This is my morning-sun-lit view outside my livingroom window. This room and the garage below was added to the house in the early 1970's by the second owners. . . .
This leads me to think about the houses I've lived in--16 different houses in the 18 years I lived with my parents. Since I've been married (which is 46 years now) I've lived in three different houses. We moved to this house 34 years ago this month when our first child was 2. I wanted a place I could raise my children that would provide the same kind of memories I had of my grandparents' farm along a gravel road in southwest Mississippi. We chose this one because when we drove up the then-gravel driveway, saw the pine trees (which are mostly gone now) and the more than 2 acres of land it reminded me very much of my Mamaw and Papaw's place. Not the house itself, for theirs sat up on brick columns, had a tin roof, and never a lick of paint inside or out! Plus, theirs had an outhouse, no hot running water, and no central heating. But it did have a front porch like my grandparents', albeit with no roof. The porch was just a slab of concrete when we bought the house. After about 8 years I saw a porch swing marked down tremendously at K-Mart so I bought it, saying one day I'd have a porch roof to hang it from. And I did. Less than two years later when we had unexpected income that allowed us to do some remodeling on the house. Over the years we've put in gardens with an arbor and a picket fence, paved the driveway, added air conditioning, painted, moved walls and doors, added windows, and updated the bathrooms and kitchen.
I love books that make the house one of the "characters" in the story. And whenever I see a falling-down house on a drive through the countryside I feel a particular sadness about it. Who used to live there? What was their life like? I realize my sadness is because the house looks so unloved now. This house has become my new homestead--the one I never had except for the times I visited my grandparents. It has always been my hope that my boys would think fondly of their childhood home and visit often or perhaps even live here after we're gone, but none of them have expressed interest in doing so. I waver between wanting to move someplace more suitable to our stage in life and wanting to preserve it for my boys--until I remember they're not all that interested.
I finally had the question settled for me a few weeks ago when I was going through another bookshelf to dispose of unwanted books and came across Dee Hardee's Views From Thornhill. I'd picked it up years ago at a used book sale because Thornhill is in northeast Maryland and I figured I'd read it one day. It turned out to be a collection of newspaper and magazine articles she wrote during the 1960's through 1987. I found it to be quite dated so I skimmed looking for the times she wrote about the house they called Thornhill. I was rewarded with this quote: "I once thought Thornhill was for my children. When I was a child we hopscotched around from town to city since my father worked for a large company. I wanted something more for my four children. One continuous house. We've had that, but in writing the book (she's referring to her first book, Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions) I realized that perhaps it was I who needed the childhood house. A nest forever and ever."
There it was! Dee's quote made all the difference. This is my forever and ever nest!
So, my questions to you this month are, "Does a particular house hold a particular significance for you? Or are houses just some place to live?" Please tell me as much as you want about the house that means the most to you. You know I love those kinds of stories!
Here is the music video by Miranda Lambert that goes with the song you've been listening to:
Now, what you've all been waiting for........the names of the winners of my Susan Branch book giveaway! Drum roll please. . . .
Christmas From The Heart of The Home: Michelle Palmer
Heart of the Home - Notes From a Vineyard Kitchen: Lily's Mom (Pat)
Girlfriends Forever: Janet Miller
Congratulations ladies! Please send me your mailing address and I'll get your book on its way. My e-mail address can be found on my Profile (see side bar).
•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Congratulations to the winners! If you're not already fans of Susan, I imagine you soon will be :-) Cathy, I have to be out and about shortly, but definitely will return to read this later in depth; looks delightfully interesting as always. (My lucky streak is still zilch for this year - lol).
ReplyDeleteI guess your lucky streak did just that--streaked on past you onto someone else!
DeleteCongratulations Michelle, Pat and Janet!!! ~ Donna E. (Brierwood Cottage)
ReplyDeleteDonna, how did you finally get your comment to go through? I'm sorry you didn't win. I wish everybody could win!
