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Musings: to meditate, think, contemplate, deliberate, ponder, reflect, ruminate, reverie, daydream, introspection, dream, preoccupation, brood, cogitate.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

View Outside My Kitchen Window - October 2014


It is the middle of the month already.  We are well into Autumn, although the upper 70's temperature and humidity we came home to yesterday belies that fact.  Today we are having thunderstorms!  We were up in Connecticut over the weekend for a family wedding and then spent two days in the Endless Mountains in northern Pennsylvania, where we had rain also, but we hiked in it anyway wearing heavy coats because of the chill.  Now we are home and must see to bringing in the plants and putting away outdoor furniture.  I've already brought down the storm windows.  The Dahlias are still in bloom, but the Cone Flowers have all faded. . . .

I've just finished two books by D. E. Stevenson--the last one I read in the car on our trip.  Ms. Stevenson (1892-1973) set her books in her native Scotland.  The two stories I've read, Sarah's Cottage and Celia's House, center around houses.  They are the type of stories that don't seem to be going anywhere in particular--just the daily life of people over a span of many years--but I found myself caring about them and have ordered a third book through my library's state-wide system to follow Celia's story.  Both stories have houses that the family has lived in for centuries.  The idea of this has always appealed to me, perhaps because growing up I lived in 15 different houses in 18 years.

We've lived in this house for more than 33 years--since our oldest was two.  My dream is to pass the house on to one of our boys so they can raise their children here for at least part of their lives (as we hope to live here a great deal longer!) and then pass it on to the next generation.  But, in reality, I will probably have to content myself with reading fictional accounts of generations of a family living in one house, making it a home for the next generation, keeping it "alive" and full of sweet memories, giving roots--real roots--to the next generation.

My question this month is:  Has there ever been a family home passed down in your family?  Or perhaps you live in it right now?  Would you like to live in the home you grew up in once your parents pass on?

My Arbor garden has finished its bloom.  Only the window box has a few rain-soaked petunias.  But Autumn has made its mark in the lovely shade of red leaves on the Dogwood tree. . . .

.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!

25 comments:

  1. It's hard to believe cooler weather is here and it's time to do the seasonal change things. We can leave our porch "out" a bit longer but soon we will winterize it. I know what you mean about a book going nowhere and I find them a bit frustrating but I like your take on such a book. Have you read Goudge's The Pilgrim's Inn? Here's a favorite passage: "There was a wide fireplace with a fire burning in it and a kettle singing on the hearth, and two wide windows, one looking south towards the river, and the other east onto the stable yard. The room was furnished with old furniture: a splendid oak table, a huge dresser with blue willow-patterned china upon it, a tallboy, high-backed rush-seated chairs, and a rocking chair. There were some fine pieces of Bristol ware upon the mantelpiece, flowered chintz curtains at the windows, strips of plain matting upon the floor, and pots of geraniums upon the window sills. The table was laid for tea with a blue-and-white-check tablecloth, willow-pattern china, a homemade cake, scones, and honey. The room was gracious, lived-in, warm, glowing, and altogether glorious....And extraordinarily familiar. Standing there in the sunlight and firelight, George and the children felt as thought they had come home. They looked at each other, but they could not speak."

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    1. No, I have not read that book, but I love the descriptive language. I think that's because it forces me to look around the room and see everything--something I don't do in real life. I've read two other Goudge books and liked them. I just looked at my library's catalog. It says Pilgrim's Inn is the second in a series. Do you know which one is the first?

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    2. Cathy I'm quite sure I read that book stand alone. I don't remember that it had another book in the series, which then may mean it was the first in the pair.

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  2. We haven't had a house that has passed through the generations. The children always insisted when they were younger that they would live in our previous house when we left. When they went to Uni their attachment to the house diminished! Sarah x

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    1. That seems to be the case here, too! Perhaps our grandchildren will be interested in moving into our house. I'm sure we'll be ready to vacate by the time they're grown.

