Tag: at home

Happy

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

Things that make me happy right now:

:: we booked flights for an impromptu visit to The Netherlands in September. Orignally we planned to wait until December, but we both felt we needed to go earlier. We’ll be staying for a week only , but we already planned a visit to each of the girls’ homes and a gathering at our place with all of them. Of course we will be visiting my father too. It will be extremely busy, but I’m really looking forward to it.

:: I’ve been writing! I feel like maybe I shouldn’t jinx it, after years of writer’s block, but I have added 2,000 words to a story that has been sitting in my drafts for over two years.

:: the cushion covers I bought for our (outside) couch. The old ones were literally falling apart, so it was time. I really love this color.

:: there was enough of the blue yarn to finish that last stripe after all. Small victories…

:: flowers. Even though we’re now in the hottest and most humid period of the year, nature is not suffering any more (thanks to the humidity, I guess). Trees and plants are flowering.

What makes you happy today?

A dream come true

~ Maggie ~ 9 Comments

See that? Yes, it’s true!
We finally found the cupboard of my dreams. I have mentioned before I’d love to have a designated piece of furniture for my herbs, oils, tinctures and herbal/medicinal books. Well, I’ve got one!

Funny story: my husband actually saw this in the second hand shop and wanted to buy it for our living room, not knowing what to use it for. He just thought it would look nice there. So I claimed it. It’s in the kitchen now, because he still has to finish some work in the corner of the living room where it’s supposed to go, but I filled it up already. Doesn’t that look nice and organized? (I think I’ll add some shelves eventually)

It may end up staying in the kitchen though, because this thing is solid wood and extremely heavy. Also, it was hard to find a spot for our hands to really get a good grip on it. We had to MacGyver it up the hill and into the house by attaching a ladder to it and carrying it one yard at a time.

But we both think it’s worth it. Such a beautiful (vintage) piece of furniture!

Dreaming of a craft room

~ Maggie ~ 6 Comments

Long ago (in a galaxy far, far away – or so it feels), I had a room of my own. To sew, to craft, to write, to store my stuff. It was a gift for my birthday and I loved it so, so much.
As our family and our needs changed, I first moved my stuff into another room and then lost that room completely because we broke out a wall. But I still had a table to craft on when I wanted, so all was well.
In this house there’s a lot of room, but not a lot of rooms. I can’t just claim a whole room of my own. Well, I’d like to claim the (currently unused) upstairs room, but we agreed to clean it up and use it as a guest room/office, maybe even adding a small kitchen and a bathroom in the future. That would free up the room we now use as a guest room, but it will take time.
So a few months ago, when I tried to get back to sewing, I put a folding table in the entry room, brought my sewing machines to that spot and… left it like that. Needless to say, it quickly turned into a mess, collecting everything we needed to drop… somewhere.
When we returned from The Netherlands, I added a whole lot of yarn to it and it’s been sitting like that ever since. But… no more!
Two weeks ago I started by organizing my yarn into one of those plastic drawer organizers. It may not be beautiful and instagrammable, but it does look so much better!

Before:

After: 

Noticing how well this worked (I can actually see what yarn I have!) made me realize I needed another one of those organizers for my fabric and sewing things (because this solution was getting buried under my other stuff). So last week I finally bought one and it got to it right away.
And that freed up enough space to actually be able to use that table.

Before:

After (ignore the hole in the wall, this room is still very much on the to-do list):

Of course, I’d rather have a nice table and a beautiful cupboard for this (like the one we have in the kitchen) and I’d like to paint those walls and hide that hole. But that will come. Some day.
For now, I love seeing this every time I walk into the house.
Or actually, most of the time I see this:

Yes, I am actually sewing! Being able to take stuff out, work on it a bit and then leave it out until I have time/want to sew works like a charm!

Real furniture

~ Maggie ~ 5 Comments

We’ve been living in this house for about half a year now and while there are days when I feel completely at home, it sometimes still feels so new and temporary.
Last week I finally realized why: we still hardly have any real furniture! Well, we do have a bed, of course, but no real closets (the cloth ones we bought are falling apart). We do have that beautiful cupboard in the kitchen and a table, but my “pantry” is still a bit make-shift (shelves on concrete blocks).
And on the porch, where we spent most of our days, we still had plastic chairs and a foldable side table.
It’s about time to change that. But… you know. That tight budget. And the fact that cheap chipboard will disintegrate within a year.
Luckily we do know a thrift store on the island and we have a car that can actually hold a bit of furniture. So we decided I’d start doing what I did in Holland too and visit that thrift store when I was out for groceries anyway.
Of course, I didn’t have to get groceries that week. But we did drive to town (a lot, actually) to do some paperwork and at one point we were very, very close to the thrift shop. So I hinted to T. that we might as well take a quick look. Much to my surprise (we were quite tired of all the driving around), he agreed.
“What do we need?” he asked. And I listed: “Coffee tables (multiple because we move around with the shadow), maybe some chairs or a couch, a bookcase, a sewing table and something we could use to store clothes and linens.”
He didn’t even blink.  That man is used to the way my brain works, I guess.
They were a bit short on the bigger stuff, but on the third floor, we found two matching coffee tables. Really dated, brown, seventies style. But sturdy, real oak and kind of beautiful in their own ugly way. Oh, and cheap.
So we took them home. I cleaned them and rubbed some oil on that neglected wood. And then we put the small one between our chairs on the front porch (where we spent mornings and early afternoons) and the bigger one between the beds on the new porch (that will get a real roof someday, but we do sit/lie the rest of the day there because at that point the front porch is way too hot).
It’s kind of goofy, I know, but these silly tables bring a smile to our face every time we see them. “It’s finally starting to feel like a real house”, T. said. And I couldn’t agree more.
Now if only the rest of my list would magically appear in the thrift store… (but isn’t it great to know T. has the same bad taste as I do? – I actually rather like this type of furniture).

