Hi y'all! I'm a 46 year old native South Carolinian. I teach high school English in a neighboring town (about a 30 minute commute). I live with my hubby (who I met on the internet and convinced to move here from NH), six cats, and two wild Border collie/Dalmation pups, Maggie and Molly.

We moved our house about 4 years ago and have been repairing and redecorating ever since. My garden is growing slowly, but hopefully surely, as we had to start from scratch, not even a lawn. We still have about 1/2 acre behind the house that is choked with weeds, broken glass, and about a million beer cans. We're slowly making progress on cleaning and clearing. I have some plants that are favorites just because they came from family, such as the gardenias my dad rooted for me, and the daffodils that originally grew at my great-grandparents house.

We love to find "previously loved" items at garage sales, thrift and consignment stores, and antique malls. My main collections are antique glass (especially candlesticks), kitchenalia, and books, while my hubby collects barware.

We have no kids (except the furbabies and my 140 or so that I "adopt" as mine every year).

Here is a link that might be useful: In Progress- House and garden

Hi Diana and all you Great Little Home Lovers!

We live in Eastport, ME a beautiful and wonderful Island City on the coast of Maine.

I work at a really cool place. It is the only remaining stone ground mustard mill. It has been in the same location since 1903 and is operated by the 4 generation of the Raye family. Here is a movie I made about it: http://homepage.mac.com/downeastwaves/rayesmustardmill/iMovieTheater18.html

We love to travel and do so every winter, we head to some place warm in our motor home. We have a cute little Boston Terrier, he is the 5th generation bred by me and the very best! He's an AKC Champion, lover of the sun, and great pal.

Photography, crafts and GARDENING are what I like to do, also I volunteer a lot, working downtown at the Quoddy Craft Shop and Museum and for the Eastport For Pride community organization, oh yeah, I the editor for the English Foxhound Club of America newsletter and serve on the Health Committee for the Boston Terrier Club of America. Next week I'm starting the Master Gardner class up in Calais, it will be 2 nights a week!

Oh dear, it is getting late so that will have to do for now....

Leasa

PS I taught high school Graphic Arts and Printing for 13 years and before that I worked 15 years for a commercial printer/newspaper chain....

Here is a link that might be useful: Eastport, Maine

Hi there fellow/fellowess small home owners. I am 57 years young, live with my best friend and DH of 37 years (in Sept) on 1/4 acre in a 50's cottage in s.e. FL. Gardening is my favorite hobby. I also love to crochet, especially with fine thread, knit, embroider by hand, paint in watercolors, cook, (have over 300 ckbks.) read, listen to lots of different kinds of music, help DH with all kinds of projects that we do around our compound. I manage an antique shop part-time, have been there 9 1/2 years this month. I feel like I work in a museum, as the shop is filled with pieces from the 16th century forward, mostly from Europe.

I am really glad this forum is here as it feels very homey and friendly. Other home forums were intimidating, not very comfortable to visit, when it all seemed like just a way to brag about their latest furnishings, brand new humongous homes and the rest of us just aren't with it. There's more to life than brand names, huge mortgages, etc.

We're not into collecting things anymore. In fact, we are working on decluttering. I am happy with our small collections, our largest being books. (We'll still buy books if they interest us, but I am really enjoying my library card these days. We do 'curbside shop' and have found useful as well as fantastic stuff for free. We've been doing this our whole married life and we're too in the groove to stop now. We are more selective these days though.

Looking forward to meeting the rest of you and making this another little home away from home.

FlowerLady

Below is a picture taken of me three years ago, and I basically look the same, hair is probably more silver though. We were visiting Butterfly World and this blue morph landed on me and DH got the picture. If any of you ever visit so. FL make Butterfly World one of your stops. {{gwi:2066508}}

Hi there! I'm 54 years young...55 next month ;o) I live in Dutchess County, NY with my DH of almost 18 years, a pug named Tootie, and two cats, Bitsy and Bundles. My son is grown (23) and out of the house. He lives about 1 1/2 hours away, and we can always tell when he's been here if we're not home...the pantry has had a 'shopper' LOL. We live on 7 idyllic acres, and have a rental cottage on the property, as well as our house (and two outbuildings...thank heavens!). I love to garden, cook, clean (yes, I'm a sick chick), read, entertain, sew, build stuff, renovate, decorate, and reinvent old stuff. I work as an administrative assistant in our local school district, but in my 'previous life', was in banking/middle management. Now I work M-F, 35 hours per week, holidays off, and absolutely love it. I should have done this 20 years ago, but better late than never. DH is an assistant manager of a seafood department locally, but in his 'previous life' was an electrical contractor. We're definitely homebodies...you can usually find us out in the garden, or working on something or other around the house. Our home truly is our castle.
It's really good to meet everyone...you all seem like a nice group of folks ;o)

