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Donna dear, I must say your home looks so very inviting. I've been working a bit at a time at making my home more like I'd like it to be. Humble, but comfortable. One of my goals for next year is to continue decluttering, and keep the things that are practical, useful, and that are beautiful to me and my husband. After raising four kids, we still have too much stuff in the house that we no longer use. Thank you for giving us a place to come on the internet that feels like grandma's house, and speaks sensibly like grandma did. 

Be blessed,

Happy Christmas!

Laura

Oh, I just got my first bird feeder. I'm learning the names of birds that visit our porch. Just like my 82 year old father. I'm growing up! ~smile~

Our home is small, around 1,000 square feet and we have only two bedrooms. We have an upstairs area that has been a catch all and useless. We have worked hard and declutterred so that only the back room of the area is being used for storage. We have repaired walls and woodwork and are painting and adding carpet so we will be able to actually use this space for grandchildren. Thank you so much for your posts

I think this may be my favorite post so far, but that would be a very hard choice to make! I have extra rooms now that the kids are mostly flown the nest. One is in college so not sure if he will have to boomerang a bit when he is done. The other is out of college and well employed and on her own, engaged to be married. They come home for holidays though. I have one room as a storage area, not totally happy with all the shelves in there and the drying rack, but it does the job. One room is an office and the other two lightly used rooms are their old bedrooms. Our main bedroom is used daily but the others wait for visitors...lol. I don't tend to turn on the heat on that side of the house (yes, for reasons beyond me, there are two heat or cooling units for one house..the main bedroom has it's own, no idea what they were thinking!). But am looking at different ways to use the seldom use rooms. Yes, I could sell but it is not cost effective as the mortgage is lower than any rent and buying with cash would be an option but the prices are still insane here so it would be overpriced for what I would get. So, here I shall stay for now. I will continue firming up the budget and going thru items to declutter (admittedly not much as I tend to use what I have and the rest is stock up). Looking toward the new year and re-evaluating the purchases and spending to the bare essentials, I am kinda of done with "stuff". Thanks so much, it was a great read I will revisit often!

That sounds terrific, Diana. You'll be able to enjoy it so much more. You've done a little real estate investing in your own home!

Happy Christmas!

Laura

Hi Michelle,

 I've done much the same with the rooms my girls vacated after leaving home. Our house is probably too big for us (not huge, but we could live in a smaller space). We cannot move because property values have gone crazy since C*V*D in our little town. We would pay as much for a smaller home as we could sell this one for. We'd still end up with a mortgage. 

Happy Christmas!

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

We were seven days without power after Hurricane Helene and it was interesting how different life was with our windows open.  We were reminded of hot night  when we were children growing up in Florida.  But, neighbors were outside all that week with their children, walking and visiting with each other.  

Our home of thirty years is way too large for us but it is home and we have great neighbors and feel we are safe here so we will stay.  If our children ever need a place we have plenty of room for them.  

I did a foolish thing. I set a cup of coffee on a book next to me on the bed not wanting to get out of the warmth of the bed yet. I ended up with coffee on my pillows, comforter and sheets. No problem, I thought, I'll just wash everything. The sheets were in the dryer and comforter washing when I noticed the heating element in the dryer had gone out again. I put up the portable clothesline and hung everything up. I checked the laundry and felt about 20 more minutes and I'd bring everything inside. A few minutes later I noticed a silent rain had been soaking my almost dry laundry. We set the drying rack up in the kitchen and put portable oil heaters around the comforter, changing its position when parts of it were dry. It took awhile, but we got all the bedding washed and dried that day and ordered a new part to fix the dryer. We managed those bumps. 

My home is practical and loved and I too am in the midst of decluttering from forty years of living in one place and shepherding two daughters into adulthood.  I heat mostly with wood and there is no air conditioning in this old farm house.  When I was a child and we visited my grandparents, we went back to the homes my parents grew up in, and I always thought that was wonderful, so I want my kids to have the same experience even if the house is a bit large for me and one daughter who lives here part-time.  Having so many memories tied to this place and this property is a constant source of joy for me! 

Also, well done prior commenters! 

Susan

Our house is too big for us, but if needbe, it can house our daughter and her husband and be divided in two.  My childhood home is up for sale and I always dreamed that someday I'd buy it and live there.  It was fun to look through it although it doesn't appear to be taken care of as well as we did, but it does show the nostalgia.  It was a good home. It made sense. No wasted space, reasonably sized bedrooms and floor plan.  It pains me not to buy it, but I don't want to live in cold either. I moved from the state 35 years ago. The people that bought it from us are now selling it. I like that you journal things.  I've not thought to journal nature, but I also don't notice the changes in AZ as I did when I lived in WI. It's more of a steady pace.  I just read an article on not "tolerating" things in our home - redo or fix them - the little things, make it what we want.  It would be neat to recreate some of that nostalgia from that home into ours. I also read that if you go too small, you end up tripping on a lot of things. LOL. I don't need that either. Well this is a hodgepodge of ideas, but always look forward to your posts. 

