I'm back

Two fabulous weeks in Italy with my honey was so fun.  We've started on the house renovation so my time is limited on the computer right now.  Hope to get to writing about my little home on the hill soon -- in my new office :)

Packing up

I've started packing our house in preparation for a major refurbishment. I plan to (as my Mama says) “cull out” – meaning I have A LOT of stuff that definitely needs to be discarded!  We had looked at buying a new home, but each time we looked at something else I knew this house is where I belong and my sentimental nature will not allow me to leave.

My grandparents built this house in 1968 and the design has not changed much.  In 1997 we added a bedroom when we moved in to take care of my Grandmother and we enclosed the screened porch, which is now our dining room.  We painted and added new carpet in every room except my grandparent’s bedroom (which is now my office) and the original carpet still covers the floor. 

Once I realized we are not moving I knew it was time to do some updates.  We are adding wood flooring in most rooms, all new paint in and out, knocking a wall in the kitchen to add a door for easy access to the pool area, maybe a new gas stove if I can talk my brother into cutting me a deal, adding a circle drive (so my guests can actually use the front door vs coming in through the garage), and adding a few Tuscan touches to enhance the Mediterranean style of the home.  I do plan to replace the carpet in my office, but will keep a remnant of it as an area rug (that old sentimental nature surfacing again).

I should make it a rule to empty drawers and cabinets every few years – it is so comforting to see all the items one collects in a lifetime – in my case, packing is the time I enjoy the things I’ve collected but also many of the things my Grandmother collected and handed down to me.

Yesterday I only accomplished packing one room – the dining room.

The dining room holds three pieces of furniture that have lived in this house since it was built in 1968.  The spiral decorative staircase has stood in the living room and my grandmother’s room and once held a collection of porcelain birds (Darrell got the birds), it now stands in a corner of the dining room and holds various pictures of our family throughout the past years.

The sturdy green hutch once spanned across the living room and held a collection of plates, cups, a dried 50^th anniversary corsage, and numerous trinkets collected by my Grandparents on their vacations.  The hutch now holds the items that my Grandmother gave to me plus dishes I’ve collected over the past 30 years, and trinkets that were Wesley’s (two walking Smurfs, a finger puppet and his Peter Rabbit cup and plate). 

A cedar chest bought in the late 50s moved from its foyer position to sit on one wall of the dining room and continues to house many of the tablecloths and napkins that it has always held, plus a palm sized Bible that my Grandfather gave away to friends and family, a pictorial book from the late 70s of families belonging to the First United Methodist Church, and first-place ribbons my Grandmother won during her years as a member of the Work and Hope Garden Club of Rockwall (she founded and served as the first President of the club in 1958).

Tomorrow I will pack the hall bookshelf and the front room (or north room as Grandmama called it).  I can’t wait to see what treasures I find there.

It only takes a moment

To be loved a whole life long...