How a Weed Became A Symbol of Remembrance
Have you ever wondered how a weed became a symbol of remembrance worldwide for fallen soldiers? That weed is the poppy. The first shock to my system was that poppies are weeds. I thought poppies were pretty flowers. Don’t believe me? Go check out my proof here and here and here and here. Weed or not, I still think they are pretty. The origin story of the poppy becoming a worldwide symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers stems from a poem penned by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. McCrae was a Canadian brigade surgeon for an Allied artillery unit. Not long after the Second Battle of Ypres where 87,000 Allied soldiers were killed, wounded, or…
Happy List: #258
Hello! Welcome to the Happy List. I’m glad you’re here! This week on the blog I shared an indoor project and an outdoor project. First, I discovered the key to decorating with kid art…unless it is glitter art. If it’s glitter art I can’t help you. You can’t even look at glitter without it multiplying. I also shared what’s going on with our two driveways. I’ll do the hard eye roll for you at how “extra” that two driveways sentence sounded. It’s not as extra in person as it sounds. I’d describe it as quirky. Thank you in advance for reading today’s blog post, sharing things you like, sending good…
What’s Going On With Our Driveways?
What’s going on with our driveways? That’s probably what our neighbors are wondering. Same, neighbors. Same. The short answer is we’re fumbling our way through a driveway reimagination. But the short answer does not make for a blog post. So, let me dish the dirt right now, and let me tell you, there’s a lot of actual dirt in this story. We live in a semi-rural area along a county road. I’m not sure if it’s illegal, but people don’t park, at least not long-term, on the side of the road as you would in a town. The roads were not built to accommodate parking and you do not want…
The Key to Decorating With Kid Art
It’s taken me 15 years of being a parent, but I think I’ve finally figured out the key to decorating with kid art. Your kids have to stop making that cute handprint art, enter their teen years, start calling you “bruh,” and suddenly you’ll feel all nostalgic about that kid art and want to wallpaper your home with it. Bruh? Really, kids? *sigh* If this situation happens to you and you find yourself digging through bins and bins of childhood mementos wondering why you didn’t save more of your children’s art, don’t blame your earlier rational self. Your earlier rational self knew that you can’t keep every single piece of…
Happy List: #257
Hi! Welcome to the Happy List! I’ll be your captain for today’s adventure! Don’t worry. I’ve done this 257 times and have it on good authority that this will be smooth sailing reading. This week on the blog I shared the progress we’ve been making on restoring our Carriage House. It’s slow progress, but any forward momentum is worth celebrating. I also shared some personal reflections on this season of life that I’m in now and what that means to me. Cue all the feelings! Thank you in advance for reading today’s blog post, sharing things you like, sending good vibes our way, and even engaging with us on Instagram or Facebook. It…
The Greatest Privilege
Every school day morning I go outside to wait with each of my kids for their respective school buses to pick them up. They don’t NEED me to wait with them. They are quite old enough to wait outside on their own, but they seem to WANT me to wait with them. So I do. Even when it is below freezing outside. Or raining. Or I’m still in my pajamas. One kid barely talks at all while we wait for the bus. The other kid wants to discuss all the things. Both kids leave for school each morning hearing that they are loved and I’m rooting for them. One of…
Why We Installed a Tongue and Groove Ceiling In Our Carriage House
We have been installing a tongue and groove ceiling in our Carriage House. I’m excited about a tongue and groove ceiling not because it looks good but because it is helping us insulate the building. Insulating the building means a lower electric bill. A lower electric bill means I’ve reached peak adulting. Yep. This is what gets me excited these days. If you’re new here, let me give you the rundown of our Carriage House. It’s a 2-story stone building that’s well over 200 years old. It was originally used to store a horse-drawn carriage and the related tack that is needed when a carriage is your primary mode of…
Happy List: #256
Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I hope you’ve had a fantastic week. It was a fun week on the blog. I shared what we do for family fun…make our kids look at old houses. They tolerate this activity if we promise them a stop at the arcade. It’s well worth the $20 we waste so that they can “win” 50 cents worth of candy. Arcades are just the children’s version of a casino. But, seriously. If you haven’t been to Salem, Massachusetts, it makes for a great day trip. On Wednesday the fun continued with a blog post all about us moving 10 yards of mulch. Kidding. I…
How I’m Connecting Two Decks With Landscaping
This spring we’ve been working on connecting two decks on the back of our house with landscaping. We’d rather just connect the two decks and make one gigantic deck, but someone forgot to plant a money tree in the backyard. Decks are expensive to build and maintain and this house needs one hundred other things before it needs a bigger deck. Until that day comes we can try to visually connect the decks with landscaping instead. Think of it as a bridge between two islands. Here’s a picture from three years ago when we moved into the Colonial Farmhouse. You can hardly see the small deck on the right because…
In Praise Of: Historic Homes in Salem, Massachusetts
We went to Salem, Massachusetts, for the witchy stuff, but we stayed for the historic homes in this gorgeous seaside town. Salem, Massachusetts, was settled by Europeans in 1626. It is most well known for the witch trials of 1692 in which 19 people were hanged for false accusations of witchcraft. Later, during the American Revolutionary War, close to 800 ships were commissioned as privateers and were credited with capturing or destroying nearly 600 British vessels. Today, Salem is a tourist town. In addition to several witch-related museums and attractions, it is home to The House of Seven Gables and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The extra great thing…
