Holiday Angel Messages

Last weekend, as I was cruising around my Facebook newsfeed as I do with my coffee on as many Saturdays as I can, 

I scrolled up to this photo from

Porch Sitting Union of America's homepage

My Granny loved all things nature, birds in particular, but cardinals were by far her favorite. She was a woman of little to no means, and even into her later years kept "scrapbooks" of sorts. Adhesive photo albums where she would place pictures, but also magazine photos, clips, articles that she wanted to save. There were many many clippings of cardinal photos in those books. 

So, needless to say, when I see a cardinal, I immediately think of her, and my heart warms. 

I have wrote about it before, this woman had a huge impact on me as a kid. All of the things I enjoy today, I attribute to her teaching. Cooking, baking, hiking, nature, animals, card games, and time with my family. She didn't have much to offer us by way of material items, but she gave of herself, and her time and that means more to me than anything.

Then, as I continued to scroll, this photo comes along my feed from the same site. 

This is my Pappy, through and through. That man loved his trains.  He wore a conductors hat for that I remember for most of my childhood. We often took trips to Kempton to the railroad, but most of all, he loved his Christmas trains. He took time every year, and attention to that train and board and spent so much time and care to place it up for the season. 

So, of course, at this point my brain is first saying, well hello to both of you, but then of course, I start to wonder what the message is supposed to be. That didn't come to me for a little while.I went off to help at Santa Paws (and side note incidentally the second customer was my biological father with whom I no longer a real relationship. So that was also an eyebrow raiser after the photos in the morning but I don't think connected), and continued to make my mental list of all that had to get accomplished in the next two days. 

I had spent the previous week, working more than usual, after traveling for the holiday, and running the usual household chores, on top of teh impending Mishock Holiday Party looming on the weekend and not one skirt of pair of dress pants that fit in my closet. So, all week I was stressed about finding time to get to the mall, meet all my obligations, AND somehow get Christmas to arrive at our house. 

Good news is, I managed to get something to be called an outfit pieced together, and got to the party, but Sunday morning when I got up, this sight was still looming over my head

Right here, right now, I am ashamed to admit, I had a meltdown. Complete and simple as that. I am blessed beyond my own belief and I try my best on a daily basis 

to remember where I came from, and what got me where I am. 

I allowed myself to lose that.

No one else wanted anything to do with helping, the kids went off to work, I still have to get all my "mom" stuff done and get all of this done as well, and simple as that, I let first world problems grab me and take a hold. And see that wood floor under those boxes? Yes, that is my scraproom/dining room that was torn apart this summer and "supposed to be" finished by now, and adds to the mess. 

I spent the better part of the afternoon, with the biggest Grinch heart, placing out our Christmas decorations and knick knacks. 

I hated that Christmas was just one more thing I "had to do", on a long list of "must do"s for the season.  Mind you, I was neglecting to remember that a lot of my stress was due to fitting it all in around fun events as well! 

The last thing I always place out, is the nativity, and as I was doing this, as I usually do, 

I flashed on the memory of my grandparents small creche that my Granny always displayed prominently at Christmas. The story goes, that when my grandparents had a house fire years before, 

this creche was one of the few things to survive, nearly unscathed. A story my Granny loved to tell 

and to her meant a huge deal. 

Then it dawned on me, my messages from the photos the previous day...

Keep it Simple Stupid!

All of the deadlines, and chores I had were placed upon myself, mostly by me. 

Something were out of my control, but most were not. 

My grandparents had, I am not exaggerating, nothing. They were lucky to take the needed money from the December budget to get a small tree every year. Pretty much that tree, with it's meager ornaments, with my grandfather's beloved train beneath (pieced together over the years), and that creche were pretty much it. I believe there were some handmade crocheted items in red and white placed around the house.  My grandmother took great pains all year long to set aside a small amount every month, so that at Christmas, she could carefully with her small budget thoughtfully and painstakingly purchase a meaningful gift for each family member. Everyone got one gift, but one she didn't buy for the sake of buying, but because she put great thought into the item and why the recipient would love it. Again I think giving me my love of giving and choosing *just* the right gift. I hate giving just for the sake of the requirement. 