Hello everyone,
I am Nancy and I am 47, married 10 years to the sweetest guy (even if he is not handy). He is educated as a trombonist and earns his money (thank gooodness!) in computer programming and designing software systems. I am a social worker/counselor, now twelve years since my first job in the field. At home we have my Dear Father in Law, who just turned 90 and is driving around doing errands again - and our two dogs. Toby and Casey are both mutts and such funny boys. You can see their pictures by clicking on their album in my pbase site. (Megan, the big black dog, died in January)

The other pictures on the site are from my old house. We are trying to sell it. Last fall we moved to a larger home - 1675 sq ft. I need to load more pictures of my garden from last year, maybe take some of it now. The Echinacia and Astilbe are in bloom and the Rudbeckia are starting to bud. I still have one clump of Allium to bloom, too. I spend every Sunday trying to sell the house by doing an open house. Sometimes I take some jewelry-making supplies and get creative while I am there. I use natural semi-precious stones, glass beads for spacers, and metal beads. Lately I have been giving things away or making them at cost for friends.

I am tall and wide, so I do make some of my own skirts. My friend is going to help me learn to use my first pattern this summer, though. I just sew by eye, so far. I used to knit, but I am slow. Precise and even, but slow. I love cables. I never learned crochet.

Sometimes I dream about matching furniture and not having to cover it with slip covers because of dogs, but I come to my senses. We did splurge for a bedroom set when we moved here, though. I have an odd assortment of furniture otherwise. I recently bought a chair and coffee table at an estate sale that is from the 1950s - Hartshorn Furniture Co. I thought the upholstry was okay on the chair cushions, but not great. Looked new. Come to find that it has the original satin tag on it and is the original upholstry! They don't make cushions with innerprings like this anymore. I bet there is horsehair in there, too. I also have an old oak rocker that my mom's grandad sat in when she was little, an octogonal table from Dad's dad, and a quartersawn art deco style little buffett. And my floorlamp is antique and I used the shade's ribbed frame to make a new shade 15 years ago with bridal fabric, fringe, ric-rac and fabric glue. Then there is the big oak tv cabinet from this century and the used loveseat that is kept covered. A mish-mash that I could call eclectic if I wanted to be pretentious!

Leasa, I loved your beach glass jewelry. I checked out all the albums and got a kick out of all the dogs. Both of mine are hound mixes (Beagle/Golden is Toby. He is sooo laid back until he decides to bark at something! Casey is a Dalmatian/hound, counter-cruiser, bird catcher, rabbit-chaser, momma-lover. He taught Toby to bay and they howl together a few times a day.)

Flowerlady, you look like a calm and peaceful lady.

Pameliap, Your house was quite the project! You have to get pics of Maggie and Molly for us, though. I have a dal/hound, Casey.

Diana, good for you and DH for getting out of the rat-race! That is a difficult leap of faith to take, sometimes. It is funny, but today was the first time I noticed there was a discussion side of our new board.

Here is a link that might be useful: My photo albums

Well, big HUGS to old friends Diana and Flowerlady.
Heck, I didn't realize there was an "other side" to the smaller homes forum!!
I'm 42, married for 12 years. I don't have a paying job as our church needs volunteers to help with our disabled congregants (who are most of us, lol). So I work as a volunteer in our greenhouse, helping to direct our 10 workers. Plus I do anything else that is necessary to help our folks. My passion is gardening, and I do it pretty much all day long. I love to read non-fiction gardening books, books about 50's and 60's fashion and furnishings and I love rather odd fiction. Music is another love (can you guess my favorite eras?) and I also love all sorts of movies from the 20's to the early 70's. I used to run a vintage record store, and before that I was a nanny, a teacher for autistic highschool students, and a life-skills instructor/social worker for profoundly multiply handicapped adults.
I am cheap. I love a good bargan. Don't get me wrong, I spend money lol...but I'm more likely to spend it at the dollar store or thrift store than at Saks.
We do not have children but I adore them.
My friends would describe me as being a lot like Pheobe on Friends. I don't think I'm ditzy. I'm just Canadian, lol :) We have our own brand of humour.

GGG

Nancy - Here's our little (well, ok, not so little, lol) family.

