Wrapping time

 It's that time of the year again. Here I am wrapping the presents. I do like it.

I leave you here with some papers and presents.

More to come.

The tree is up

 

No, I don't mean this one, I wish here we would have snow with a beautiful Christmas Tree on top of it. Not that it never snowed but it doesn't happens for some years now.

Well, never mind. What I want to say is that our tree is up. As we do every year on the first of December, we went to the garage and brought the tree and ornaments and the Nativity.

We still have some more things to do but we will a little bit each day, mainly on the Immaculate Conception day as we have bank holiday and we have more time to do it.

Pictures of everything soon.

A mess in the kitchen ?

Just look to that image. Don't we feel like that, in the end of the day, so many times?

We make dinner, everybody eats and then rests and we look at all the mess and feel so tired to take care of the kitchen.

Never mind. You would expect me to say now: 

- just engage everybody to help because you are not a slave; 

- you did already all that work making the dinner, now it's time to rest and let them do the cleaning;

- you can't let the kitchen like that, if they don't help, do it yourself

- don't go to bed with a messy kitchen

- God forbid to have a house like that

- and so on.

But now let's think: it's just to put things in the washer, so why to have a war because nobody helps? It's better to do it ourseves and in a minute it's done and everybody will be happy. Then you will have a tidy and clean kitchen, a happy faced family and you too will have some rest.

We must give thanks for having a house with a kitchen and food and family and a living room where to go and talk with your family and watch some television or a film or series.

- But I haven't a washer (for several reasons) and it's so much work.

Ok, then you begin, wash everything and let it to dry. Then you have two choices: either you put it way in the morning after being drying all night, which is ok, or someone will help you.

And clean the countertops, for some the sink it's everything, for me it's the countertops.

We don't need to be perfect, what we need is to live in peace. Do what you feel it's better and remember that you haven't to prove anything to anybody, just do what is needed for you to feel well.

- Oh, well, I have no energy at all in the evening, I just can drag myself to the sofa and rest. 

Well, now I will give you an advice that will raise a lot of eyebrows: do it in the morning if you know that you will have lots of energy then. Never mind what other people think and say.

Wake up earlier, go to the kitchen, shut the door so nobody will hear the noises. Put things in the dish washer or wash it by hand. Dry it and put it in the cup board. Clean the countertops. Sweep the floor.

Now look: isn't your kitchen so nice? Don't you feel well and victorious? And powerful? And full of energy !

And the day is beginning, the morning is such a wonderful time. And you have a nice, clean kitchen.

Now you begin to hear you children and husband waking up to a nice and tidy house. And all that begins with a tidy kitchen.

It's so good to have a home and a family. Thanks be to God.

Partying at Homestead Blog Hop, County Road and Modern on Monticello

Too early ?

Do you know that english rhyme that says Mary, Mary quite contrary?

It could be about myself, it's just that I'm not Mary. 

I never go with the flow not for liking going in the opposite way, it's just that I don't mind to disagree.

And what am I disagreeing to this time? About being too early to "look like Christmas".

Every year I read in blogs about the doubt of being or not too early to talk about Christmas. Ah but Thanksgiving ! First comes Thanksgiving. Oh well, I don't care, before the end of October I am Christmassying in full swing and nobody can stop me.

This year even before that date people could see me buying Christmas presents already. And wrapping them !!

I have two bags full of presents already wrapped. I feel victorious for begining slowly (or not so much) and having started already, that early, to prepare for Christmas.

Isn't that a wonderful time of the year? Pity I haven't snow here but never mind, I have it in my mind and that is good enough.

Partying at Homestead Blog Hop.

No, we don't do halloween here

 That's all.

Yes, in those countries where Halloween is a cultural habit, people may dress children as the saints of their devotion on the eve of All Saints Day. To dress as witches and such, to hounour the ocult, no, that is to serve the demon. If you like it, do it, but later don't complain about the action of the devil in your life because it was you who invited him.

Some of my favourite things - I

Shutterstock

I must say, I don't like a lot of things, as everybody knows. Very high ceilings, rooms with no doors, all the house with a big, large warehouse look where all the rooms get together, industrial style, too much grey in decoration, lack of privacy in the kitchen assuming that it's a public place and every guest and friend goes there and stays.

Antique furniture spoiled by corse paint. Old shutters outside windows, making pannels inside homes, as inside decoration. Ladders as towel rails. 

Oh I could carry on.

I don't like most house find and transformation tv shows where, in the end, I think the house is worse than before they began but everybody applauds and even sheds some tears.

Too much people. Wine - well, a little sip of Port or Madeira wine it's ok. Coffee. Extroverts. Political correctness (this I abhorre). Going with the flow, following trends, in clothes and in homes. Or ideas.

