Gathering the Moments | May

May was the first full month in our new house. 

We began the month with scenes like this (note the boxes, bags, rolled up rugs, and lots of "stuff without a place)...

But as May drew to a close, we had unpacked many of the boxes and bags, unrolled our rugs, and begun to settle in a bit. Oh, we still have a ways to go, but it's beginning to feel like home.

One of the first little spaces I claimed was the coffee nook. (You know how serious we are about our coffee!) And the day we unpacked the Blue Willow and tucked it into a kitchen cupboard, it was a happy day. No more paper plates. (And opening the door and seeing those cups hanging makes me smile. It's the little things.) 

I called Kati my "homing pigeon," so named for her uncanny ability to recall what is in what box. "Where are the blue towels?" "Do you know where my pewter candlesticks are?" "How about the candles?" "Where is my school notebook?" "Batteries?" All located by Kati in short order! Her services were invaluable!

Yes, it's beginning to feel like home. 

On the first Sunday in May, we had our first "normal" Sunday afternoon at The Pineapple House. We put a 6-foot folding table at the end of our dining room table and we and our children and grandchildren gathered around a simple meal.

The next Sunday, Mother's Day, we had our first holiday gathering. And we have continued to have family and friends over...from dear friends who have come to share a cup of coffee and see our new home (my friend Joanne calls it the 25-cent tour ~smile~)...to Kati's first game party with her friends...to a gathering of our church fellowship for a potluck meal. 

We love to gather...and we love our new gathering place!

May also brought some special outings. 

My mom hosted a birthday celebration for her sister Robin (my aunt who seems too young to be my aunt). We went out for lunch, then back to Mom's for tea and treats!

My daughter-in-law Sarah invited us over for a lunch to celebrate the end of a successful school year. (No, we're not finished yet, but everyone else is and we celebrated too!) It was a beautiful day and the children had a grand time exploring the pond and watching tadpoles and bullfrogs. The afternoon ended with sweaty kids enjoying sherbet cones and sharing their highlights of the school year. Good times! 

Our homeschool book club ended the year with an international luncheon and discussion of the books the girls had read from countries around the world.

Bekah performed beautifully (a little mom-bragging!) at her spring piano recital. Her beautiful and talented teacher is her cousin (and my niece) Amy. It was a lovely night!

Also in May, we met buyers of our old home, The Farmhouse! You may recall that The Farmhouse adjoins the property of Ron's brother, which adjoins the property of Ron's sister, which adjoins the property of Ron's mother. (Did you get all that?) So, my sister-in-law invited the neighborhood, including the new owners of The Farmhouse, for strawberry shortcake...and invited us too! We were thrilled to meet them and to talk with them and to learn that they love the Lord which thrills our hearts! Again, we thank the Lord for His plan in all of the events of the past year, even the ones that were painful and uncomfortable. His plan is good and His mercies are unending!

We never know what a month (or a day!) will hold. My dear blog friend, Vee, could not have known that at the end of this month she would say good-bye to her beloved and that he would be "safely home," as she so tenderly wrote in an email to me. 

We were privileged to meet Vee and John when we visited Ryan and Sarah in Maine a few years ago. I already loved Vee through our online friendship, but we also fell in love with John immediately. He and Ron hit it off and they talked every bit as much as Vee and I did! He was warm and engaging. From Vee's words about him through the years, I know that he was a generous, loving, and hard-working man. He was certainly a gift to Vee (as she was to him) and his loss will be keenly felt in their home, their family, their church, and, yes, in the blogging community too. I continue to pray for God's grace for Vee. 

As I have "gathered the moments" of May, the lyrics of this old hymn play through my mind...

I don't know about tomorrow
I just live from day to day
I don't borrow from its sunshine
For the skies may turn to gray. 

I don't worry o'er the future
For I know what Jesus said
And today I'll walk beside Him
For He knows what is ahead. 

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand.
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

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!!

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.

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. 

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! 

A Spot of Beauty

We have learned that moving is not for the faint of heart. 

It is work. And thinking. And more work. And more thinking. And when you think you are nearing the end and you've packed up or given away or donated or tossed thirty-five years' worth of worldly goods, then you find another place that isn't packed or another paper you have to sign and it just seems to keep on going. Probably because we are novices at this, and probably because we have too much stuff. But the end is in sight...

I have also learned how important beauty and order are to me. Over the past seven weeks, my pretty things have disappeared one by one, replaced by cleaning products and piles of boxes and starkness and chaos. I confess to feeling discombobulated, longing to put things together rather than take things apart. 

When my daughter-in-law came one night this week, she handed me a cluster of azalea blooms. I scrambled for a vessel and filled it with water, and now the azalea graces my very messy table in my "warehouse" of a kitchen. It is a spot of beauty that makes me smile. 

What if I am that spot of beauty in a lost world? Not because I am beautiful or good or have anything of my own to offer, but because I am reflecting His beauty in the midst of a world of chaos and disorder. 

Gathering the Moments | March

March was crazy-busy and full of grace.

