Last week

Was a busy one. I fully intended to post something, even started a post Wednesday, but life interrupted. Wednesday, a neighbor called Tom away while Maria was still here, so once she was gone I had the house to myself. It gave me a moment to feel the peace and, yes, the wonder of it. 

Wonder? When you think where I started from--and no I won't go into the details of that here--then wonder's the right word. Forget about the beginning of it all, and it's still pretty darn amazing. I married at 19; Tom was 21. I worked in a loan office and he was in the Air Force. I can't even remember what we made but it was pretty darn little. Our first apartment was barely bigger than my master suite now. It was a garage apartment for which we paid $89 a month. One teensy bedroom, a living room and kitchen no bigger than a sneeze and a bathroom with no space to spare after the essentials. 

Now? It's not a mansion and it's not large, but it's a whale of a way from where we started, and it's paid for. I took pics on Wednesday and yunno most people who post pics are 1) better decorators and 2) better arrangers and 3) better photographers than I, but I am who I am and I thought I'd share anyway.

This is my foyer. Yes, I know it would look better with a table rather than a bench, but a bench is what I have. So deal.

This is my living room from several different angles. The first looking toward the kitchen. (Okay, I said I wasn't a good photographer. I know I didn't say I suck, but hey some things go without saying. And the recliner--well, Tom has to have some little bit of himself in our home. Just look past it.)

Here's a corner of the room. I like this corner. It's got Max's scratching post, the rocking chair Tom got when he retired, the parrot that's his donation to our decoration and a wedge of my fave vases. (Remember, Maria moves things around when she cleans. Sometimes I don't get things back where they belong until just before she comes back the next time!)

The view toward the breakfast nook, which also is our dining area: 

And finally, a pic of a chair I bought at a junk shop many years ago. I repainted it and recovered it and still love it. Five bucks? Such a deal.
Now it's time for me to make Tom's Sunday breakfast. Ta!