Small Cottage Living

Our cottage is a modest size but it's cozy and I love that we use every inch of it. In our old house we had rooms we rarely went in to. They say small homes grow tight families and I believe that to be true.

The room formerly known as Maddie's bedroom, is downstairs and is tucked away a bit off the family room. It is our guest room but also serves as den, game room, reading room, exercise room, writing room and sleepover room. One day, I fear, it will be a hanging out with the boyfriend room with door ALWAYS open, of course, and me walking by as much and loudly as possible.

A couple of weeks ago it was called into action as a sick room and is where Emma recovered from pneumonia. Always with loyal dog at her side even while she herself was recovering from dental surgery. It's been a heck of a couple of weeks around here folks. This past weekend it was a guest room for my friend Melissa and today it is a Doctor Who marathon watching room while it thunders away outside.

This space is quirky and often changing. It's a fun place for me to shift things from other rooms so it always has a fresh feel. Nothing matches. Nothing happened on purpose but it just kind of came together slowly and I find I like it that way. I have very much made an effort not to rush things in this house. I plan to be here forever. It's okay if it takes awhile to get things the way I want them.

I hope our guests are comfortable here and that they feel welcome. It's always my goal to make people feel at home, but you can bet as soon as they leave we are back in this room making ourselves comfortable!

I once proclaimed that we couldn't possibly build a house with less than 3600 finished sq ft. My Sweet Hubby thought I was crazy. And so I was. It turns out size does matter and for me a smaller home is better. I love not having to just fill space and instead getting to just use things I really love to make a home that I really love.

In Honor of Father's Day

Here are a few words we don't like a bit in our house: step, half or real. We are 100% family. Period. When someone says the term real dad, I know they mean biological dad but as someone who was not raised by my biological dad, and someone who has a daughter that wasn't raised by her biological dad, the term real dad means something completely different. To me a real dad is one that is there every day, building a relationship and doing the hard work. One who is supportive and always there to pick up the pieces. One who provides what you need. One who has the hard discussions, who put puts his foot down when needed and is a soft place to land when that is needed.

This is what a real dad looks like. I could not have chosen a better man to demonstrate what my girls should look for in a husband. He is brilliant, hard working, funny, big hearted and most importantly he is completely dedicated to his family. He adores all three of his girls and takes such good care of us.

He is the minority in the sorority and he couldn't be happier about it. He has been lacrosse and soccer coach, teacher of chess, player of games, and wrestling partner. He has been the guest at many tea parties, played dolls and dress up. He stays calm during almost any situation and doesn't get ruffled by hormones or drama. He is the one you can count on to fall asleep during every movie.

He is our rock and I can't imagine our family without him. Thanks for being a real dad to our girls, my love.

The Great Escape

We are big time book readers around here. One of the things I really want to do this summer is spend more time with my nose in a book. I'm getting a good start. That book on top? The Ghost at the Table? Just don't. I don't generally have a lot of time to read so I'm bummed when I finish something that leaves me dissatisfied. My favorite books of all time take place in small towns, Midwest and New England are always lovely but bonus points if it takes place in the South  (saying Hey to my roots Y'all!) and have quirky characters. A few faves that come to mind Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Where the Heart Is, The Help, The Secret Life of Bees, Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood, and Saving Ceecee Honeycutt. I also love a good small town, quirky character story set in Europe, Chocolat and The Matchmaker of Perigord come to mind. Now that I've shared some of my favorites, I'm hoping you will share some of yours with me.

I intend to spend a good bit of time this summer plunked right here reading. I'm going to be needing a great escape this summer. After finishing the ceiling demo on our porch project yesterday, we discovered we have quite a roof problem. So not only will this project probably linger through the entire summer but I'm guessing that just blew our budget big time. I, of course had just splurged on some new porch furniture, and in my experience, no good splurge goes unpunished. So now we likely have a new porch roof in our future and as a bonus Millie needs some dental surgery Thursday. Thank goodness for the library which will likely keep me sane through all of this.

And Then June

And then it was June and a new season had bloomed. Honestly, summer is not my favorite season but the older I get the more I realize that there is something to love about every season. A metaphor for life too, I think. Hello pretty flowers! Hello fresh food! Hello sleeping in (til 6:30)! Hello not making breakfast and lunch for Emma every day! Hello reading wish list that I'm finally going to tackle! Hello thurnderstormy days!

We adore a thunderstormy day around here. All of us. Well except Millie who is afraid of loud sounds.

These past weeks have been full of dinners at friend's homes and dinners at ours, field trips, awards ceremonies and orchestra concerts. There have been loads of laundry, window cleaning, ironing and cookie baking.There have been magazines to read, a porch to build and flower planting. So much flower planting. Somewhere around 45 new flower friends. There was a trip to Missouri and a few days of farm living.

There was coming home. To this. Sigh. There has been scooter selling, porch furniture ordering and getting back to exercise routines.

There has been rain water collecting, wind chime listening and bird watching. But most all of there has been a deep need for some quiet in my life. Quiet to allow me to hear what's important. Choosing the quiet over the chaos. I'm finding I have less and less room in my life for chaos. And selfishness. And comparison. And negativity.

So a new season and a new view. And very soon a new view from my porch too. These are good days. Hope yours are too.