Many days I have wanted to pop in for a chat. I have written oodles of blog posts in my head! But there always seems to be something more urgent that takes my time. Living life in the midst of a move...

If ever there was a month of living the "in between," this was it!

We lived in the past as we cleaned out the attic and uncovered thirty-five years of memories. Baby shoes. Handmade cards from our children...and from our grandchildren. Childhood toys. Childhood books. (Lots of childhood books.) Wedding invitations. Wedding napkins. Graduation announcements. Hand-written notes and birthday cards from loved ones who are no longer with us. Outdated home decor. School papers. School notebooks. (Lots of school notebooks.) Dusty stuffed animals. Old dishes. Old furniture. Baby clothes. A set of books my dad bought for my oldest children, one book at a time until he had collected them all. Photographs. Party invitations. Old love letters. The Fisher Price cash register.

Memories, memories, memories. Some brought smiles. Some brought tears. All are a part of the fabric of life here at The Farmhouse.


We lived in the present as we continued to cook meals, educate, do laundry, and drive to extracurriculars. Kati sprained her hand at work, thus an ER visit, a couple of doctor appointments, and a splint for at least four weeks. Not able to work either of her jobs, she is helpful to me in the sorting-through-memories department.

Baby Macie suffered with some health issues during the month of March. A scary late night trip to the ER brought a diagnosis of RSV. (Praise the Lord, she has fully recovered from that.) She also struggled with silent reflux.

Bekah was long overdue for her eye appointment, so we squeezed it in. She is happy with her new contacts.

During the month of March, we continued to gather. We hosted our church fellowship one Sunday while our regular hosts were out of town the country. We girls hosted a ladies' game night because we wanted to have just one more here at The Farmhouse. We had our usual Sunday afternoon gatherings with our children and grandchildren. And we had our last holiday meal here on Resurrection Sunday.

We gathered at other places too. Kristin and Brian hosted a Sunday afternoon meal. The FLDC (Fashionably Late Dinner Club) met at our friends' and they insisted that we show up empty-handed this time. Joanne and I went for our monthly Mama Coffee. We had several coffee evenings at Ryan and Sarah's house.

Between it all, we sorted, organized, cleaned, tossed, gave to family and friends, and made oodles of trips to Goodwill and other thrift shops to donate.

Oh, there was a lot of living in the present here in March!


We also lived in the future as we packed and planned and pondered.

Friends and family helped us pack dishes (lots of them) and table linens (lots of them) and books (lots of them too). Friends and family helped us with Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the move to our new house. (The final and largest move will be at the end of April.)

We are thinking ahead to new spaces, new arrangements, new surroundings. Paint colors, furniture placement, driving routes. We are thinking ahead to two and a half bathrooms after 35 years of living with one! We are thinking about our new gathering place and all of the possibilities. Of course, we are planning projects. :)

For the month of March, we rejoice in His gifts and His faithfulness to us over these past thirty-five years, we praise Him for His grace in this present flurry of living, and we trust Him with the future.

 ♪ All the way my Savior leads me. What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy who through life has been my guide? ♪

The BIG Project in the Works

Exactly one week ago, after thirty-five years in our much-loved home, we put it on the market.

(We can hardly believe it ourselves. It is a BIG deal for us!)

Back in the fall, during Ron's illness and extended recovery, we began to realize that this home that we love is more suited for the young and the healthy. We have only one bathroom, and it is downstairs. All three bedrooms are upstairs. When mobility is an issue...well, it's a problem. 

For months, we have talked about the pros and cons. Our property adjoins family property. But do we need to have this much property to take care of? We could add on a ground floor master suite. But would that cost more than a sale and a move? And do we want to do all that and still have too much property and the issues of an old house? Ron is healthy again, so is it really necessary? But don't we want to make these decisions when we have options and can take our time? Oh, but we've been here so long. Our blood (literally), sweat (absolutely), and tears (those too) are invested in this home. We have made it over, from top to bottom, inside and out. All of our family's memories are right here! We love our house!

In the end, we decided to sell. 

Photo by our dear friend Frances

After listing last Wednesday afternoon, we had eleven showings by Friday!

Seeing that there was significant interest (we had FOUR offers!), our realtor asked for "best and final" offers to be made by Saturday morning. Then we sat down together, chose one of the four (more than our listing price!), and signed the paperwork. It looks like we will be moving in April!

The best part is that we feel that the Lord is leading us. We have asked Him to close doors if this was not His plan for us, but He seems to be opening them wide!

Another photo by Frances

So now...

In the next seven weeks, we will be cleaning out and sorting and packing thirty-five years worth of stuff and earthly treasures. (Determining which things are "stuff" and which things are "treasures" is tough!) 

We'd love to hear your moving tips...we are novices! Please leave advice in the comments. 

Thinking About Home will continue to be quiet-ish, simply because we are so. very. busy. Much to do in a short time! I'll be popping in from time to time to give you peeks at the down and dirty. (Is anyone really interested in seeing the messy?) I'll also give you a few peeks at the new (to us) house! 

It is all exciting and scary and bitter and sweet!