Here is a link that might be useful: Furbabies

Diana ~ I'm so glad you started this thread. It is so nice to read a little about everyone here. This forum is starting to feel like another home. I always enjoy seeing pictures of your lovely home and fantastic gardens.

Pameliap ~ I love your cheery kitchen with all of your colletibles. Keep sharing pics of the progress with your home and gardens and of course your family of furbabies too.

Leasa ~ What a lovely little town you live in. Loved the picture of you and your DH too.

MrsMarv ~ What a happy couple you and your DH make. Love your home and your fantastic gardens. DH and I are homebodies also.

Nancy ~ I love your new kitchen. Very soothing to the senses. Love your collections also. Your canine friends are sweet. Do you have any pictures of your jewelry? I love earrings. I do not have pierced ears so am always looking for the older earrings that are colorful. Have a small collection. Haven't found any lately though. Although I'm not really out looking these days either. Cables are fun to knit. I've not done any knitting in awhile. Right now I'm working on a crocheted coverlet for our bed. It's made with yarn from my late MIL's stash that I inherited, and some from an elderly friend who no longer crochets. It's colorful and each row is a different stitch. I'll post a picture when I'm finished. I've not sewn anything in years and years. I used to get so tense sewing with the machine that I quit. I've gotten into buying some nice broken in clothing from thrift stores, yard sales, etc. I wear mainly skirts and colorful tops to work. I did buy three nice tiered skirts retail recently. We also have a mix of furniture, some antique, some not-so-antique, some modern. I try to be calm and peaceful, but it doesn't always work that way. : -)

GGG ~ Glad you made it to this side of the forum and to Smaller Homes. I always love seeing pictures of your fabulous home and gardens. You've been such a huge inspiration to me.

Have a great weekend everyone.

FlowerLady

Welcome to The Other Side - sounds like a 1950's sci-fi show.
because of this chat, i researched and found out my house is actually 1780 sf instead of the nearly 2,000sf i had believed it was all along.
14 years ago, we built a 812 sf 3 car detached garage with full attic storage. if it wasn't for that garage, i would of gone through "junk withdrall"
i have a degree in Environmental Design and another in Construction Engineering Technology. i've been in the carpenter's union since 1982. I presently work for a local fire department as a fire inspector.
i've been married for 26 years and we have anywhere from 3 to 5 teenage boys living in our house at a time (3 ours, 2 nephews).
if i quit bringing home furniture from yard sales, i'd have much more room in this old house.
our home is a 1927 brick four square, 4 bed rooms, 2 baths and full unfinished basement. our house has many built-ins and arches which adds to the architectural charactor.after 24 years, we had just finished remodeling and updating last fall.
i love to retro garden, yard sale, read non fiction, sewing, old movies, remodel, design period interiors, sleep, landscape, drag home road side treasures, creative reuse, dumpster dive and draft.
i subscribe to way too many shelter magazines and like retro 1920-1930's interiors.
i dislike McMansions, conspicuous consumption and "vinyl villages"

Hi Wonderful Friends!
It's me...georgeanne. It's nice to see old friends and meet new ones too.
Well, I am a soon to be SAHW, finally! I am cruising in on a new (gulp) decade the big 6-0. In December I'll be retiring from 20 years as a Children's Librarian. Before that and before 3 kids, 1 boy and 2 girls, I was a high school physical education/health teacher. ex: TWEEEEEEET, ALL RIGHT, LISTEN UP, LINE UP IN YOUR TEAM LINES. What do you mean you sent your gymsuit to the dry cleaners?
Now I say, "What do you mean the dog chewed your library book?"
I do all of the outreach programs and get to visit many little ones at preschools and kindergartens all over town. My puppet friend "Great Big Spider", no eensy weensy for us, is always with me bumbling along, forgetting words, being too shy. Darn, I'll miss him.

My DH of 37 years is a retired school teacher. He's a country boy so 5 years ago this Aug. we sold our city house and moved to the country, 6 acres south of Akron, Ohio.
It was then I had a cosmic revelation...I LOVE to garden, get my hands dirty, see things I plant grow, try different things. Still learning it's ok if something doesn't work out and you can change landscape!!!

I love to quilt, sew, bake, babysit baby GD's, read, read, read, when I'm not outside. I've learned an enormous amount from the GW sites and e-met some great guys and gals. Sometimes I find myself talking about something one of you did in your garden or someplace you've gone or a great decorating find and I realize I truly feel as if we've met face to face.

georgeanne

P.S. I love "Lost" too and Nancy, I have the same dishes and live about 2 hrs. from McCoy/Roseville pottery. Bout broke my heart when they closed. I still grab up pieces when I find them.

