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

Love Note from a 17 Year Old Girl - 1991

A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. -Jane Austen

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you Jeff. I do. I do. I do. I love you so much. I love you more. I love you. You are so precious. I need you always. I love you forever. Think about you all the time. Can you read this? Could hug you to death. I love you. I love you. I love you. You I do love. Your gorgeous smile greets me every morning. I love you. I love you. I love you. My favorite person. Love the way you smell. Love the way you look. Love the way you wear your hair. Love the little things you do. Love who you are. Don't change. I love you. I love you. I love every square inch of you. You are the one. I don't want anybody else. I don't want to hold anybody else's hand. Only yours, yours, yours, yours. I'm so happy with you. I love to hear you breathing. I love to hear you laugh. I love to see you smile. I love to see you smile {at me}. I'm addicted to your love. Do you have any idea how much I love you? God's universe is not big enough to hold my love for you. I want to see you every day. I want to be with you every day of my life. I want you. I want to see you every day of my life. I want to run through fields with you. {You may laugh now.} I love your flowers. The flowers are you symbolically. {Except they die and you are indestructible.} I treasure my flowers. I treasure you. My flowers are beautiful. You are beautiful. Our flowers are unique. We are unique. I love you so much. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love your voice. I love you. I love you. I only think of you on two occasions - day and night.{not original} Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff. Couldn't stand to be without you. How do I love thee. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love your eyes. I love your nose. I love your cold ears. I love your chin. I love your mouth. Yes I do. I know you do but I love to tell you anyway. Jeff, Jeff, Jeff. I love your name. Kimberly Bouldin. I love that name, too. I am so fortunate to be loved by you. I need you forever. Us forever. I hope you can read this. If you can't I'll write it in the sky but it's not big enough. I love you. I love you. I'm crazy over you. Not crazy {mentally} because I know that's what you're probably thinking. I think of you all the time. In fact, in case you don't know yet, I'm thinking of you now. Thinking about how you always make me laugh. Thinking about your hair getting in your face when you play basketball. Thinking about my hamster. {I really don't know why.} I love you. I couldn't share you with anybody else. Forgive me for saying this, but I don't want to share you. I can't help it. That's what you do to me. If I weren't in geometry right now, I'd turn cartwheels. Can I tell you something again? I love you so much. I hope reading this doesn't hurt your precious little eyes. "The kiss that's in your stare haunts me day and night." I read that in a poem. I haven't kissed you yet but I stare at you often. My kiss is in my stare. Remember that. When I look at you, I can't help but think how much I love you. I'll never get tired of telling you that. Never. Never. Never. Never. I can't wait until 1994. 3 years. To me, 2 1/2. I love you. I love you. I'm so happy. Jeff, I love you. I hope you'll always be able to put up with me. I'm going to read this out loud to you at our wedding. {Just kidding.} If you are ever missing me, just pull this little note out and read it. I love you and everybody that loves you and everybody that loves everybody that loves you. Well, most of them anyway. I'm glad I'm almost out of school. I can't wait until next year. I can't wait until the next time I see your glowing face again. I love you forever and ever.

__________________________________________

Jeff did carry this in his wallet for about 18 years. The letter became pretty fragile, though. I have a whole box of letters between us... but I'll spare you! At seventeen, I had no clue about real life and all the things that go along with love and marriage and everything it entails...It was all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows back then! We were married two years later. :)

{Happy 18th Wedding Anniversay, dear! I love you, I love you, I love you...}

The Perfect Kind of Day

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old...
— E.E. Cummings

It's wet and dark out today...the perfect kind of day to light some candles, turn on the music, and work on few polymer clay flowers. But if you're a certain little determined bird named Ginger, it's the perfect kind of day to try to get into things you're not suppose to...and then snuggle next to a warm, fuzzy sweater.


Of course, even if you're not a certain little determined bird named Ginger, this is also the perfect kind of day for just about anything!

Little by Little

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. - Marie Curie

Did everyone have a beautiful weekend? I know I did! It was filled with a wedding and a fun pizza night here with friends. And as I'm sure you know, there's nothing quite like company coming to motivate you to spend part of your weekend thoroughly cleaning your house!

Last week's Muffin Bakin' Day went really well thanks to the help of my littlest baker ZoZo, who was home on Snow Day #4.


We were able to make five different kinds: blueberry, apple cinnamon, peanut butter banana, peanut butter banana with chocolate chips, and plain old chocolate chip. {The chocolate chip varieties will be reserved for afternoon snacks though I'm sure my children would happily eat them for breakfast if I let them!}


I will share some muffin recipes a little later on, but for now, do you see in the photo below the mirror that was once above our living room fireplace? Oh, things are in strange places all over the house at any given moment for various reasons- often because, well, I'm a bit scatterbrained and not terribly organized...


...but in this case, we've been working on our living room mantel. It was quite wimpy before so we removed and replaced the mantel. Instead of tearing out the old mantel 'legs' {the vertical parts of the fireplace surround}, we just bulked them up by adding more trim work.




My favorite part is the rope moulding which I think ties in nicely with the rope moulding we added to our kitchen cabinets.


We still have tons of caulking and painting to do, but when it's all finished, I'll be sure to share with you! Can you believe it? Little by little, we're getting there!

A Conversation with Goodwill

Thrift is poetic because it is creative; waste is unpoetic because it is waste. -G.K. Chesterton

Goodwill. Oh how I've missed you. I've been snowbound, you see, but I returned to you as soon as possible to blissfully partake of your thrifty goodness.

You rewarded me well with this beautiful little jewelry box. I've needed one for so long...


Finally a safe place to store my rings and earrings instead of scattering them all willy nilly throughout the house...


Oh, and this silver tray! Now I have a nice place to arrange my long beaded necklaces. It will take me a while to untangle them first, but how good it feels to know that they have a home now!


Best of all, beloved Goodwill, I absolutely *adore* this really old book collection that just about gave me a happy heart attack when I first spied them out of the corner of my eye... Books dating back to the 30's and 40's? Beautiful gold and red covers that fit so perfectly with my cottage style? Thoreau? Emerson? Longfellow? And so on and so on? You've got to be kidding me, Goodwill! You are too kind to me.


{Has Goodwill been kind to you lately?}

Muffin Bakin' Day

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said."
— A.A. Milne

Oh my goodness...I just can't get warm this morning! My instinct is to crawl up under a blanket {my favorite heavy chenille blanket that I affectionately call 'Grandma Blanket'. There is a 'Grandpa Blanket', too} and sit by the fire to read for a good part of the day. But we are on Snow Day #4. That means another schedule free day to do some things I've been wanting to get around to for awhile...

Things like baking... For the the longest time I've wanted to make several batches of muffins to freeze and have ready for the children in the morning. We already have to get up too early {we have to be out the door by 7 am} so you won't find me baking at the crack of dawn - but it's nice to pull out some muffins the night before to thaw or just defrost in the microwave in the morning.

So I'm going to bake today until I run out of ingredients. My goal is to make four different kinds of muffins. We'll see how far I get before deciding that Grandma Blanket and I need to spend some time by the fire!


Have a lovely day, everyone!