DeleteFirst, have you read Goudge's Pilgrim Inn? That came to my mind as I read your wonderful post. If you haven't read it, do a search on my blog for Goudge or "the table was laid for tea". There is the most wonderful house quote there you would love. I do love houses as does everyone in my family, parents included. I realize some of this could come from both of my grandfathers being in the building business. My grandfather built beautiful homes and churches in the Phila. area. No cookie cutter houses for him. I compare all houses to my childhood home which my father and grandfather built the year I was born and we lived in 16 years. I've been back to see it and of course it is much smaller than I remember, yet our family of 6 happily lived there sharing one bathroom most of the time (until much later when a second was added.) The house looked like it was in Williamsburg and my dad copied a Williamsburg fence for the back yard. The only other house I lived in growing up was a rambling parsonage filled with "nooks and crannies" and we loved it, though I left home for college at 18 and never really lived at home after that. The Gardener and I have moved many, many times but we're happy to live in this house just over 16 years now, making it the longest I've resided in one house. The outside looks similar to my childhood home (cape cod style.) My husband, on the other hand, grew up in the house his mother was born in. His sister was also born in that house and lived there after his mom died. His sister eventually died in the room she was born in.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your house story, Dotsie. Who lives in your husband's childhood house now? I love houses with nooks and crannies. My other grandmother lived for a time in a house with an attic that my cousins and I loved to hang out in when we were young teens. Every once in a while I'll have a "house" dream and I think that attic is often featured in my dream.
DeleteP.S. Dotsie. After reading your post about The Scent of Water I got a copy and read it and loved it as well as The Little White Horse. I will have to look for Pilgrim Inn. I do love that quote! Thank you.
DeleteI just finished Elizabeth Goudge's The Scent of Water and it is now one of my favorite books! I will look for Pilgrim Inn.
DeleteHi Cathy - great question! My childhood home along the southern shore of Lake Ontario has the most significance for me. We lived in a family neighborhood in between the lake and Long Pond. All the houses had originally been built as summer cottages, but by the time we lived there only one house in our area was still a Summer-only home. An older lady who taught French somewhere lived there Summers. She lived two houses down from us, loved to garden and was especially fond of my middle little brother. He was chubby as a toddler and I can still remember him 'rolling' home with the pockets of his little shorts stuffed with treats after he "bisited" with Miss Clark. Anyway, most of the houses on our street had had their porches enclosed and furnaces installed etc to make them habitable in the cold weather. When I was first born, my parents were living about a mile down the same street in a little one-bedroom cottage they rented from my mom's older sister, a widow at the time. They moved in after their honeymoon in October, I came along the following July, and by the time I was seven months old my Dad had found us our first "real" home. We moved in February and the first of my 3 brothers and 2 sisters arrived the following December. My parents did A LOT to that house. They enclosed the open wrap-around porch, installed a tile bathroom in the smallest of the four upstairs bedrooms, installed new windows and aluminum or vinyl siding [I can never remember which], put a chain link fence and a privet hedge around the property. Dad and my mom's brother Uncle George poured cement sidewalks and pointed up the breakwall overlooking the lake [later on when we got a boat, the two of them built a dock out there too]. Dad switched everything to gas too [he worked at the regional power company as an industrial pipefitter] which worked out really well during the Big Power Blackout of November 9, 1965, which hit around 5 or 6 pm. I'll never forget seeing all the neighborhood moms milling around in the kitchen and front porch, waiting to cook their family suppers on our big Chambers gas stove. PS - Rachael Ray has that very stove we had in her "30 Minute Meals" kitchen! We lived there until a month before my 10th birthday and although of course I didn't have any concept of it at the time, it was the most wonderful place to be a child. We had the greenest, thickest grass and two mammoth oak trees in our yard that provided tons of shade, acorns and massive piles of leaves every Fall. When he finished raking them, my Dad would always let us kids leap into them, yelling our lungs out. Now when I think about that, I also think, "Gee, what a good Poppa to let us do that..." There were scads of other kids around to play with; it was the Baby Boom after all. Babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school kids and teenagers. No shortage of babysitters in those days. We were directly on the southern shore of the lake, with a small community park nearby that had all kinds of equipment and a baseball diamond. There was even a little old-fashioned mom-and-pop store in the neighborhood. It had wood floors that were very uneven [in places it was like walking in a fun house]. I can still smell that little store in my nose. Fruit and damp wood and coffee beans from a little roaster behind the cash register. Anyway, it was a wonderful place to be a child. I guess kids will never be able to appreciate what they have when they have it. But I'm glad I'm able to now at least. Take care and talk to you soon... :>)
ReplyDeleteYour Dad did all that work on the house in just 10 years? Why did they move? Your memories are spurring me on to get going on the scrapbook I've planned to do for a couple years now for this house. The second owners gave us some photos from the 1950's from the first owner. I want to show the progression of remodeling done to this house in its 60+ years of life. I'll start with my grandparents' house, though, since it represents my childhood home for me. Then I'll show the 3 places I've lived in since I married. I'll do posts about the various places as I go along--this will be my summer project!
