settling back in

I am not sure if it is because we are coming up on the one year anniversary of taking our house off the market, or if it is because things are starting to look so lovely on the outside, or if I have just gotten used to the idea,  but lately I have a renewed hope and energy for our life on Ridge Road. I am once again excited by the idea of  improving our little house and Sweet Man and I stay up late planning kitchen renovations and weekends are often spent working in the gardens or tackling a small decorating project or two. I have plans to show you all of our changes and updates properly, but July and early August are always so busy around here with the start of school and both the boys birthdays, that I am doing good just to have clean underwear for everyone.So a few pictures taken on the fly with my phone will have to suffice for now.


The outside of our house is really starting to take shape. Mother's Day weekend the boys and my MIL stared this landscape project along the front of the house and Sweet Man has continued to add to it ever since.  I am loving the green brick, and the windows are almost all painted and now just need to be scrapped. I want to cover the iron post with some sort of vine, as I am not a fan of the post as they are. There is still much to do in the front yard and to the exterior of the house, and while we still have a ways to go (new roof, more grass, some fruit trees...) just having this much done feels like a huge step in the right direction.



Inspired by our trip to Eureka Springs, I have hung white curtains in our bedroom. They are currently mismatched, as I just used whatever bits I had stuffed in the fabric closet. But I have figured out what kind of white fabric looks best in the room and now know what I am looking for. A thin white cotton linen blend or white seersucker are the best. Our last curtains were very heavy, and while they were probably a little more "energy" efficient they left our room dark and cave-like. I love how happy and cheerful the room feels now.
There are other changes happening in our bedroom-slowly but surely- and I am hoping to have a complete room tour in a few weeks. Maybe.




I have had this bench for years, my FIL made it for me out a bed frame found on the side of the road. First I left it unpainted, then a few years ago I painted it an extremely pale pink but was never truly happy with that choice. Recently I have been overtaken with a love of a melonish coral red and an acidy mustard yellow. These colors are showing up in every room of my house, but nowhere more than in our dining room. I just love how happy this bench looks now, and I cannot wait to see how it will look against the very pale mustardy yellow walls - which I am determined to see painted very soon.
Despite all this settling in, I still have bouts of wanderlust. I still daydream of a someday-farm-life, and tear up from time to time at the thought of how close we came. But lately, thankfully, I am having more bouts of gratefulness for where we are- instead of frustration about where we are not. And, truthfully Sweet Man and I feel a call to be good stewards of the life we have here-to care for the home, the yard, and the neighborhood where we live in the here and now, instead of letting it all fall apart and deteriorate while we wait for tomorrow to come. So that is what we are doing, little bit by little bit.