Surroundings Share?

[Hopalong]

I love simply love to visualize my friends where they are. Many have been perplexed when they'd move they way I'd badger them until I got a good description of the room or house or whatever. It had nothing to do with wanting to be impressed by taste or possessions...it was helping me to feel WITH them for a moment. So this thread is to invite anyone who'd enjoy it to give a little description of where they're sitting! I'll start...
----------
I'm in the room I first moved into when I was 14. (Been away for long stretches and lived in other houses--been back for 8 years in my parents' house.) So. I'm lolling on the bed which I picked out when I was 13--it's a white wooden double with blue trim. Across the room is a matching dresser with blue flowers painted on the big middle top drawer, a mirror attached above that. My nightstand matches it too (and I put the little mini-desk in the basement). As my artist Ex once called it, with his poor teeth gritted to splinters, matchy-matchy-matchy. Hey, when I was 13 that was cool! I have the exact same old paisley curtains at the window, the same blue striped wallpaper. My parents added a ceiling fan after I've moved away, that's really helped this summer. I have a TV on llittle old 2-drawer chest. At the foot of the bed is the one piece I love...my grandmother's cedar chest. For art, I have a big pastel portrait of my daughter at age 2 wearing an old christening dress and a big smile, above my headboard is a print of a semi-abstract village I bought from an amazing Chinese artist I met in San Francisco. Across the room is a wonderful painting that looks like Mary Cassalt gone abstract, that my D painted in preschool. The other two paintings are luminous naturalistic landscapes by my friend who died.) Oh, and I like my clothes hamper. It's multicolored wicker. And there's a big wing chair I had recovered in fabric that looks like those little potholders kids used to weave on little metal frames.)

Whew, and there's my gently snoring big furry lovely pooch, crashed under the window with just her nose stuck under the furniture. (This renders her invisible, you see.)

Hops

[gratitude28]

Very sweet. What a lovely poratrait. What kind of pooch? I can see her nose...
Not in a descriptive mood... my baby guinea pig is dying and I am so sad for it and my daughter. Yucky week. Waiting for a happy day... this too shall pass.
Love, Beth

[Hopalong]

Ohh. Hugs and parting love to the little guinea pig.
And much comfort to your little girl. I hope she'll see the natural meaning in that little body when it's time. Hugs to you too, Beth. These are some of the most touching parts of parenthood, teaching them the sacred cycle. Your little girl is so lucky that you are so present.

My pooch is our-best-guess paaaaaart: Chow (black spots on tongue, rich redness in her double coat and a curled up tail), maybe golden (long "feathery" tail hair), shepherd (her mother looked like a white shepherd), and she has a shepherd's facial coloring and erect ears, and absolutely without a doubt she's part Traveling Salesdog. In other words, other than chow, we have no idea.

She is actually very strikingly beautiful. People often ask me "what" she is. She has a beautiful strong face and smiles. She's gentle. When I brush her really wel land walk her downtown she gets a lot of attention and really enjoys it. Her coat shines and slows and her eyes are bright. She sashays...

Hops (Come back to this one when it would feel happy, Beth. We'll miss you.)

[Hopalong]

Moon, I love it! Thank you! Now I have a mental image of the Moonscape, and cozy and cuddly and book-y it sounds. I love the painting, frogs, and books. How wonderful to think of you all TALKING over the idiot box.
Her name is Bagel. (I had suggested Poo-Poo Head and my D said Nooooooo!) She was born in a veternary surgery clinic where they teach vet students surgery...she was a premature surprise in a stray that looked like a white shepherd. But she has no white. When she was a pup I thought maybe she would grow up to look Rottweillerish, so all the double coat and amazing tail were a surprise. She looks best in winter, she's dressed for it.

Happy Weds,
Hops

[Brigid]

As I am trying to find ways to push away all the sadness I'm feeling now with my daughter leaving in a week, it is very pleasant to read this thread.  I have always enjoyed reading books that give detailed descriptions of the environment of the writer (Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchey are 2 of my favorites) and my imagination can take me to the location where the story takes place.