But you know what? 

On Christmas day, her house was full, loud and happy!

I needed to remember that Christmas did not depend on what I placed on the mantel, 

but what was in my heart. 

My heart softened. I apologized to my husband, and finished my tasks. 

Earlier int he day, my sister had *coincidentally* asked if I wanted to come with her and a friend

to go caroling to some elderly from her church.  I accepted the invite at the time, 

but almost with regret thinking it gave a timeline to what I need to accomplish beforehand

but I really did want to go. 

I say *coincidentally* because I don't really believe in them.

The caroling was exactly what I need to finish off my "awakening"

and I do not believe the events were random. 

We have not been settled in a church for a few years now, and this time of year 

is when I really miss our church family and events.

I had to stop myself from crying through the first few carols, 

and nearly started bawling when one of our first stops, accepted our cookie and blanket, and songs, and proclaimed, "I feel so rich all of a sudden!"

My Grinch heart grew three sizes that night. 

Caroling, followed by some wonderful fellowship was 

just what I needed. 

Walking in that night, the house seemed brighter, happier and warmer 

than when I had left earlier. 

I had found my Christmas glow exactly where I should have been searching 

all the while. 

Warning you now......

I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I posted a blog post. 

It's been an interesting year to say the least. The words just wouldn't come. 

Or blame Facebook. 

I get my thoughts out there. 

Some are just too big for that space, however. 

And I feel some thoughts bubbling up. 

So, I am warning you now. 

I have been forming some thoughts all day. Will get them down later. 

I'm baaaaack. 

And because all blog posts need a photo, here is one from yesterday! 

I helped out at the Santa Paws fundraiser. K insisted on bringing Zoey over. 

I was absolutely sure there was no way she was going anywhere near that big hairy man.

But she did. A bit of sniffing and tail between her legs for a few seconds, but 

then she realized he wasn't so bad. 

Thanks to a squeaky toy, she even smiled for the camera! 

Hard to believe she is now 10 years old. 

My Funny Valentines

 

First of all, I can not look at this photo without smiling inside at the memory of the moment it was taken. We had traveled to the beach that year with a friend of mine from work. Loree, was silly and fun, and slightly dopic like me. The moment she clicked this picture, she stepped and slid into a giant puddle of mud.

The topic? The topic? Oh, yeah! Valentine’s Day!

The three loves of my life.

The three crazy people who carry my heart with them everywhere they go.

This year a conversation with Princess Textsalot in the morning, got me to thinking.

We have had a very snowy winter this season, and that is putting it mildly. When the weather is going to be bad, Princess Textsalot is permitted to park her car in the side yard so that the slow can clear the street and not plow her car in, and things like that. Needless to say, her car has been in the side yard for nearly a month now! She has had to learn to leave time to shovel herself out in the mornings, warm her car and the other things that go along with being an adult with a job, a car that is parked outside and the responsibilities of being an adult.

Yesterday, was the aftermath of another particularly big storm. Sir Fartsalot had used the snow blower in the dark of night the previous night, had gotten up early, and I was under the impression gone off to work. I woke up thinking I was going to have to shovel the last 5-6 inches we got over night. I came downstairs, and discovered the princess was up getting ready for work,and she immediately started fretting to me that Daddy was outside snow blowing, had insisted on cleaning off her car even though she insisted to him that she could do it, and had also started it up to warm up for her.  She kept pacing and saying, “Mom, I told him I could do it. He is going to hurt himself (The kids and I have a healthy appreciation for Sir Fartsalot’s aches and pains). He insisted on doing it. He is even digging out the underneath!” 

I just calmly said to her, “Let him go. Remember, Daddy is a man of few words and not very “squishy” as we may be, but he loves you and this is his way of showing you that. Just be sure to say Thank You” 

“I know, I know.”, she says.

