Slowly but surely, the new house is beginning to feel like home. Things are starting to find the places where they will belong: baking dishes here. Pots and pans there. Appliances. Clothes. Bathroom supplies, kitchen supplies. Food even. As things are put away, the house begins to look uncluttered.
After living in a big house that I could never quite keep up with, this house is wonderfully simple. Two bedrooms, one bath, the pantry, and a combined livingroom/kitchen. I can sweep the kitchen, bathroom and pantry in ten minutes. I can plug the vacuum into the receptacle in the hall and vacuum the whole house in about the same amount of time. This morning, getting the house in order took about an hour. I watered and weeded the gardens. I fed cats. I put diatomaceous earth around the foundation of the house (ants), and dragged building scraps to the burn pile.
I had cucumbers from my garden in dill and sour cream for lunch. Now I am sitting in a quiet house listening to crickets outside and wondering if it is going to rain. The clock strikes the hour: 1PM.
I am marveling at my own contentment. I realize that this quietness is what I have been missing.
Nothing beats being in your own calm tidy space, time to breathe.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I will ever take being able to simply breathe for granted. One can be too busy.
DeleteYour beautiful beautiful house! I always say that, if we ever move, I want to move one item at a time, put it in place and when the new house is full - sell the rest! Your new home is so peaceful and calm and uncluttered. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to be mindfully bringing things into the new place.
DeleteIt all looks and sounds lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt also feels lovely.
DeleteHome sweet home.
ReplyDeleteYes. It feels sweet.
DeleteIt looks like a comfortable home and I am impressed by all the work you have done. Now what happens to your other house? Do you sell it?
ReplyDeleteIt will be sold once we are rid of the contents.
DeleteIt all looks like HOME! You've done it.
ReplyDeleteWe have! We truly have.
DeleteYou've built and begun to feather a cozy nest.
ReplyDeleteIt really is very nice.
DeleteBeautiful and lovely to be settling into your new home. And thank you for the post yesterday regarding the sparrows. It was compassionate and fair on your part, considering the circumstance. A situation we do not all understand but handled with great tact by yourself.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand it, but it just seemed so inhumane. Many people consider sparrows a threat. I suppose it is no different from human beings seeing other human beings as things to be weeded out.
DeleteThat lovely feeling of content! Yes, you needed this. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI really did need it. I never realized just how much.
DeletePleasant and peaceful, what more could one ask for when moving into the golden years? I love it for you.
ReplyDeleteThe Golden years are actually beginning to feel golden.
DeleteLove the photos of the new place! I am going to be downsizing soon too. I am buying an older house but I am going to have the kitchen cabinets painted to freshen it up a bit. Yay for new beginnings!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what it feels like: a new beginning!
DeleteIt really looks like a home now, and so easy to live in.
ReplyDeleteI love having a dishwasher, that's for sure. It really makes for a quick supper clean up! It feels very luxurious to sit in the evening and watch the sun go down.
DeleteI think it definitely feels like home ... OMG ... it's just about perfect! To know you two built it all from the ground up ... makes it perfect!
ReplyDeleteIt took a bit to adjust to the new rhythms of the house. There is less to do, that is for sure.
DeleteI might add ... I love ❤️ that bathroom sink and the Hoosier cabinet!
DeleteI love that sink as well. The drawers are much more practical.
DeleteIt's beautiful! I especially love that cabinet in the pantry.
ReplyDeleteHow long before the quietness drives Tim mad?
That is a hoosier cabinet, an accessory for hoosier cabinets. Tim had never seen one before. Neither had I. 6 minutes after the seller listed it, we'd bought it and were on our way to pick it up!
DeleteI love the pictures of your new home, it is beautiful and looks like home already, cats and all. I plan to downsize soon but have so much to think about and my house is full of memories. I have wonderful neighbors, and they are always ready to help me, and my two kids live within 5 miles of me. I want to move into a small home but need my memories. We lived in this house many years before Ron died.
ReplyDeleteThat is why I loved having everyone to the house the week we moved in. We made new memories, and discovered that old memories are easily packed to bring with us.
DeletePerfection! So happy for you!
ReplyDeletePerfect for us.
Deletethese are photos we all wanted to see. After all your planning and work, we wanted to see the finished product.
ReplyDeleteWe are not all moved in, but it is all taking shape.
DeleteWhat they said! So wonderful for you!
ReplyDeleteI think now that Tim has had a chance to slow down, even he is discovering that he likes it.
DeleteThis sounds like peace in its purest form. I love how you're settling in with grace and calm. Quiet contentment really is a gift
ReplyDeletea lovely slice of your day.
Thank you Asep. Quiet contentment: I wish it for all the world.
DeleteEnjoy your new home and the satisfaction that comes with it.
ReplyDeleteBonnie in Minneapolis
It is so wonderful to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
DeleteLovely to be able to settle in with no rush
ReplyDeleteIt really is a wonderful feeling.
DeleteIt's so good to hear about you getting settled in after all the months of building.
ReplyDeleteTwo years! It would have gone much faster if we had been able to devote our attention just to the new house. We were stretching ourselves way too thin.
DeleteWonderful! You know every square inch of your home, literally. That makes it very special.
ReplyDeleteIt is special.
DeleteSo pleased it’s coming together for you. I know what that feels like and it feels good
ReplyDeleteIt just feels nice to be able to leisurely accomplish things that you want to do, rather than peck away at a list that needs to be done with all due haste.
DeleteThank you for sharing the pictures, Debby, your home is so peaceful-looking! I get that, too, the missing quiet and stillness. After SO much activity and work and more work, it's time to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI think even Tim has decided that we are not going to buy another house to fix up.
DeleteLa! I have missed a few days of blog posts - the next big job, of course, will be the old house - or will you keep the 2 going?
ReplyDeleteIt will be sold.
DeleteI like it!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a place of rest and relaxation.
I feel like I am on vacation!
DeleteWell, it's been a long busy process to get to this point, so I'm not surprised you've been missing some peace and quiet! The place looks great. I love your kitchen paint color and the accompanying white tile.
ReplyDeleteI think it turned out well.
DeleteWith all the horrible things going on all around us these days, this was a pleasant reminder that there are still good things happening in this world. Thank you for sharing your move in experience with us.
ReplyDeleteJim, I have to tell you. We haven't had a television for a couple of weeks. Not sure either of us want it at this point.
DeleteA well-deserved and well-earned congratulations, Debby! Enjoy the contentment.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying it very much!
DeleteIt is perfect and already so homey. What's the next project? LOL
ReplyDeleteTim is working on his shed. I am puttering in the house. I will go outside and putter in the garden next. I think Tim is learning the joys of puttering.
DeleteHow lovely for you. We have sold our large family house and now live in a tiny cottage - and I absolutely love it. There is an aesthetic to the simplicity and also to realising that you don't need loads of 'stuff' around - though you do need order and neatness I find. But then I like that too. Sorry to be away for so long.. life's been busy and tough at times these last two or three years - but getting there I think
ReplyDeleteYou have had quite a few life changes. Adding a move in the middle of all that would be a valid reason for a blogging break! I have been meaning to go back and read about Arizona...but I have been distracted by life here as well.
DeleteYour quietness has been well earned. Both of you deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI am savoring it. Tim went to the county fair to watch his brother compete in a tractor pull. I stayed home and read Our Town. It has been many years since I first read it.
Delete