Monday, May 17, 2010

Ingleside: Status Update

I named my new home Ingleside. Those of you who immediately understand why are of the race of Joseph. If you understood the phrase "race of Joseph" you are hereby invited to be my best friend forever.


For those of you not yet in the know, I shall give you an inside look at the world that is Anne Shirley Blythe.

After Anne and Gilbert are married, they move to a tiny seaside cottage where Gilbert begins his first practice as a doctor. There they make several friends who are of the race of Joseph and have their first baby. All this occurs in the fifth novel in the series Anne's House of Dreams.

The next book Gilbert talks Anne into buying a house too big for them. It is a beautiful home, but Anne doesn't want something that big, nor does she want to leave their dream house. Gilbert reminds her that they plan on having many more children and that the cottage could not accommodate a large family. So they buy the large house not for their immediate needs, but in planning for the future. A future of children and work and play and laughter and love and tears and lessons learned. They name their home Ingleside.

Thus, in honor of my beloved Anne, I have named my home Ingleside. Here I will bear and raise my children. Here they will frolic in the backyard and play and imagine as only children can. Here I will work and garden and pray and love.

Now that I've lived at Ingleside for just over two weeks I feel like I can begin compiling my lists of loves and love-nots about the place.

Things I Love-Not About Ingleside:
1. My kitchen sink has a flat bottom. This means that the water and food particles don't flow toward the drain without assistance, resulting in a usually dirty sink. Hmm. New habit to follow: clean sink after every use.
2. It is not a two-story Victorian or Cape Cod style house, nor is it built in the Colonial style or is an Arts and Crafts bungalow as my heart truly yearns for. Alas, it is a rambler.
3. A few cosmetic things that I can change over time.

Things I Love About Ingleside:
1. It is red brick with black shutters and front door.
2. It has my bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and laundry all on one level. (Ramblers are good for something.) Thus I can stay here until I die, even if I'm wheelchair bound.
3. The yard. Oh, the yard. Room to roam. Room to frolic. Room to plant. Room to build. Room to play.
4. The hangar. I love having a storage space that is seemingly limitless.
5. Main floor laundry. Can I say that again? MAIN FLOOR LAUNDRY! Ah, I feel like shouting it from the rooftops. Now I know I sort of already mentioned this one in number 2, and it seems like a rather boring thing to be thrilled about, but if you had knees that hurt like mine and had to carry heavy laundry baskets up and down 13-step flights of stairs, you would understand. Especially if you had done it while pregnant or tried to do it with a baby on your hip. This was one of the primary reasons I wanted to move and now I have my heart's desire.
6. The tree out front. It's huge. It's green. Sure, it rains debris down every time a wind comes through, but oh it is lovely.
7. The chickens and roosters in my back neighbor's yard. I love hearing the cockadoodledoo of the proud cocks throughout the day.
8. The plantation shutters in the front rooms of the house. They are pretty. They are practical. They are easy to open and close. They let in a ton of light or conversely block it well.
9. The view from my dining area onto the back yard. Have I mentioned how much I love my back yard?
10. The master bathroom remodel that is coming along. Oh, it will be beautiful. Anyone who wants to take a soak in my claw-foot tub at the Spa del Maren is welcome anytime.

I feel so blessed. So completely and utterly BLESSED to be able to call this house my home. I am a lucky woman who is incredibly grateful to have found her Ingleside.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Hooray for Ingleside! I think a formal sign somewhere is a must. Even if it is made out of wood and has Jenny's scribble on it.

I must agree with your thoughts about the tree. It was the first thing I saw and loved.

Ingleside is perfect for you and I'm sure it was happy to have such a kindred spirit living within it's walls.

ps. Thanks for updating the book club blog. I completely forgot. Maybe we can switch off months now that things aren't so hectic for you.

Just what is a Clair? said...

Yay for Anne! I love Anne. I love the name Ingleside too.:) We have named our place to end up BearHaven. I think everybody should have a BearHaven or an Ingleside.:)

Melissa and Allen said...

Congrats on your new house! I'm excited to see it. We miss you a lot! I promise to start coming to Book Club soon. Really. But not in June. Hopefully July. I already have July's book!

Natalie said...

Love your LOVE list. It is the little things that bring the most joy in life. I never thought to name my home....now I'll have to come up with something, it seems. ;)