Thursday, April 25, 2013

My Brain is frazzled................

Between our regular work
And painting furniture
And contemplating selling and moving
And my daughter's wedding fast approaching
And emails I simply haven't had time to reply too
And nothing but bad news happening over and over and over again on T.V.
My brain is frazzled.

Pinterest
Take me away............................

From my Board -  I'm At the Cottage
That's where I'll be today ( in my mind )





























care to join me ?


I desperately need to hear a wooden screen door slam shut ........................

If I haven't replied to an email you've sent -
If I haven't commented on your posts -
I HAVE read them
but I just haven't had the time it requires to reply to them all - or comment on any - because
as much as I like to think I can do it all...............
I can't.

MY BRAIN IS FRAZZLED..................

and I know most of you GET that.

I'll meet you at the cottage

Much love,

Sharing with!
Under the Table & Dreaming

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I WANNA live there Wednesday # 35


I live in a pretty incredible area - in Montreal, It's an historical neighbourhood loaded with tons and tons of charm - and 20th century architecture, just steps away from the city center, it's also a pretty expensive neighbourhood ( in which I live in servants quarters basically compared to what I'm surrounded by ) 
Because there are days I don't have furniture makeovers to show you - I've chosen Wednesdays to showcase and feature one or two homes that are for sale around here.................( or apartment - or duplex - or teepee )
Keep in mind this is in the heart of the city - so the prices reflect that  - think Manhattan - where these places would cost 3 or 4 times what they're listed for here!
On occasion I'll showcase beautiful homes in other areas - countries - continents - the one thing most of them will have have in common will be their age - because I love old homes with stories to tell, join me won't you?
________________________________________________________________________________

 Happy Wednesday All!!!!!
Ok - Tongue in Cheek Tuesday if far behind me - and the good news is that every day from here on in,
it'll be one more day ( again ) behind me................

It's no secret that I am seriously considering selling our place in the city - and getting more bang for my buck so I'm all over the map lately.  You can see the farmhouse home I fell in love with online HERE
Here's a neighbourhood and a house that are seriously under consideration ( in my mind only lol - but still - it
all starts with a mindset right? )  It's getting John on board - but he's oh so close people - Oh So Close!
And very willing to go see this place at least.

288,000
4 bedrooms
2 baths
Realtor  Tania Ellerbeck

Just the right amount of work for me - mostly outside - but it wouldn't take much to make this my very own
" Little House in the Big Woods " 
I think I'm ready to stop being Carrie Bradshaw now - really ready -
maybe I could settle into being Laura Ingalls Wilder for a little while...................


"Pa did not like a country so old and worn out that the hunting was poor. He wanted to go west. For two years he had wanted to go west and take a homestead, but Ma did not want to leave the settled country "  Laura Ingalls Wilder



"The path that went by the little house had become a road. Almost every day Laura and Mary stopped their playing and stared in surprise at a wagon slowly creaking by on that road. "  Laura Ingalls Wilder
 


"Wild animals would not stay in a country where there were so many people. Pa did not like to stay, either. He liked a country where the wild animals lived without being afraid."  Laura Ingalls Wilder



They drove a long way through the snowy woods, till they came to the town of Pepin. Mary and Laura had seen it once before, but it looked different now.


The enormous lake stretched flat and smooth and white all the way to the edge of the gray sky. Wagon tracks went away across it, so far that you could not see where they went; they ended in nothing at all. Laura Ingalls Wilder


So they all went away from the little log house. The shutters were over the windows, so the little house could not see them go. It stayed there inside the log fence, behind the two big oak trees that in the summertime had made green roofs for Mary and Laura to play under.


Everything from the little house was in the wagon, except the beds and tables and chairs. They did not need to take these, because Pa could always make new ones.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
 

But in the east the sky was pale and through the gray woods came lanterns with wagons and horses, bringing Grandpa and Grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins.  Laura Ingalls Wilder
 

“When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?"
"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now."
But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods,…
She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder


“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder


“We'd never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder



“Oh no, I never do much ironing, except the outside clothes. We must not iron out the fresh air and sunshine, you know. It is much more healthful not to, the doctors say.” Seriously, there is something very refreshing about sheets and pillow slips just fresh from the line, after being washed and dried in the sun and air. Just try them that way and see if your sleep is not sweeter. ” 
Laura Ingalls Wilder



There is nothing wrong with God's plan that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder



“No rich man can walk through the eye of a needle.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that "it is better farther on"-- only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



“These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraphs and kerosene and coal stoves -- they're good to have but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



This earthly life is a battle,' said Ma. 'If it isn't one thing to contend with, it's another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and more thankful for your pleasures.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



It can't beat us!" Pa said.
"Can't it, Pa?" Laura asked stupidly.
"No," said Pa. "It's got to quit sometime and we don't. It can't lick us. We won't give up."
Then Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small, but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” Laura Ingalls Wilder



"Home is the nicest word there is."  Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wasn't she a wise lady?
All houses speak - 
Our first place screamed - " potential " and " profit "
Our current place screams - " turn of the century "  " history "  
This little house in the big woods doesn't scream at all
But it whispers loud enough for me to hear..............  " HOME "




All around the little house, in the Big Woods, there were little sounds of falling snow, and from the eaves there was the drip, drip of the melting icicles.  Laura Ingalls Wilder

I see us here...........as clearly as I can still see my first set of Little House on the Prairie books lined up on my nightstand as a little girl................

Though I loved every book from that series - isn't it just so fitting that my very favorite  was this one?



Anyway I think I'd be hard pressed to find a Plum Creek anywhere near here - ( and the Prairies are out of the question for me ) 

If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it's pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting.  Laura Ingalls Wilder

Could you all " THINK " about this " THING " for me lol
Thanks very much!
Have a wonderful Wednesday
Much love

Sharing with
Common Ground