Over the years, I have often tried my best to point out to the kids, the times that Sir Fartsalot is doing his best to show them he loves them. It is not easy at times, living with someone who is not verbal in his expression of anything, let alone affection, and he isn’t one to initiate demonstrations of affections. He will always reciprocate but rarely initiate. If you met his father, you would simply nod your head, and say, “I see”. Again, one of the most gentle, giving, wonderful man you would ever meet, but one of the least verbal and physically affectionate people I have ever met.  My mother-in-law, on the other hand, bubbly and chatting, and as social as they come (please don’t point out the similarities to me, believe me, I know, and I have also watched their marital struggles)

Coincidently, this was followed by a conversation with The Dude later in the car. We were discussing ways, when he gets older, he is going to create inventions that will make things easier for him to do around the house. This was started with a discussion on new and improved ways of snow removal. You see, The Dude’s mission in life,  especially when he gets older, is to have to do as little work as possible. The more things he can invent to make that possible the better.

I reminded him that part of growing up, owning a home and being more mature, is the work that most likely comes along with it. To which he replies, “hence the inventions to make it all easier.”  As I shake my head, I say to him, “well your Daddy has taught you well, I think you will be able to take care of things at your house very well.” He replies, “yeah, I can’t go into the basement without learning something.”  Again, you see, Daddy, on nearly a daily basis, pulls him aside to “show him” something, and The Dude is always included when Sir Fartsalot is planning a project or working on something at home. I love as The Dude has gotten older, how they often problem solve together to get something done.

Again, I took the opportunity to point out to The Dude that this is Daddy’s way of showing him he loves him. Teaching him, helping him learn, and working side by side with him. Thankfully, The Dude said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

There are times, I look back and wish someone could have taken the time to teach me the same lessons. They were hard learned.

You see, Sir Fartsalot set quite a precedent early on in our relationship.  The first year we dated, each month “anniversary”, I received a rose for each month we had been dating. One month, one rose, two months, two roses and so on. No matter where I was – I was way at college a lot of that first year – I received those roses on THE day of the anniversary, 27th of each month. I got the full dozen at one year.  You see, back then, when things were still fresh and new, Sir Fartsalot’s love language was gifts…flowers, cards and jewelry mostly.  He didn’t have too much else to focus on, so he had all the time in the world to think about it.  But as you can well imagine, marriage, kids, a home, increasing responsibility, tighter budgets and the other things that come along with a maturing relationship and responsibilities, the things he was used to using to express his affection became harder to come by. But these had become the ruler in which this immature young woman and grown to measure his affection. 

Quite a few years of tears, and frustrations were laid out. Sir Fartsalot spent a lot of the kid’s early years working A LOT. Providing, so I could work part –time. Frugal is his  middle name. God bless him, he could  make a nickel bleed. That was his primary focus, and the kids were mine. Working was, and always will be, his way of showing us his love for us.

The “head” came on my first Mother’s Day…..which Sir Fartsalot, totally blew off.

Yeah.

We’ll let that sink in.

As well as birthdays with not so much as a card, and Christmases with what I viewed as last minute thoughtless gifts. (I will leave the subject of adult ADD completely out of the discussion for now!)

As the kids are reading this decades from now….

Thus began our journey, as couple, in learning to understand each other.  It has taken years, dare I even say, decades for us to “figure it out”. We didn’t walk away from it. One thing we knew deep down, and still know, is that we loved each other, and we WOULD figure it out.

Thankfully, I have the wisdom, now, all these years later, to help the kids come to this understanding as well. I do the best that I can, but they also have to navigate their relationship with their Dad in their own way. I love the connections each of them has, that is uniquely theirs with him.

This brings to mind a conversation I had at work earlier this week with a young woman who is just embarking on her life with the man who will someday more than likely be her husband. She found out  how long I have been married, and asked me what I thought the secret to a long marriage was. The very same question I have asked many a patient over the years.

