I’m Baaaaaaaaack! (With a giant crapload of pictures!)
So apparently I’ve been on a little blogging vacation…
That wasn’t originally the plan, but hey, we make plans and God snickers, right? What happened, (she says guiltily), is that the little jaunt up to the lakehouse to get it ready for my sister Liz and her husband turned into a MAJOR undertaking! Madi and I ended up basically moving in for about 5 days and working all day/every day. We literally wiped down every wall and floor and piece of furniture and book and appliance and gimcrack and gewgaw inside and out with a solution of bleach water. We also took down every curtain, gathered every towel and washcloth and stripped every bed and washed them in hot bleachy water. That was after we sorted through and carried out bags and bags of trash, and bags and bags of stuff to go to Goodwill. We bleached all that stuff, too. My hands kinda look like I’m about 85 now. Not attractive.
But here’s the thing– there is NO INTERNET ACCESS AT ALL. Nada. Not even dial-up. (Remember dial-up?, she says wistfully…) And we are actually about 15 minutes outside of the tiny town of Smithville, so even the concept of free public wifi is kind of a moot point.. This would usually be the point at which I would wax rhapsodic about how wonderful it was to be up there in nature, disconnected from the hubbub of technology, spending quiet reflective time with my daughter in between all of the bleaching and wall scrubbing, blah di blah blah– well, forget that. It felt more like I was missing a limb or something! I did, however, take some pictures of the results of all of our hard work with the idea that if I DID ever get back home, I could blog them.
Wanna see?
I’m assuming the answer is yes– mostly because that gives me an excuse to fill up the rest of this post with photos. But my next post will have a little more of a story to it. Here are the headlines: “My Mom Visited!” and also “My Brother Had Emergency Surgery!” So stay tuned… but in the meantime, please enjoy these lovely photos (and by the way I would not be averse to lots of comments mentioning how UNBELIEVABLY SPARKLING CLEAN everything looks!!!! My scary shriveled corpse hands would appreciate the validation.)
Let’s begin, shall we?
**The bookshelves– 100% free of any trace of teeny tiny mouse poop, by the way. *shudders violently*
**Bookshelf details– bluebird dishes:
**All of these things belonged to my mom’s sister, Aunt Girly– I used to play with them at her house when I was just a little blogger. The china doll in the rocker is a character from “Little Women”, and has “Amy” embroidered on her petticoat, how cute is that?
**Clippo the Clown has simultaneously fascinated and terrified Madi Rose and Charlotte throughout their entire childhood. Clowns are scary, ya’ll.
**Clippo’s operating instructions and a vintage Hot Springs, Arkansas brochure.
**View from the deck. Well, OK, there’s not really much of a view, but the woods are pretty, don’tcha think?
**More bluebird plates. I have a tendency to develop a theme and ride that pony into the ground.
**Case in point: I got kind of carried away with the whole stenciling thing…
** Like I said.
Ahem. Moving on.
**Dining room table window. (Oh look– more stenciling!)
**Kitchen shelf– and yes, those are indeed matching moose head creamers, thanks for asking.
**Here are a couple of my local flea market/antique store finds– an old stereoscope:
** And some 1930’s classroom posters, with a timely message encouraging all of us to “take a bath oftener than once a week.” Words to live by.
** Hall hatrack. (Hey look, auburn60– there’s that dang lime green purse again!)
OK, looking at all of these photos makes me want to go back up there…
Russ just loaded the car, we’re outta here until Monday! Love you guys, type to you more later– bye!
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Everything looks amazingly sparking and I so so wish I was there now! Enjoy!
I LOVE pictures,(I Love your blog also), but the pictures are a look into your heart and it is Beautiful. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend.
Oh we need a picture of the hands! hahaha
I need SUNGLASSES–everything is so clean and sparkling!!! (How was that? Feel validated?! Truth–it looks great!)
Gramma Jac update: broke the top of my humerus where the arm goes into the shoulder. I chaperoned 17 teenagers to Madison, WI to the State 4-H and Youth Conference. One girl was in the pathway of a semi and I threw myself to save her,…pause,…well that’s the story my older daughter said to write as I sounded very heroic. Truth: there was this buckled sidewalk that I (very gracefully–ha!) tripped on! So I’m trying to type one-handed!!
Did I mention that I’ve learned the value of an occasional vicadon?!
Should have come and helped you–it would have been safer!!!
“Use four glasses of milk every day…” For….? Maybe those more-than-once-a-week baths?
And the stereoscope pictures…are those porn? Ladies’ ankles – very risque, you know.
Gramma Jac – OW! Did you take the Vicodin before or after your fall?
Tee Hee! Maybe I would have been more graceful if I had it before!!
Oh, I love it, Tori. No wonder you are drawn to those quaint and lovely bed and breakfast places…….you’ve set up exactly the same feeling in your lake home. It’s like a warm, cozy hideaway in the middle of the woods where you can escape into the safety of charming memories of your yesteryears. Equally perfect for a place of tempory rescue… a romantic getawor plain ‘ole family fun. I like it….I really like it. And, gracious, it’s sooooo clean!
I’m overwhelmingly impressed.
I have not seen anything that bright, spark-ly, better than hospital clean since LB’s bathroom !!
For what it’s worth.
Okay, I’m 44 and that clown freaks me out.
But aside from that it looks like a beautiful place to get away to and enjoy.
Oh, it looks so lovely, and sooooooo clean!
HA! I’d know that green purse anywhere!
You and Madi are totally HIRED! When can you start? Surely Madi can fit me in before setting off for college…
I stenciled everything that didn’t move in both our FL house and our OH house. We had that same ivy stencil in this house in the laundry room when we moved in here. My eyes never rise to ceiling level anymore,though…I’m fascinated/horrified/depressed by all the dirty laundry on the floor!
So, I found a verse in the Bible the other day that I wished I could ask your mother about. It was in Isaiah,I think, about the Jewish nation and their homeland. She and I are gonna pursue this one of these days. And I won’t say that you didn’t warn me…
Check out the value of those bird plates…my recent research into ‘bird china’ (don’t even ask…it’s a long,convoluted story) leads me to believe they may be worth quite a bit more than you probably paid for them. Maybe. Or not. Don’t hold me to that. I’m not an expert and I don’t even play one on TV.