Right now I can imagine Hops and the Moon family in their cozy homes pursuing their lives.  I am in my office, but that is not where I enjoy being, so I would choose to describe my family room/kitchen/breakfast room where I spend most of my time.  My home is a Williamsburg reproduction and much of the house is an exact replica of a home in that area (I just moved here two years ago and the house is about 31 years old).  The family room is finished in barnwood which goes up about 3/4 of the way, with heavy plaster above.  The ceiling has hand-hewn beams which are strictly decorative.  It has a beautiful fieldstone fireplace with a 4-foot opening, with a pot rack inside and a hand-hewn beam as the mantle.  The floors are pine and stained on the darker side.  I have a TV in there and the kitchen is right there with a breakfast area at one end of the family room.  I am not happy about how dark the room is, and am seriously thinking of making some changes which will make it lighter and brighter in there.  I constantly struggle with how significantly to change things however, as I don't know how long I'll be here and if I will recover my investment.

You will usually find my English Setter, Grady, sleeping on the couch (even though he has a very nice dog bed on the floor), and my English Cocker, Brigid, either on the other end of the couch or trying to find something to get into.   My three kitties live in the other parts of the house and can usually be found sleeping on one of the beds.  I have found it necessary to keep the dogs and cats separate, or the dogs will either be chasing the cats, causing them to take up residence under a bed or on a ceiling fan, or the dogs will have cat litter covering their mouths (I know, gross to think about) and the cats will have no food.

Much of my artwork in that room is either English Setters--going back to my days of breeding and showing--or other kinds of wildlife art.  I have several Robert Bateman's, who is my favorite wildlife artist, around the house and others which need to be framed.  My father use to deal in wildlife art as a hobby and I inherited a number of pieces after he died.  There are also many pictures of my children and a few pieces of memorabilia scattered about.

As I walk through the house now and think how empty it will be after next week, I wonder how long I can stay here and rattle around by myself.  There are rooms which no one even enters, much less uses, and the dust collects on items which no longer matter to me.  I am feeling this big wave of change heading my way and I fear being pull out to sea again, cast adrift and once again looking for a safe port.

Sorry, but I'm having a sad week.

Brigid

[Hopalong]

Hi Brigid,
This is so evocative of where you are and how you feel.
My first impulse was to want to come over and help you PAINT that paneling a warm, pinkish white, and install Solatubes.

And then put up the For Sale sign and go cozy-BRIGID-nest hunting with you.

(But me, I hold onto homes kicking and screaming, so I don't know what'd be right for you. Probably NOTHING, right now. Just being, letting this grief come and go...not making it your fault. It's a natural passage and you are reacting as honestly and naturally as a cow when its calf is taken to another pasture.)

It will pass and you will be WELL.
(You may even feel some frisky bursts of freedom, and then get all confused, and then feel great, and then feel another wave of yearning for your old role, and then feel excited again...all that. All that's fine. You can't do this wrong, hon. You've already done motherhood right.)

hugs,
Hops

[Plucky]

Hi Hoppy,
what a novel idea!  You may regret it now.  I'm typing on a laptop squeezed between a tower of incoming junk mail mixed with very urgent stuff from last month on one side, and a file cabinet bulging with last year's taxes, sundry unfiled papers, and a slew of unanswered Christmas cards from last year.   My feet are tucked under my chair, lest they tangle with yet another a file box slightly full of completed things, and I dare not shake the table should the basket of incoming unentered, unfiled work cascade to the floor, necessitating a dusty creep into a tiny crevice flanked with those pointy flanges they seem to require all over printers and copiers to retrieve it.     If I move my chair too far forward, it might slide on the flood of junk faxes that arrives daily, and too far back will result in a sickening crunch of broken plastic toys my little ones left lying there, with the apparent goal to impale my bare feet once I forget and walk away normally instead of with my head down, scrutinising the carpet for arch-flaying, pointy, legos and such.

Outside my window is a stand of marvelous old trees, the sun is setting in a pink blaze in the west, and I hear the joyful shouts of my darling little ones outside, competing with the torturous tick and tocks of the colossal clock I bought to help them learn to tell time, and the crowing of the confused rooster who lives next door. 