My first, pat answer, was you have to be in it “for the long haul”. You have to DECIDE – yes, it is a choice – you are staying.  There are, of course, inexcusable circumstances that are not included in this subject – abusive behavior, drug abuse affecting the family, affairs and things like that – but overall, you make the choice that leaving is not your first option. Pretty much, if you ask me, after 20 years of marriage is really boils down to what you will and will not tolerate.  When you discover one of the things you are having difficulty tolerating, you can work on it as a couple, but essentially, you can’t change someone, you have to love WHO they are,  without the “buts”. Sometimes, that means resigning yourself to things you just have to accept about the person you love. (again, with some exclusions)  When you stop trying to force them to be someone YOU want THEM to be, and accept them for who they are, things start to get much better! I had to learn over the years, to recognize and accept how Sir Fartsalot shows his love. And you know what? When I stopped trying to force him to be what *I* wanted him to be, he slowly started giving more effort to paying attention. (Not easy for him, again I will leave the subject of adult ADD alone for now) Fortunately, as the kids have gotten older, we also have the blessing of more time to pay attention to each other, and it is slowly becoming easier for him again. I am forever grateful, if nothing else, when I stopped pointing fingers and telling him everything he was doing wrong.  He didn’t have to be defensive any longer and was  open to working it out.

I could go on forever……

Of this I am sure, this man would try his best to walk on water if we asked him to, and that alone means the world.

Looking for the beauty

Photo watercolored by a friend of mine.

It’s no mystery that I am not a huge fan of winter.

I tolerated it when the kids were small and excited to be out sledding and playing.

Although I will admit there is littler prettier than a cardinal in the snow. This always makes me think of my grandmother who loved birds in general, particularly cardinals. She used to cut pictures out of magazines and keep them in a book. When she passed, there was more than one cardinal photo in that book. God, I miss her too.

I do not like layering, bundling, being cold, looking at grey skies, staying in, not walking, and dreary days…..

Not to mention, rearranging my schedule at work every three days, and trying to get a wheelchair dependent elderly person to and from multiple doctor appointments in bad weather,depending on a limited wheelchair van schedule,  adding insult to injury.

This is one of the worst winters we have had in our area in a few years. I have gotten rather complacent with the warmer than average winters with short storms and warm days.

This just so happens to come on the heels of a very difficult few months for me.  Adding insult to injury.

Sometimes when life has been throwing spit balls at you for a few months, it makes dodging the little things even harder.

My “coping skills” are heavily dependent on sunshine, outdoor activities, my garden, and did I mention sunshine?  When I feel stressed on a difficult day, these chairs would include a book, and my shades…..

The pond is iced over. No bubbling sounds, to waterfall, no bon fire. No singing birds and coffee taken on the deck on a Sunday morning.

Did I mention that I did not take ONE picture  in January??

Coincidence? I think not.

I love this one, because I love leading lines. Why is nothing in life ever this straight and true? Mental health and a teenager are no picnic to deal with. Add to it, the doctors messing around with medications at a transitional time in said teenagers life. Not a good combination.  not only dealing with normal teenager issues, that have been complicated by suicidal thoughts and self injuring.  Yeah, it’s no picnic. Some well meaning folks need to stop telling me, “you just need to ….”

Add to it, right before said teenager issues, I decided to make a less than successful job change. yeah. Smart. Not.  Paychecks still variable and not guaranteed but grateful for options.  Grateful my choices years ago afford me choices now.

But this face helps a lot.

So I set out in our last major storm, and was intent on finding the beauty. This is a metaphor for my life right now in more ways that one. The beauty in the difficult times within our family right now as well as the beauty in this Godforsaken thing called winter.

As well as the motto : ”One day at a time.”

Never been more applicable.

Things are settling down now. Which is a good thing. Eggshells are still being walked upon, but sleep is not so elusive.

 

 

So I wake up every day, and look for the beauty through the stress. 

Some days it is easier than others, and every day I am grateful for friends who understand and can offer non-judgmental love, support and advice. There are just some people who will not understand and that is ok too.

For some reason, I have also gotten the urge to write. I find myself posting tidbits on Facebook rather than truly writing anymore. But, this is a much better place to “save” these thoughts. The last few nights I have lain in bed concocting posts. So the itch is back.  I find that it is harder to find the words in the difficult times. But it is just as important to note these periods of our lives as well. I have always focused on the positive things in our lives instead of the struggles, and of course it is much easier to share those periods.  My life is still blessed in so many ways, but it does not mean there are not dark times as well, and I am no less grateful for the good things simply because I deal with the challenges.

