My Dream House

I have this recurring dream, well it's a nightmare really.  It starts out innocently enough with Mr. Tide and I shopping for a big new house.

The house has plenty of rooms with high ceilings, a large well appointed kitchen, and lots and lots of storage.  The high ceilings and storage are both things we desperately lack in our current house, so my "dream" house seems like the perfect place to move.

Sometimes my dream house is also located on the water, just like this house, and sometimes it's even better waterfront, with a big huge pier and a luxurious boat at the end of it.

But each and every time in my dream when we have bought the other house, and we're moving out of this one, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness...shear despair actually!  I break down in tears at the thought of leaving this little house behind.  The dream always ends the same way, with me crying and regretting our decision to move.

So I guess with all of its quirkiness, lack of storage, 8 foot ceilings, and other shortcomings, I really, truly do love this place.  And when we have a sunset like the one pictured above (these photos are all straight out of the camera), well I think it's easy to see why leaving this place would break my heart!

In other news...I am WAY far behind on returning emails, or replying to comments, but I will get there...maybe, hopefully!

And the song below, which was written in 1943 during WWII, is probably not unlike my dream, only much, much worse.  Not knowing if you would ever come home and be with your family again at Christmas must have been a nightmare I can't even begin to imagine!  I hope that during the hustle and bustle of this crazy season, you will slow down and really enjoy those around you, and not focus on the things you and everyone else wants, but be thankful for everything you have!  

Landmarks

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments about my last post!  I read each and every one of them (thank you Droid!) while Mr. Tide and I were away helping our daughter who ended up taking a trip to the emergency room last Thursday in the wee hours of the morning.  Unfortunately for her, she has inherited some of my reproductive issues, and suffered a ruptured ovarian cyst...ouch!  She is feeling much better now, and thankfully she has a wonderful roommate who took very good care of her until we could get there the following day!

The house pictured above is what we call the Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear House.  For those of you who live in southern Maryland, it is a sort of landmark.  I'm not quite sure where it got its name, or who owns it, but I think most people who know of its existence have always called it by that name.  

I actually took the picture at the request of a friend of mine who has always loved this little unassuming house.  I think it resonates with her, and with me, because it is so simple, yet so charming.  When my kids were little they had a joke that I only liked run down houses.  It's true, I do love a fixer upper that has tales to tell and wears her years with pride.  I think you can just feel the love and happiness that once filled their rooms and even the yard when you look at them.  Can't you just hear those screen doors slamming as children darted in and out, chasing lightning bugs in the summer or going to fetch wood to feed the stove during the winter?

Anyway, it's a present for my friend, whose birthday is coming up.  She doesn't read my blog every day, so I think I am safe to post it.

I guess landmarks are what help us to find our way.  Long before GPS' showed up on everything from our car's dashboard to our smart phones, these were the coordinates that let us know where we were and how to make our way back home.  Mr. Tide still laughs when I give directions based on where things "used" to be.  You know, you turn right where the Ford Dealership used to be, next to Mr. So and So's house that was torn down years ago, the one with the big front porch, and then you go down the hill by where we used to buy our penny candy, and over the old railroad tracks that no longer exist?!  Seems simple enough...right?

A sense of place, I think that's why we use directions that link us to our past, and why we would want a picture of the Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear house...before they tear it down and put in a doggone Wawa or self storage place!

10 Things I Love

Thank you everyone for all of your well wishes!  I'm healing up, slowly but surely!  And I've tried to be a good girl and take it slow, but that's not easy for me these days.  There are so many things I want and "need" to get done, but I'm trying to listen to my body and not do too much.

While I was taking a little break from being on the computer, my dear friend Connie, from Hartwood Roses, sent me a blog award, thank you my friend!  Now you all know I'm not big on blog awards, because I can never decide who to pass them along to, and I never like to leave anyone out!  But I am big on my friend Connie, she's one of the dearest people I know and always thinking of others, so I decided to play along! 

I'm supposed to tell you about 10 things I love.  Now this would be an easy assignment if I could list 10,000 things I love, but to narrow it down to just 10 is nearly impossible.  So I've picked 10 things that popped in to my head right off the bat.  I'm sure I'll think of 10 million other things that I wish I had included once I hit the publish button, but for now these will have to do!

Of course first and foremost, and it goes without saying, I love my family more than life itself, they are everything to me!  And my puppies are part of my family!

 

I love walking barefooted through grass!

I love my friends, even those that are miles and miles away from me.  My friends make me happy and I love and treasure each of you!  Oh how I wish some of you weren't so far away!  (Sorry I don't have pictures of each and every one of you my dear friends!)

I love watching my dogs play!  They are so joyful and full of life when they are chasing each other and chewing on sticks!

I love fresh blueberries straight from the bush, and I can eat whole bowl fulls of them when they are in season!

I love when the sun sparkles on the water...

And I love the sound of crashing waves, it soothes the savage beast in me!

I love to travel!  I love to visit little towns and see the countryside, meet new people in foreign lands, and enjoy the wonderful differences unique to all of us!

I love the lemony scent of magnolia blossoms on a warm summer's night!  Or the smell of honeysuckle wafting through the air!

I love where I live, and being surrounded by the beauty of nature each and every day!

I love a beautiful sunset after a glorious day!

And last but not least, I love homemade brownies...all warm and gooey, with fresh strawberries and ice cream!

Thank you Connie for showing me some bloggy love!  Please be sure to visit her blog and see some of the beautiful roses that she loves by clicking HERE!

And to the rest of you, please feel free to join in and post 10 things that you love, or you can just leave a comment here letting me know a few of your favorite things!