DeleteYes, Dad did most of the work during the first TWO years! He was in his 20s and, I guess, all fired up. Plus he had his dad, his 2 brothers and my Mom's 3 brothers to help as well. And a growing family for extra motivation. From 1957 til 1962, five more babies came to live at our house. I wish we had a scrapbook of photos etc that showed all the changes - that would be SO much to look over now. Oh we moved because we needed more room. There were 3 boys in one bedroom, 3 girls in another and my parents in the third. I don't think any of them were bigger than 12x12 - and I know my Dad wanted to be in the country too. At the Lake, the houses were so close together, you could hear what was on the radio or the TV at the house next door. And even though he was born and raised in the city, Dad said he just knew he was a country boy at heart. So we moved to 9 acres of meadows in the country, about 10 miles away, with two barns and a creek and a small apple orchard and a much larger house. My parents did even more to that house and property, but it took them MUCH longer to do it. They really weren't fully-finished until I was in my 30s. One nice thing is that the oldest of my 3 little brothers lives there now - so at least it's still in the family...
DeleteJanet, this house sounds equally nice with all that land. But you were older and had to share it with so many that I can see why you might be fonder of the first house. ☺
DeleteYes, the house at the Lake will always be what I think of whenever someone says "childhood home." My youngest brother remembers only a very little about it, and my youngest sister, our lastborn, remembers nothing at all - they were 4 and 5 respectively when we moved - and for some reason that makes me so sad. It was, as I said, such a wonderful place to grow up. I feel badly that they "missed out" on all the fun and memories. All the neighborhood kids, the Summer picnics, fireworks over the Lake on the Fourth of July, skating on the pond, trick-or-treating, riding our bikes, even the foghorn that would sound on gloomy days from the Port of Rochester about 3 miles east of us etc. It does explain why they glaze over a bit when I start in on a story from my childhood though. I've got to remember they really don't have any memory of that time. Poor them...
DeleteJanet, my oldest is 9 years older than my youngest so even though they grew up in the same house we had changed things and taken vacations that the youngest wouldn't remember. For your family the differences were even greater so I can understand how you feel. But they probably have their own wonderful memories about the farm. Have they talked about it much? Being younger they may have viewed the farm differently. It would be interesting to know.
DeleteThank you so much dear Cathy, I do love Christmas, this is so very kind of you.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this post & I feel very much after moving 6 times in married life that you can have a house & then a home. A house is somewhere to live but a home I feel is part of you & hopefully forever. We have found our home, our dear little home that is so much a part of us. The twins especially love our home & I do hope to pass it through the generations.
You have made this day such a special one, thank you so much.
Fondly Michelle
And to think you almost didn't enter! I think your girls will really enjoy the drawings in this book. The jacket cover is a little beat up on the back side, but the book is like new. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about your house/home. I agree, it's the house where you most feel at home that holds our fondest memories.
DeleteHi Cathy, I so enjoyed reading your blog today about your home and memories of long ago. I think I lived in ten houses growing up but only four since being married 40 years. Many thanks for the book. I am so excited to discover Susan Branch. Thank you so much. Hugs, Pat
ReplyDeleteHi Pat. I found your book on Martha's Vineyard in a used book shop. It's in perfect condition except for a little yellowing on the book jacket (it IS almost 30 years old!) so I'm excited to send you her first book, since this is your first of her books. You won't be disappointed!