Could it be worse? Oh , most certainly.

Does it make the struggles any easier or less valid? No.

Perspective is an interesting thing.

 

Sorry, kitchen’s closed due to snow.

Books….

My love of books is well known in our household. Everyone knows I will cling to paper bound novels, and go kicking and screaming into the digital age.

I know every parent doubts the job they are doing now and again, or looks back and wonders if they could have done something differently. With both of the kids’ struggles with school, and distaste for reading for a long time, I often wonder, if I could have done more. A very insensitive person once insinuated that perhaps the kids struggled because I didn’t read to them enough.

We.read.every.night.

So there smarty pants.

Not to mention the weekly trips to the library and home with our totes packed with books, that is another post altogether.

I used to worry because the kids never really seemed to have a favorite book that they brought to me again and again, we always read a lot of different books.

Today, I went to the bookstore with Princess Textsalot to buy a few books for my boss’s new baby.

So, I heard…..”Oh, you have to get this one.” – “Remember this one?”

and “She needs Harold and the Purple Crayon, remember we had all of them!”

“These were the best!”

And, it started to occur to me. We did have favorites. They may have brought me a pile of books every night, but there were always a few consistent ones in there. 

Sandra Boyton was a consistent theme.

They were sing-songy and easy to follow – I realize now, easy for my challenged readers to memorize and follow along, and finish the sentences for me by the time we put them away on the shelf permanently.

We imitated so many of the animals in Eric Carle’s book, I had it memorized for months.

To hear Princess Textsalot excited to look for these favorites for our purchase, gave me hope that maybe I didn’t mess them up forever!

There is a box in the attic full of the books I wanted to save for the next generation. I saved them because they were *my* favorites, but now I realize, they were my favorite because they were the kid’s favorites. It’s a pretty big box. So, I guess I did ok.

But, there are two that will remain in my heart forever and ever….

This is the only I think I remember reading almost every night. The babysitter I had when the kids were very small used it for some of her lessons, and we HAD to get a copy of it for at home. I can still remember a lot of it -

A told B, and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of the Alphabet Tree.  “whee!”, said D to EFG, “I’ll beat you to the top of the Alphabet Tree"!” -

No, I did not have to look that up.

The best part – THEY REMEMBER. Just when  I think my babies have been replaced by these alien unrecognizable beings at times, THEY REMEMBER.

But this one.

This wonderful, beautiful book….has been the source of one of the phrases I, and I think a lot of parents, continue to use with my kids to this day. We made sure it was included in our gift today.

Throughout this entire book, Little Nut Brown Hare tries to “one up” his Dad on how much he loves him.  Each trick that he can do, and distance he can think of proves how much  more he loves his Dad, than his Dad loves him.

Until Dad gets the better of him on the very last page. I believe it sums up whatever parent feels and no child can know until they parent as well.

Little Nut Brown Hare is finally being tucked into bed, sleepy, and says to Big Nut Brown Hare, “I love you to the moon!” which to him seems like the ultimate measure of love. Until, as he is drifting off, Big Nut Brown Hare, leans down and whispers,

“I love you to the  moon……and back.”

Farming Fish-bowl style

I have such fond memories of gardening with my grandmother, that I couldn't NOT have a garden of my own.
Strawberries are my first attempt and finally this year, they are yielding enough to actually EAT them more than two at a time!! It has only taken about 5 seasons. I remember when I put them in, everyone said, "oh they will take over soon. You will have more than could ever eat"...well, that never happened!!
I also hit up our friend's organic farm and put 3 gallons in the freezer for my smoothies all winter!

This would be when the rabbits become the "Damn Rabbits".
And you will notice, they only ever eat half! No idea why, but they leave this half eaten beauties all over the vines. Deceiving me into thinking there is a lovely ripe strawberry hanging there until I pick it!

