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06.17.2008 :: 167. H is for Home
We have lived in our home for almost 20 years. These walls have seen my kids grow from babies to adults. First steps, sentences strung together, many a night of homework at the kitchen table, celebrations, birthdays, tears, heartbreaks, joy, plenty of joy. We have all grown in this house.
What has always interested me is the history of the home. The house was built in 1904 and plenty a family has lived here. When we first moved in an elderly couple showed up at my door and announced themselves as the Duncans who lived here with their family in the 1940's and 1950's. They were going to Arizona for the rest of their retirement and they wanted to visit the home they were happiest in one more time before they left New England. As I walked them through the house, they regaled me of stories of the physical house and of their family memories here. (Thank GOD the house was clean that day which is one of the miracles in my lifetime!)
Knowing the house had good memories living within it's walls was very important to me.
I have always felt at home here from the first night we slept here on December 31, 1988. What a way to bring in the New Year!
So to some, our house may look a bit cluttery and a tad ramshackle with the kitchen that is as old as the hills and in need of a new ceiling, the rug in the living room that is the ugliest thing going, the long driveway with potholes in it, the weeds residing in the yard (which I like to refer to as My Wildflower Initiative, thank you!) and stairs that always are a bit past the need to be swept but I see HOME. The good, the bad, Home.
Our house, is a very very very fine house. Indeed.
Posted by Sandy on 06.17.2008 AT 11:20 AM
Comments
It's a wonderful home. Very nice entry, Sandi. Enjoyed reading it so much.
Posted by: Mary in Boston on 06.17.2008 AT 09:46 PM
What a wonderful "H"! I love it, especially the porch. May you enjoy many more years in it.
Posted by: Joy on 06.17.2008 AT 05:26 PM
Wonderful! So much in this post, and you're still working on the ABC-Along, and STILL BLOGGING 365!!! Go, Sandy! Awesome. XOXO
Posted by: Norma on 06.17.2008 AT 05:23 PM
...as it should be... as it is.
A beautiful and fine home.
Posted by: marianne on 06.17.2008 AT 03:18 PM
Ah, gnome sweet gnome. ;)
Posted by: Dave Daniels on 06.17.2008 AT 02:34 PM
Exactly what a home should be!
Posted by: --Deb on 06.17.2008 AT 02:12 PM
"My Wildflower Initiative" - I love it!
Posted by: Kathleen on 06.17.2008 AT 01:39 PM
I'd love to visit your home because it sounds like it is full of love, compassion and friendship. :D
Posted by: Stacey aka The Loom Whisperer on 06.17.2008 AT 12:57 PM
To me, there could be no better "H." Yours is lovely... and beloved. Wonderful!
Posted by: Vicki on 06.17.2008 AT 12:52 PM
Just as a home should be.
Posted by: claudia on 06.17.2008 AT 12:36 PM
Your house is just the sort of house I love. Sounds a lot like mine.
Posted by: Carole on 06.17.2008 AT 12:23 PM
Those things you listed? They all help to make a home.
xo
Posted by: Cookie on 06.17.2008 AT 11:32 AM
Hey, you are just going along with the concept of native plant lawns. It's another recent-but-not-new-idea that says that it's better environmentally to let the native plants grow where they are supposed to instead of replacing them with artificially developed and alien grasses for the sake of that picture-perfect golf course appearance.
I think it's a great idea and is probably much better for the soil. As long as it's kept tidy, why not? When I eventually have a house with a yard (we currently live in an apartment), I plan to bring some cuttings from the myrtle that we planted at my parents' house years ago that now has completely replaced the need for barkmulch in their landscaping. It's great stuff and spreads quickly to fill in empty spaces, yet doesn't crowd out other plants.
Posted by: Jena (the yarn harpy) on 06.17.2008 AT 11:31 AM
I'd love to stop by to sit and visit on your porch. It is a very fine house with a very fine family inside.
Posted by: margene on 06.17.2008 AT 11:31 AM
with two cats in the yard ... or one cat.
your yard is very "green" don't worry about it.
Posted by: maryse on 06.18.2008 AT 05:40 AM