Posted a couple of messages....repeating how great it is to find this site. Will repeat and introduce myself.

Just moved into an 1100 sq. ft. 1950s ranch, am located in Colorado Springs. Decision to buy was being closer to my kids and getting rid of stairs along with the endless cleaning of 3 toilets. I am single/widowed...what the heck was I doing with 3 bathrooms for so long?

An old house wasn't planned, too much work. But fell in love with the location, yard and comfortable feeling. So...now I have work and am really not concerned. It is wonderful to see the little guy evolve and there will always be something to add/change/adorn.

64 years young, husband was a great build it guy, but I have been too. It takes a bit longer getting things done, but there are tons of ideas in my head for this little house and nothing is going to stop me from creating such. It feels so much more like home than rambling around in more space than anyone really needs. Even the kids love this place.

Hadn't expected so much to be done but the major stuff like plumbling, electrical, new roof and relandscaping the yard are over. So many neighbors have dropped by to let me know how much they love seeing the house transform.

I love to garden, am an artist/photographer. Focus on architectural details and old trucks. Was a miniaturist a while back and had some projects published for a few years. I gave this up primarily due to room and wanting to move on with my art direction. One of the last projects I did in scale was my grandmother/mother's home. I had taken a memory walk back to Ohio. The only living relative was an aunt who had lived in the house. The home was still there and I prompted her memory along with photos to describe the interior and furniture. Took bunches of photos and measurements. Oddly, the week after I went back home the house was torn down. Had I not planned the trip, the house would never have been seen...only memories as a child. Some guessing went into this regarding furniture, but when done my aunt was floored that it was the same they had and lost from a flood. My guess is everyone during the 1920 era probably had the same...but she felt like a part of her life had been given a special place. Writing this I realize this model has been in a box for 8 years...tis time to bring it out.

My father worked for the Hall China Company in Ohio, as well as a number of my relatives. I have a number of their original pieces only due to knowing their hands were part of such. It hadn't occured to me to get them out until reading some of your messages. I've been surrounded by mountain living and style was primarily woods/leather. This new house gives me a great excuse to change styles...what fun stuff ahead.

Apologies if this was rambling....it is just great knowing there are so many of us out there. Love the pics and ideas all are sharing. Hope to post a few of my own when out of moving chaos.

Sandy

Pameliap - today the link worked for me and I see that you have quite a LOT of fur in your house, I only hope for your sake that it at least tries to stay attached to the warm bodies it belongs to! The picture of Molly and Maggie eating with the cat joining in is so funny. Poor bald Molly looks "normal" to me, with my short-haired Dal mix. It is so funny looking at the sisters with Molly's hair gone, they don't look at all like they are sisters. My Casey does the same posture and look that Molly has in the picture of them sharing the cage.

Flowerlady, I am glad that you liked the kitchen, I love it, too. It was great to work in (for a basicly galley kitchen) and I had lots of room for my McCoy pots. I have trouble leaving it every Sunday when I finish my open house. Yup - the kitchen is in the house we have for sale! Anybody want to move to Michigan for a nice kitchen in a comfortable ranch home with a crazy garden?

Georgeanne, I am a bit lost with the McCoy in this new house, we have gradually moved from pastel colors to jewel tones and so the McCoy is not so much on display anymore. It is in my sewing room, though. That old pottery just feels homey to me.

Sandy, pull yours out again and enjoy it! I am just going to keep mine in the sewing room until the living room changes to pastels again. Those pots have been around 60 years, what's another 10 or 15 to them? LOL!

Nancy in Mich ~ It must be kind of sad selling a place you've come to love. Where you put so much of yourself into. Do you live far away from your old home? What is your new kitchen like?

FlowerLady

Yes, it is sad, but I think of it as gifting another family with my vision and our workmen's artistry. Remember, though, that only the outside and the kitchen were nice. When we lived there, we had peeling wallpaper in the living/dining room and hall, a funky accoustical tile ceiling in the bathroom with a hole cut so that the new vent fan/heater did not entirely cover the hole where the old one had been, peeling wallpapper in the stairwell and nasty vinyl flooring half torn off the steps to the basement, a rotted floor on the landing to the garage from the house, a back screen door that was clawed through by the dogs, chipped paint on the shelving unit that hid the cedar closet, a bedroom ceiling in need of repair, and wood floors badly in need of refinishing. All of that was fixed AFTER we moved out. We had spent years and tens of thousands of dollars just fixing the outside!