Summer with its hot weather and people trying to look their worst showing too much body. Beaches with women showing their bare bottoms - I wonder why they think the others are interested in their backside. But on this, anyway, let them be grotestque, I don't go to the beach anyway.

As I don't intent to please and I show myself as an intolerant woman who dislikes most things that almost everybody likes, if somebody is reading this, now he (she) is wondering if there is something in this world of God that I like. Yes! I do like a lot of things, it's just that I don't follow any trend and I always row against the tide, not because I like to do it, but because I dare, I have the nerve to be different from the madding crowd.

So, now I will show some things I like. Yes, there are a lot of things that I like. - I can't post now about everything I like but I intend to show, slowly, what I like on the course of several posts - not in a row.

Here I go.

Photo by The New York Botanical Garden - Houzz

Flowers, roses and others. Plants that are not succulents - yes, succulents are another thing that I don't like. Lavender.This I like so much.

Ferns.

Photo by Linda L. Floyd, Inc., Interior Design - Houzz

Traditional looking homes. Cottage style, the real one, in the kitchen, with a mix of farmhouse and shaby chic. Or craftsman for kitchens and all the house.

Photo by Ri-novo - Houzz

Shaker style pannels on the cupboards. Subway tiles as splachers.

Photo by Seattle Custom Cabinets - Houzz

Photo by Ri-novo - Houzz

The sink must be overmounted, I don't like undermounted.

The colour white if it must, or cream, that I reeealy like, 

Photo by Ben Herzog - Houzz

and wood tones, but the ones who give a sturdy look, not the soft wood ones.

Photo by Kitchens of Los Gatos - Houzz

Photo by JACK ROSEN CUSTOM KITCHENS - Houzz

Green, that I accept.

Photo by Rosewood Custom Cabinetry & Millwork - Houzz

https://www.houzz.com/

Traditional and Victorian style in the bedroom.

Photo by Linda L. Floyd, Inc., Interior Design - https://www.houzz.com/

In the Livingroom:

Photo by Linda L. Floyd, Inc., Interior Design - Houzz

And to finish, just look to this amazing house.

It's how I like things.

Credits under the pictures.

Partying at Homestead Blog Hop.

Summer is here

You will say that I am like Grumpy, the dwarf, as I don't like many things and I don't mind saying it.

Well, I don't like Summer at all. I can't stand the heat, the display of bare bodies, the discomfort. Nah, I'm waiting for Autumn since the last days of Spring.

Ah but the beach, people will say. I don't like it. I don't like the sand, the heat and I'm afraid of the sea.

And those almost naked bodies !

But the country, you may go to the country. Well, there we have the heat too and mosquitoes.

(from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNHG_d9_480)

But there are also things that I like:

Going on holidays

Ice cream

So, it's ok, let's have Summer, then.

First day of Spring

 

Most people prefer Spring over all other seasons but not me. My favourites are Autumn and Winter but I do like the beginning of Spring with its fresh days and wonderful light. But I don't like when it goes near Summer, which is a season I don't like at all. That strong light gives me headaches and depresses me. 

But now it's the beginning of Spring. Such a delight. It makes me feel I want to acomplish things (I feel the same in the Autumn) and I make plans. I want to go outside, I who prefer being indors. I feel like gardening and I multiply my plants. I think of improving my home and myself.

I give thanks for all this. Blessed be God in His Angels and His Saints.

Picture: Getty Images via Livescience

Open space concept

Everybody knows, as I don't keep a secret of this, that I can't stand open space concept. At all. 

And I do like to see tv shows on updating houses and such, the problem is that the ones I can see all of them advocate that wretched concept and I find myself arguing with the television.

I can easily accept that the living and dining rooms are one only, even if I have separate rooms for each one, I could live in a mixed one. And that's all. To have the kitchen open to the living room is something impossible for me.

For the ones like me I must say you are not alone, I've been finding like minded people all over the internet.

Bring me walls, doors, windows and gates. Rooms. Privacy. 

What I feel in an open space is that I am in an exhibition fair or furniture sale, not a home.

For the ones like me I leave here some articles I found.

The Reason Why People Despise Open-Concept Homes

"While having everything out in the open is meant to promote inclusivity, people are finding that having an open-concept home really isn’t serving the purpose it was made for.

Numerous publications are starting to make the point that people just miss walls. The Boston Globe points out being in a large, open space doesn’t leave much room for privacy. Plus, it puts everything out in the open. Sure, it can be great for entertaining, but it also means having to clean one giant room before having guests over—kitchen included. The Atlantic even points out an architect who proposes homes to have a “messy” kitchen—one where the mess can live after preparing food for an event, while your real “kitchen” is the place where you host."

