Friday, January 20, 2012

Grateful For...Home Sweet Home

With this holiday time, sloooow pace of life has come plenty more home time.
Down time a la casa.


I've always loved this home of ours.
(okay, except those occasions when I stomp around here boo-hoo-ing about how I have to do everything in this falling down tip
- a little rant is needed every now and then).

I've always pored over home magazines 
or home/real estate liftouts in the paper and still do.

Our home doesn't even begin to compare to those fantasy places,
yet I'm happy here in our reality place.
It might not look the goods, but it feels just perfect.
The good, the bad and the ugly - I'm grateful for it all.

Our home is not flash by anyone's standards but it is (relatively) ours.

It's comfortable.

It accommodates us - plus neighbours, friends & family.

It has enough rooms that when my short attention span threshold is reached, I can simply move to another room and be satisfied for another short time.

I can see the street, sky, trees and other people from most or all rooms in my home.
(Not to be underestimated, people. Townhouse claustrophobia, anyone?)

I can feel relaxed here (when I'm not doing the odd poor-slave-me stomp) and have a number of truly happy places around this joint.

Magoo has more than enough around here to keep him entertained and active for days on end should we become house bound.

I can pretty much control the temperature in here and, to some extent, the noise factor.

We live in a beautiful area and by far the friendliest street I've ever enjoyed.

I've always loved this home of ours.

Yes, the fridge door handle came clean off this week, the retic control box thing packed it in last week, the toilet played up the week prior, the lawnmower died the week before and the pool cleaner before that...

There is always something breaking, dying or expiring around here.
(Not of the human or canine variety, thank God.)
My dreams are filled with sparkling appliances, unstained carpet and unchipped tiles.
The luxury of skirting boards even!

Our laundry is a makeshift disgrace, storage (or hoarding??) is an eternal problem, every corner in this house has chunks missing from the wall, there's face brick and ugly beams, the window tint is peeling in such a fashion that the windows look constantly filthy, we have roof leaks and a small gutter issue, the front screen door warps in the weather, the front lawn is weed's paradise...
The maintainence crew at work.
I've always loved this home of ours.

This place was a lucky, last-godforsaken-house-I'm-looking-at find.

It was my home when I became engaged, where I fussed and primped before heading off to marry my love, where hopes and dreams have been put out there - and mostly realised.

We brought our gorgeous, but oh so timid, puppy dog home to this house and then our gorgeous and not so timid newborn Magoo home to this place.

We've repainted, repaired, refitted, replaced and revamped.
We've renovated bedrooms, backyards and bathrooms.. and have plans. So many plans.

I've always loved this home of ours.

I'm grateful for every part of it - especially those that bear the stamp of our blood, sweat and tears (with a few choice words for good measure).

Hey BTW, what do people with those brand,
 spanking new homes do with all that spare time???!!

Linking with Maxabella's 52 Weeks of Grateful.

Happy weekend.
Shar :-)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post, it so good to be happy, grateful and comfy in our homes...even if there is always something to do :)

All For Love said...

Haha, brilliant Shar! I loved every piece of passion declared here. Loving the home you're in is such a peaceful and comforting thought. There is no sense in living somewhere that doesn't make you feel at home. I am totally with you, I often wonder just what would be on the 'to-do' list of people with perfect houses... Actually I know a few like this and thinking about it, they're pretty much the same as us non-perfect home owners, still planning on updating, changing, improving their space. Maybe it's just human nature to feel this way. I know it will take a lifetime for us to get our house to perfection... just in time to start the process all over again ;o) xo

Two Aussies in Bots with a Baby said...

Don't you just love that feeling when you pull into your driveway after a long day at work, or out wtih friends, or a holiday somewhere, and that feeling of calm, of knowing you are home and in your own space folds over you?? I love that! I still even get it when I pull into my parent's house many years after moving out. I love that feeling and it definitely signifies to me that home is where the heart is, no matter what the house looks like, how much work needs to be done, or where it is in the world.
Lovely post, thanks for sharing :)

Mrs M said...

I have a friend, who does not invite us in, beause she's embarrassed by her home. That makes me so sad, we don't push it, we accept her feelings and respect them. Sure I'd love to build a new home and have this and have that but I am grateful for my home too. I'm proud of what I have and what I've achieved too.

danneromero said...

Mum,
loving your home is HUGE! like you said, our home too is not going to make it in better homes and gardens... but i love this place of ours.... love it!

daphne

posie blogs Jennie McClelland said...

Oh you're so lucky & the appreciation just leaps off this post. We have bought homes but as investments, never the pride & joy over our own heads as we have hidden away in Army Housing for 15 years. Now we're on the dawn of buying land & building our own home (with so much hindsight) it's beyond exciting, particularly when you have completed your family (ok, so my youngest is 8, we've known for a while we were stopping at 4 children & needing a 6 bedroom house, for guests, not my husband!!) Anyway, some of the happiest times in our lives were in dodgy tiny houses, especially the 3 bedroom town house we raised 4 children in for 4 years!! The trike traffic jams in the courtyard & 3 girls sharing one room like a dorm, only makes us closer. Now we're on the verge of 4 teens, space is what we need, indoors & out. I love that we know this!! Love Posie

Farmers Wifey said...

First of all, you have lovely green grass :)

What an awesome post, your home sounds divine :) and I bet it's filled with laughter and love.

I remember being caught out in the rain and a storm, and we were flooded and couldn't get back home. When we finally did get home, sopping wet and cold, we came home to our shed. I had never, never felt so comfortable as I did coming home to our crappy shed, because home is what you make of it, and this is ours.

Now about your comment about brand spanking new homes, when I move into mine, I will be sitting my butt on the deck with a wine, and I expect you to be there...at sometime ♥

Life Love and Hiccups said...

I love this post Shar - it is so heartfelt but with your fabulous humour in it. Who needs a perfect home - we would have nothing left to do if we had one. Your home is FULL of love, I can imagineit is dripping of the walls and there is nothing more perfect than that! xxx

Maxabella said...

Great post and a great question, Shar. Alas, I don't know what they do either as our place is falling down around us and there is ALWAYS a million things that need doing! But, like you, I've always love this home of ours. x