No Place Like Home

MID pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home! Home! sweet Home!
There's no place like Home, there's no place like Home!

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain;
O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again!
The birds singing gaily, that came at my call -
Give me them - and the peace of mind, dearer than all!
Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!

How sweet 'tis to sit 'neath a fond father's smile,
And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile!
Let others delight mid new pleasures to roam,
But give me, of give me, the pleasures of home!
Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!

To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there;
No more from the cottage again will I roam;
Be it ever so humble there's no place like home.
Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!
~John Howard Payne

Isn't this the way most of us feel - or would like to feel - about being home? I thought this poem perfectly summed up the way I feel about my own home. It is, to me, a haven from the world and a place for my family to thrive and find solace. The physical house alone does not bring feelings of comfort and belonging, but rather those that live under it's roof and their various day to day activities.

I have been married now for almost 12 years and am slowly learning the art of homemaking. And I do truly believe that it is an art for some people. I say that because for some, homemaking is just completing the chores that need to be done at home, day after day. Other people seem to have a great passion for carrying out those daily tasks with much forethought, precision, and attention to detail. I have been slowly making that artful transition.

This home journal was set up to record the various aspects of artfully caring for my home and family. Feel free to drop in at any time to see what we've been up to here in our home. You will always be welcomed!