picture window...the kids playing a game in the sun room.


When my friend Jill learned that we were leaving The Farmhouse, she told me that she was praying that we'd find a house that we would love as much, and that we would have peace about the transition. We think that those prayers were answered. 

We are so grateful for this gift that is beyond our dreams! We pray that the Lord's name might always be glorified here! 





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...