reclaiming my home

Every time I get the urge to purge and rearrange things here at home I start by opening up my favorite home organization and simplifying books.  They always remind me of the way I want my home to flow and feel for everyday living.

I have several books that I've collected over the years, some talk about making your home more inviting and cozy or being a more welcoming and a gracious hostess, some talk about purging and organizing, some are more like a how to manual for homekeeping and some are all about living a simpler life, all things that I want my home to be.

This time I opened one of my very favorites Simple Country Wisdom. by Susan Waggoner.  The pictures are beautiful and the words remind you of what's important and encourage you with practical ways to get back to a simpler way of life.  I bought mine a few years ago and found it today on Amazon with a different cover but same content.  (No affiliate, just wanted to be sure it was still out there.)

The only problem I have with the book is that once it's open I get caught up in it and before I know it my day is gone and so is the time I marked out to get started.  Does that ever happen to you?  Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara would say, tomorrow is another day!

I'll be back soon to show you my progress in reclaiming my life here in the cottage and to share with you what I'm doing to rediscover what living a beautiful life everyday is to me.

Have a great Wednesday.

xo, Patty

the final stretch to a simple life...

I am on the last leg of operation wrap things up and stay at home more.  It feels so good to be nearing the final stretch.  I am so looking forward to finding the simple life I imagined when I retired last year.

One of the last commitments I have left is to my favorite local craft store. I will be teaching my last card making class there this weekend and have been busy designing, prepping and putting together kits the last couple of days.  My dining room table (which is were I go when I can't find room on my actual craft table to work) is covered in all manner of paper loveliness. 

Teaching has been such a great experience and I have learned things about my giftedness that I know will be used again someday.

I have happily agreed to continue doing a little design work for the store but the pace will be less hectic and putting together one sample is certainly less time consuming than turning that design into 20 precut kits twice a month.  It will still allow me the opportunity to play with pretty papers, lace and ribbons, something that is needed to satisfy my creative soul.

The year and half since my retirement has taught me much about myself, both good and bad.  But as trying and exasperating as it has been, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  If I have learned anything it's that it is okay not to have anything planned and it's not necessary to be busy all the time.  Time spent reading a book or talking with a friend is more important than being busy just for busies sake.

Living a simpler life means different things to different people, for me it about availability and balance something that's been missing for a while now.  Time at home, with the people I love sounds like exactly where I'm meant to be.

xo, Patty

hello Saturday...

I have to tell you, it was kind of hard to kick off the covers this morning.  There is a definite chill in the air and my warm bed was

oh. so. tempting. 

It was the thought of my morning coffee and some quiet time alone that provided the motivation I needed to get a move on.  I love leisurely Saturday mornings especially when the sky is blue and the air is crisp outside. 

Since I decided to scale back my activities and started to say no a little more often, I am really appreciating the simple things more and am taking advantage of any calm times in the house. 

Without guilt, just a heart of thankfulness.

I will be teaching my final mixed media class of the year today and then I'm off to my nephews birthday party which will give me a chance to sit and visit with my mom for a while.  It has been way to long since we have had a day or two to sit and chat and sew a little.  That is one of the things I am most looking forward to now that my schedule has been cleared a bit.

What are your plans for the day?  I'd love to hear...

xo Patty

btw...for those of you who asked, the little orange owl is from Michael's.  I bought it in the Spring but I am pretty sure they still carry the line.

monday morning perspective

What a difference a weekend makes.  I have had a few days to adjust, to make plans, and to start enjoying the quiet mornings in my newly emptied nest. 

This rainy Monday morning brings with it a whole new perspective.

Don't think me callous but I have already started clearing out and planning a new guest room slash grandkid room in my daughters old bedroom.  My husband has started moving his musical instruments into my grandsons room which will now be his music room and I have already gutted and revamped the upstairs bathroom in my mind!

Thank you all for your wise and encouraging words.  My relationship with my daughter has already taken on a whole new dynamic and it's good to see her spreading her wings and caring for her little family.

This month is all about purging and organizing in anticipation of this new chapter in my life.  I have so many hopes and dreams still waiting to be lived out.  I hope you all will join me on the journey.

xo, Patty

post Christmas cheer

 I am slowly but surely restoring order in our house since the explosion of Christmas last weekend.  Between making room for the new, by weeding through the old and deciding what I really want to keep in my new craft studio and what I will never realistically have a chance (or the ability) to create, we filled up the back of my husbands pick up truck and headed over to the Goodwill drop off site.

(chalkboard Christmas gifts)

Having my husbands input certainly made the decision making a lot easier than ever before.  After hearing him say, "Really Patty, you might use that someday?" a few hundred times, it sunk in.  I may have a bit of a hoarder issue. 

Christmas decorations that haven't seen the light of day in the last couple of years went into the Goodwill pile without a second thought, as did three candelabra type candle holders from my tea party days.  Numerous prints from the 90's that I have been holding onto just in case I might need that size frame joined a menagerie of lampshades and wall plaques that really aren't my style anymore.

Slowly but surely progress is being made...it will definitely take some time to declutter and simplify this little cottage.  For now, we're just taking one room at a time.

There is something about the New Year that gets me into the organization-declutter mood.  Are you the same way?