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  3. Cathy, we haven't had 'heirloom houses' in either of our families. For that matter, my mother could never understand why my sister and I went through an 'antiquing phase' years ago; she said that she had to grow up with all that 'old stuff' and wanted newer items. My own son indicated some time ago that there's little we possess that he has much interest in inheriting. Perhaps if we had grasped the idea of family heritage a few generations back, today's appreciation might be different. I'm still enjoying your views from the windows ... especially the Potter People!

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    1. Sharon, perhaps our ancestors didn't have grand enough houses for the next generation to want. I know on my Dad's side of the family, his ancestors lost everything in the Civil War and were poor farmers after that until my Dad--but then he never stayed put! And on my mother's side she was first generation American. But I think our generation and our children's generation have seen so many advancements in such a short period that they are more forward looking than the past was. Everything is disposal now! Including houses.

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  4. You have a beautiful autumn garden! Im hoping *hoping* next year I will be able to give mine more attention.
    Ive always loved the idea of a house passed down through generations. I will have to check out those books! My family doesnt have any houses like that....but we moved into our 98 year old house last year and Ive been researching its history--- I feel like I am a part of the house's family, if that makes sense! I feel very much like a caretaker. Recently heard from a man whose grandfather once lived here and heard about a huge tomato garden he used to have out back. I think next year we must have tomatoes!

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    1. Heather, I was looking for an older house when we ended up with this one. It was 30 years old when we bought it and had had 2 owners, so we know its history pretty well. I'd like to know more about the land, though. It had been part of a farm at one time. I've been planning to make an album for our house for future owners. The last owner gave us photos of the house when they bought it in 1969. They added on to the house, and we've added the porch and removed some walls. I think it's wonderful that you are researching your home and see yourself as its caretaker even though it wasn't your own family that lived in it down through the years.

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  5. Hi Cathy, It's lovely looking out your kitchen window. I love the change of seasons and fall is my absolute favorite. Most of the views outside of my windows these days have been of dry parched gardens and lawn. Hopefully we will get the needed rains over the next few days. After having lived in our home as long as we have it would be lovely if one of our children would occupy it for the next generation. They both live elsewhere and would have to find jobs in our area. Who knows, maybe one day one of our grandchildren would like to live in our home and raise their families. Our area has changed so much in 41 years--it used to be a small little town and now unfortunately has become a bedroom community of DC. I guess that's what they call progress. ♥

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    1. Hi Martha, I've only been in Fredericksburg once for a VA Garden Week garden/house tour and that was in the 1990's. That's what I was thinking....that maybe one of our grandchildren will have fond memories of playing here and will want to buy it when we're gone.

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  6. Hello, Cathy!
    Happy Fall to you! The view outside your kitchen window is lovely. I heard, just today, that no matter what view you have outside your kitchen window, you should have something pretty sitting on the sill or hanging in the window to look at while washing those dirty dishes.
    I, as well, have moved quite a bit during my 46yrs...23 times to be exact! I soooo wanted to buy a little house and live in it as my grandparents' did theirs (one over 60yrs). But, it was not meant to be. We do have my maternal great-grandparent's homestead house and land in the family, though...Making it 121yrs old this year. I truly cherish my time there as a child! The very hall tree that lived in the parlor of this homestead now lives with me in my living room. I also have a rustic wooden worktable with drawers in my kitchen that my great, great grandfather made (from the pine trees he cleared from the land) for my g. g. grandmother for the kitchen of their new homestead. I would not even fathom a guess at how many hundreds of dumplings, pie crusts, biscuits and loaves of bread were rolled out and kneaded on that metal top. Makes my heart sing every time I pass by it! Hugs Donna E.

