The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I like Christmas, don't get me wrong, but this is the most wonderful time of the year.  So filled with anticipation—school ending, camp beginning, staying up later, sitting on the screen porch, a tan (even though I shouldn't).  Sailing and swimming and eating crabs and being outdoors—all of it makes me feel like a kid again.

What could be better than just watching things grow?

You know those tags that come on small plants, the ones that warn you about future size and width?  It's probably a good idea to heed the advice written there.  These dappled willows were TINY when I bought them two summers ago.  Now look!  Yikes!

Time for a trim, I think.

The crepe myrtle was so small, too.  One day I suspect this girl will reach up to the second floor.  Next year, I plan to prune her so she can show off those pretty legs.  According to Google, I shouldn't do that now.

Take a look at these morning glory sprouts.  And you can see my little knockout rose bush in this shot.  Last year it was huge, but the voles nearly killed it this winter.  Nasty critters!  Miraculously, however, the bush actually came back.  My knockouts weren't knocked out, after all.  At least not all of them.  We had six.  Now we're down to two.

And my favorite part of the house during the summer is the screen porch.  OH, how I love sitting out here.

Where the Magic Happens (on a good day)

I spend a LOT of time in the basement, which is just fine if it's chilly out and gloomy.  I can turn on my trusty space heater, close the pocket doors, and work away for hours.

This desk was a cast-off from my husband's office.  It looks a tad too lawyer/banker-ish for my taste, but it is nice and big.  The prints I picked up in New Orleans years ago, and the lamp just makes me smile.  Originally, the walls in here were yellow, like the rest of the basement, but the color wasn't working for me mentally for some reason.  I wanted something calm and soothing.

As fussy as I am about the rest of the house, I can never seem to keep it neat here.  There are all these little piles—notes and drafts and books and teaching journals and the family calendar.  Oh, and see that little tin cup?  My granddaddy used to hang it on the well pump.  On hot days he drank from it, and  often I did, too.  It holds paper clips now.

I love the cushy wrist rest, a purchase from an office supply store.

Oh, how I heart this warm friend!  Basements can be chilly work spaces, even in summer.

My pathetic chair.  Yes, it's sad. And, yes, I see so many home offices with elegant chairs, but I've written several novels in this chair, and I'm a tiny bit superstitious about it.

Speaking of chairs, a student cross-stitched this for me a couple of years ago.  We'd read a New Yorker article on Nora Roberts, and this was a quote from the article.  Roberts believes half the battle of writing a novel is putting your "ass in the chair" and keeping it there.  Crude though it may be, she speaks the truth.  Writers have to write, or else that novel is nothing more than a distant dream.

The vases belonged to my mother.

Writers must also read.  These are mostly my teaching books.  Oh, and Fannie Flagg.  I just love her!

The shelves came from Ikea.  We initially wanted built-ins, but I wasn't sold on the whole working in the dungeon basement thing, so we held off.  I'm glad we did.  For now this system works just fine.

Thank goodness for these windows.  I have two of them.  Not a lot of natural light, but something is better than nothing.  More vases from Mama.

Teapots from Mama.

This chest was the first thing my grandmother purchased after receiving her first paycheck.  She worked for the phone company.  Inside are extra copies of my books.  Grandmother would like that.

Finally, there is this.  A talented, special girlfriend painted it after my first hardcover novel was released in June of 2008.  I was beyond touched.

Maybe one day I'll actually clean my office and take some pretty pictures (or not).

Sweet Spots II

I just love pretty things.  I love green ivy and pretty bowls and glass-top tables, freshly Windexed.

I love birds.  Today, I kid you not, I had one quiet moment, a single one.  Want to know where I was?  The McDonald's drive-thru.  I was waiting in line, and it was raining and yucky and I was irritated for reasons I won't go into here.  And then…well, I heard a bird chirping.  Not singing, but chirping, and he sounded so happy and full of himself.  Yes, even in the McDonald's drive-thru you can transcend!

There is something wrong with this Home Goods chicken.  Looks like he's sticking his tongue out.  I wanted to do that (or worse) a couple of times today.  Maybe that's why I like my Home Goods chicken.

I've taken two decorating classes in my life, and the lady who taught them had crystals hanging in her kitchen window.  They were magical with their little rainbows.  That's what I learned in my decorating class.  Have a few magical crystals and enjoy the rainbows.

Color makes me happy.  I probably wouldn't do well in New York City.

Sweet babies—oldest daughter who is now 22 on the right, and youngest daughter who is now 10+ on the left.  Life goes fast.

