A Cautionary Tale

One word, Danger.  Two words, Slippery Slope.  Three words, Beware of Brother.

The trouble with wanting a little space for a craft area is that when you ask for one thing you end up with a whole lot more.  One shelf leads to 5 and one table leads to three.  A little light here and the next thing you know is you have track lighting, white paint and windows everywhere.  A roof repair leads to a new roof, a little cement sidewalk leads to a driveway.  A little wishing well turns into a fish pond with a waterfall as big as Niagara Falls.

I should have been warned as I watch “This Old House” and “Sarah’s House”, nothing is ever “just that easy” as my brother is willing to remind me several times a day as he curses while struggling with tight corners and I scream at a hammered thumb.  Both of us have wobbly knees and twisted backs but we labour on as we envision Downton Abbey in miniature form.  Alright, maybe not Downton Abbey but my own little castle.  Okay, okay, my little log cabin on the prairie (but somehow that doesn’t sound nearly so romantic).

Some things can make a very strong impression on a person.  Reading “Little House in the Big Woods” led to bigger and better “Gone with the Wind” but the common theme was “land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything . . . for tis the only thing in this world that lasts”.  My parents were always very house proud and enjoyed decorating their homes.  My father was never a handy man but with my mother’s help they would hang wallpaper and paint walls and later on Dad even put up panelling.  I remember he had a real love of walnut and almost every one of our homes had walnut wood somewhere.  At least one wall of the house also had grass wall paper and it’s something I respond to whenever I see it (which doesn’t happen very often now as wallpaper of any kind is very passé).

At the end of a renovating phase all I can sigh is “Home Sweet Home”.