I'll be right here *

~ Maggie ~ Leave a comment

*title of this post stolen from Soulemama

Yesterday I went on an epic thrift store search.
I was in need of a better chair. The one I had was fun to look at, but I got back aches from sitting in it too long. And since we’ve stored our desks and office chairs away while we’re working on renovating and finishing that room, I do a lot of sitting in that chair in the living room.
I visited three stores in the morning, but came up with nothing. The chairs I found that didn’t make my back hurt even more were either very ugly or too big. So after lunch, I went at it again. Visited three more stores. I hesitated about a darling little chair that was labeled ‘granny’s reading chair’, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to spend a day of work on it. So off I went, to the seventh store on my list.
And there it was. The chair of my dreams.
I’ve always loved rocking chairs, but the time was never right. I had small homes and very accident prone children.  In my (overactive, I have to admit) mind could see them tumbling over and breaking their necks while playing in my chair. Not that they would be allowed to, but hey, I do understand the attraction of it.
So I bought none of the rocking chairs I passed in thrift stores in those days. When Amanda found hers (oh my, how can that be almost ten years ago already?!?)  the dream became alive again and since my children were bigger by then, I started keeping an eye out for rocking chairs. But of course, in those days I never found an affordable rocking chair. That’s how it goes.
But now? I’m in chair heaven. My back started singing when I sat down to test it in the store and it’s even better with pillows. It’s great for working on my laptop, for knitting, for reading, for talking. I love, love, love it.
I was still doubting whether or not to ship our belongings to Curaçao when we move there forever, but now I’m sure. There’s no way I’ll leave this chair behind. Nope, no matter where we’ll live, I’ll be here. In my rocking chair.

On Tuesday

~ Maggie ~ 6 Comments

I know, I’m a day late. But yesterday was hectic and I still wanted to join the fun. so here’s my Happy Homemaker’s Tuesday.

As I look outside my window:::
sunshine! It’s cold and frosty. I love that. So much better than our usual rainy days.
 
Right now I am:::
At my desk and my bigger screen since we discovered that my laptops screen is giving me headaches. Also, it’s better for me to work from a set place, not from the couch.

Thinking and pondering:::
Hmn, I’m not sure if I should elaborate on this, but I’m partly thinking about family, what to accept lovingly  and where to draw lines. And partly about how much priority writing should have in my life. That has been a struggle ever since my first book came out. Balancing ambition (sell more books, make a living writing), reality (I do make money with it, but very little. I do have a publisher and readers, but I’m not at the top of any list) and other important life goals (my marriage, my family, my home) is really hard for me.

On my bedside table:::
Just my alarmclock, but it’s running slow (right now it’s 17 minutes behind – oops), so I never really use it. My husband has an alarm at his side of the bed and we get up when it goes. It’s one of those alarms that starts with a light that keeps getting brighter. It doesn’t beep, but plays birds singing louder and louder when it goes off. I have a love/hate relationship with that thing.

On my tv:::
Nothing. I don’t even feel like watching youtube.

Playing on the radio:::
Radio 10. They have the Top 4000 right now, running from Nov. 30th till Christmas Eve. The higher numbers are fun to listen to, because a lot of them are forgotten songs that somebody decided to vote for. And getting closer to the top, it’s more and more great songs that I love to hear.

On the menu for this week:::
I really don’t know. I have some onion stew left over from yesterday, so I guess today I’ll add some veggies and have an easy meal. I’m craving simple meals, just mash or something like that, so I guess that’s what we’ll eat for a few days. We have some great plans for the weekend and will be eating out a lot.

On my to do list:::
– Clean up after Sinterklaas festivities (Saturday we had my extended family over -11 people- and yesterday our own little family -5 people-, fun but messy)
– Some bookkeeping tasks (taxes)
– Deciding on and finishing the last posts for the year on my writer’s website

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
I started a hat yesterday to help me through a difficult group conversation (knitting helps me to focus on what’s being said, and protects me from channeling other people’s feelings). I also want to start working on a cowl from the lovely skein my sister gave me.

My simple pleasure:::
cleaning up after holidays. I love remembering how much fun we had with every piece of paper I pick up.