Our new kitchen is u-shaped. One arm of the u has a bit of wall where my buffet fits, a 40 inch deep, 30 inch wide pantry ( a shape with a lot of wasted space), the new fridge (french door, get one if you can), about three feet of counter before the deep corner. Then along the bottom of the u is about three feet of counter, the stove, then 2 feet of counter, a double sink (we loved our 33" single sink), about 2 feet of counter before the deep corner (the cab in the corner is entirely unaccessible). Then the second arm of the u is all counter, with the dishwasher as the first cab after the base of the u. That means you cannot stand to the left of the dishwasher with the door open. Overall, there are more drawers than we had, but the cabs have these huge face frames that leave tiny little openings to get to the contents of the cupboard. A carpenter could easily take an inch and a half off of all the face frames and still be able to cover the openings with the cupboard doors. They are the original cupboards from 1978, but have been painted a creamy off-white. The countertop is that formica that looked like butcherblock. The floor is sheet vinyl that looks like deep-stained oak beams with pegs instead of nails. It is all in good condition, just not the style or materials I would have chosen. Back at the top of the first arm of the u we had my buffet. Well, the kitchen table sits in front of the buffet and is next to the kitchen area. The whole second arm of the u - the side that is all counter - is open to the family room. This is what attracted us to the house, the kitchen overlooks the place the non-cooks will be and the the cook can even watch TV. I guess if we all had big houses on this forum, we'd just have gotten that flat-panel fold-down TV all the richer folks have. Instead, the cook can be part of the family and watch the same TV everyone else is watching.

I think the kitchen once had those drop ceilings with the fluorscent lights imbeddded in the drop portion. Now they are gone and we are left with a tray effect that is not offensive, but there is wallpaper border with veggies lining the sides of the trays. And the tray near the kitchen area is oblong while the tray above the table is more like a rounded square. There is a chintzy stained-glass tiffany-hoakey light fixture above the table. it is in pink florals while the veggie paper on the border is in more primary colors and the contrast is irritating to me.

So I guess you could say I don't much like the kitchen! But it works, and that is okay with me. At least it does not give me the creepy-crawlies like our last one did before we redid it.

Nancy...thanks for urging me on to put out the Hall China. My kitchen is small, although maybe not as small as most on this board. There wasn't an eating area in the kitchen, lots of wasted space, and do not have a dining room. This really didn't bother me when I bought the house, dining had gone by the wayside long ago. But everyone that visits wants to be in the kitchen...had forgotten about this. Getting creative with the more than enough furniture moved...I tore out a wall of cupboards to add a small eating option. Ended up attaching my glass display case to this wall for dishes and sliding a table under it. Now have lots of storage for everyday and fun stuff...so there is room now to display the Hall.

I just now "found" the conversation side of the forums....LOL.

I'm Marilyn, a 50 yo SAHW. DH retired from a major grocery chain last year and is working PT now as a sales service rep for a food company. To say the least, he's home alot more than before. He's only 52 so he has to work some but we feel like we are semi-retired. I do some web design at home for a couple of clients but nothing full time. Gives me more time to enjoy my small house and big yard.
I love to be in the garden in the Summer and quilting in the Winter. I love to read "cozy" mysteries and absolutely love spending time with my little granddaughter, Emma. She's 11 months old in a couple of days!!!! Our first.
I have 2 children: married son, 29yo and single daughter, 27 yo. My daughter lives next door to us in another small home so we exchange lots of decorating tips and techniques.
We have 2 dogs and 1 parakeet. Toby is my little chihweenie and is 5 yo. He's my little shadow and definitely my little house dog. Keesha is our almost 13 yo husky and she hates being inside. So she lives outside but mostly on the porch. The parakeet is 11yo and is named Buddy. He was my sons and I inherited him 9 years ago when my son & dil got married. He's not my favorite pet but I love him, too.
I love to cook and try new recipes out on my husband. We eat out on our porch almost every night of the week during the Summer & Fall. And we have become more interested in wines having tried to visit more of the local statewide vineyards. We like to sit on our big front porch and have a nice glass of wine or iced tea and watch the hummingbirds.

We have lived in our house for over 25 years. We bought it from DH's grandparents who had lived here for 20 years before that. Our house was moved onto the property a little over 60 years ago and as of right now we have no idea how old it really is. DH's grandparents built the FR/DR combo and a 3/4 bath and laundry "closet" in 1976/77 which brought the square footage up to 1268. We moved in Jan. 19, 1981 and lived here 2 weeks before adding a 3rd bedroom. The LR was long enough to accomodate a wall and give us an 8x11 bedroom still leaving us with 15x11 for the LR. We used panelling for the wall so a couple of years ago I used joint compound and textured it and painted it and you wouldn't know there was panelling under it.
I LOVE fixing up my little old house.

