Making old new again...

February 18, 2012

As John Steinbeck simply said, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." My plans to go to Trade Days and pick up boxes yesterday got postponed.  Michael had flu symptoms and spent the day in bed.  I may just need to pick up the phone and have boxes delivered if I'm going to get anything done.  My daughter sent me a text message asking me if I was procrastinating.  Probably so...  I just look around me and sigh...

Do you repurpose?  I've been reading about people who repurpose clothes, furniture and on and on.  We've become such a throw away society that I'm very happy to see us reusing or giving to someone in need.  The farm my mother grew up on is a perfect example of using "everything."  Meal scraps were fed to the pigs, cats, and dog.  The Sears catalog doubled as toilet paper in the outdoor "biffy" (as my mother called it).  I wonder how in the heck they managed to walk out into the woods mid winter to use the bathroom.  Brrr!  Who ever heard of paper towels??  My mother had a seven day set of dish towels for drying dishes and a basket full of rags for cleaning.  Holes in socks were darned and worn jeans were set for extended wear with iron on denim patches.  We had "Sunday best" clothes and "Sunday best" shoes.  Babies got hand me downs from friends and family as did growing children.  It was always such a treat to get a new school outfit for that first day back at the desk!!

Books were lovingly worn as were quilts and pots and pans.  My mother felt like her pots were just getting broken in after ten years!  Newlyweds received odds and ends to get started as a couple ... my first husband and I were no different.  Our parents were generous refinishing furniture and gifting us with things they didn't need.  When I got pregnant with my first daughter, it didn't occur to us to buy a new crib.  My parents sent us $15 and we went to the thrift shop.  Somehow, we all survived!!

I am rambling aren't I...  We've become so spoiled and accustomed to things we think are needs when they really are wants.  When I met Michael, he was amazed at how long I had had some of my belongings.  I was taught to take good care my clothes, my car, and everything else I was blessed with.  I've never been spoiled or wasteful and when I purchase something I make darn sure that it's what I want.  Somehow, I learned to do for myself what most people pay good money for.  I laugh though ... I always bit my nails and was so embarrassed.  I yearned to wear beautiful rings and bracelets.  I decided that I would get acrylic nails put on every two weeks.  Hey, I quit gnawing on my nails and ended up having beautiful hands!  It was something that I did for me just because!!  Ever do anything for yourself just because??  Good deal....  Run on sentences, rambling thoughts ... oh well, they are my sentences and my thoughts!

I've had this drawing to the little casa from the time I first met Michael.  It was there that I asked that we be married and it was there that I grew to love Mom as much as if she were my own mother.  Now, I am drawn to a dilapidated garage where I envision a little cottage fit for a queen!  Who's the queen?  Me, of course!!  The little casa is so small it's been difficult at best for Michael and I to not bump into each other physically and emotionally.  I think you get my drift!!  I want a place where I can retreat to to pray, read, write and paint ... a serene place of quiet!!  A "woman" cave!!  Ah yes, I can see it now ... a little white cottage with window boxes filled with cascading flowers.

When I got the epiphany about repurposing the old garage at the little casa, I walked around the house doing a little shopping!!  A favorite piece bought as a dining room serving table so long ago which now welcomes guests in the entry will be used as my desk ... the old bookcase bought many moons ago will grace my space holding books and family mementos (if it will fit, it's a big piece!).  What I love will follow me!!

On Monday afternoon, we will meet with Lupe and begin the repurposing of the old garage.  The landscape of a broken down and ramshackled building will be transformed into one that is new and inviting.  The transformation will be blessed each step of the way and I will write scripture on the studs.  I love projects and, believe me, this project is a big one!!

I had a wonderful email from one of the ladies in the Friday Bible Study I attend at White Bluff.  She was thinking I was moving from the little casa and offered to help.  They have made sure that I know that I am covered with prayer.  That is so comforting.  I know you will think I am crazy but God has given me clear signs each step of the way that what I am doing has been annointed.  Change is always tough for me but I heard something (again) today that made sense ... when God closes a door, He has something better in store.  My journey over the next few months will be an interesting one!

The pain in my head continues ... it helps me to focus on something positive and keep on putting one foot in front of the other.  I will finish the last of the antibiotic tomorrow.  The sinus headache is better but not gone.  I pray for deliverance each day.  My body is so tired by night and I do sleep soundly.  The packing and selling of household goods seems overwhelming yet, I know, I can do it one box at a time.

The days ahead will be busy ones ... packing, selling, moving, working on the "woman" cave at the little casa, making new friends, keeping in touch with old friends, making plans to go to Minnesota in July ... getting in a trip to Florida...  2012 will be an adventurous one!!

It is my hope that the dreams you envision will come true for you whatever they may be.  Some my age call dreams a "bucket list" other younger folks call those dreams goals ... pretty much the same thing, don't you think?  There is something for certain though ... if you sit on your butt and don't do anything, those dreams become only a faint "I wish I would have..."

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!

Miss Dottie

"I have woven a parachute out of everything broken."
~~ William Stafford, American Poet