My dear friends had this plate made for me the Christmas after my first hardcover novel, Artichoke's Heart, was released.  I cried like a baby when I saw this lovely gift.  I also cried like a baby when I broke the original version of it.  Ever so kindly the same artist made a replacement the following year.  I was told quite firmly NOT to break this one.

Plates, plates, plates.  The other day I saw these gorgeous plastic plates, and for a moment I stood in the store and thought about it.  Yes, I actually considered hanging plastic plates on my wall.  I solemnly swear to draw the line at paper plates, however.

A lantern to light the way.

A painting my hubby bought years before he met me.  Honestly, I love the frame as much as the painting.

A silver brush and mirror that once belonged to my MIL.  You can't see it here, but her monogram is engraved there.  She would polish these, but I like the time-worn look of tarnish.  Okay, I am way too lazy to polish silver.

My grandparents were farmers.  One Christmas my husband surprised me with this painting.  I am amazed every time I look at it.  Such a gift to be able to paint like this!

This glass bowl of fruit came from Home Goods.  I love it.  I don't know why.

Blogs are great, but there is nothing like flipping through those pages again and again.

You are supposed to notice the painting, but perhaps some of you will spot the cobweb.  This creation was purchased at a church art show.  I like to think it was painted by some retired lady who finally fulfilled her dream of becoming an artist.  Guess that's the writer in me.

The Office/Workout/Laundry/Play/Music Room

Our old house did not have a basement.  It had a creepy, spidery, cob-webby, floody, icky cellar.  I miss a LOT of things about my old house.  I do not miss the cellar.

When we purchased our new-to-us house, we asked the seller to finish the basement.  The budget was tight, as there were lots of wants on our wish list, but I'm pretty happy with what we ended up with, at least for the most part.  And, best of all, my girls have a place to hang.

We painted the walls banana cream because this typically chilly space needed warmth and light.  Though we do have small windows, it still gets a tad dark in here.  The cheerful paint scared the contractors, but in the end they actually liked it, too.  Everything you see is something we already had, leftovers from our old house, flea market finds, rehabbed furniture, hand-me-downs, etc.  The floors look like real wood, but they're actually laminate.  We ruled out carpet because of the dogs.

I just refinished that coffee table.  It used to be scratched and water-marked and yucky dark brown.  Inspired by so many bloggers, I redid it with ASCP.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

This bookshelf was a cast-off from my hubby's office.  We have so many books!

These chairs were purchased on the cheap at a flea market.  Several years ago I had them recovered.

The sofa is slip-covered, and while I love the theory that you can "simply" rip off the covers and wash them, I find that this is more time-consuming and not as "simple" as magazines suggest.  Frankly, it's a pain in the neck.

Love the needle point pillow.  The table was a hand-me-down from my MIL when she down-sized several years ago.

This tulip lamp is one of my favorites.  I found it at Home Goods quite a while ago.  The original shade wasn't nice enough, so I replaced it and bought a pretty finial.

The little white table came from an antique store.  It reminded me of the furniture in my childhood bedroom.

We had tons of family photos in our old house, but no real place for them here.  This long, empty passageway seemed like no-man's land at first, so I turned it into a gallery—sort of.

One of my favorite finds when I was decorating was this horse picture.  All three of my girls ride, and I knew they'd love it.  It was yet another very inexpensive Home Goods find.  My two youngest daughters made the flag paintings over the TV.

This tattered hand-me-down rug brightens the space and doesn't show dirt!

The basement is also where the American Girl dolls do their primping.

In my perfect world, we would have a massive bookcase on this wall to store things like this.

The basement is also where I work out when it's too yucky to run outdoors.  I purchased this Stair Master years ago.  It's a nice set-up and out of the way, thankfully.  Workout equipment just isn't pretty in my opinion.

One of my best girlfriends gave me this plaque years ago.  It inspires my workout:-)

Just to keep it real, there is usually a major pile of laundry heaped on the floor.

I love bulletin boards.  I also like the fact that I can see these pictures while I work out or attempt to tackle the dirty clothes pile. 

My girls love to make things.  This table was in the breakfast room at our old house, but since this house doesn't have that kind of space, we set it up here as a place to draw or paint. The ledge above the table is perfect for all those treasures my girls make at school or art camp.

The space is not perfect by any means, and if my budget were limitless (it is not), I would create something much sleeker and cleaner and maybe more sophisticated.  Still, though, I like that it's cozy down under and bright and cheerful, too.