I love garage sales and anything that is "cheap" or "free". My bil is the local freecycle moderator and is trying to get me more involved. I've tried to simplify my life more by getting rid of things we just don't use or need. But my little house still seems to be full. But that's ok, cause that's what makes it cozy.

It's so nice to meet all of you and to be part of the Small House forums. I love it!
Marilyn in NM

Marilyn,
Where in NM are you located. I moved back to CO from Corrales 5 years agao (kids are here and prompted me..or loved me enough to want family together). I loved NM, if family were there I would be back in a minute. The sky, sun sets/rises, brightest of wild flowers....beautiful place and a serenity I can't put into words.

Are you in an adobe or frame? Think I may have read a post from you earlier that mentioned the four corners.

SAndy in CO

Sandy, I'm in Aztec. We are about 20 miles or so from the Colorado border, just south of Durango, which is about 40 miles away. I love it here. We have mountains and deserts. The best of both worlds and very mild weather although we've been experiencing the heat like everyone else.

I see you are in the Springs. One of my favorite places. We have gone up there many, many times on our way to Denver/Boulder over the past 25 years and we finally stayed at a B&B on Nevada street for our 25th anniversary 6 years ago. My sister lives near Boulder so we go up there and visit quite often. They tried AZ for a year but moved back to CO as that's where my bil is from.
They are those people that HAVE to have a 3000 sf home (and that's not counting the unfinished basement) and it has to be "new", not "used". They've NEVER lived in a "used" house. With the only exeption of renting between houses being built. We were just up there the end of June and it's ridiculous to see people that are getting ready to retire this year for my bil and then in a few years for my sis, to be living in a 4 bedroom, 3 story home. It's huge! And then I come home to my little 1268 sf house and am as happy as a lark! They couldn't give that big thing to me. I'd sell it and buy something smaller right away. AND this is their retirement home.....unbelievable. I'm venting so will stop now....LOL. I always do that after a visit to her homes!

It's so nice meeting you! I love this forum and just can't stay away. I have to check in everyday! I love it!
Marilyn in NM

Hi,
I just found the conversations side of this forum! Everyone here seems so nice, I like it better than the HD forum b/c that forum gets to be intimidating.

I live in a 1550 cape cod in Westchester, NY - a suburb of NYC with my DH, DD (8 yo) and DS (17 months). We bought our house b/c of the school system and are actually now in the process of adding on. We have a 3BR home but BR 3 is downstairs and I want my infant son upstairs with the rest of us. We couldn't afford to move to a bigger house so we are blowing our savings on a 2 story addition that will make our house roughly between 2000-2100 sq ft.

I work PT as a marketing manager in NYC for a TV network. My DH is a "techie". I used to think that I enjoyed the rat race and wanted a big successful career but I've come to realize what's important (family, friends, quality of life). So now I'm working PT to pass time and make $$.

I love reading, shopping, going out to eat, relaxing with friends, new england, coffee, LOST, movies, the ocean and anything sweet.

I enjoy reading about and getting to know everyone. I'll be checking in every day as its how I relax at night.
Jen

Marilyn...I guessed right about your location...must have been a good day for me. Am very familiar with the area as we had a son at college in Durango. The drive from four corners to Denver is a "long" one. Am enjoying Colorado Springs and being so close to everything. Located near the Broadmoor, near the base of the mountains, so I have a lot of options for nature, shopping and art offerings nearby. There are deer always on the roads around here and was told my apple tree in back is a favorite for bears. Am not looking forward to the bear, hopefully my dogs will bark them away.

It may sound like I am rural, but am not. This is a very tight neighborhood with little houses sprinkled inbetween huge mansions. A lot of the small homes are owned by seniors who have lived here for 50 some years. When one or two small homes are sold, people are tearing them down to build the mansions. Hopefully the historical society will get into this area and stop some of this. The problem with doing so rests on taxes....big new houses always brings far more to the city.

Just realized that photos of this area may be of interest. When I am more settled with this move and the chaos, will post a few. The little houses make a statement of their own resting on their secluded spots.

Cheers to all for saving our little homes and loving them as much as we do.

