Friday, February 06, 2009

Let the Sunshine In

Oh, it doesn't take much to get the spring fever going in me. It was an absolutely perfect day here in Middle Tennessee. Low 70s, slight breeze. Mmmmmwaaaa! Loved it. I even moved the fish around to enjoy the beautiful rays coming through the windows. Yes, I also cleaned out their bowls. Poor little guys. Hardly had enough water to swim in. I'm a terrible fish owner for the most part.

When I left this morning, I noticed the daffodils are peeking out from the soil, stretching to greet the sun with as much love as us. Yay. That is definitely a sign of spring just around the corner.

I came around back and threw open mom's door to her yard and let that lovely fresh air through her apartment. It was lovely. Even she enjoyed it. While I was there, I took some snaps of her place with all the sun coming in. It's so pretty down there during the afternoon. So nice and cozy when the sun is shining through. (Why are there cafe curtains on the outside of the door you ask? Well, of course, it's because Frankie the dog sees deer and bunnies and Lord knows what else out there and starts barking which then wakes mom up at ungodly hours. This way, he can't see out! Brilliant, eh?)

Even though she had her PJs on already, I didn't say anything. That's ok. I'd like to wear my PJs all day on some days, ya know what I mean? This is her new wing back chair that seems to do the trick. No more falling asleep and falling out. If she does fall asleep, it cradles her. Sweet.

This is a little nook in the corner where she keeps her brother-in-law's old fishing hat, a vintage bulldog hot pad and an old angel I gave to her when I was young.

Her fridge is full of wonderful magnets from various places everyone has visited over the years and pictures of loved ones.

I had cubbies built on the sides of the fireplace in her living room so she could put all her photos out of the family. And that's just what we did. This is Jim's cubby, his daughter Madeleine when she was a baby and Jim's baby shoes. Jim is the one on the right, Johnny is on the left in the little photos.

This is dad's resting place. (I think if mom knew he was here, she'd throw him out--again! haha) His cowboy boots and belt mark it with his personality. I made these little praying hands in Bible School when I was very young. The photo of the young family in front of our house with snow is probably circa 1959, Mom, dad, Johnny and Jim. I wasn't born yet. Perhaps I was still cooking in mom's tummy when this was shot.

The kids in the hippie days! Oh my. Look at all of our hair! Johnny is in the middle, Jim and I are sitting down. I love this photo. Do you remember when scarves were in style in the 70s? UGly! teheh. That's me in the larger photo, probably when I was about 19 or 20. Jim is in the background looking especially proper. These are Johnny's little boots and his monkey too.

My oldest brother Joe's cubby (which happens to be Mary Jane's ex husband) has all kinds of pictures of their kids growing up. They are just adorable! And several shots of Joe and mom there too. The little Mexican sandals are Joe's. Aren't they precious?

And my family's cubby. The boys at various stages in their lives. Awwww. Me in various stages of my life too. Even one of me and the hub before we were married. Awwwwww. And those are my boots on the side there. The story is my Aunt Ollie bought me a pair of red ones but they didn't fit. So when my mom took them back, they only had black in my size. I preferred the red ones myself--as if I remember! ha.

The living room wall is full of our portraits growing up. The bottom right is the teenager when he was one. I wish I had chosen a different color than blue paper to have it drawn on. Looks kinda out of place, doesn't it? That's Jim and John in the double frame. And look at my profile when I was little. I had a double chin BACK THEN! YUCK. There was no chance for me I guess. Then Johnny in the other two. I need to find the other one of Jim somewhere packed away in mom's stuff.

And, of course, our beloved Capitol from the Grant Memorial where we all spent many hours taking photographs for a living. The teenager bought this for me the first year we moved. I was so homesick. It was a sweet thought.

When I went back out to lock up, the moon was already out trying to coax the sun to set. The sun would have nothing to do with it as our days are finally getting longer. That means mom is staying up longer. She may put her pajamas on at 4 in the afternoon, but she doesn't crawl into bed until after 5. I think her sleeping patterns are a little more regular when we have more daylight. When it's dark early, she thinks it's time to go to bed. So, I'm happy that we're getting more daylight these days.

