 Fresh pale pink peonies! Happy June to all, and happy summer! It has arrived in Georgia with all its 95-degree fury. Just when I was getting used to the 75-degree glorious days of late spring, -- bamm! -- I find myself sweating profusely, and even my sunscreen runs into my eyes with a personal fury of its own -- ouch! I've heard it said that we southern ladies don't sweat, we glisten. But I say call it like it is, sweating hard and fast like any man is what we do (not that I'm proud of it, though). And that's because we work just as hard like a boss, right?! Even my lawn guy tapped on the door to say he wouldn't be mowing this week because he didn't want to leave my yard a dust bowl! Or maybe he was just hotter than a firecracker and was sick and tired of working in a sauna and needed a break. Needless to say, everyone is praying for rain around most parts of Georgia. As I've been settling in to my little cottage, I've been doing quite the paring down and "getting rid of," and I must say it feels pretty good. But just as I was admiring the order and simplicity of living with less, we cleaned out a 10 x 30 storage unit and, yep, you guessed it, a whole new slew of "stuff" that I forgot I had came my way and I've been trying to figure out what to do with it all. Those blogs about having a "keep" pile, a "throwaway pile," and a "giveaway" pile sound so good, but it's easier said than done for me. I might decide to give something away, only to retrieve it from that pile and place it in the "keep," because, who knows, I just might need it one day. But here's the thing...if you only have 895 square feet, there isn't a whole lot of room to store stuff -- well, really no room to store, just room for everyday stuff and that's a squeeze itself. So what to do? I switch it back from keep to giveaway, and my mind is once again free of the thing that has tried so hard to find a permanent residence with me. I hope in the future to not wanna hold on to "things" so tightly. After all, things are just...things. Why is it so hard to let go of "stuff"? I've been thinking about that a lot lately, as I've sorted through not only my stuff, but items my mother left behind when she passed away that I've not yet been able to part with. We hang onto stuff out of nostalgia, for one thing. I think for me that's the biggest reason I don't wanna let go. To that item is attached a memory, good or bad, that has somehow tried to make itself a part of my psyche and, to let it go, would be like letting something go that defines me. As I said before, we also hold on to things because we think we just might need it one day. Who knows, we just might need an extra can opener or shoehorn or 9x9 baking pan one day, even though we have three of each. And do you really think you'll ever use those curtains you've had since 1990? I mean, dusty rose and mauve are making a comeback, so they say. I seriously doubt I'll ever want mauve curtains again in my lifetime. So in the future, as I embrace "living with less," I hope to learn the fine art of not holding onto things so tightly. Hold onto people, memories, and experiences, but NOT THINGS! In trying to purge, we did something that I truly hate and dreaded with all that was within me: We had a garage sale! I got over garage sales back in the early 2000's when we had a sale so big that I vowed never to do it again. I knew it was one way to get rid of stuff and put a little cash in my pocket...money I didn't have and I am not in the practice of giving up extra cash! But, once again I succumbed to its pull, and it proved to be a good way indeed of thinning out the inventory created by the emptying of the storage unit. This stuff had been in storage for going on three years and some of it I had seriously forgotten I had (don't you dare judge!). I mean, this is a fine example of my inability in recent years to let things go. I had this white glossy Siamese cat that I painted in a pottery class back in the seventies (very mid-century). My mother, for some reason unbeknownst to me, loved that cat and kept it until her death in 2014. Of course, since it was my artwork, I inherited it and have tried my best to incorporate it into my decor and honor something in the keeping of that cat (what, I do not know). But the kitty went to a new home this week. A lady from a local junk store scooped her up like a hot commodity and I'm sure by now she's living in a new home making someone very happy with her cool green eyes. Bye-bye, kitty. Hope you're still here at the turn of the next century...just not living at my house. Well, I won't be here either but that's a whole other story. Little by little I'm taking on small projects that I can do myself here at the "cottage." I recently painted the wood floor in my tiny master closet and it looks so fresh! It was a test run for the possible painting later of the hardwoods in the entire house. I know, I know, I might be a nut even considering painting these 60+year-old oak floors but I love painted floors and they are SO cottage-y. So this is a trial to see if I can live with painted floors. I am enjoying dreaming about how to make this little place mine-all-mine without having to consider re-sale anytime soon or maybe ever. Such a wonderful feeling to have stability and so much fun to do what I like instead of decorating for the buyers to be! I hope you, my faithful readers, will understand the few and far-between posts I've been able to upload recently.The last few years have been really hard, and some of the changes I've had to make have been as hard as letting go of the aforementioned items. So the last month has been a time of settling in, resting, recuperating, and the beginnings of a healing process that has been a long time in coming. Sometimes taking time away from everything you've known to push forward for what you know is best is equally as hard and comes with it's own set of new challenges. But if it's necessary, then it hopefully proves down the road to be an overdue exercise in healing and self-care. For me, that is exactly what buying this little house has been. It's been a refuge, a place to renew my health and invest in body, soul, and spirit. And it's a lot like its new owner... a bit older, a bit creaky, and full of quirks. Now, excuse me while I go sniff the bottle of 10-year-old Red Door cologne my mom left behind. You're never too old to need your mama's comfort and, for that reason, I may never let that treasure go. Painting of the Hardwood Floor in Closet... Such a simple thing, but made all the difference :)
 I've added a couple more pieces to the tiny living room...my wicker bench I found in storage and a much-needed book shelf. It's trial and error, placing and re-placing things to get the just right arrangement that doesn't feel cluttered. Also, family pictures and momentos and ALWAYS fresh flowers make it instantly feel like home!
"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."
- Maya Angelou #my1957tinybrickcottage
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