It has been three weeks since our little dog Katie passed away and we all have grieved for her. Our little dog Elizabeth and also Bernadette have grieved in their own way. Elizabeth became anxious and Bernadette kept sitting at the gate thinking that she would come back home through the gate. She would sniff the areas of the yard that Katie would go potty and back to the gate.
Then she gave up and has since started something new and has been putting her toys at the lookout window. She will take them away and play with them and then put them back and we feel she wants them to look out for Katie. Animals do remember. We are giving them extra hugs and we know that time will teach us how to live without those that go before us.
Through our grief, we made changes to our home, the girls (doggies) had a certain eating order. Katie was the oldest and her bowl was set down first, then Elizabeth and then Bernadette. They each had a certain place to eat, sleep and patterns. They were confused how to eat. So we have hidden away in our home and been on a new journey and we completely re-arranged our entire home. We turned our kitchen/dining room into a one room flat/apartment. Yes, we are sleeping in the kitchen.
One year ago, we temporarily put a bed in our kitchen area while my mother in law got sick and was living with us. We were trying to make our home to where we had an extra room for family to come to stay over at night.
During the recent hurricanes I wanted to offer for someone to come to stay with us during evacuation time but we did not have the room. Combine that with an idea I had to save money on heat this winter, Charles and I made us a all in one room that will allow us to only heat part of the house. We have a way to drain our pipes during freezes so we do not have to heat the entire house.
The year before last we added portieres to our doorways to direct heating and cooling to the rooms that we wanted to heat and cool. This allows the pets to walk through the doorway and then close back as they go under the curtains. This has worked very well in reducing heating and cooling.
By adding a all in one room we have taken this a step further to reduce the utility bill. It is simple like a small studio/flat.
This was the regular living room and now is a sitting/dining room and if you look to the doorway to the back wall top middle of the photo you can see that takes you into the one room flat. On nice days everything stays open.
I have been sewing and mending in the kitchen and I love it, I can watch the stove and oven and do the laundry all in one.
Even our little cockatiel Belle has a newly decorated flat.
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She is all cozy, and now has her own carpet. I was tired of paying money for paper towels or paper bird cage liners so my solution was I cut flannel to fit the bottom of her cage. I made a stack of the flannels and each morning when I uncover her night covers, I remove the flannel with all of the food crumbles and droppings and fold it into itself and place it in a small pail.
When I get a week's worth of dirty flannels, I take it out to a special area I have made in the back yard to clean the flannels. I first shake it out into a bag and then clip it to a wire fence and spray it off with the water hose and then I put it in a bucket of very hot soapy water that I have boiled and I soak the flannels. Then I rinse it out and then hand wash them as I did baby diapers in the 1960's. I hang them in the sun to dry. This is just my way of saving money and not having to repeatedly buy paper for the cage.
Belle's very special window that she can peek through to watch me in the kitchen. Birds are messy so her fabric wall with a small window keeps the food side of the kitchen clean. There is no sanitary issue if the cage is changed each day and clean around it with soap and water.
What is nice about this is that Belle really loves all the pretty fabric, she has always enjoyed fabric with designs, especially small flowers. She also loves Beatrix Potter figurines and will kiss them on the nose.
It is very different to sleep in the kitchen, and it feels like another adventure for us. We could probable make a comedy show just filming getting up in the middle of the night finding our way to the bathroom.
I had to go back to my roots for this idea as my maternal Great Grandparents had a bed in every room in their house, including the kitchen because they boarded people that worked in their rural area.
Our home is what we make it. People put too much money and energy on trying to live a certain way that resembles everyone else. We try to make our home comfortable for us and for anyone that steps foot through our door.
Bernadette
Our one problem that is not really a problem is that everyone gets sleepy when they come here. They relax, they eat warm homemade food and they love to stretch out over a soft bed or nod off in a wingback chair. This is what home feels like.
Use your imagination to dream what you want that will fit into what you can afford and just go with it. Using what you already have and maybe a few thrift store finds can make a wonderful unique and fun home. This helps to inspire others and gives them permission to do something different.
We raised our coat hanger behind our door and added extra hooks for flashlights and umbrellas, a small project that has helped a lot.
Do you have some special touches or things you do to your home to add comfort? Anyone working on a special project?
Grandma Donna
