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I recall visiting my great-grandmother in South Carolina.  Her front room, the living room, had a bed in one corner and a wood stove and a couple of rocking chairs, but her 'visiting room' was the kitchen with its homey table, also a wood cook stove, a pie safe, and such.  She had no running water.  The other two rooms of the house also had beds.  Her living room furniture had been placed in the two proper bedrooms.  Her house suited HER.  

At one time in my childhood, my parents lived in a much older home that was rather poor.  They fixed it pretty much like Grandmama's with the living room and bedroom all in one.  We often see this in primitive cabin homes at historic farms, etc.

I like your new arrangement! My great aunt Martha Lou lived in a one room log cabin and had her little home set up in quarters: a kitchen / dining area, bedroom, loom and sewing and visiting …  She had a curtain around her bedroom quarter which was close to the fireplace. It was snug little nest! I always loved going there because it was cozy! Your “flat” looks snug as a bug in a rug, as she would say! I love that Belle has her window to supervise! Super cute!

PS I’m very glad to read your post! Missed you

 love the new cover for Belle and the window is adorable.  How sweet that she likes the Hummel firgurines and the flowered material----that's interesting.  I love the changes that you have made to your house.   It was lovey as it was but now looks  oh so cozy---a little nest for you two. It looks so homey and comfortable,  can image why people always want to just go to sleep there.  So welcoming and comfy a person could just relax and be themselves there without pretentions.

I'm knitting two afghans (one pretty large so a long project and the other smaller and done with chunky yarn which should go much  more quickly).  Once I get the leaves and pine needles raked, shredded, and stored away for next year I will have more time to work on these.  Nothing much done on them this spring and summer with all the outdoor work to be dealt with.

It's still very warm here despite being November.  My morning glories are in full bloom.  I thought they would not bloom this year since it took so long for them to start.  Tons of buds but no blooms until a couple of weeks ago.

Heavenly Blue----- whoever named them surely got that right.  I just love them.  When I was in High School my Dad most often drove me there in the mornings.  We specifically went by a house that had them blooming all along the side of their front porch, from the railing up to the top of the porch ceiling.  Just gorgeous!   So I plant them mostly for my Dad and for myself as well. 

I love reading what you are up to and ways of saving money.  I live in 2 20 ft containers so it keeps my cooling and heating costs down as I am only doing 1 side at a time.  It keeps my possessions at a minimum because storage is scarce however I have been a minimalist long before I lived here.  I love saving money and MMO a lot.  I lost one of my girls in August and life has been very different.  My other cat and dog both grieved and we are still working out our new normal.  They leave such a hole in our life but I believe that she is happy and healthy in doggie heaven and I will see her again.  Thanks for sharing your life day-to-day. BB

Hi Donna , I love all the thought and hard work you’ve put into your new living arrangements. It looks so comfy and nurturing for all . It’s also a very sensible solution to help reduce energy costs . Well done ????????

Yes indeed pets do remember.  My late Mother-in-law went into the hospital for a routine surgery and never came home.  Her Boston Terrier, Ally, waited at the front door for her to come home for two years and finally died of a broken heart.  It was so hard to see her waiting there day after day.

I absolutely love this idea! So cozy yet practical and money saving. 

I once planned to "camp" on our screened back porch with my daughter one summer. We were going to live as if we were camping at a campground.  I intended to recreate how I grew up camping. So we would've use a cooler with ice for our fridge, my kitchen stove is gas so that would gave been like the Coleman stove we had. Walking from the porch to the bathroom would have been just like walking to the potty at the campground (using flashlights at night). All activities would've been on the porch (as our "tent") or outside & the rest of the house except the bathroom and stove would've been off limits.

Unfortunately,  we were never able to do it. She moved away to another state after school so now I have no one to do it with. It seems like it would be more fun if I had a buddy to do it with.

I think it's fun to change things around and you certainly help me to reconsider other possibilities in making a home. I like that you figure out what works for you and you do it.

Thank you!

