Monday, July 18, 2011

Red Cottage on the Corner

I am moving.  For the sixth time in nearly twelve years, boxes line the edges of my existence.   As I pack, I’m transported back to other moves…the move from small town girl to life on a farm.  After twenty years and a divorce, I moved with my son back to town.  Then came the great adventure of moving from northwest Ohio to Cape Cod Massachusetts.  I moved from a single home on the Cape to sharing a home before I moved back to Ohio.  Another move found me in yet another small town and now I’m moving once again, but somehow I doubt it will be my last move. For a lady who grew up in the same house in the same town and then lived in the same place for over 20 years of her adult life, I sure have been a wandering soul in the last few years. 

One of the remarkable things about each of the homes I’ve lived in, with one exception, is that they were all on a corner.  I wonder what it is about me and houses or cottages on corners.
So here I go again…the house I’m moving to is a charming red cottage that sits on a corner in what was once the tiniest of villages, but is now laughingly called a suburb of the county seat.  My family has a long history in this wee place and the roots of my children’s heritage runs deep through the rich, farming soil of this area.  As my daughter said, “It’s like coming home.”     

Right now mature trees shade the back yard and lightening bugs flash a welcome greeting.  There’s so much to look forward to…the woods across the street putting on a show of color when summer gives way to autumn, placing a pine wreath on the front door for the holidays, the lilac outside my window blooming in spring, and flowers….yes here I can grow all the flowers I want in beds, along the sidewalk, in the front and in the back.  There’s room to grow, to create, and to bloom. 
I painted the walls of my bedroom/office in the perfect color, dried hydrangea and you just know somewhere in that room there will be reminders and remembrances of Cape Cod.  I have plans to build a screen and cover it in wonderful fabric, sew roman shades with a little help from a friend, and place my photography in artful displays.   

There’s so much to love about this little house and much to do in the next two weeks.  I’ll pop in when I can, I’ll relax by visiting your blogs, reading your words, sighing over the photos and artistic endeavors, and try to comment when I can. 

11 comments:

  1. What I love about your description of the new place, is the way it feels like pieces of the old places, the bits of family, of The Cape, of growing and changing. It's all in there, which, I think, means it will be just perfect.

    Good luck with the move!
    Welcome home!

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  2. It sounds so inviting, and you sound happy. None of that 'moving is stressful' between the lines. (I did once make Roman blinds, without a kind friend ... oy vey ... but I did it)

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  3. Dear Teresa, Your new place is obviously a home already, not just a house. It sounds delightful, and so YOU! I look forward to seeing pictures of your new gardens -- not that you need pictures because your words are descriptively beautiful. P. x

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  4. Good Monday evening to you Opdycke,
    Your new home on the corner sounds charming, you are making it easy to see it with your words.
    How nice that you love it already and it feels like 'home' even when new to you.
    You HAVE moved a lot in the last few years - good for you for being so resilient to be willing and able to start over again with such good cheer.
    May the next two weeks fly by quickly, and all the boxes be unpacked with ease and grace as you settle in.

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  5. i hope this move is everything you need and want in life and with so much gardening space, how heavenly. blessings upon you and your home. xox

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  6. It sounds so wonderful and I know you will enjoy your new home.It is exciting to be able to start again in a new location I would imagine. I have been in my home town for 62 years so it would be scary for me to move now. LOL! You will be busy making it your own and I hope you will not forget us back here in Ohio.:-)

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  7. You have encapsulated your new home already with you ideas. I wish you much happiness there on that very special corner that is yours .... for now.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Thanks to each for your well-wishes. The move is not far away, and Lona...I'll still be in northwest Ohio.

    I'll be back posting on a regular basis a bit closer to September. There's so much to do and so little time do it in.

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  9. It sounds to me like lovely town and a lovely cottage... goodness, you do move a lot. I have been in the same place for 20 years. Sometimes I feel just a tinge of longing for some major change, but I think I would miss this place too much. I have put so much of myself into it. I hope you will be posting pics of your little red cottage.

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  10. Hi Jeri,

    Thanks for stopping by. I lived on a farm for over 20 years and like you, I dreamt of making a change. And then I did! I wonder if I have some kind of wanderlust or perhaps searching for that old farmhouse replacement.

    I'll post a few pics soon.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  11. I moved this past Christmas week. Though a bit stressful, I am so very happy in my new space. Sounds as though you are as well.

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