Apr 25, 2011

Heart


My last post was on how much this house has affected me in a negative fashion. Obviously it’s a feeling well shared by many new home owners. So with that, and a few more days past, I bring you the silver lining on this once dark cloud.

What I Love About This Old House:

1. Mornings.
I will admit I am not a morning person. I love my sleep. Back in the apartment dwelling days, being up before 10am was unheard of. I mean, why should I? Cleaning could be done in an hour, we had no yard to play in and the days passed by with nothing to do. That place made me miserable to be honest; one step away from “having to talk to a volleyball name Wilson” kind of miserable.
That all changed upon moving here.
Without the room darkening curtains to hide behind, the sun blazes in with a purpose. Averi rises her little bed head right with it, leaving no room to sleep in. Yet, I don’t mind it. I open our curtains and stop to stare at the view; birds playing upon the rooftops, the town in the distance buzzing, and sheer quietness of the area, all to take in. Beds get made and rooms picked up before we slide ourselves down the stairs. Shortly after, with coffee in hand and a happy 3yr old playing somewhere, I sit with warm laptop in the silence. And it’s only 9am....
2. Natural Light.
I never had a view in the apartment. A brick wall and nosy neighbors stopped any shed of natural light in that place. Curtains were thick and most of the time never even open. No sense in staring at garbage right?
Oh how that changed drastically!
This house fills with light the moment the sunrises. All curtains, if any at all, get pushed  to the sides letting the world light up each room. Warm weather hits and every window is open with it. I imagine the neighbors get quiet a view of our life since the rare curtains up are sheer and welcomes anyone to peer in. I don’t dare to cover them up, the view is far too beautiful.

3. Lazy Robin
Oh nature, how I love thee (ok, everything but our 100yr old wiggle tree).
Every day I am surrounded by the sounds of nature, birds especially. So it was a rather pleasant surprise to find out one of the porch pillars were a perfect Robin nesting location. The previous nest was knocked down by the contractors but this didn’t deter a certain Robin. Every day, he puts all this findings on our porch, no matter how many times Daddy knocks it off. Branches, string and feather like concoctions sit underneath his building place. Yet we’ve never seen a part of the nest actually being built. He gets as far as his collection, bounces back and forth from the pillar to the world but never has anything there. In a way, he fits us. He has his location, his items but is taking his sweet time putting it all together. I hope to see a nest one morning filled with eggs come summer.

4. Blooming.
Spring is a wild season. One moment its rain and warm, the next cold and snow; but this all has a pay off. I peered out my sunroom this morning to see every tree we have filled with green blooms. I was literally taken aback by this. It’s like watching the world come alive from a long slumber. I anxiously wait to find out the fate of each tree since some are said to bare fruit. We’ve never seen the trees in all their glory yet, being we found this place in the winter. Not to mention the rose bushes and other flowers that have sprung from there wintery beds. Every day brings us closer and closer to a beautiful nature show.

5. “Mom, I’m going to my room.”
Averi’s room is her pride and joy. The moment you step foot in this house she will insist on giving you a tour of it. The room is 3 times bigger then her old one and has a carpet perfect for tumbling. Toys fit perfectly in there with her big girl bed, so there is always something up there to enjoy. She was never one to play in her room in the apartment. I don’t blame her. It was cold, cramped and blah. Now that she has gotten comfortable with the new place she’s often found in her room, playing peacefully. I never thought I would enjoy hearing her say “Mom, I’m going to my room” so much.

6. Diamond in the Rough
That’s exactly what most people called this house when they 1st saw it back in the beginning. The potential was quiet literally unlimited. And it still is. Sure, the walls and floors are all done. It’s about as up to date as any house can get. Yet there is still untapped potential. Every day this house opens to me and I get a feel for what would look great where. The options are still endless.

7. Visitors.
Very few visitors came to our apartment. I don’t blame them! I hung my head low every time I had to leave my car to enter my place. Those who did brave the complex were always greeted with some form of trash, be it rap music or gangster children. You never felt safe to leave your car.
We haven’t had a “house warming party” yet, but it hasn’t deterred inviting anyone over. Heck, try to keep people away! This house has become a hot spot for anyone who knows us. I’m not quiet use to playing “hostess” but I am getting use to it. It’s nice to actually not be embarrassed of where I live. Sure, the place is still unfinished but no one seems to mind one bit.

8. Old House Smell
No matter how much I clean, how many pretty smelling things I place…this place always welcomes us home with one certain smell, the old 1907 home smell. It’s hard to describe, but it’s not a bad one.

9. Neighbors.
Have I mentioned how utterly nice and cool my neighbors are?
We never sought to get to know our neighbors in the apartment. When we did, well, it wasn’t worth it. So we secluded ourselves, having no part in the outside world.
Here, it’s another world!
Our neighbors are a bunch of wonderful people, including relatives. To the right is an older gentleman who is a gardening enthusiast. He loves Averi already and is always seen out in his yard, working hard. He’s full of information on the house and previous owners.
To left is a family who keeps to themselves most of the time, but the father is always chatting with Daddy when they pass each other. In front of us is our Uncle Marty and Mary, the sweetest people on earth. Marty always yells “Hey neighbor!” when he sees us and naturally loves to come over to visit Averi. Mary is always seen busting on the neighbors and going somewhere all dressed up. The other front neighbor is an elderly-ish man who just merely waves when he sees us. They have grandchildren who visit often , so they can be found taking nature walks around the block. Apparently he also bowled with Uncle Cory at one time. There are always boys riding bikes and playing down the street. People are usually seen walking there dogs through the dirt road behind us. A block down is Aunt Theresa, my fav Aunt on Daddy’s side. We will be visiting her tons as the warm weather continues. Ten minutes away from Daddy’s parents and a easy hop over to mine. The perfect almost made for us location.

10. My Dryer
Unless you have spent 3yrs drying clothes on a drying rack, I don’t think you’ll ever grasp the love I have for my dryer. I never had the luxury of it in the apartment. Not that we couldn’t, it’s just the high risk of them catching the place on fire that didn’t seem worth it. So I was only able to laundry enough clothes to place on 2 drying rack that sat in our bedroom. That is not a lot at all, so I was constantly backed up. The only time I was remotely caught up was on warm sunny days where I could hang them outside. Even then I battled my neighbors for enough line and put up with sexual harassment from the other neighbors. So when I heard I was getting a dryer of my very own, I squealed like a kid on Xmas day. The warmth of freshly dried clothes is a touch from heaven. Getting multiple loads done in a day vs. one small one in 24hrs is its weight in gold. When the wind hits just right it fills our house with a sweet dryer sheet smell. Oh dryer, I may love you more then my Kerig.  Shhh…

“The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.” ~Jiddu Krishnamurti

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats on your home remodel and move! I love old houses too and I know exactly what you mean when you say they have a very distinctive smell. BTW my dryer just broke and now I can't believe how much I took it for granted!