…sans the horrific red showroom shag carpet, that is.

Next picture, will be with this beautiful couch, in our house!

One of my favorite sayings from my grandmother is:  “Life is a Special Occasion.”

So light your candles. Use your pretty things everyday – don’t wait for that “special occasion.”

(And, if your candles are in sconces that you rescued from a dark outdoor corner of a thrift shop in Tampa Bay for roughly $10 apiece, then so much the better for you!)

“… walks besides you on crisp autumn days when frost is on the fields and winter’s drawing near. His head is within [your] hand in his old way.”

~ Mary Carolyn Davies

…of scruffy beard, baseball cap … and a pink blanket.

Never thought I’d see the day.

Of course, now that Skye’s here, it seems the most natural scene in the world. 

 I am definitely a candle person. I light one every night when I’m cooking and use my candlesticks at night during supper.  Candlelight in a cold climate somehow seems even cozier and better.

As I came through the foyer on my way upstairs the other night, I saw that John had lit the three pillar candles on top of our Craigslist find – a Danish Modern hutch that we love. Its original owner came from New York City – and she gave it to her granddaughter in St. Petersburg, Florida, which is where we caught up with it.  

And now, 50 years on? It’s sitting on a stone floor in the middle of the Black Forest.

Welcome Home.

A relationship with a grandmother is surely one to cherish.

Looking southeast from the dining room.

Our house is getting set up, one familiar scene at a time.

*There* being:  from the rampart of a castle we can see from our house. 

We wanted to take Skye to see the castle that’s visible from her balcony.

And *this* is the view from *there*.

I know. This country is crazy-beautiful.

This is the view from the room adjacent to Skye’s.  

John has laid claim to the library office downstairs – it has bookshelves and a fireplace, and boasts the perfect exit to the lower patio for cigars and whisky, if he’s so inclined.  Our three saddles are down there and when I walk in that room I can smell the faint and indescribably wonderful (to me) odor of *horse*. It’s a nice place for a guy.

On the top level are four rooms:  Skye’s nursery and the garret room on one side, a bathroom in the middle, and our master bedroom on the other side.

I was secretly glad that John wanted the downstairs office. I like the cozy garret because it’s close to our girl, the view is the confined serenity of our tiny and colorful yard, and it’s very quiet.

There are even empty window boxes ready for planting.

But maybe I’ll wait on the planting for now.

John caught our younger cat, Quatre, sitting in the pass-through window to Skye’s nursery.

Blue eyes just seem to be a thing around here, lately.