That's my environment!  Can you see it?
Plucky

[gratitude28]

Hi all,
The room we spend the most time in is the kitchen... And it's never neat... no matter how hard I try. We have an ugly government table... older than the hills with only 5 chairs as one broke one day. Two of the chairs have been half eaten by Henry (how much will that cost me when we move?) One of my teacher's paintings hangs in the kitchen... a focus on a frilly hibiscus in pinks and aqua. Beside it is the brightly painted clock I got in Barcelona... one of our favorite cities. My guppies look out at us from the counter (their tank needs a cleaning soon). There are more males than females now. I am hoping for babies soon, because the males start to get restless and nip at each others' tails when they are short on the otehr sex. I have decided never to go to the petstore we frequent again... their guppies were the ones that made mine sick, a goldfish I got there killed off my goldfish, we've gotten a sick hamster and guinea pig. It is too heartbreaking... Besides being the place where we eat and, most importantly, drink coffee in the morning, the kitchen table is always a bit cluttered with art projects and things to be mailed. I feel like it is the heart of the house... letters are made for Daddy and grandparents... the table always has a bit of ink or glue on it, but the dark wood doesn't show it. Usually there are clothes to be folded in a laundry basket near the table. Every time I fold them, I realize how much bigger the kids' clothes are getting... and how much the kids have formed their own style... the same beloved outfits come through the wash each week. A peek into my life... hope you accept it as it is... I am not going to apologise for the mess (I keep promising myself that!).
Love, Beth

[Hopalong]

Plucky...yes! What I love best is this:
I felt as though your second paragraph, where you showed such sensitive and soulful love for life--the sounds of the clock, children, and rooster; the sight of the old trees and sunset's beauty--explained exactly why there's a touch of disorder where it doesn't matter! Your heart's all tidied up.   

Dear Beth,
Don't you dare apologize. Sounds to me as though that old government table has seen and is seeing a whooooole lot of love. So much there, for everything from your goldfish to those stubby little hands writing letters and making art... thanks for the peek!

Hops

[gratitude28]

Thanks for the topic, hops. I am feeling a bit nostalgic. The views into others' lives make me happy, yet lonely a bit...

Brigid... tell me about dog breeding. Someday I want to breed bulldogs. Did you like it?

[Hopalong]

(I'm lonely too, hon. That's why I'm here typing away....you helped me by helping me see you.)

(((((Beth)))))

love from Hops

[gratitude28]

http://(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((hops)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[Brigid]

Dear Beth,

Brigid... tell me about dog breeding. Someday I want to breed bulldogs. Did you like it?

For the most part, I loved it for 20+ years.  I started in my early 20's and finally gave it up when my kids started getting active in sports and other activities which demanded my attention on the weekends.

It is a fun, but expensive hobby.  There can be some money made in breeding, but for the most part it doesn't cover your showing expenses unless you have a lot of puppies or have a very valuable stud dog.  If you just want to breed, that is difficult without the showing aspect as you really can't get a reputation as a breeder and your dog will be unknown and not command a good price for stud service or puppies.  If you are a reputable breeder, you spend a great deal of time considering the qualities of the two dogs being bred, the lines they come from and how great the chances are of it being a successful breeding.  Also, most reputable breeders will not sell you a good quality dog if you do not intend to show it or have them show it for you.  They do not sell dogs just for breeding purposes and will insist on it being neutered or spayed if not being shown.

Having a litter is a lot of work and you need to know what you are doing.  If I remember correctly, bulldogs (I assume you mean English Bulls) have more problems than other breeds because of their body shape.  They need more help in the delivery process and you must be present and knowledgable so as not to lose any puppies.  You need a whelping box for the delivery and early puppy stage while mom is still nursing, then a place to keep them until they are ready to go to homes at 8 weeks or so. 

For me, the showing was the much more fun aspect of it.  I travelled from coast to coast, but spent most of my time showing close to home in the midwest.  I have been president of 2 different dog clubs, been the newsletter editor and a myriad of other committee assignments, and helped to put on many shows.  I made many friends from all over the US and Canada over the years.

I hope that answers your question.  Ask away if there is anything else.

Brigid