Cocooned

For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It is such a dark, rainy day here in Middle Tennessee...and it's so delicious. I don't think I slept a wink last night partly due to thunderstorms {and partly due to someone's snoring}, so today I'm going to relax and enjoy the peaceful rhythm of the rain. Maybe at some point I'll get the urge to clean off my dining table {crafts!}... but then again, maybe not. I have to use my 'cocoon' time wisely on days such as this. I don't want to waste a minute!

Hubs has been in recovery after having all four of his wisdom teeth removed so we haven't done any remodeling work lately, but I have a couple of cottage tidbits to share with you. First, I'm so excited to tell you about our new sofa! I really wanted to wait until next year to replace our eleven year old Broyhill...after we finished remodeling the living room. This year we will be putting up our wood plank tongue and groove ceiling like we installed in our kitchen, and I really didn't want to have to work around new furniture. But our old sofa was dead - just dead! It was very uncomfortable to sit on plus it was looking very tired and ratty. So when I found this sofa on Craigslist, we snatched it up! It's very heavy and well built, extremely comfortable, and ten feet long! Hopefully the days of my children complaining about 'nowhere to sit' are long gone now. Now the sofa just needs some pillows, but maybe I *will* wait until we finish up the dirty work in the living room before investing in those.


I was so excited to receive this beautiful painting as a gift from a talented artist friend of mine. Isn't she just dreamy? Oh, I just love her! She's so fairy like and beautiful and I often find myself just staring at her. I'd like to have this painting framed in a distressed, white wooden frame and I know just the wall I want to put her on!


The next photo really is nothing new, but you may find it amusing. Every time we leave the house for a few hours, our Ruby {Doxie Dog} just looks for ways to be naughty. Usually she searches the house for food, but whatever she can find, she brings to this rug by the front door and tears into it. In the past we've found animal crackers, mints, lollipops, and... well, you get the point. Last week, she found the bag of bird seed and I think she broke her record for biggest mess ever!


I hope you all are having a lovely February... spring is just around the corner! Have a wonderful day, especially if you are cocooned inside while the rain falls. I think I'm just going to sit here a while...


...and enjoy it!

She Walks in Beauty

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thank you all *so* much for your sweet anniversary wishes in yesterday's entry...and your comments on the {silly} little love note I wrote when I was practically a baby of 17! It makes us laugh to this day! Hubs will be whisking me away to a quiet little cabin on a pond this weekend where I'm sure we will share many more laughs over those early years!


Oh my... Isn't the lady in the photo on my mantel so beautiful?! She was actress Maude Fealy {1881-1971} and I found her photo here at Graphics Fairy. One of my hobbies is printing out old photos that intrigue me, and when I saw this, I knew I had to have it on display in our home. I had it printed at a photo center in an 8 X 10 size. Later I will find a better frame for her but this is one I happened to have on hand.

I think these two would be lovely framed, too. *sigh* Such dreamy photos! Maude Fealy was born in Memphis, Tn and was a stage and film actress. She first acted in silent films, and then later films with sound.


Her mother was an actress, too, so needless to say, acting became a part of Maude's life at a very early age.


I'm sure she turned a few heads in her time, don't you think?!


Well, there are some fine pictures for you to enjoy, but as Goethe said, you will also need a little music so I would love to share with you my classical music playlist. Some days like today when it's cold and overcast but so snug and comfortable inside, it's nice to be able to 'relax' even while you're up doing chores or working on projects. Though my taste in music is *very* diverse, there is something about classical music that really soothes my soul. The playlist will never be complete but will keep growing. Enjoy!

I hope you all are having a charming week so far. Oh, I hear many of you are in for the biggest winter storm in decades! I worry for you and want you to stay safe and warm. Please keep me posted as to how you are doing. I don't think we here in Tennessee are going to be affected by it, but still, I have an uneasy feeling for everyone else. Take care!

I'll say my good-bye's for now with a poem...{a fine picture, a little music, a little poetry...our day is complete!} Good day, all!

She Walks In Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

- Lord Byron