Organic fresh raspberries -- again our friend's farm....we are thinking of putting our own blueberry and raspberry bushes in along the back of the year this fall. These babies became scones. Nomnom!

Guess what this became!?!  Pesto!! Made a nice pesto and roasted tomato pizza on the grill!!

You haven't lived until you make the crust fresh, grill it and put that fresh pesto on it!

Unfortunately now, we experience another not so great perk of growing our own stuff -- something is eating my basil. Grrrr......researching their early death, but trying to make it natural so I can eat the basil without poisoning me too!

Also way way tooooo many herbs this year! The oregano was taking over the bed!! So I found a use for the greenhouses in the summer -- drying!! Bunched these up and in less than 3 days I had completely dry herbs! Score!

waiting for these babies -- sauce sauce sauce all winter!!

And I think I over did it a bit. The cukes had to get planted in the flower beds since I ran our of room in the garden....I am really planning on pickles....we'll see what happens. I have a feeling I am going to have more pickles than I could ever eat. There are some seeds that I had started in my new greenhouses. I am so proud! Most of the other things I started too late, but the cukes are doing well. Considering that last year I had softballs instead of cukes, these are looking good!

Why, hello my pretty!!

Already planning changed for next season!!

Wait a minute....

Didn't all of this *just* leave my house??
Starting the pool on how long it sits like this!
Teehee....
She wants to make her room more like a dorm room.
Apparently, she has gotten used to her "space".
Apparently, there will be lots of "rearranging" before her summer babysitting job starts.

Could an entire school year have passed already?

All of the preparation.
All of the nerves,
the happy tears,
the excitement.

Blink of an eye.

By society's standards, probably not the most successful year.
By my standards, I am insanely proud of Princess Textsalot!
She completed her first year of college!
Not without it's struggles.
Not without it's growing pains.
But also with a lot of positive outcomes!
She has learned a lot about herself as a person,
as a student and what she does and does not want to do.
I am proud of her for being able to admit Millersville is not the place for her.

So proud of her for working through this year.
School has never come easy for her.
Social situations, never easy.
Combine the two, well, let's just say,
there were some pretty rough patches to get through.
But,
she.did.it.

Proud of her for deciding to pursue an entirely different path
in preschool education, probably special education.

She is home now.

The re-adjustment has begun!
But this fall, we won't have to say goodbye to her again.
She is staying this time.
Just as the meloncoly doesn't hit me so much anymore,
and we have started to appreciate the quiet......

she is our whirlwind, we wouldn't trade her for the world.
She brings noise, chaos, humor, smiles,
and screeches into our days.

And apparently, we didn't need that pack of extra toilet paper!

Getaway.....

Two years ago, for our anniversary, we pulled off a long weekend in Lake Seneca NY, wine tasting and relaxing. 
We managed to pull off another trip this weekend, only took two years. It was supposed to be a return trip to Seneca, but at literally, the last minute -- ok, two weeks -- on the advice of a friend, we rearranged everything and wound up in Northern Va; a thriving wine country, in case you  were not aware. Highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys such a thing. Pretty much, a lot of people just tease us about our wine hobby. To which I say, "To each his own!"
We enjoy quiet time together, sipping good wine, eating good food, soaking in the local beauty, and meeting fun people.

I find it interesting that people we met, that discovered what we were up to, automatically assumed we were "getting away from the kids". Well, not really. It is more about "getting away from life". The kids just happen to be a part of that. We honestly enjoy traveling with the kids, and spending time with them. We have also just decided it is important to us as a couple and as individuals, to getaway from the cacophony that is life.
The best part of the weekend....
The quiet.
Not the lack of sound.
But the lack of noise.
We do not realize the amount of needless noise there is in our days and the effect on us.
We wound up outside of Purcellville, Va. in a 1700's farmhouse that had been "converted" into a bed and breakfast.
The beauty, other than the house itself and farm, was no tv or radio in our room. There was one in the common areas, that we found ourselves, not in the least tempted to turn on. It was heaven.
Moving to our own rhythm. Our own speed. Not one determined by outside forces.