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    1. Happy Autumn to you, too, Donna! You have beat me in moves. I've only moved 3 times since I left home, making 18 in all.....and I'm much older than you besides. That is a real treat that you have things from your great-grandparents' house! And that it is still in the family. Is it a cousin who lives there now or someone in your direct line? Is the house way out in the country? My grandmother's house was built by my grandfather in Mississippi in 1919. She lived there for over 70 years. After she died her daughter sold the house for its wood (it was white pine that had never been painted) because she didn't want to pay taxes on the house. The fellow only stripped the inside and left the shell. I could never go back to see it after that. It sat on 100 acres at one time. I think there's 80 left which my cousins own now.

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  7. Sadly, this house is falling to ruins, as well. It is located in Florida and is still standing on 3 of the original 160 acre homestead granted by Pres. Grover Cleveland. This 3 acre plot is now owned by my cousin. 77 of the original 160 acres are presently owned by descendants. I will inherit a 1/3 of my mother's portion. This existing house was built in 1893 and was were my grandmother and 4 of her siblings were born. Many in my family feel as you, that visiting the house is too painful. I, on the other hand, am magically drawn to it. I calls to me and I can spend hours (when it's cool) walking the property, sitting on the pump stand (that, after 121yrs later, still produces the coldest, clearest water I've ever tasted) remembering the smell of the bacon frying on the woodstove, the sound of the screen doors slamming, and listening to the wind whistle through those longleaf pines. The fact that my heart and soul lie in this sandy soil just may be the very reason I have move so much...I just need to move to the homestead. Thank you for this wonderful post that has taken me down my favorite memory lane! I am inspired to write a post about it on my blog. And, I think I see a little road trip in my future. Hugs ~ Donna E.

    Ps. Where in Mississippi is your families property? I live quite close to MS. =)

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    1. I would love to see a post about your great-grandparents' homestead. I love that word: homestead. ☺ Papaw and Mamaw's (our names for my Southern grandparents) property is in Amite County--the S/W corner near McComb. My great-grandparents lived near Brookhaven. They originally came from Aberdeen. That is where my ggg-grandparents settled in the 1820's and had a small plantation before the War. I only found out in 1996 that my ancestor lived here in Maryland for awhile--not far from where I've lived since 1969--before migrating to South Carolina, then TN, then settling in Mississippi on a land grant. It turns out that my last child was born in this county in Maryland in 1988 and his 4th great-grandmother was also born here in 1766. They were the only two to be born in Maryland.

      I love your description of your homestead. For me it was also the smell of bacon frying wafting down the hall as I lay buried in Mamaw's feather bed, scurrying to the kitchen because it was the only warm place in the house in the mornings. I can remember being there before they had indoor plumbling! And she never did have running hot water. We had to boil water on the stove--she had a gas range by then (1950's)--and take our bath in the wash tub in the kitchen before the bathroom was put in and we had a real tub (1959). For me, too, I recall the "whispering pines" and the red, red earth along the gravel road that ran past her house. Mamaw hated the dust it created. I remember the screen door, too! Because Papaw hated when we kids let it slam. ☺ And of course, the animals--cows, chickens, cats. I took my 3 boys there in 1992 because I had to share the place with them while Mamaw was still alive--she was 95. She was bedridden and pretty much out of it because they had her over-medicated. My Aunt was taking care of her then. In 2000 my oldest son went with me to see her one last time. She was in a nursing home by then. I couldn't bear to go out to the farm and see it overgrown and just a shell. Mamaw passed on the week before her 103rd birthday a few months later.

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    2. Oh, my goodness...So many similarities in our "homestead" memories. We, too bathed in a washtub and in the kitchen. Our water was heated on the wood stove. I still remember, in the winter, bathing in the dark kitchen with the light of the stove fire illuminating and heating the room. In the summer heat, we would hang sheets around the pump stand and bathe in the cool of the evening.
      How wonderful to have been able to share your ancestral home with your children. My daughter was never able to visit there while it was livable. Makes me sad that I couldn't share it with her as I knew it.
      And, your Mamaw living to be 103? Simply amazing!!! I have elders who lived well into their 90's and close to 100, but none made it that far.
      While living in MS for several years, we passed through McComb and Brookhaven many, many times on our way to the coast of AL to visit family. Such a small world, isn't it?
      I'm off to start searching for pics and to compose a proper post about my precious FL homestead. Thanks, again, for the inspiration! Hugs ~ Donna E.

