September 15, 2010

looking for the right fit....

we don't love the house we live in. we never have. but when we moved to madison almost 5 years ago it fit. well our furniture fit. but our hearts never have. and now that our kids are out in the wild blue yonder living on their own, our home feels like a bulky, scratchy sweater that we can't take off and that we desperately want to replace with something soft and warm like a plaid flannel shirt with a few bare threads near the elbows from all the love given to it over the years.
~
so we look and look and look for something else. but so far, nothing. we think about building, but can't seem to find a piece of land that we're happy with. we drive in the country and near the city. we look at beautiful homes that are way too large, that we don't even want and old brady bunch homes that we could remodel, if only the dilapidated homes in the rest of neighborhood could magically disappear.
~
and then i find little outbuildings that i love. like the one above. that live on most of the farms around us. and i think that's what i want. an old farmhouse. with a barn. and a few outbuildings. so i can have chickens and a goat.
~
oh where is my magic little fairy
with her glittery wand
and
why isn't she sprinkling the perfect answers all over me
*
and the kids
well they don't really live in the wild blue yonder
instead
they live in apartments right here madison
where their mama still does the occasional load of laundry for them when they ask ever so sweetly and whose food seems to taste better now than it ever did when they were living here with us
*

27 comments:

  1. I sooo hear ya. Keep up the search, as we do, I'm hoping something magically appears.I think that building you shot is almost perfect.
    Keep up the search.

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  2. ahhh yes, the mom service - i ran, the others hung around.

    good luck with the hunting.

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  3. Oh how I love this! I believe in destiny and that in time all things happen. I just wrote a post about moving. Longing is such a tease huh!

    Trina
    www.mommeville.com

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  4. I love that little out building!! Good luck on your search!! Consider it an exciting adventure...a journey that will take you to new and exciting places!!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. Transitions. Listen to whispers from your soul, envision the perfect place, and it will come.

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  6. you'll find your dream home...it's out there waiting for you!

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  7. Oh I would love that dilapidated building. It is beautiful. Out buildings for dreaming would be the best. Good luck with the search and finding your dream.

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  8. Beth. I am with you in this search. My boyfriend raises his eyebrows when I see those places I love, always in bad neighborhoods, always falling apart. I have even even considered a space here in the bad part of downtown - to his no. no. no. please.

    I will visualize and dream for you also. Those scratchy sweaters are just no fun.

    xoxo
    Debi

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  9. Cherish your dream. It will come.
    xo Jenny

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  10. The right house is out there...waiting for you. This is indeed a grand find.

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  11. Now that we are empty nesters Mr O and I would like to move to a smaller and closer to town house than what we have now...yet we haven't been able to agree on any one place...someday I just know we will see a place where we will BOTH love it:) Patience...

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  12. I love the way you describe your relationship with your grown kids here!!! Perfect!!! And I do hope that you will find the perfect place to nest now that your current nest is empty ;-)) Wonderful post! Love the photo! I could sit and dream here with you! ~Janine XO

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  13. I know what you mean Beth. I live in a '80's A frame and have never much liked it. I have learned to love the 5 acres it's on and my husband built me a studio to keep me happy...but I miss creaky floors and old window sashes! Good luck to you...you'll find it or it may find you!

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  14. oh how I know what you are typing all about! a house-home must talk to you, welcome you and fit you like your favorite pair of old faded 501 jeans...you know the kind ~wink~ Keep looking, it will find you.

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  15. It will find you, one day it will just be there and it will be a perfect fit and you will live happily ever after.
    Or at least in a flannel shirt.

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  16. good luck with finding the perfect fit. i imagine you in an old farmhouse with lush land all around.
    it's nice that your children are close enough to come home for dinner.

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  17. We're looking for much the same. Your wish sounds so like mine. And that outbuilding is much like ones that draw me in too. But you can keep the goat--I just want the chickens and at least two dogs.

    Odd--but I've pictured you all along in an old farmhouse hugging you close with her history.
    B

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  18. Correction: I'm pretty sure I've never asked you to do a whole load of laundry...just get out the occasional stain or two every now and then ;-) Love you Mom!

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  19. !!!!
    spent the whole morning on the internet looking at real estate around us
    and then in other places and then the states...

    I don't think we'll ever have an empty nest , but I feel the time here in suburban convenience is coming to an end.


    good luck to how your heart and soul leads you and your hubby in this.
    there is so so much to consider.

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  20. No doubt you'll find the perfect place at the perfect time... or you'll make it perfect.

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  21. I ♥ that picture. You will find the place that makes you shout "This is it!" Happy hunting.

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  22. You find the most interesting places to photograph, so I know you will find a great place to build or remodel or just polish and paint to a soft flannel.

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  23. Love that picture. You WILL drive soon by the perfect dwelling that is waiting for you!

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  24. It's funny. Right now we are living in a "for now" rented apartment for a year or two until we can sell our loft in Massachusetts and buy a house here in Maine. The thing is, I feel more at home in this rented space than I ever did in our loft or the house we owned before that. I think my husband and I are finally being more true to ourselves about our needs and wants, and for us, it has less to do with the space itself than it does with where that space is. We live a short walk or bike ride to nearly all of our favorite things: the ocean, coffee shops, used book stores, the farmers' market, funky shops. Our life has changed dramatically in just a month. I LOVE my new neighborhood, and I hope I can always live here.

    I hear you, too, about that dream for a little farm. That's maybe the only other kind of neighborhood/lifestyle that interests me at this point in my life.

    I have a feeling that you two are going to stumble on a treasure of a place that fits just like a comfy sweater again! xo

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  25. oh, i see my friend gigi here...i don't think i have been here before...but i LOVE your blog's name...and LOVE that photograph...and your writing...lovely

    happy to stop by today...i so enjoyed my visit.

    kary

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  26. oooh, I like that sweet little building, too. I always used to dream of living like Laura Ingalls Wilder in the woods with one braided rug on my floor...only I need my computer and blogs and art journals and hot shower. That's all. Yep, that's it.

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  27. I have to say that everytime I see a broken down building / house / shed, I think of you! More than once this summer, I've thought, "Beth would LOVE that!" "Wish Beth could see this one!" Good luck on your house hunting venture!

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**I love reading the comments you leave, as they make me feel like we're sitting in my kitchen, having a cup of tea, discussing life and wondering where all the time has gone ...beth