A Blondie Day

The Little Red Ranch and Rudolph

Well, he's not really Rudolph.  He doesn't have a red nose. But isn't he the cutest? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is from my talented and lovely friend, Maartje of Silly Old Suitcase.  If you haven't already, please take a moment to visit her splendid blog... it is a feast for the eyes and the soul.  When I spotted little "dear" in her shop, I knew he had to be mine.  He represents everything I love about the holidays... vintage and handmade and full of memories of my own childhood.

And so, he came home to me.

 

 

 

And he has helped inspire me, among all this chaos, for the upcoming holidays that are truly just around the corner.

 

And yes, there has been much chaos and craziness here lately.  After our Disney World trip, we came home to face one of the worst hurricanes to hit our area EVER.  We lost our power, our fence, some shingles on our roof and our pretty Willow Tree. 

 

 

But we were blessed.  Our losses small compared to so many others.

We squeezed in a quick Halloween, determined to try to keep things as normal as possible...

 

We were scheduled to head to Texas the Friday after the storm to look at some houses, and since we did get our power back the day before, and the house was in order, we headed to Texas and spent a very busy 4 days there.

 

Only to come home to a nor'easter that took away many people's power again, caused additional flooding and added snow to the mix.

 

 

But we do have some happy news...

The offer we made on The Little Red Ranch in Texas was accepted, so if all goes well with the inspection, etc., this little slice of heaven will be ours.

 

 

 

The house was built in 1930, and has a front porch on it the size of a living room...

 

 

 

 

It sits on 5 of the prettiest acres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I'm pretty sure it was meant to be mine!!!

 

 

 

Hoping you have a lovely weekend friends.  And thanks for all your kind words on my FB Page.  They mean the world.

 

 

XO

Helena

 

From the Little Blue House...

 

... to the Little Red Ranch??

 

Our search for a house in Texas continues.  JW looked at several this past week - from big ole' Texas mansions to mid-century moderns, and everything in between.  We were able to narrow down a few that are possibilities.  My Girl and I will head to Texas early November to take a look, and narrow them down further.

But right now, I gotta tell you, this one has my attention...

 

 

It was built in 1930 and was moved to this property in the '80's.  It's not easy to find nice older homes with history in the area to which we are moving.  So this, to me, is special.  Let's face it, my dream home is an old New England farmhouse.  Ummm... not too plentiful in Texas, at least in the area we're moving to.

 

One of the problems we are having in our search is finding the magic "recipe" that includes all our ingredients...

property (we would like acreage);

school district (of course important);

neighborhood;

a reasonable commute for JW to work;

ample bedrooms (so we can comfortably have guests AND a studio for me);

a large garage/workshop for JW;

and of course, a house that we LIKE that is in our price range with affordable taxes.

 

Not easy to find it all, but this may come close.

 

 

It is not as big as we would like, but it is priced so reasonably, we could afford to build onto it.

 

One of the things I LOVE is that it is on 5 acres, and this is what you see when you look out the back door...

 

 

 

Ahhh, can you feel your stress and tension just melting away?

 

I can.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

Hope you're having a good weekend!

 

Much love.

 

Helena

 

 

By the Water

One of the many things I'm going to miss about New York when we move to Texas, is the beach and the ocean - and being so close to it.

I take it for granted, after being near it all my life.  There is no doubt that it is magical.

 

 

That it fills up all your senses...

 

 

renews your spirit,

 and, in its vastness, reminds you that this world

 is not Just About You.

 

 

We won't be too far from Galveston.

But it won't be the same.

 

 

 

 

And I will miss it.

 

 

 

 

 

They way you miss an old friend.

 

 

XO

Helena

Little Bits

I just love big, colorful bowls of scraps.  They are too pretty to throw out, and I always love the challenge of coming up with things to do with them.  There is great satisfaction in finding a way to "waste not"!

 

 

I've been fitting in time here and there to work on wares for the re-opening of the shop.  I plan on having many, many, MANY new things when I re-open at the end of September!

 

 

 

 

For now, I am taking a little break to squeeze out the last bits of summer.  Back to school is next Wed., September 5th.  My heart always sinks a bit when I send My Girl out to the bus on the first day.  I just simply miss her.

 

 

 

But soon after, the rythmn of routine will fall back into our lives, and that's not entirely a bad thing.  I've always loved the comfort that routine brings. 

 

 

 

And autumn... oh, how I love autumn.  It never fails to inspire me!

 

 

With the return of school comes the realization that it is only TEN MONTHS until we are moving to Texas!!!

 Reality is hitting home My Friends.  

We have officially begun serious house shopping.  Let me just share one little sneaky peeky at a house we love.

 

This is the living room...  (Pretty nifty, huh?)

 

 

And this is the den...

 

 

and breakfast room (although I think I would make this into a sun room with my vintage wicker furniture - nice, right?)...  The house has a formal dining room too.

 

 

and kitchen...

 

 

But most exciting of all will be having my OWN STUDIO!

 

Like I said, we have just began looking, so no decisions have been made, but we hope to make an offer on a house right after the New Year.

 

Exciting stuff - and little bit scary too.

 

I will be back the end of next week.  

