I love seeing how other people live around the world so in that spirit I caught a few pictures of the flat we rented in Rome to share with you. The white walls were so nice. The white sofa….less nice. I think I am officially over my white slipcover obsession. Ok not really but they'd need daily washing in my world and I AM over that.
It was a wonderful sunny bright space. Definitely Euro-sized but fabulous for our needs.
(elevator going down past the window and from the front, entering)
Into the orchard this week. It is much cooler than last year this time which makes for a far more pleasant job of picking. If it was warmer we would be fighting the wasps which devoured the fruit right on the trees last year. There are two varieties of plums in great abundance – a red and blue tree. Which of these many English varieties is anyone's guess. I am always amazed at all the things I don't know. How many fascinating things there are to know.
There is a definite autumnal feel to our days lately. Summer not only peaked at solstice but pretty much only happened during that small window. It's been cool and breezy and probably just right to nudge us towards the coming school year. We won't be starting for a couple of weeks due to upcoming travel and overseas book shipments. What happens now is likely even more important than the 'start' date though.
It is rather taken for granted that the focus in the weeks and months that lead up to 'back to school' is on adding – books, supplies, uniforms (school or sports or both), programs, activities. If those things are to be peacefully woven into our homes and our days we have to practice the art of subtraction. A familiar design principle, it is just as relevant to crafting focused, peaceful days as to creating art.
So, right now we are making room in our personal spaces. One by one we have been purging bedrooms and closets. Outgrown clothes removed, needed sizes noted. Windows and baseboards had been neglected and there probably won't be time for them once fall schedules begin so those are getting some attention now. The bookshelves are being sorted, last year's books taken down. School supplies purged and restocked. The vehicles have been emptied and vacuumed in anticipation of lots of commuting.
We have been talking about ways to make room inside ourselves too. The learning we have such high hopes for often ends up competing with ipod playlists, instagram images, facebook feeds, and 24hr news. Never before have people lived without pause and we are not thriving with the incessant inflow. At some point you can no longer effectively process new input and that affects both essentials and non-essentials rather indiscriminately.
Not good.
More than that, it has struck me so often as the years go by that there is very little opportunity for boredom and I think that's a shame. Tragic actually. Our older children read or explored simply because there wasn't something else to do. Without constant entertainment you make your own. You doodle, you build things, you take walks, you strike up card games. So we are corraling the screens to a small portion of the days, my own days as well. I spend a fair amount of screen time with my digital darkroom (photoshop etc) Lots of time is needed to turn out produce rich, nutrient dense meals for a houseful. I am trying to speak – with real live audible words – to my adult children and distant friends on a regular basis. Spoken conversation takes time. That time needs to be consciously carved out and necessarily leaves less for other things.
Moms often find themselves, midyear, chasing after solutions to what are actually secondary problems. Kids are naughty, laundry piles, exhaustion hits. Often several different little fires we are trying to put out are sparked by the same flame. So before we start filling up the calendar and the house, we are emptying.
Making room.
Some related thoughts:
The Virtue of Silence for the Teacher
We got the tail end of hurricane winds this week. No bad weather but a lovely breeze blowing through the whole house. I will miss this when autumn comes and windows are fastened tight again.
"That time of day when the sun hasn't come up yet but you can already feel it coming. It's an elusive warmth, like a subtle promise whispered in your ear, and you can go on with your day knowing you've been given another chance to get it right."
– Cassia Leo
"…in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."
– Khalil Gibran
"Forever is composed of nows." Emily Dickinson
right now:
The garden is carpeted in flower petals.
We are moving furniture around making room for a new piece.
The little dog is being weaned off his steroids. (fingers crossed!)
Moira is teaching piano to the younger children.
Soccer (seasonal) is in full swing.
Ditto field trips.
I am trying to remember the difference between what calls to me and what I am called to do – and where those things overlap, and where they do not.
Staying up too late. See line above.
Awaiting a smallish dental procedure this week. Sigh.
Planning to play with patchwork.
Creating order.
This week saw the last hurrah for the daffodils. The plum trees are covered in white blossoms and the horses are beginning to venture out without their blankets. The sun has been out more often than not and the temps are rising steadily. A very good turn of events.
We had a lot of excitement around the farm this week. In the wee hours last weekend our burglar alarm went off. Since we had never heard it we had to really wake up and process what it was that was happening. It was no burglar but a system fail that ended up requiring the engineer to service it several days running. Several days of the alarm firing off erratically. It was funny that first time. It got old I admit.
The alarm guy and I ended up having a lot in common though and by the end of the whole project discovered we had both lived in Germany at different times and love to hike. We swapped notes about walking destinations and gear and he brought out his phone to show pictures of must-see peaks in the UK. Put me in a room with someone for a few minutes and I will know all about them when I walk out. I talk. A lot. : )
The farm's painter has been working on all the trim and gutters. He had us choose paint colors for the piano room which had a bad leak last summer. We have moved the furniture and taken down the pictures and Monday work begins on the inside. It looks like we will have to repair the tile next week as well. When one daughter was showering this morning the water was dripping down through the ceiling. It happened last year too. 1960s era olive green tiles in the bath are coming undone.
Living in a 200 year old house is an incredible experience, but it isn't always as romantic as magazines suggest. The maintenance required is considerable and ongoing. We are blessed to have someone else who owns and maintains it because this isn't something we could take on ourselves. As it is, we are living on a farm complex which is very different from the American concept of farms. There are a LOT of people living and working here which means a great deal gets accomplished. It is also a big change for us getting used to being part of a farm team of people coming and going, sometimes knocking and sometimes not. ; )
Our old Land Rover bit the dust this week as well. We had hoped to ride it out while we were here but in the end could not get it to pass its emissions test. So we went shopping for a British spec minivan. Abbie was beside herself when she heard. "I am SO happy!" she said. She was pretty sure she heard "Minnie" -van and was a little bummed to learn that was not the same thing. "It's not THAT, Dad." she told him, in case he too was under the illusion we were getting a Disney vehicle. "It just means its SIZE."
So it has been busy and things will be hopping around here for a bit yet for these and other reasons. I got a few pictures in the early morning the other day just as the sun broke through the rainclouds in that temporary hush before the bustling began. That has been important in keeping calm and collected during long days of noise and excitement. Mornings and evenings have been quiet, full of books and study and walking which balance the day's activity. Breathing in and breathing out.
So, these were the deep breaths in….
Walking through the raindrops – highly recommended.
I picked up this necklace from a local vintage shopkeeper thinking I would wear it to the wedding last month. It didn't end up matching the dress but I have had it sitting out since anyway. Makes me really happy. The clasp is actually in front there behind the stones. I remember loving chunky vintage rhinestone earrings and brooches like this when I was little.
Things haven't changed much. : )
Starry Sky Journal 