Here I sit, listening to the rumble of the cement truck
outside. Pondering about life. The next stage of renovations.
The new slab gets poured today. The beginning of a new stage for the
little old cottage.
I have learnt alot
living in this little cottage of ours. First when we lived in the outside
room, all five of us sharing a tiny room. Then into the main cottage, all
five of us sharing a room again, but a bigger room. Then the boys shifted
into their own little room, once that was fixed up.
It feels like we
have been here longer than a year or so. A lot longer.
So much has
happened. You know the best part?
Realizing how
little we all need. Joyfully appreciating the simple things in life, like
running hot water, a celling, working lights and heating/cooling. When
you renovate on this scale with a young family, you spend a lot of time
essentially camping.
I have learned to
let go even more, to go with the flow. (There may have been the odd period
where I let go of my sanity temporarily also, but let’s not go there....kidding!)
To work within the periods of work and rest with the house. I LOVE clean
floors. Love them. I’m a shoes off in the house kind of girl.
Renovating does not lend to clean floors. At all.
So, we have a
deal. On a Sunday, after a weekend of dusty dirty work, we stop, take the
time to tidy our space and vacuum and mop. Because it keeps me
sane. I appreciate it while it lasts. We do it at night, when the
kids are in bed so I can savour it for a few hours before the chaos starts
again. It might sound strange, but I appreciate that window of
time. Where I can relax, forget about the chaos and things are relatively
calm and clean.
It is easy to look
at those around us who look to have everything. But do they? No one
really knows another’s story. The feeling that person has deep in
their heart of hearts.
There is something
that happens when we are challenged. Like when a fruit tree is
pruned. It sometimes hurts, it sometimes seems rough and brutal.
Sometimes we are left feeling bare and exposed. But then something
changes within the very core of who we are. It triggers a new
growth. A more resilient growth. The old and restrictive is
stripped away, the light and air is allowed into our hearts and then
that....that is when the best fruit appears.
We are entering a
new season of renovating here at the little old cottage. A new
extension, a new kind of building. The demolition is finally
finished. Now we get to the good bit.
But throughout it
all we give thanks. For the good, for the lessons we have learnt through
the challenges. For the surprising closeness and thankfulness, we
have found as a family by choosing less.
Aggie is growing, so much love for this wee girl.....she looks like she is guilty in this prcture. She probrbaly was.....little terror!
Giant Jenga we made for church. $40 of 2"x4", cutting and sanding and we have an awesome game with so many open ended play possibilities. Grant is going to make Henry a set with ramps for his cars for his 4th birthday next month.
Puzzles, I love puzzles. So does Gus in particular. They suit his need for order.
Henry continues to kick Grant out of bed on a semi-regular basis. Grant continues to good naturedly tolerate it.
Much love,
Emma
xx
