I think these are darling and rather easy to make. It’s nice, as well, to know you can make them with only one yard of fabric. It would be a great way to use up the rest of those leftover pieces. I was thinking, even if you had 1/2 or 1/4 fabric scraps, you could sew those up to make a yard and that’d make a darling patchwork apron or a contrasting ruffle and waistband/tie. Either way you ‘sew’ it, they will be fun.
I am going to be rather busy this month. We have made some major life decisions around here. We had been toying with the idea of moving and changing our lives again, but the problem with the tenants has sort of pushed us into fast gear.
As many of you know, we are now only in the beginning process with those tenants and they now legally have all of June as well to live there without paying us any rent. This, of course, could stretch out even further but hopefully will not. Thus, we have decided, though we love our antique little house, that with the economy and changing times we are planning on putting this house on the market.
It has mean a lot to me and my family over the years. We have had many happy and sad times here. You may recall, when I made my decision to move back here two years ago, it was very emotional for me. I had to fight many emotional dragons upon my return, come full circle and to acceptance of my Mother’s Alzheimer’s and various other Family situations. We have done much, made gardens and stone walls, put our love back into the place. Yet, we feel, as if we have outgrown the place.
It isn’t that we need a larger home, but we need more room to grow. We haven’t even an acre of land here. And having higher taxes here is also not really wonderful. We know, as I am sure many of my fellow American’s know, hard times they are a comin’. We have most likely only seen the very tip of the Recession or possibly a Depression. We have decided it is best to be in a position of one who owns their house out right. Is not it a situation with two mortgages. With all I have learned of savings, planning, and self sufficiency over the past two and half a years, we are ready to move towards that more.
We are not certain where the place shall be, but we are certain that NOW is the time to sell up. To become as liquid as possible and to prepare for the worse. House and land values will most likely contiue to plummet next year and having sold up and be prepared for that time is a must. When we find the right place, with low taxes, plenty of land that we can buy outright, we will know we have found the perfect final house.
I have been continually wishing to grow more, keep more animals and really grow a small world in which we feel we have some control. To find a new small community and plug ourselves in and help that community to grow. I long to own horses again, and to have bigger gardens. To grow more of our own food, including meat. And, hopefully, to make a refuge for others who want a little break from the pace and insanity of the modern world for little ‘vacations into the past’. We finally feel we are ready for such a move.
So, I hope you continue to come along on my journey. It will truly be an adventure as we haven’t decided where that will end as of yet. Now, however, I am faced with the prospect of putting this house on the market and being my own real estate agent. We are also going to purge ourselves of most of our ‘things’ and really start fresh. We intend to sell, donate, and give away as much as we can so we are not bogged down. As there will be an interim of time between selling and buying again, we cannot drag all our possessions around with us. This allowed me to realize how all these possessions sometimes drag us down with them! It is almost cathartic to realize one can suddenly be free of things. It forces you to take stock and consider what you have that really has value. Those few small family heirlooms. Some treasured books, and so on. The rest is just stuff. And really, the joy of starting fresh with a new place sounds more fun to me anyway. And I can document it and you can come along on our crazy ride with us.
I am also really wanting to have more time and dedicated space to blogging. I have really come to enjoy the things I do here and for here. I would love to add more aspects to it and I think it would be fun to do. Even if I only had 2 or 3 people, the very act of creating and sharing is well worth it. I have come to realize the value of the thing is in the doing and sharing and not rather one gets praise or cash in return for it.
I hope all have a lovely day and now I am off to do more prep to ready my home for sale and more gardening today. Happy Homemaking.