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    3. Donna, where did you live in MS? We also lived in Gulfport, Greenville, Greenwood, and Columbus! That would have been before you were born, though. ☺

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    4. I have lived in Tupelo, Ridgeland and Richland (just south of Jackson). =)

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  8. Actually we do have a home passed down. One of my brothers now lives in the home my parents moved us to when I was 10. Nine acres, an old apple orchard, a creek with a stone bridge in front of the house and two barns behind the house. Dad worked for a couple of years converting the big barn to a garage, but it still looks exactly like old McDonald's barn on the outside. There was also a big, 4-bedroom farmhouse and over the years my parents "did over" just about everything. But it was the property that needed the most work, which was right up Dad's alley. Mom always said Dad bought the place because he saw how much work it was going to need. It was wildly-overgrown when we moved in. The side lawn had gone to hay, there were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of small bushes, plants, and little trees growing up everywhere. Because it hadn't been lived in for a year or so before we moved in, even cutting the grass was a challenge. I remember getting blisters from all the raking we did that first week. Dad got himself a John Deere riding lawn tractor, a sickle bar and a wagon and off he went. Of course we all helped at times, especially the boys, but for years Dad spent weekends and Summers happily digging, cutting, raking, stump-pulling, grading, seeding, lawn rolling, planting, transplanting, watering, trimming. In some areas, trees were dug up. In others, trees were planted. Stone retaining walls were built. A clothesline was installed for Mom the first Summer. A pool was installed for the rest of us about 6 years later. One day on the school bus, when I was in high school, a friend asked me "Who takes care of your yard? I always looks so nice..." and I thought my Dad would pop a button when I mentioned it at supper that night. Dad, who had grown up a city kid, was really a country boy at heart and always said the only way he'd leave would be feet first. And after 32 years there, that's exactly how it went. When Mom died 16 months later, my brother Stephen told us he wanted to buy the place and we were really glad about it. He's been there for 15 years now and I still like knowing there aren't strangers living in "my old house." Because Stephen's there, we're still having our annual family clambake there each year, a tradition that started in 1967, the year after we moved in. In a week we'll be having clambake #47! And of course when there are parties, birthdays, holidays etc, it makes us feel a bit like Mom and Dad are still around. And who knows? Maybe they are...

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    1. Janet, your story warms my heart. Just knowing that houses are still being lived in and families are still celebrating their life's events down through the ages is wonderful. Is this nearby for you?

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    2. Oh, Janet! Your family home sounds wonderful! And, that it is still in your family and being used, even better! Your upcoming clam bake sound delish! I believe that your parents ARE there watching you all enjoying those special celebrations together. Hugs ~ Donna E.

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    3. Yes, Cathy, very nearby. All six of us kids live within about 7 miles of each other, and all but one in the same town. When I still lived in my old apartment, I drove past "the house" every day on my way home. Always loved seeing lights on in the place, especially in the Fall and Winter when it would be dark when I left work.

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    4. Thanks, Donna - how nice of you. And yes, I believe that too - my Mom especially would never want to be far away from her kids. And I think Dad is around "the old homestead" too, making sure my brother takes care of it the way he'd want...

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  9. Hello Cathy,
    I love your arbour, we need to replace an old one in our garden maybe next year.
    My grandparents lived in the same house since the 1930's until 2008 but then it was sold, such a shame. I do hope that our cottage will pass down through generations, I have been giving it a lot of thought lately.
    Enjoy your day.
    Fondly Michelle

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    1. Hi Michelle. I love arbor entrances! Any doorway in a garden is a wonderful feature. It is a shame that your family was unable to keep your grandparents' home in the family. Have your grandparents passed on or are they living elsewhere now?

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