Haven't the faintest idea what these little pretty flowers dangling underneath the leaves are called. Of course, I forgot to write down its name when my hubby photographed them during our visit to the gardens of the Huntington Library, close to Pasadena, CA.
All these little baubles are how my life looks like - at little bit at least.
Our house does not fit our life anymore. It's too big, and too much yard to take care of for my hubby since I am not able to do it anymore. All of our friends have moved out of the area. New friends live an hour away, as well as the area where my hubby works.
This means that we have been looking at 10 houses (condos) in the last few weekends, and many more listings. These are the little baubles hanging on my bracelet, because with any new house there are new things to consider.
The "charm" with the first two were that the houses looked roomy, but they were in litigation over the land lease (with a BIG jump - so big that it would get us in trouble).
Others were in a trafficy neighborhood. Others fell off our list because the stairs would be too steep for me to carry groceries, suitcases, etc.
Then there were condos with a patio facing the pool, so no privacy, or there were association fees, but the surroundings looked dilapidated.
O yeah, there was this retirement community with surroundings looking very quiet, peaceful and well taken care of. But...when we came inside of two houses, the walls were closing in on me, and it looked "dirty" old. I felt like I stepped with one foot into my coffin - it's way too early for that!
We would have to do a major makeover.
In the midst of these dangles, there was a little surprise for me at my blog. Irene shared the award she received with others, including me.
It was like a little silver bell jingling in my ear that was weary of all the dangles connected to the houses we had looked at for the past few weekends.
Thank you Irene for looking at me as a bridge builder!
Since I still want to keep this blog a tag-and-award free zone, but like to express my appreciation to Irene, I mention her kindness in this way.
21 comments:
Jeanette....you are an artist!
Paint in your mind everything you desire in a house and visualize it!
I pray you come upon the perfect house for you!
Carol,
Haha -thank you for your confidence! I have an easier time painting expansion than with down sizing (in size and in dollars), and that is what we need to do since hubby becomes retiring age this year. Prayer does help, LOL, it helps a lot!
Jeannette,
Hi, so glad to get your comment on my blog. I do hope you pick up that book, I'm sure you'll find it inspiring.
I couldn't find that post you suggested on your blog, but I looked through some of your older posts. I really enjoyed myself as I strolled along through the gallery of your artwork and thoughts.
I am attracted to your style. The 'forest through the trees' picture, the butterflies and the women drawing on a bench really caused me to stop and look, and rest for a minute. Wonderful.
Oh, the question of what my profile pic is - actually I didn't make it. It is part of a lace collar my mother made for me as a girl. It is a beautiful pineapple design and I thought one of those sections would be a great picture for my profile. My mom taught me to crochet just before she passed away. One of the reasons I love that art form, is that it reminds me of her.
Jen
Moving to another house is not an easy thing, especially the first step - that of shopping for a house. It's a tiring process.
I'm confident,however,that you'll overcome the difficulties in no time.
GOOD LUCK!
Love the flowers (of course I have no idea what they are), they are very pretty. Good Luck house hunting!
Poor you!!! I am glad I do not have to do house hunting. Not an easy job for sure. There is so much to be taken into consideration when buying something big like this, it is not as if you don't like it you can change it aftr a month. Good luck and happy hunting. :)
Duta,
Thank you for your encouragement, Duta! I know I have to stop comparing my 40 feet living room!
In past houses, I wasn't as involved in looking, because is was studying, had little kids, so my hubby did all the looking, but now I am the one who has more time!
Joey, I'm glad you like the little flowers. Thanks for wishing me luck with the house hunting:)
Joan,
it was not my intention to get sympathy from everyone, but I thought that the little flowers was a good lead into what I'm every much preoccupied with now LOL
Yeah, that's the catch, when you buy you're stuck with the house for at least 5 years.
Jen,
sorry, I went to your blog but then forgot to comment here (I think!). Thanks for the "follow"!
Appreciate your visit and browsing - you are welcome any time!
Glad that you can crochet and that way have a memory of your mother:)
I have crocheted several things for myself like wraps, and purses and tablecloths and blankets. I take it with me when we travel, or when looking TV to work on it.
Hi Jeannette, thanks for posting my award to you and making the exception to the rule. I appreciate it.
House hunting is a big chore. I've had to do it over a weekend once and looked at 25 houses. It was very disheartening. Eventually you just settle for something. At least you won't have to do that.
I don't know anything about you health issues. I haven't been around long enough to know. Maybe you can inform me?
I don't know what those little flowers are either, but they are pretty. I bet hummingbirds like them and bees.
Well moving house is a big step! You are right to be careful what kind of house you are going to buy! I hope you will succeed. Thanks for sharing and also for your visit!
Thanks for the directions to your 'From the Beginning to the End' post. Those are some very wonderful creations. Love your bags.
Bags and purses are my favorite things to crochet. I like to make my own patterns up too, sometimes that works out great and sometimes not so great. I liked that you asked the Great Weaver himself for help.
I have never tried knitting, maybe someday I'll give it a shot.
Irene,
You're welcome - I do anything for friends who are nice to me:)
How did you do it -25 houses in one weekend?!
You're right about settling - that's where the problem lies -hubby likes a good kitchen, I don't care, I like a good floor, and the realtor keeps emphasizing the neighbors upstairs. You get my drift:) I'll write you about my health.
Reader Wil,
Thank you for understanding. Part of the problem lies in what I told Irene (comment above) when strong personalities are involved (I for one, LOL).
When hubby retires we won't be able to afford payments to our house.
I understand about wanting to move - we are in the same position of needing to downsize and find a smaller house and garden and also move closer to friends and family - we have given up looking at the moment as our house wasn't selling in this financial cliamate so we are going to wait awhile. I do hope you find something that will suit you very soon - it's waiting for you somehwere:)
Rosie,
Wow, you ARE in the same position!Because our house is in a neighborhood with an elementary-and a middle school and a whole slew of stores very close, houses are still selling (for less, but that's across the board). Thank you Rosie - hope you don't have to wait too long before the real estate market in your area will pick up again.
Interesting the way you framed this. I feel for you too. My brother sold his house in Ca. (we are both from W. Covina) and they decided to move to Hawaii (where I've been living for the last 30 years.. along with the rest of the family too. Anyway, they bought property, had it dozed w/a cess pool and rented for about a year. There were a number of issues that came into play..family (ours), his, well.. then I guess the biggest- the economy just sucks here (way ahead of everyone else in this department. But, really the only glue would be if you could handle Island life..bottom line. They couldn't and their lot is still for sale not to mention that they are now living in Corona? There story.. (sorry so long here) Anyway, hope you find something satisfactory-
Kilauea Poetry
Wow, that's a sad story about your brother. Why didn't he go back to his old house? Or, do you mean that their property on the island is still for sale?
Thank you for your good wishes for me! - my only worry is if I can handle the noise of others in a condo (downsizing for us means a condo)- but we're both too outspoken to settle for a house we don't like LOL
What a lovely blog, superb painting, photography and thoughtful text to boot!
MKreider,
Thanks for the "follow" and glad you like the blog - welcome any time:)
Now, your blog is very serene and peaceful and beautiful in color!
My son-in-law would love your blog because he loves to fish any opportunity he gets, also fly fish. My hubby grew up with fishing, and taught my kids, while I would paint at that site.
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