Thank you for sharing your home with us, Donna! It looks very comfortable. Our house is too big for us, but we are very close to paying off the mortgage, and it would be hard to find another house in our area without taking another mortgage. We are working towards doing much decluttering and making our home the way we want it to be and to make it work for us in a better way. We are working on setting up one of the bedrooms as a guest room that we want to make as inviting as possible. We have simplified the way we eat, too. We are centering our meals around potatoes, rice and other grains, and beans and filling in with a little meat and fresh foods. This helps us to stay well within the budget and putting more towards the mortgage and savings as we get closer to retirement. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I also wanted to add that Ruth Goodman is just amazing. I had recently watched that same video last week, and it was so informative and eye-opening to the way they lived in the past. I highly recommend watching any of her videos.

We've had storms and power cuts and what helped us get over those bumps in the road was our kerosene lanterns and our stored food. We had a battery radio and listened to classical music. Special gifts can help lift your mood too. A lovely friend gave me a pretty floral tea towel. There is no way I'm going to use it to dry dishes! Instead it is on my favourite chair back and looks beautiful. I think of that friend every time I see it. I wish I had a mangle like gDonna so we could manage if our washing machine was out of action. 

merry Christmas, one and all! Gdonna, your blog is a mainstay in my day.  Always love to see what you have to say. My hubs and I have downsized too. And we moved closer to our adult children. Every day we tell the lord thank you for all our blessings. Thanks again for providing a peaceful, cozy spot online! Love never fails, patty

Love this blog/topic.

My home is probably considered too big for me but, I built this house in 1981 and I am staying put.

I heat mostly with wood, have the 2 extra bedrooms set up in case any family needs to ever come home. I have no mortgage payments and I work diligently to keep utilities low. I like the feeling of being as frugal as possible but feeling contented.

I have and use all of my antique and vintage items for what they are intended for.... I can cook on my woodstove and often do, dry clothes around it on racks and have a camp oven that I can put on top the wood stove and bake if needed. I love doing things that our ancestors did, it is so interesting to me.

I love looking around at everything outdoors, I don't journal any of my findings. This dark and dreary time of the year can be hard on me but I try to find joy in the things I see.  Plus I have chickens and I take good care of them so that gets me out of the house and into nature.

JC

Hello Donna, 

It has been a bit since I last visited here. I am always encouraged. It is good to see, read of yours and Charles continued journey and you both are in good health.  Soon I will begin working on a few raised tubs for sowing some greens in . Our winter here in south Arkansas is quite mild and is expected to be all season.     

I do enjoy Ruth Goodman. I first learned of her through the videos, BBC's Tales from the Green Valley. I try to watch it throughout the year. I have learned a great deal from this particular video as well as the many others she has been in.

A youtube channel I happened upon recently was on phenology.  This is a word I had never heard nor knew the meaning. As I am desiring productive activities to get me outside and observe in a greater way, I have begun making a phenology wheel calendar as in the yt video. There are many ways a person can create one, as I searched further on the subject, but I did like the one I saw on this particular video. 

The channel name is Marion's World, she is in England. As I read and learn, it  seems obvious to me that nature study, drawing, journaling and the like were of great importance and enjoyment in England back in the day.  With ideas I actively try to apply and incorporate into my life of the period I enjoy, as you and Charles, I am looking forward to this project.  It keeps me off the computer too, which I am trying to decrease my time.  

Thank you for all you do concerning your channel. Strength and the peace of our Lord be with you and Charles in all you set your hands to do.

In Joy

Vivian

Good to see a new post!  This time of year always makes me nostalgic.  Your remarks reminded me of sleeping on the screened porch on hot summer nights when I was a kid.  

Here in Northwest Florida, we've had two hard freezes (in the 20'sF) so far, but I've saved the lemons on our Meyer lemon tree by using a sprinkler all night.  I'm on a well, so that is a viable option for me.  It's time to put up lemon juice; I use a manual thrift store squeezer instead of a fancy electric juicer.  It can get tiring, but I take breaks plus, I don't have a large countertop appliance to store or pay for.

I never wanted a large house and never had one, but I grew up in a very small four room + 1 bath house for a family of five, and I suppose you could say I have "House-aphobia".  Tiny houses and studio apartments don't appeal to me at all - the idea of living in a really small space stresses me.  I know it works perfectly for many people, though, and I have to say, I really admire the neat organization of some small space owners.  Your house looks so orderly and calm, GDonna.

We took a direct hit from Helene here, and many people near the coast have found themselves going from living in modest to moderately large homes, to living in a tiny trailer or RV while they wait to see if they can even rebuild.  Talk about learning to live with less!

Thanks for the link to Ruth - I've watched the "farms" history shows with her - Tudor, Victorian, etc. and enjoyed them so much.  

Best wishes, all!