Just Plain Grateful

So here is part of my attic room so far. (The walls are actually a warmer cream color.) 

Now do you get why I named this place Hobbit Cottage? Look at that low, sloping ceiling! Let me tell ya, I've bumped my head five times so far, but it is possible to adapt to something if you're determined, right?

It's lovely upstairs here in Debra's World. I sit here and thank God for releasing us from the ol' farm and for transferring us here with our sanity still intact. This cottage home is a peaceful place where I pull possessions from boxes and serendipity! Discover that everything fits perfectly--as though created for this one house.

And also up here I thank God that Tom and I are now officially sick of stuff and things. 

You should see all we left at the farm for the new people--paintings, lamps, a lovely maple card table, a cool old hanging car clock, my green marble paper towel holder, farm tools, potted plants I'd planned to carry here, etc. But it was all too much, too exhausting.And there was just no more space--and no more desire to hold onto our last few remaining possessions.

And the trash we tossed! Over the last three weeks we must have carried out thirty to forty trash bags and while driving away from the farm the final time, I asked Tom, "What were we doing keeping so much trash, anyway? How embarrassing."

Never, ever again. Never. Ever.

And now? Now we feel it's the people who own the fewest possessions who are actually the most blessed. Blessed with extra space, energy and time, especially, in which to do what God called them to in Life. Or to travel far or simply down the street. Time and the desire to invite friends over and encourage neighbors or to just relax, watch birds from windows and feel grateful from their very souls.

To not have their hearts divided-up or diluted amongst tons of stuff and things.

Naomi saw our home for the first time yesterday and pronounced it perfect for us. Hobbit Cottage is actually on the way on her short drive to work. With all the hundreds of houses Tom and I viewed online we really do believe God led us to the best one--for us. He is so good.



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Thanks so much for your kind comments!


"Every increased possession loads us with new weariness." ... John Ruskin


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So! Thank-you for welcoming me back. Though I didn't miss the Internet a whole lot, I did miss Blogland. I kept all these running dialogues to you going in my head.  :)

Well, I know you want to see pictures of Hobbit Cottage so far, so in my header (I'm working on the size) you'll see one of my favorite things--part of our dining room. How cozy (and a tad romantic) to sit at that pretty window and stare at all the green from our hedge and a ton of huge trees (someday I'll show you the lovely bark from the gigantic sycamores). Lots of old houses and green, green trees--we love our views from this corner lot, though the tall hedge on two sides gives us privacy, too. At our last suburb house our dining room windows looked out to a brick wall (bleh) so the view from our table here is amazingly better.

We have just two bedrooms, but also a bonus room--an office at the base of the stairs. The office will have a western, old-timey theme and will be Tom's. It's in a state of high disarray right now.

But climb the stairs and there's a tiny room which I've already made into my library:

(Lighting issues again...sigh.)

My own library room! Bliss.

So there are a few peeks for you today. And though I'd love to tell you about the neighbors we've met and more about our moving adventures, I need to return to the basement and all our many boxes there. Stay tuned!

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In case you missed my official 'I'm back!' post, see below.

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Reporting From Suburbia

I'm back! And in between the wild and crazy moving (on one of the hottest, most humid days of the year) and unpacking and returning for two extra carloads of stuff which even that great big truck couldn't accommodate, well, I missed you. A lot.

But Tom and I and all our assorted junk are in our new little house and happy, happy, happy, though tired, tired, tired. What a wild ride was Moving Day! (Did I mention the extreme heat and humidity?) And oh! Those poor movers. All three of them brought no extra water or lunches(!) They said they never bring a lunch, which sounds kinda like either slave labor to me or foolishness. I mean a 10 or 11 hour day with no food? I know they get an hourly rate and their customers want to get the most from their money, but hey... Anyway, Tom and I bought them (and us) cokes and pizza and made sure the guys had water all day long. To us, that made more sense--keep your workers strong and even with a half-hour lunch break they'll still get way more done.

Oh and the best thing about Moving Day? Around 6 o'clock when Tom and I were starving, exhausted and drenched with sweat (each smelling like a crowded gymnasium), our lovely realtor-friend, Cher, brought us a whole dinner! Oh my goodness, I nearly cried. She'd made a large pan of ziti (which we ate for days), and included an amazing salad, some sourdough bread and cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Oh, oh, oh..... truly, one of the kindest things anyone has done for us in a long time. Wow.

Well, there are myriad more details of our return to suburbia, but I'll save them. I just wanted to let you know I'm back online (as of 15 minutes ago) and already loving this new life, even though the little kitchen stair rail fell off the first day and our garage door got stuck the second day and even without having a refrigerator (we just have our small freezer in the basement) and a plethora of boxes, many of which must be lugged from the basement all the way upstairs to my attic room where I now write to you--even with all that--I still awake each morning feeling as though Christmas has arrived and hoping with all my heart that--if this is a dream--may it never, ever end.


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