Enjoying All Weather and a Start to Our Next Project

 Country living has made me who I am in so many ways. 

I have stepped on every bit of this land. 

I know these trails by heart.

 I have put seeds in the ground with full faith that they will grow.

A serene moment here, in silence, except for the restorative sound of birds and crickets, is my cure for almost anything!

I didn't want to leave the city, but now that I've been out here (this is the longest I've lived in one spot!) I can't imagine life any other way.

One valuable lesson it's taught me is how to enjoy all weather.

I don't like to hear people complain about weather. I tend to think, if someone will complain about something as far out of our control as weather, there's probably no end to what they'll complain about!

We are just coming down off of 90 degree heat. I enjoyed it very much. It felt luxurious to spend our days down at the pond, playing music and relaxing in the water.

But this morning we awoke to a refreshing 57 degrees. A welcomed change.

I opened the windows to air out the house.

The cool breeze on my afternoon walk was lovely.

In the fall these trails crunch under our feet, and we gather fire orange leaves to take home for a bouquet.

Winter walks feel stone quiet and frigid, and we gather pinecones to take home, along with berries to place in the bird feeder.

A mid-summer walk is a different event. We watch the bugs and squirrels scamper about in warm sunshine, and we gather wildflowers.

A few sights around my home this summer...

(As long as my Christmas poinsettia is still doing well, I see no reason why I should pitch it.)

All lovely sights until this one...

My kitchen pantry had to be completely emptied the other day for the plumber to get in there to work.

We are having a half-bath put in upstairs that I'm very excited about!

The new pipes run down the inside of my pantry. The plumber was very careful, tucked the new pipe discreetly in the corner, then vacuumed up the mess before he left. I was very pleased with him.

After he left I took the opportunity to clean out the pantry before I moved everything back.

Even though the pantry looks the same as it did before I emptied it, it still is satisfying to know the shelves have been scrubbed down, expired food has been pitched, and everything is placed back in a tidy way.

This year our home is 110 years old! 

Priorities were different in those days. When taking on an old house one must realize there will be tiny closets, and even tinier bathrooms!

We've made do just fine with our two little bathrooms, but installing a half-bath upstairs is something we've wanted to do for a while now, so it feels great to finally start on the project.

I will certainly be back here to document the progress.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy this glorious summer.

- 👒 ~ 🌳 ~ 👒 -

~ Courtney 

Travel to Enrich Your Home Life

I have a confession to make...

I don't have a desire to travel.

I don't feel the urge to get out of the house, or out of town.

I suppose that is what happens when the homelife you've created is more comfortable and relaxing than anything out in the world.

But I understand that traveling is a part of a well-rounded life. And since it is giving my children fun memories, I am happy to do it.

 With that said, we are freshly back from a family road trip.

It was exhausting but so wonderful and fun!

We got to see so much and were in so many new-to-us places.

After battling traffic, road construction, 90 degree heat, multiple hotels and Airbnb's, and a total of ten states in all, I am thankful the Lord kept our family safe and I am thrilled to be home.

The greatest benefit of traveling (for me!) is to gain a new appreciation for home sweet home.

Experiencing new places always makes me grateful to live where we live.

There is no church like our church. There is no town like our town. Coming home after a trip always makes me realize how lucky we are.

It's great to visit various places, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

So if I'm going to travel I like to make it meaningful by finding ways it can benefit my home life. Like being mindful of little take-a-ways that will give me a fresh idea or a new perspective to help me with my homemaking once I get home. That way the trip seems to have more of a purpose long term than to just be viewed as a temporary vacation.

Sometimes it's an inspiring thought.

For example, we toured a stunning historic house in Savannah, Georgia called The Davenport House. Mrs. Davenport raised six boys in that house. When the Civil War broke out the brothers split up- half went to fight for the Union, the other half for the Confederacy. Our tour guide told us we don't know why it happened that way because there is no written record of this chapter of the family's story. 

The thought bolted through me- No one bothered to write anything down about it! 

As a renewed motivation for blogging swelled up within me, I fumbled around in my purse for a slip of paper and a pen. I wanted to jot that down! 

I've had this blog for nearly seven years and even though I have written fairly consistently on it, there have been times where I've lost my motivation or have even contemplated quitting.

But then I remembered, what if something happened to me? I want to leave behind a written record of my beliefs and values, how I homeschooled, and our family stories. 

Other times it's a meaningful item I wish to bring home as a souvenir. 

Some of the most commented on items I have around my house are mementos I have brought back from my travels...

A dark green piece of pottery that sits on a shelf in my kitchen that came home with me from Costa Rica...

A collection of shells I set out in the summer from various visits over the years to Mexico and Florida...

A glass buffalo from the Black Hills of South Dakota, as well as a small vial of gold flakes we panned ourselves while we were there...

etc. 

So when we visited the Penn Center, in St. Helena Island's historical district, and found this original oil on canvas painting, it jumped out at me and begged me to bring it home.

I just knew the colorful scene would always remind me of the beaches we visited and enjoyed while in South Carolina.

I get a kick out of knowing no one can go to Hobby Lobby and "copy" my look. It's one of a kind. Original. There isn't another one anywhere in the world exactly like it.

(I think it's so dramatic how the Spanish moss drips from the trees...)

So when you travel this summer, keep your home in mind. Don't view the vacation as an escape but rather as a way to enrich your home life.

Bring a notepad and pen along to jot down inspiring ideas to take home with you.

So when you learn that fresh pineapple at the door is an old-fashioned, southern symbol for Welcome Friends, or that old houses had east-facing sitting rooms called Morning rooms, you have new ideas to take home.

(I also appreciated staying in a state that had 10% sales tax and garbage in the streets, because it reminded me that there is no place like home.)

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." -George Moore

💐

~ Courtney