{pretty, happy, funny, real} on February 26

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

I'm barely squeezing in with this post this week! But I knew I had a few pictures on the camera that I wanted to share.

{pretty}

Are two bottles enough to be considered a collection? This is my blue glass collection! I'm not sure where I picked up the jar on the left, but I've had it for a few years. The bottle on the right was found in the "back 40" of our property, half submerged in dirt and rubbish! I think they are definitely {pretty}.

I found a home for them on the old electric box in the dining room, alongside a milk bottle also scavenged from the back yard.

This little broom was a gift from mom a few years back. I think it goes well in the dining room.

{happy}

Some of you may remember my struggle with contentment in the living room. Well, I had an accidental stroke of brilliance this week! The love seat had been sitting in the corner of the room, but when I had a few ladies over for a movie night, I moved it closer to the other couch for better TV placement. Now, I had tried the L-shaped couch set up before, but not with the couches this close together. I had always left a big space between them for traffic to flow through. But suddenly, this time, this way, it all made sense!

Now it feels like we have a more defined space, especially for conversation. Before it felt like the room was all doors and furniture on the edges.

I also removed the rug I had in there, as it was driving me nuts! I think the issue was competing patterns. Now I'm on the lookout for a new/used rug, something neutral and preferably wool.

See, there's plenty of room for traffic flow behind the couches! And Arden's bookshelf fits neatly in that corner.

Another small change - I took down the heavy white curtains which just looked blah against the walls, and put up these lighter pair with a delicate grey pattern. (You can't really see them well in this shot.) I think it adds more of my personality to the room as well. Slowly but surely, I will make this room the comfortable refuge I have in my mind!

But even this simple furniture rearrangement has made me quite {happy}. :)

{real}

Lent began on Wednesday. I had decided to give up my one, precious, delicious cup of coffee in the morning! When I got up on Wednesday, Micah had already made and poured me a cup of freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee. Oh how good it smelled!! But I left it untouched and made some tea instead. I'm going to try and wean myself off caffeine altogether, but thought I should start with limiting it and gradually letting my body adjust.

There's my coffee in the background. And tea steeping.

And now, along with tea, a little Lenten reading below. I am planning to read through this book and Matthew's Gospel.

A quote from yesterday's reading by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton:

How did we come to know that we were dying a slow and unacknowledged death? And that the only way back to life was to set all our packages down and begin again, carrying with us only what we really needed?

Ah, that is the {real} question. What is it that I really need?




~lg