 

Enjoy!

 

XO

Helena

 

And the Swallows?

They're beautiful, aren't they?

The angled fork of their tail and their graceful air acrobatics as they slice through the sky on a breeze.  In and of themselves, they are lovely, without even knowing the magic, folklore and symbolism of them.

You may or may not have noticed that they grace the side bars of my blog these days, as well as my Facebook page - and even on myself as well.

 

They represent hope and renewal of life.  They are full of romance and mystery.  

They are rich with history and symbolism and were used historically by sailors as tattoos to show their sailing experience.  

They represent loyalty to home and family.  The promise to always return.

Their symbolism goes back thousands of years and changes from culture to culture.

But for me, they are a tribute to my parents.

 

 

To the wings they have given me to fly with.

 

To the love they have given me that will always be with me.

 

 

For the strength and courage for this New York Girl to accept change and start a new life with my family in Texas.

 

 

 

 

For loyalty to home and family no matter where I go.

 

(Sorry for the wonky Hipstamatic photo... it's hard to take a pic of the back of one's own shoulder.)

 

So there will always be a swallow very close to me.

 

 

(And you will most likely be starting to see them in my work too.)

 

 

 

Much Love!

 

Helena

 

 

 

Meandering

Blogging on a Sunday.

A rare thing, but today is a quiet day - and thankfully so.

I've had a wind-out-of-your-sails kind of week, starting with the passing of JW's grandmother, and all that that entails, followed by the official sale and closing of my parents' home of almost 50 years. It is no longer ours, which is an odd and surreal feeling.

With all of it now passed comes a quiet relief and a tiredness that goes bone deep.  But it is time to move on and forward and take on new challenges.  Next spring we will be moving to Texas, and there is so very much to do!

 

But before all that, I am taking a little time to regenerate...

 

 

 

...and just meander about...

 

 

 

...inside my Little Blondie Blu World.

 

 

 

 

 

Good for the soul.

 

 

XO

 

Helena

Big and Bright

I'm so happy to be back!

I missed you, my friends, and I missed my little blog.

I have two tales to tell.  One regarding one of my little chickies, Lily.  But that tale will wait.  It is a little bit of an emotional, scary tale, and it deserves its very own post.

So first I will tell the tale of our vacation... and then my NEWS!

We set off on vacation the day after Easter, but things started a little shaky. The night before we left, My Girl had a 100 degree fever.  But the fever was gone the next day and she showed no other symptoms, so off we went.  I was a bit suspicious.  I know about those lurking fevers that come and then go into hiding for a few hours, or a day or 2, only to rear its ugly little fevered self again.

And sure enough, My Girl got sick while we were away on vacation.  We had to take it very easy on her, so we mostly drove around, taking turns getting out of the car to do a little bit here or there, leaving her back in the car with one of us so she could rest.  The most she could do was to take a little 20 minute swim here and there in the indoor heated pool (swimming is one of her favorite things to do, and she had so very much looked forwared to the hotel pool).  But other than that, My Girl was TOAST.

I did a little bit of shopping and thrifting...

 

 

But I was limited as to what I could possibly take home with me on the airplane..

 

So things like this vintage mirror were out of the question.  And I had to leave lots of prettiness behind...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has me convinced that a pink adult tricycle is a Must Have.

 

 

And that bicycles in the garden, in general, are a great idea.

 

 

 

By the time we headed home, we had a very sick Girl.  She slept in the plane all the way home... and now has bronchitis and a double ear infection.  My poor sweet kidlet.

 

 

So now...

 

CAN YOU GUESS WHERE WE WENT ON VACATION?

 

I'll give you a hint.

 

"The stars at night shine big and bright..."

 

OK, a few more hints in case you don't know that song...

 

 

Still don't know? 

OK, maybe this...

 

 

And in case you STILL don't know...

 

 

 

 

And before you think I am crazy, my Friends, this is so important because...

 

WE ARE MOVING TO TEXAS!

 

Yes, this New York Born and Raised Girl is moving to Texas.

 

I am scared, excited, exhilarated, emotional, happy, sad, giddy all while having butterflies in my stomach.

 

You see, I've never lived anywhere but New York.  I love New York.

But JW got a job offer there that is just too good to pass up.

So off we go.

 

We have about a year to relocate, which gives us plenty of time to do what we have to, and let me settle my mind a bit and adjust.

 

So, since I had never been to Texas, off we went on vacation for a week.

 

We did a little house looking, even though we won't be ready to buy for about a year.  We wanted to start getting an idea of what we are looking for and what is available.

 

I know one thing.  I wouldn't mind this being my porch...

 

 

Or looking out my back window and gazing upon this...

 

 

Or adding one of these creatures to my family...

 

 

 

... and maybe a horse, some alpacas, ducks, rabbits and of course, DOGS!  Oh, yes.  I will have a regular little farm.

 

So for the next year, I hope you will bear with me from time to time as I share the preparations, trials and tribulations of the move of my little group... family, chickens and cats... to Texas.

 

I AM NERVOUS!!  In a good way.

 

Oh, and by the way, I did make it home on the airplane with some goodies, of course...

 

 

 

Good to be back!

 

Much love,

Helena