Dear Donna,

its always a joy to read your posts :), even the sad parts that show how much animals also grieve. 

I love that your always doing something new and different with your home, and what works best for you and Charles. It all looks very cozy too ! I especially love the makeover of Belle's cage - super cute !! and that 'window with curtains' :) - I love it ! Your pets must be so happy.

Many blessings - Linda x

You are living in a tiny house inside your regular house!  Your "apartment" reminds me of my daughter's studio apartment that she lived in after she graduated college.  A bed in one corner, four dining chairs and a table, some shelving, the kitchen cabinets and kitchen appliances down one long wall, and the little bathroom off to the side.  A little all-in-one washer/dryer that connected to the kitchen faucet for washing and drained into the sink sat against one wall until needed. She said her apartment could be thoroughly cleaned in 2 hours.  She still misses that place at times, but with kids and husband now, she needs a little more room. 

The tiny windows for Belle's cage are just too cute.  The dog toys at the window touched my heart.  So sweet!

I don't have any projects like yours going on, but I am still dealing with hurricane issues.  My fence is ruined in several places and has to be replaced.  Some of my plants and trees are showing the stress of going through two major hurricanes and one minor hurricane in just over a year, so I am having to work on trees, new plantings and the garden.  Some of the screening on my porch and some house trim need to be fixed.  My dishwasher decided to leak and ruined some of the flooring in my kitchen.  It's all I can really manage right now.   Your quiet home and comforting posts help keep me encouraged. 

I had to add, my great room is painted a soft, light blue, and there is only one of the windows in it that gets direct sun, since it faces west, and I keep the drapes pulled over it in the afternoons (this is Florida, after all), so the room is indirectly lit in the daytime.  People fall asleep at my house all the time.  They sit down and just start to doze off.  They all say it's just so calm and soothing, they can't help it.  

Oh it's nice to hear from you. I'm so, so sorry about Katie.  Your home is comfy and soothing.  I often think of mine... I like small but it's 2400 sq feet. Way too large, but it's paid for and taxes low. We use every room, but to me it's not real comfy. We have a workout room, spare room, office/craft, puzzle/library area, tv area.  The kitchen is too large for me, but I need the storage in my island, otherwise I'd rip it out for a table, but then the current dining area has no use. The part of the home that has the tv/master bed/master bath I could do without completely and that tv area is the room I hate the most. I often thought I could divide it into two places, lol, if ever needed. But we have too many doorways and open spaces, yet not open spaces that you can't just make it one or put everything in one room. It's just odd. Definitely not my cup of tea, but it is what it is.  We fell for the bigger is better scenario long ago and I covet small and cozy and cottagey.  I have a partly feral cat and I can't have a nice comfy chair until he goes.  He destroys everything. But in his 15 years, he's gotten much more loveable.  Still, I ponder it all and try to make it cozy.

Your home always looks so wonderfully cosy GDonna that I’m not at all surprised that visitors relax so much that they want to fall asleep and what sensible planning to cut down on heating / cooling costs by creating an apartment within the main house. Even Bella has a new home and can watch her Mama through her little window as she cooks and sews.

We have a programme in the UK called Escape to the Country where a variety of presenters show prospective buyers around rural homes, the houses are usually older, character properties but my heart sinks when they walk through the door and it’s all been modernised inside with walls knocked down to make cavernous rooms, echoey and not at all inviting. Not my idea of a cosy home I’m afraid.

Dear Donna, it's so touching how dogs can grieve too. A dog that lives in the family 
for many years is a family member. And saying goodbye is just as difficult. Our beloved 
dog Joschi died of a tumor in May 2023. We miss him every day, even though we have 
since given another dog a home. 
Your home looks so cozy. I am very glad that you were able to do another blog post 
this week. Alexandra K. from Germany

The toys in the lookout window thing is super adorable and heartbreaking all at the same time.  It's so hard to watch pets grieve the loss of a sibling.

Your new house arrangement looks very efficient and cozy.