 

Are Open Concepts Really Falling Out of Favor?

"Open floor plans work only in a small percentage of homes. While the thought of light and airy sounds appealing, and is perfect for a coastal getaway or modernist space, the actual livability of limited privacy and no sound reduction can be extremely frustrating. Moreover, mechanically it doesn’t seem to work, and more than that, I find that aesthetically a home is more intriguing when you aren’t immediately exposed to the entire space. The discovery process from space to space is, and should be, exciting!"

 

Goodbye, Open Concepts—More People Putting Up Walls in Their Homes

“I think people have realized the importance of walls, finally! More frequently than ever do we see households with multiple family members working from home, so sound attenuation and separation of different spaces has become a more functional necessity.” As Hill points out, walls can also provide major benefits when it comes to designing a space, acting as an anchor for art, furniture, soft goods, and more. 

And some of us might just be realizing why dining rooms, dens, and offices were created in the first place. “Defined gathering spaces give us a sense of place for each of the living spaces”

Is the Open Floor Plan Really Dead

“Many families have seen that the open floor plan has advantages in the current way we live—a parent might be able to, for example, cook dinner and have a meeting or oversee their kid doing homework at the same time. But they also want to be able to close the door.”

Photo by Decorpad

Set that Goal

As it's the beginning of a new year, let's start well and take action on getting better. You can, you are able, don't give up. Feel that happiness bubbling in your stomach, dare to live well. And so you need to remember that

You are never too old to set another Goal 

or dream another Dream

-C.S. Lewis

and

It's never too late to be what you might have been

- George Eliot

So, let's do it, let's dare to fight for that dream. Have that goal. Plan it. 

1 - Write it

Don't worry about the size of the dream, dare to dream big, never mind if it's too big. Once I read something like that if you aim for the stars and you will not be able to reach them, even so maybe you will reach the moon. So, don't worry, try and if you don't reach so far you will be able to reach a good point, so never mind.

For instance, if you dream to run in the London marathon but if you find no way to do it, if you train for it at least you will be able to join a smaller marathon in your town or surroundings and, next year maybe you will join the London one.

This is just an idea, not that I want to run a marathon, I'm not very much sports inclined.

So, let's think of a different dream, more suitable to me.

For instance, you want to have all your house shipshape by the end of the year. Try it but if you can't reach that level, at least you will have some rooms that are a candy to the eye, tidy, clean and enriched with some pretty things. Well, it's not the whole house as you would like but it will be so good to have all those rooms done, or at least that ONE room. Step by step you will get there, year by year, you just have to not give up.

2 - Now write your dream as goals, one by one, never mind if you think it's too much, write them.

3 - So you wrote on the top of  a page the goal you want to achieve. Next you will write the several steps you need to take to reach that goal.

Let's say, you want to begin by prettying your bedroom. You write: 

1 - Clear the clutter on the floor

2 - take the clothes to wash

3 - hang the ones that are clean

4 - dust the bedside tables

5 - give the closet an improvement

And so on. 

4 - And now you will post a date. You will think on when you would like to have it done, let's say by the end of this year. Ok, it's possible, maybe.

5 - And after that you will have a space where you will write how things are getting done - and date it each time you write an improvement, or just a note about how things are going.

Let's say, by the end of this month you will write what you have done to reach your goal. Don't be discouraged, step by step things will improve, if it's not as much as you would like, never mind, just keep going, step by step.

You don't need to  have just one dream, have several.

I have a notebook, an exercise book, or the name you want to call it, written Dream Book or Notebook of Dreams. In there I write my dreams as goals and I do as I said before.

So now take heart and begin, take action.

People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be - Harvey Mackay

And remember

Any Day is Good to Begin

Start Today !

Fly !

Images from Pexels

Partying at

Happiness is Homemade - Eclectic Barn

Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop - Ridge Haven Homestead

A new begining

It's a new year and, after the busy times we had on Christmas and before, we feel we need to go back to normal. 

However, we had to remember that Christmas only ended after the Epiphany: we had to have first the day of the Kings, remembering the visit they payed to the Holy Family and the presents they gave to the King of Kings.

But now let's think about the Year that is beginning. 

Make plans. Think on what you would like to achieve in this year that Our Lord gives to us. Try to be better. Plan to be a better homemaker, a better...(fill the gap). Think of what you would like to do, places to go, books to read. Things to do at home.

There is something so special about new beginnings. 

Take action, just begin and you will see things getting into shape, dreams being closer to be fulfilled.

Begin.