DeleteCongratulations to the winners of the books! I have never had an affinity for a particular house. My father has lived in multiple houses and my mother still lives in the house I was raised in since I was 4 years old. My maternal grandmother lived in the same house for years, which my aunt now lives in. I enjoyed visiting her because she was a pack rat and kept everything and I liked going through it all. She was not a hoarder- she was a collector of family memories! Many of those memories now reside in my own home. My other grandparents lived in a tiny house then sold up and got a flat when they were older. My whole life I just wanted to move away from here and explore the world. I have lived in several states, in England, and even in France for a short while. But we moved back to my hometown, against my wishes, about 8 years ago. Throughout that time, I felt like as soon as my eldest had graduated from high school, I would leave again and get out of here. But in the last three years something has changed. I visit the graves of my grandparents, go to my mom's house where I was raised, go to the church my family have gone to forever, and I realize I don't want to leave anymore. It's the place I'm tied to. My family have lived here for over 200 years (on both sides) and I am emotionally tied to the place. I came across this quote last year and I realized it spoke volumes to me personally: "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."- T.S. Eliot
ReplyDeletePattianne, I enjoyed reading your "House" story. It sounds like you've lived in some pretty interesting places! I'd love to live in England for a year so I could really explore the country. But then I'd want to come home to my family. I have some things from my maternal grandmother's house that I remember admiring as a child. Those things are quite valuable to me. And I understand about living surrounded by memories. For me those memories surround my children's childhood. When I drive past their school, everything comes flooding back. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes it makes me feel sad that that time in my life is over. They're getting ready to tear down the mall I used to take my two oldest to in order to escape the heat (before we had air conditioning). I'd push the baby in the stroller and the 3-year-old would run ahead as we window shopped. I love the T.S. Eliot quote. I will have to write it down and put it in the scrapbook I plan to make (I wrote about in my comment to Janet).
DeleteHi Cathy!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the sweet ladies who are getting some wonderful books!! How fun :-)
When I was growing up we lived in one of those post war identical house block after block
neighborhoods! The fifty-sixties style was boring to me as a kid, and I was much more at home when we traveled a State away to Michigan, where my Grandma "Omi" lived in a wonderful Victorian white house sporting two rap-around porches with antiques inside and glorious gardens outside!! That is where I always felt at home!!
Once I was grown up and on my own, there were alot of rented places and finally a house, but non ever felt right until we moved to our historical 1849 rural home here 4 years ago! This is the place that I feel like is home for the first time!! I feel so very BLESSED and thank the Lord for this place everyday! :-)
I so enjoyed your story of your very lovely home, and of the other commenters!!
Have a wonderful week dear one!
(I'm sending this computer out for repair tommorrow so I shall be missing for a while...maybe I will get back to my art)
See you soon xx oo warmly, Linnie
Hi Linnie. I'm so glad you finally found your forever home! It goes to show you should never think it's too late. Right? I'm working on a new gardening post and see that you have a new post to. I must high-tail it over there to see it so I can leave a comment before your computer goes into the repair shop tomorrow.
DeleteThere is much to say about this post, I loved it. I do live in one of those houses that folks used to drive by and say "Oh, I do wish someone would save that house and love it!" Well, we did just that. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted a farm and an old house with creaky floors and twisty stairways. I desired a place such as that of my best friends gramma, who had apple trees and a wraparound porch with a swing. I never grew out of that dream, even as I lived in a cookie cutter house in the suburbs... I knew I wouldn't stay there forever. We discovered this old house on a road trip, it was a sad old thing with no gardens or upkeep of any sort. One year later we lived here, and it has been an ongoing love affair for me. Crazy maybe, but I feel like the house is part of who I am, because I have put so much into it. Not just money, but imagination, hard work and steadfast stick-to-it-ness, never giving up. I can't imagine ever living elsewhere. So, I guess this IS the house that built me.
ReplyDeleteJeri, I got goose shivers as I came to the end of your comment! I would have thought that you lived in your farm house for years and years and years. You certainly have brought it back to life and with great determination and imagination. Perhaps that's why I got the shivers. Thanks for sharing your story!
DeleteOh, I have lived here many years now, nearly 25! But the work is ongoing believe me, it was in such bad shapewhen we first moved in. One more room to restore and it will be finished, after all this time. I really should do a post on restoring an old house.
DeleteYes, Jeri, a post of restoring an old house would be fun especially if you have photos of what it looked like in the beginning! Twenty-five years IS a long time, but still, I've always imagined you living there from the beginning.
Delete