What a Life!

Remember my whining about wanting my own header picture like other people have on their blogs? Well, maybe you don’t remember, but I did whine about it. More than once.

And yesterday morning, I figured it out. Quite simple, in fact. Embarassingly so.

That’s okay. I have a header photo now that I am in love with.

It’s from a picture I took during one of our visits to Steve’s grandparent’s farm. The fence hasn’t been painted since Steve was in high school (which was the last time Steve painted it – it was his job to paint one side of the barn and a few other things every year – go figure). And the yard has been mowed but not trimmed.

Just the same, I love that picture. I love old clotheslines. I love those flowers. They’re peonies, and my Grandma Hagele used to have them lining her garden on the south side – they were my favorite. I love being on a farm out in the country – the peace and quiet, the wide open space.

And after losing my two grandmothers in the last year or so, I am fascinated with how they lived their lives – they were homemakers, after all, just as I am – and gleaning the elements I loved most about their lives and making them a part of my own.

That picture embodies what I loved about my grandmothers and so much more.

And it looks great with the rest of this design. I keep navigating over to my blog just to look at it and soak it in. Ah!

I’m also adding a new category to my blog: homemaking. Self-explanatory, in a way. But I think, in many ways, homemaking has gotten lost by the wayside in today’s society. I want to bring it back. At least at our house. More on that in coming posts.

For now, feel the stillness of the country as you look at that picture, and let your soul be soothed.