Sandy

Hiya... I'll quote from "My Page":
"Greetings from the New Hampshire coast! Thirtymumble married woman, blissfully childfree & owned by 1 cat (a Generic Kitty named Random) and 1 dog (a Keeshond named Goku). In March of 2004 we moved into our very first house, a 1900sf 4BR dormered Cape/backwards saltbox circa 1994, rather battered by a previous owner who thought he was a better DIYer than he really was! Its been a hair-raising experience; occasionally I find myself wondering what we got ourselves into. Spouse is completely unhandy - his opinion: "I would not ask a plumber to design a data warehousing and reporting system, so donÂt ask me to fix a toilet!" Due to disability (severe fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome) I am less handy than I would like... the spirit is willing (and actually knows how to do a lot of things, and knows just enough about a lot of other things to get into trouble LOL) but the flesh is uncooperative. I do my best anyway! I have come to love collecting antique Arts and Crafts and Victorian furniture and copperwork and using them to beautify my home. I dream of having a bungalow of my very own someday, although they are rare enough in this area that we will probably have to build one."

In addition to messing with my computer and my house, I like aromatherapy, jewelrymaking, hanging out with my friends, reading (voraciously, mostly fantasy and house books) and watching tv - my favorite shows are "Good Eats", "CSI", and "House". Although I haven't worked since 1994, my employment background is in the culinary arts (I attended the Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago) and I have a bachelor's degree in English Literature with minors in anthropology and psychology. I am a brownthumbed wonder who hates gardening... I can kill mint. DH says I should hire out to take care of invasive plants because I'd kill them off in no time. :-) He is CTO of a small high-tech consulting startup so the title sounds a lot better than it is, but luckily it means he gets to telecommute... 70-hour weeks are a lot more tolerable without a commute added on!

I'm also an insomniac. :-)

Hi ALL! I haven't had time to get back over to this side since I started this thread, so it's nice to see that many have found the conversations side. I love hearing about all your interesting locations and tidbits of your lives.

Sandy, we love Colorado Springs. My DH would live in the area in a heart beat, especially near the mountains. We traveled through your area about 5 years ago on our way back from visiting our new born grandson in Indiana. I was enchanted with some of the smaller, older home neighborhoods, and I hope those big ol' mansions don't take over. What a shame that would be.

We came home via the southern route through the mountains and found out how quickly the weather could change in the area. We had a new Audi TT and were having fun driving it around all those winding roads. As we continued to climb in elevation, the temps steadily dropped and the next thing we knew the snow light came on the climate system and the temps were in the 30's! Then it started to snow! This after having just left your area which had been in the high 90s. Oh, and I should add we had a near miss with a tornado two days earlier in Nebraska. That was a climatic vacation. : )

Jen, you must be really busy with those little ones. I applaud you for working PT, too. Don't forget to take a little time for yourself, even if it is only relaxing to watch those hunks Jack and Sawyer. ; ) So, what ship are you picking - Jade or Skate?

Georgeanne, it won't be long now and you'll be a full time cottager! Whoo hoo! Did DH get the barn?

Diana

Sandy, I love the area that you live in. We had friends that lived in the Broadmoor area. Great mountain views. I actually still have a cousin that lives up there.
We really love the zoo there much better than Denvers.
And yes, it is quite a drive but we love it! It's actually not too bad taking a couple of back routes to the Springs but when we go to Denver, Erie, actually, we take 285 most of the way from Del Norte CO. It's such a beautiful drive. We love our mountains!!!!! We're just a couple of hours from Wolf Creek and only alittle over an our to Purgatory Ski Resort. Right now they've been having the Music in the Mountains and we are planning to go on our 31st anniversary in August. I can't wait.
Have you spent much time in Old Colorado City???? I love the ambiance of all the antique stores and gift shops. I used to collect Fire King jadite and picked up quite a few pieces in a shop up there. Love to just walk the shops.

Anyway, just wanted to say Hi and let you know I love the area you are in! And OH, watch out for the bears!!!
Marilyn in NM

Another Marilyn here.

I live on 50 acres on Chocolate Bayou, near the Texas Gulf Coast. I am about 45 miles from Galveston by road, but about
15 miles, as the crow flies.

My small house was built to be a work shop...24 x 36, but we moved into it and converted it to a house, in order to buy the land next door to us. We still have a lot of work to do on it.

My husband is a commercial shrimper, but with shrimping going down the tubes due to imports and high cost of fuel, loss of habitat, etc., he is going to take a class to get his 100 ton license so he can be a tow boat captain. Kind of hard to change your livlihood at 60 years old, but doesn't have much choice. At least he won't have to worry about the cost of fuel, torn up nets, trying to find sober deckhands, etc. Altho I am sure he will still shrimp on his days off.

We have one grown daughter, who lives and works in Houston.

