I love creating an atmosphere that will leave my children nosalgic. A comfort when remindecd of the home they grew up in.
When I was a little girl I would spend at least a week visiting my grandparents every year. I looked forward to that week more than anything. It was a time that I was surrounded by much attention and comfort.
I would wake up at 6:30 AM to smell coffee brewing and bacon crisping in the cast iron skillet. My Pa would be in his overalls and green John Deer cap heading out the back door for a day of hard work on the farm. My grandma, in her peach robe would be sipping coffee and reading the Bible.
I would sit in the little nook surrounded by windows at the table my dad had made with his own two hands. After breakfast, my grandma and I would set out for our morning walk. Walking on the brick paved streets we would wave at the women tending to their gardens in the cool early morning right before the sun came up. We would talk about what we would do that day and listen to the singing birds. We would take the long country road leaving the small town to say a quick good morning to the horses. Then heading back up the long country road peering through the trees at the big old houses behind them.
(a peek at those brick paved streets)
Arriving home she would tend to the ironing, bedmaking, and cleaning the kitchen, while I got out her teapots and china for endless hours of tea parties and pretending to own a restraunt. She would place her order and leave a tip for me as she cooked her second meal of the day.
In the afternoons she would tend to the garden and make sweet treats for that evening's dessert. We would carry some of the goodies through the dirt alley to the lady that lived behind her.
I would spend some afternoons with the girls next door, playing in their backyard, walking to get slushies, or swimming in the town pool.
(picture taken last year in the area they used to live)
Other afternoons we would drive out to Pa's farm where I would climb bales of hay and ride the three wheeler around the fields. Some days we would pick peas and I remember praying for at least the smallest breeze. I loved seeing my grandma in her big garden hat and loved the afternoons on the front porch; a big glass of iced tea with turquiose tinted bowls of peas to shell.
On the Friday of my week there we would head to a small nearby town to Ona Mae's. Ona Mae owned a tiny little beauty shop behind her house. It had two sinks and a hair dryer and smelled of permanents. It had a little sofa with a homemade afghan,a pile of magazines, and a little glass jewelry case sitting next to it with tiny rings and necklaces. My grandma would often buy one for me. She would also offer me a cold soda pop while I waited.
(old gas station)
After a dinner of fried chicken and gravy with a side of mashed potatoes and fried summer squash, we would clean up the kitchen and go in the living room with it's window unit air conditioner on full blast. They would turn on Wheel of Fortune and a few other evening shows until the 10:00 news came on. When the news came on, I would slip outside in the dark to sit on the big front porch swing and look at the night sky. I could hear the weatherman on the tv inside and knew that when he was done talking my grandma would join me outside. She would sit beside me and I would lay my head in her lap while she scratched my back and sang Animal Fair, Bushel and a Peck, and an array of old hymns.
She would then tuck me in the back bedroom on a nice, cool, and comfortable bed with clean sheets. And in the middle of the night I would sneak into bed with them. A few hours later, talk radio would blast from their radio alarm. My Pa would lay in bed listening an hour or so before getting up to start the fresh new day again.
Those memories sit in my mind like an old friend. I love to think of those days. The sounds, that white house with tons of windows and the big front porch, the smell of her laundry.
I want our children to see our home in such a comforting way. To create an atmosphere that they want to bottle up and share with their own children some day.
The days were slow paced and simply lived in. No need to rush and always time to lend a helping hand or make a treat for the neighbors. Time to strengthen relationships. Time with God. Time to sow and reap the harvest. Time to make a home.
I loved this post about Creating a Pleasent Atmospehre in the Home. It really doesn't have to be complicated. It's an amazing way to show your family love. A way to honor God. It's a new focus of mine.
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