Lesson learned the past week:::
That I need to be honest to myself. Even if that means that I can’t please everyone.

Looking around the house:::
I think it’s good that I already decided to make cleaning and decorating it a priority these weeks. Ahem 😉

From the camera:::

  

Quote:::
You know that pain and guilt can’t be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They’re the things we carry with us. The things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don’t want my pain taken away. I need my pain. (Captain Kirk – Star Trek The final frontier)

Happy Homemaker Monday

~ Maggie ~ 12 Comments

Joining Sandra at Diary of a stay at home mom

http://familycorner.blogspot.nl/

The weather outside is ::::
well, it’s November, in the Netherlands. so it’s cloudy and dark and rainy.

On the breakfast plate this morning ::::
Two cooked eggs. Always. Enough for me to keep going till noon. (and coffee, of course)

As I look outside my window :::
We had a storm yesterday that blew off a lot of the leaves of the tree I see from my window. Sad to see them go… I can see the “for sale” sign at the neigbors now, though. Hope it changes to “sold” soon, that house has been empty too long.

Right now I am ::::
Thinking about cooking and cleaning, but I’m supposed to be writing. I finally found out what’s bothering my main characters so I hope I can rewrite the first part of the book and then finally get going on the rest.

As I look around the house ::::
I’m glad to report that last weekend’s renovation mess is cleared again. We tore down a wall (don’t know how to say that in English, a wall that’s built in front of an outside wall for isolation) and built it back up again. Next week will be all about the wall paper.

On today’s to do list ::::
– cleaning (finished – sort of)
– laundry and change beds (half way through)
– write blogposts (in the middle of it)
– make soup
– a skype meeting with the committee of the Dutch Romance Writer’s Association (I volunteered to be their new secretary after February, but I’m joining meetings already to prepare to take over from the current secretary) (had the meeting this morning)
– work on book (started)

Happening this week ::::
nothing special.
I want to do a deep clean of the kitchen before I start baking and cooking for Sinterklaas. Oh, and I need to sort through the gifts I already bought and buy the rest of it.
I also hope to get a lot of writing done. I sort of gave up on Nanowrimo already, but I hope to get back on track with that book. And then there’s that story I want to finish for a contest.

Currently reading ::::
Nora Roberts. I somehow always end up reading her books as inspiration when I’m deep into writing myself

On the TV today ::::
We don’t have/watch TV and I try to keep myself from watching Youtube. I have to admit though that this morning I watched John and Sherry’s new house tour.

On the menu this week ::::
I don’t menu plan, but I need to make stew (bought beef for it that needs to be used by tomorrow). I guess I’ll combine that with some mash (kale, carrot/onion or sauerkraut). And I bought chicory that needs to be used this week.

What I am creating at the moment ::::
Still working on the potholders, but I am getting there. Only four squares to go.

New recipe I tried or want to try this week ::::
If I can find the time I’d like to try these gluten free cinnamon rolls

Favorite photo from the camera ::::

Inspirational Quote ::::
The secret of getting ahead is getting started – Agatha Christie

Something to sit on

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

Somehow finding the right dining room chairs has been a struggle for me ever since we decided to get rid of the ones we bought when we got married.
It seemed logical back then. The chairs were old and cheap thrift shop finds and at that point we were buying modern and new furniture for our new house (the house before the one before this one –  this was 20 years ago, oh my).
I wasn’t too happy about the new chairs and we switched them again and again and a few years ago I landed om some cheap ikea chairs because I just couldn’t find what I really wanted within my budget. Oh well. They did the job. After all, you need chairs just to have something to sit on, don’t you?

But every once in a while I thought about those very first chairs. Sturdy, simple oak chairs that probably would still be sturdy and useful. And that would fit our style once again (the modern look didn’t last long – it just doesn’t feel right for us).
So, last week I found these chairs at the thrift shop. They’re less simple then our old chairs (that didn’t have the woodcarving nor the cushioned back), but they feel the same. Old, sturdy, lasting a life time. So home they came.

It’s like they’ve always been here. I love them.

For books

~ Maggie ~ 3 Comments

The fun thing about thrift shopping is that you hardly ever find things when you need them. And then suddenly you do.
At least that’s how it works for me.
I’ve been looking for a small book case that I wanted to have next to the couch for months. At last I found a secretaire and loved it. A happy ending.

Last week I found the perfect book case. That I didn’t need anymore, so I left it behind. But when I told my husband and daughter over lunch they asked why I didn’t buy it to use upstairs (where most of our books live in ikea billy book cases). Oh yes. That’s right. What was I thinking?
So I went back to the store and luckily it was still there. And now it’s right where it belongs, at my side of the bed, filled with some of my favorite books.

Candles

~ Maggie ~ Leave a comment

I’m trying really hard to find something to post about that’s not knitting (but oh, I’m on a roll – stay tuned for that), so here are some candles again…
I know, it doesn’t get really exciting around here. But it was a nice, quiet weekend at home, just what I needed.