I rehab wildlife, specializing in opossums. I also raise waterlilies, collect antiques and junk...with an emphasis on
garden related items. I love all kinds of plants...especially old fashioned roses, crinums, natives.
Love nature...feed the birds, wildlife, never kill the snakes who share our little spot.

Looking forward to doing some more work on the house this winter. We would like to add a sun porch and a bigger bathroom. Also a deck in the back.

Niceta meetcha all!

Hello Everyone Yall's homes and furbabies are soo wonderful it is soo nice to meet you all.

My name is RaNae I'll be 42 this year and live with my wonderful DH Doug we have been together since 1983- cosmically we were spose to be together- both born in same small town hospital 3 years apart- same ob, same lady signed our birth certificates- he grew up there we moved away by about 40 minutes when I was 3 months old....Jump to August 1, 1983 we both started working at Aeolian American (the last handmade piano factory in the US that closed in 85) in the small town where I grew up- He was in structural maitenance of the factory and machines I worked on the pianos- one day while I was working I saw him greasing a drill near my station and I thought to myself- gosh he's kinda cute- he has amazing eyes- shoot what a smile- I can see myself going out with him- heck I can see myself married to him... that was in OCT we met Christmas Eve Day that year 1983 I was 18 he had just turned 22 We started dating the folowing March of 84 and have been together ever since- LOVE at First sight does happen- he is sooo wonderful and honorable and committed- he helped care for my dying Father in our home for over a year when we were just 25 and 28 I have helped him through a Total Hip Replacement due to a childhood virus and manage our home and keep him on schedule. We have 2 wonderful furbabies- always have furbabies in the house lol.

A year ago today we closed on our new house in Texas- because of my dh's transfer luckily our old house sold in 3 days(in a slowww OK market)and we were in our new home 31 days later- we had been on scouting trips previously thank God and our home although it is new construction- met our criterias of location, building practices- i.e. windows flashed- huricane straps- floor plan and smaller size and smaller lot and $$. Idealy we'd like to be in a condo in down town Fort Worth- Great City or in a true Cottage down there but this is great too.

My hobbies include- crochet (made my first afghan at 5yo what a sight it was lol), cross stitch, just getting into needlepoint, painting, trash to treasure, I like mosaic although I have only done 1 so far, drawing, my sewing is improving- self taught by eye don't know how to work a pattern but my friend Jay Bird is gonna teach me that, and I enjoy making lamp shades and changing lamp shades and enhancing lamp shades lol. I'd die if I couldn't express myself creatively. I am a novice cottage gardner also.

I have a cosmetology license and have worked retail and in different capacities in the dog world- i.e. kennels and groom shops. I love and collect sheep btw and hope to have a hobby flock in retirement. We have also been to Hawaii 3 times and love the Water- we used to live in Lower Alabama Daphne/Mobile area and would move back there or to Hawaii in a heart beat if my DH could work there. We also love back home the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Upstate NY.

Shoot I"ve had too much coffee and am rambling- imagine if we were in person you would'nt get a word in edge wise LOL
RaNae

Okay... first time I've done the bio thing on GardenWeb! Here goes:

Mom of 3 grown daughters, grammy to 6 munchkins, ages 3 to 10. I find this slightly amazing. I'm 63 1/2 years old, and divorced for so long I feel single rather than detached, if that makes sense!

For the time being, I work part time for the Forest Service mostly doing scientific and technical writing, but get out in the field as often as I can, and absolutely love it. (I do outside as much as possible-- not an indoor person. Not a morning person, either, but that's a whole other deal.)

Love to garden, and spend more time in garden than working on house, and house shows it.

Always been an artist, and a few years ago fell in love with fused glass, so now have a small studio, and am getting close to being good enough to go in galleries. I want to make glass tile designs for my bath and kitchen and some special stuff for my stairway. Right now I have a lot of stuff sitting in windows.

I am owned by 2 Very Large Cats named Mona and Jellybean, and a recently adopted elderly Beagle, Misty. I also am currently fostering a homeless mama cat with 4 babies until they are ready for adoption. House is nuts.

I have chronic Lyme disease, mostly in remission right now, though it occasionally flares up and I get to go on antibiotics for a while again.

Buying this house was a real benchmark for me: it is a symbol of returning to my own life after nearly 2 decades of failing health, and loss of most of what I'd worked for, and finally being diagnosed and treated. I feel so very lucky.

Here I am, with one of those munchkins (this one is Juliet):

Dayle Ann

Glad you bumped this, a fun thread. Where did half of you go though? We were starting to make friends.