It was supposed to be a little break…

 

and it turned out to be a whole lot longer.

There’s a lot to say and a lot that has happened, but the most important thing is that I am sorry for abandoning all of you and this little blog. I have a lot of excuses…

My computer basically bit the dust.

I couldn’t keep up with life and this blog world at the same time.

Things changed.

Life moved on.

Blah, blah, blah…

Oh and I sold the house and moved to a different city.

Yep, I did.

A year ago I decided to change my whole life and make things easier. I’m 52 now after all and I needed something smaller, easier to take care of and with a flatter piece of property. Besides, I had lived in and loved that house for 10 years, which is the longest I had lived anywhere in my life and about 2 years ago I started to feel suffocated, like the walls were closing in, so I put the house on the market after a year of thinking about it. It sold right away to a lady that loves it as much as I did, thank goodness!

It wasn’t an easy decision, but a necessary one for me.

I needed a fresh start and I got one. 

Other things happened, but I won’t get into all of that, because I feel that moving is the main reason I didn’t come back for so long. I mean, what is this blog about other than the house and my life? 

That’s the other issue. 

I feel like I was sharing too much. It’s kind of a strange thing to share your life in a public forum when in reality, you’re a pretty private person. My own family doesn’t know as much about the thoughts in my head as much as all of you do lol I do miss writing though, so I need to figure out a way to do that without saying too much. Not easy apparently 😉

I also miss taking photos. I’ve never been very good at it, but it’s something I like to do. I even started posting on instagram a short time ago, but it’s kind of a strange place. The jury is still out on whether I like it or not. It’s much easier to post there. Two minutes instead of two hours to write a post definitely has its benefits! 

So that’s about the gist of it.

I’m not sure what to do with this blog now, aside from just leaving it here as a testament of old house love. We’ll see…

I’m not even sure if anyone will read this, but I felt the need to write it.

Anyway, I do think about you often and I hope all of you are doing well. 

Happy New Year!

Much love,

rue

Revisiting the living room

I've shown this room a couple of times since my mom gave me some of her furniture, after she moved, but since then, there's been a few minor changes.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the paint color in there, but depending on what time of day or what angle I take a photo, it's always changing. The picture above shows it being darker than in real life, but pretty close.

If you remember this room before, you'll notice a chair missing. I felt it was too crowded, so... poof!... into another room it went.

See what I mean about the color? 

So weird!

I found this table at a local antique store recently.

This is the part I fell in love with:

Bubba still loves his perch :)

Great grandma's lamp and some pictures of Alex, Annie and my nephews when they were small.

The mantel decor has been changed up a bit, but I'm not sure I'm loving it.

That plant doesn't seem happy with it either ;)

Looking towards the dining room, you'll see the biggest change.

I was reading something about Bunny Williams and she recommended having something in your living room that will make you use it. 

I'm not a tv in the living room kinda gal (it's in the den), so my desk was moved in here and the library piece was moved into the library.

Makes sense, huh? ;)

On top of that, she has a desk in her living room, so if it's good enough for her, it's certainly good enough for me!

The chair belonged to my friend's mother in law and she gifted me with it.

Hi Sharon! :)

I think the desk suits the space better.

Although, I'm thinking of selling that file cabinet. 

I really love it, but it just feels like too much to me and I don't have anywhere else to put it.

I know it doesn't look like I use this desk at all, but I do.

Trick photography ;)

Happy belated Autumn, everyone!

xo

rue

The Bathroom

Of all the things to post after a long blogging hiatus...

Ah well, it's one of the many projects that happen to be almost complete.

The only thing it really 'needs' is a shelf to go under the medicine cabinet.

But if I waited until I found the perfect one, it would probably be another 6 months til I posted this room.

I'm just a tad picky ;)

Speaking of being picky,  I'd like to replace the lights with something vintage and find the matching sink and toilet to the bathtub, but that could take years.

So here it is, as close to finished as I could possibly get it right now.

And it's as close to what it probably looked like in 1950, which is what I wanted.

For those of you that don't know the tale of this bathroom, click here.

But here's a quick glimpse of the bathroom during the restoration:

A lot of work, but definitely worth it to me :)

More to come soon.

And by soon, I actually mean soon, not 6 months ;)

xo

rue

Judgy McJudgerson

I've been gone awhile again.

I can't seem to get my blogging groove back.

I start, I stop, I start again, and I stop.

Over and over it goes.

This time though, I've been taking some time getting my ravens ducks in a row.

Yes, those are ravens on my bird bath!

After Christmas, I started to clean house mentally and took a long hard look at myself. 

One of the things I've realized is that I've always been a Judgy McJudgerson and sometimes that side of me shows on this blog.

Not all the time, mind you, but I know when I'm doing it, because I'll hesitate before I push publish, knowing full well that when I do it'll chap some hides.

Then, for whatever reason I'll just say "screw it" and poof! I verbally vomit all over this place.

That is not what I'm going for here.

Or anywhere, for that matter.

Anyway, it's a hard job to change my judgmental ways, since I come from a long line of McJudgersons, but I'm getting there.

Slowly.

I just want to be a better person and for this blog to be a place that will hopefully make people feel good.

I think that package says it all ;)

love,

rue

PS

Thanks to all of you for your sweet words on my last post about Mini's passing. It means a great deal to me that you care and that some of you even shared your stories about your fur-babies passing on. My heart goes out to all of you.

The last picture I took of Mini.