Are your bulbs starting to sprout? I know some of you, out West, already have daffodils. Oh, I can't wait for mine!

And a PS. The hub and I are enjoying our little fun Valentine's note maker. I have it on the front door and he has been pasting a new note up each morning.

Oh SNAP! I keep forgetting to put this up. Snap from Tales from Twisty Lane gave me a sweet award--The Marie Antoinette, Real Woman, Real Award! Isn't that sweet? I can't chose seven out of you who deserve this award more than the other, so consider yourself a recipient. YAY! And thank you so much Snap for such a nice award.

Now let's enjoy the weekend!


13 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Rosemary, Love the tour of your Mom's apartment. She's a beautiful woman. My sweet mama (who died in 1991) had TONS of family photos in her house also..When she moved to Assistant Living, she couldn't take all of her pictures with her--so they all went into photo albums. Photos were so special to her also.

I loved the warm weather today also. SO NEAT!!!! And yes, I have spring fever.

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy

Linda said...

Your Mom's place looks very cosy. I saw a bunch of daffodils here yesterday which always means spring is on the way, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Such a great post! Yes, I'm all excited when I think about spring... That's a cute picture of your mother! Thanks for showing us all these pictures!

Cheers and have a wonderful weekend,

Rosa xoxo

The Vintage Kitten said...

Hi Rosa I loved this post. It was a wonderful tour around your family history. My your brothers were cute werent they? (Im a sucker for a man with long hair, maybe because Im still abit of an old hippy myself)I like your mums PJ's and I see nothing wrong with putting them on at 4 in the afternoon, we should all get in to our jammies in the afternoon. We have so much snow in the UK at the moment so its quite dark early on, but I am looking forward to spring and abit of warmer weather X

Robin said...

oh your moms apartment is wonderful! How lucky you both are...you have the best of both...mom close by being cared for and a wonderful place for her downstairs!

Dianne said...

Ro, your mom is so cute. She has the sweetest smile and she looks so good in that pink color!

I no longer have even one fish. Okay, I killed it but decided my life is going to be as low maintenance as I can get it so no more fish and no house plants outside of my three little Bonzai (sp?). Make that two because one of them is looking very sick this morning.

It's getting down to 66 degrees today so I might work in the yard for a while.

Miss ya!

Snap said...

Rosa,

Thanks for the tour -- and the *hair* memories! This is one of the reasons you deserve the Marie Antoinette Award -- you are REAL! My freesia are getting ready to bloom! When they do, I'll put a picture up.

Hugs to you and yours ---

Hippie Family... said...

too cute.. love it all. I love the pictures and the flowers and oh, it's all just so great.. thanks for sharing!!

Carole Burant said...

Up in the 70's? Daffodils coming up?? Aaaarrrgggghhhhh, how cruel of you to mention that when we still have a gazillion feet of snow!! hehe I'm obviously living in the wrong place! lol

How wonderful that your mom is surrounded with so many cherished mementos and I love that she has put shoes and boots beside the pictures.

Congratulations on receiving that award and thank you so much for passing it on to all of us:-) xoxo

Beth said...

You really have her apartment fixed up so nice. Loved looking at the photos and memories.
Hope I get to see you soon.
xoxoxoxooxox

Queenly Things said...

That was so much fun. Really fun! I love getting to know you better.

Jeanie said...

Oh, I dearly loved this post and having a glimpse into such beautiful and lovely (and deeply personal) things. Your mom is so lovely -- what a smile. And you were talented at a young age if you did those hands!

Laurie said...

Hi Rosa,
I came over here from OWOH, and love your blog. This post really touched my heart, as we are selling our homestead and Mom is moving to an apartment. I got so many ideas from this, that I know can help Mom make the transition. Thank-you so much for sharing,
Laurie

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