the love of learning, the sequestered nooks, and all the sweet serenity of books

Now that we have 3 bedrooms, we finally get an official home library.

A room full of our many, many books.  Where sunlight streams in.  Where cats can snooze, climb and get into mischief.  With a couch you can read on for hours at a time.  And the most lovely, ornate Indian rug passed down from a grandmother (pictures to come).

One of our prize possessions is an original printing of Atlas Shrugged, a treasure we discovered while unpacking boxes and boxes of books that had been cooped up in storage.  It's an incredible find (no matter how you feel about the author).  It smells so nice and old too.

 Here's where we've been wasting hours at a time as we search for inspiration (very aptly named).

I'd just die if I could walk into this room every morning.

It feels good to let our 100's of books finally breathe.  We want the printed word to be an indelible part of our home's identity--we are thrilled to finally have the square footage.

T&B

for the vertically challenged

A quick gripe about clothes.

Every girl over 6 feet tall has difficulty finding anything that fits properly.  Things are always too short, too tight, too little, etc.  Nothing's worse than trying on a fitted dress only to realize that the extra space tailored for the (average person's) bum bits just happens to be hitting the small of your back.  That 'pooch' of extra fabric is just not a good look...not to mention the awkwardness of having your butt squeezed into parts normally filled with legs.

Any dress shorter than homeschool becomes sketchy short (hooker is not really my style).  And those long, billowy and beautiful maxi dresses that every midget is running around in??  Forget about it.  The few (FEW) times I've ever found something for super tall people, it's always crazy expensive and/or desperately ugly. 

At least that's what I thought, until someone dear introduced me to this place.  It's made for girls 5'8" and up, which still isn't quite my size, but it's a very nice start.

I wouldn't wear everything they sell, but there are some real gems.  Like this dream:

This dress would get worn to pieces.  I'd accessorize it differently every day (with all of the beautiful golds, silvers and bold colors of Stella & Dot, of course!).

And I'd wear it while riding my horse across the deserts of far-off lands....naturally. 

I wonder if we could go without groceries for a week or two...

it just might be worth it.

B

'we only live, only suspire Consumed by either fire or fire'

For days when all seems unbearably drab...

T.S Eliot's 'Four Quartets'

'Little Gidding' 

IV-V

IV

The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
     Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre—
     To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
     We only live, only suspire
     Consumed by either fire or fire.

V

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea's throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
Are of equal duration. A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this
     Calling

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

T&B

crazy cat lady

Our four cats are jazzed about the new house.  They are excited for the extra space to run, the stairs to chase each other up and down and the big bay window where they'll spy on birds.

I'm excited for the chance to make our new place (even more) animal friendly.  I hate traditional animal supplies (ugly litter boxes, awkward cat trees, sloppy pet beds, etc etc).  It's been a challenge keeping so many furry babies happy while maintaining any sense of interior decor.

On my wish list (were budget not an issue....which it always is, but I still like to look)...

(This scratching post looks a million times better than the normal towers.

In fact, I would get it even if I didn't have any cats--he'd look so cute by an umbrella stand)

(With multiple cats it's important to think in three-dimensions.  Don't limit cats to the floor.

These perches give kitties a whole new world in which to play )

(Husband is incredibly handy...I'm thinking this could be a fairly easy project.

Plus, in the right color, it could be a fun addition to our wall art)

(A great way to hide the messiest bits.  

No one ever needs to see the litter box again)

It's loads of fun planning creative solutions to pet problems.

(Although, sometimes all you need is a good paper bag.....just ask Tennyson)

B

where the heart is

We bought a house!

Well, we close April 29th so it's not officially ours yet.  But that hasn't stopped me from planning ahead. 

Unexpectedly, instead of having every detail of the interior plotted out, I've been obsessed with the outside.  With the beautiful, big, privacy-fence-enclosed backyard to be precise.

First our collection of fresh herbs (because the dried stuff you buy at the grocery just can't compete with the fresh stuff).

Then our vegetable garden.  We saved probably $100 on tomatoes last year by planting our own (yes, tomatoes are ridiculously expensive to buy and yes, we eat an insanely large amount of them).

And then our backyard chicken coop. 

Although this chicken coop is just too precious:

We've been buying farm fresh eggs for years.  The only thing better than that are eggs from your very own chickens.

And we can't forget--

(although these rascals might be a few years down the line....)

B

aluminum travels

Because it's still snowing (freezing temps all week), I've been dreaming of hitting the road to warmer lands.

This wouldn't be just any road trip, it would be in my vintage Airstream.  Preferably one that's been redesigned by Kristiana Spaulding.

Lovely, yes?
Check out her other trailers too.

But really, as long as my destination looks like this:

...I'll be fine.
Any takers??

It's my birthday tomorrow.  Maybe there's one already waiting for me.
:)

B

heroism

Our hearts break for the people of Japan--tragedy upon tragedy with no end in near sight.  Oh Lord be merciful.

We know there are many opinions being thrown around--the who, where, what's, when's and why's.  The consequences may be massive.

Yet hope remains when there is bravery and sacrifice.  Out of the East pours the spirit of the West.

We trust that the sacrifices made by these 180 workers will have tremendous results.  May their valor ripple through our world with more power than any earthquake and tsunami.  Single events such as this, where individuals choose to deny themselves, have turned the tide of history.

May the rest of us'continue to live well' indeed.

T&B