  

The entire house is furnished in 1700's civil war era antiques, and is run by an adorable woman who made my children look calm!
She was described in some of the reviews as "eccentric", but I hesitate to use the term. Eccentric itself, denotes some level of insanity. This woman was anything but insane. She was a busy, energetic, eager to share her wealth of knowledge, welcoming individual, and great cook to boot! She was a civil war buff who could tell you anything about battles of the civil war, local history and the history of most of her antiques, as well as her house. She has lived here since 1970, when she and her husband moved with 5 kids into the house with no running water, or electric and her husband was sent to Vietnam. She claims she just "did what she had to do". Raised her family in the house, and after her husband died in 1988, decided she would open the doors to others. She raises chickens, sells the eggs, has half an acre of blueberry bushes she picks herself, uses at the B&B and sells to locals including many of the local restaurants, as well as up keep of the house, and going out every night at 1 am to deliver 100 newspapers because, "it pays $2000 a month! can't turn my nose up at that!" "Fortitude" is what comes to mind when I think of her. She is a ball of energy, warm and welcoming, yet I have a feeling doesn't take crap from anyone.Our room was clean, the sheets were crisp and the towels were fluffy. What more could we want?


 
We had the room at the end of the hall, with our own bathroom across the hall, and access to the library and sitting room downstairs, through a spiral staircase in our room. Sir Fartsalot insisted we use that entrance every time because it was "cool".  Not a darn thing was brand new in the entire house, the kitchen was a lovely eclectic collection of found pieces that just seemed happy arranged together. I loved it. I literally had to crawl up on my hands and knees to get into the bed.

The rest of the rooms were along the hall. Yes, those are original floors. Did I mention she raised 5 kids here?

Our bathroom. Nothing but the sound of the birds. This was an addition recently.

The staircase up to our room from the library. 

"Our" sitting room. To the left was a bank of doors that opened up to the deck. The outside did need a bit of work, which of course, seemed to be ongoing. 

Looking up into the room. Yes, there was a second bed on the other side of the room.

Kitchen side of the house. The chicken house and Barbara's "Office" -- a converted out building -- sit to the left. Along with a gardening "house" I would kill for! 

Just a small peek at some of her gardens. Nothing was perfectly manicured, which had been a complaint on one of the reviews. I, instead, found it more inviting, and charming that way. 

The front of the house.
I sat on the porch to read almost every morning.
Quiet. Birds. Cats coming to purr at my feet. The creak of my rocker.
Sounds.
Not noise.

Our "end of the house" -- we had the upstairs bedroom and the sitting room and library underneath.

Some of the out buildings by the "creek".

I really wanted to ask her if there were any ghost stories about the house.
I can only imagine the residents prior to her family,
but I was not brave enough to ask while we were staying.
I really didn't need those stories in my head at night!

Lovely irises in the front.

The kitchen. Behind me was a sun room that opens out to the side of the house, chicken coop and her "office". We sat in the kitchen for breakfast at our request and just have to smile at her energy and chatter while she finished our breakfast. Deliciously made from her own eggs, local organic milk and Va meats. She asked me Friday if I was a good cook, and we talked at length about some time she spent in France living and learning to cook! She even tried a recipe on Sunday for sticky buns so she could get my opinion.

This here, will visually define the keeper of the house. This is  stack of magazines and books, perched on a footstool in the library.  Perched to nearly falling, yet did not fall. Disorganized, appearing to be ready to fall over at any moment, but steadfast.  I just smiled to myself when I saw this pile, because it so perfectly personified her and the house. 

Oh and did I mention, it had been part of the underground railroad?? This is the trap door that is in the original "one" room of the original farmhouse.
Other than a creepy inconvenient *small* stink bug infestation, our stay was very pleasant.
we were literally welcomed right into her home. I felt so bad not helping in the kitchen, but the one place she said another person was not welcome to help her was her kitchen, since she had "her way" and everyone else just got in "her way". This as well made me smile, as I get the same way.

So, this was "home base" and we traveled out each day in a different direction exploring the local area.......
at our own speed.
in our own time.
with the radio off.
It was heaven.