Giving Thanks...

Today is a very meaningful day in our household. Thus, I treat it like any other special holiday and break from my "work" and will not write about decorating today. Two years ago today, our youngest son suffered a life-threatening injury to his spleen. He fell from an eight-foot foundation wall of a home we were building. He is an extremely active boy and "thinks before he leaps." Well, he did just that on that day. My husband had promised to take him to see the jobsite as he loves back-hoes and excavators, etc. and the thought was that there might be one there. When they arrived, he raced out of the car ahead of everyone else and headed straight to the wall. Then the fall...

At the hospital, he was diagnosed as having a severe laceration to his spleen. They wanted to airlift him to the IWK, but there was too much fog and rain to do so safely. A long, scary drive lay before us and we were not even allowed to travel in the ambulance with him. They had sent members of the pediatric trauma team down for the transport (an agonizing 2 and 1/2 hr waiting process) and there was no room for us. They were so kind and gentle to him. When they opened the ambulance doors and we could finally see him, he was clutching a teddy bear they had given him and they told us he had named it Ginger. This from a boy who had long since rejected teddy bears...

Eight days of a slow and painful (physically for him, emotionally for us) watch and wait period followed. The staff at the IWK were excellent and I truly felt he was getting the best care possible. We had so much kindness shown to us from family and friends. Close friends stayed with our kids that first night in hospital. My mum, sister, niece and nephew came to see him and lift his spirits. I was also touched by the thoughtfulness of a kind friend who drove an hour and a half to just sit with us, and then treated me to a beautiful scarf to put in my hair. I had been wearing what seemed like the same "uniform" for days that I kept re-washing and she must have taken pity on me and my son. I will never forget that she instinctively knew I needed a friend to be there. My mother-in-law helped mind our other children and my husband travelled back and forth as much as possible.

The intense love we feel as mothers made me feel like the proverbial mother lion protecting her cub. I did not want to leave his side for fear he would be afraid. Pain and fear are a huge part of traumatic injury. Indeed, I felt like my son and I truly connected on an even deeper level as mother and son. It is not often a mother gets to spend that much one on one time with her child. His recovery was a gift in many ways and I actually felt like I missed him when we returned home.

Twelve weeks of very restricted physical activity followed. We kept up with his schoolwork at home and did quiet outings like beachcombing at our local beach where he couldn't trip and fall and re-open his fragile spleen. It was so hard to keep him still! As he grew stronger, he wanted to do more and more. Luckily, once the surgeon sternly told him his spleen was like jello, he eased up on me a little bit.
I try not to think of what might have been. We know how lucky we were that he did not have head or spinal injuries and that his laceration sealed instead of hemorrhaging. We are just so thankful that we got to keep this beautiful boy and that he is now 100% back to good health. Angels on our shoulders?...perhaps. Whatever the reason, we are indescribably grateful, and that is why we celebrate his recovery on this date forever more.

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

We all have belongings we love, or "treasures" as I like to call them. They are the things that when we look at them, they make us happy- no regrets- and it seems as if we will never tire of them. As someone who easily bores, that is a big job for my poor accessories. There are a few items that make me feel that way, though. I'm not guaranteeing that I'll never change a few of them out, but for now, they make me smile and feel as though everything is right with my decorative world for the moment- (I truly am deeper than this, but this is a decorating blog, remember!).

I love lighting!! I really feel it is the jewellry of a home and you cannot scrimp on this!! That said, I am not dictating that you have to spend a fortune on your lighting needs. I have been very lucky and found the vast majority of my lights at local sources... more on this in a later entry. I also love to frequent my local flea market for vintage finds. I love things that have been loved and used by someone from the past. I have purchased old toys, an antique (I use the term loosely) baby sled, milk glass, handmade folk art dolls, my vintage Sunbeam mixer, etc. I don't go as much lately, but those first few outdoor markets reap a ton of fun stuff. I love the challenge of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear and have even found treasures at the Dollar Store like my glass knobs (used as shower curtain rings) altered for use as a way to hang my kitchen window valances.

The above photo shows one of my daughter's baby dresses fastened over a lampshade to dress up her bedside lamp. Safe, because the top is open and looks so pretty lit up. Look at your own objects and see how they can be used in different ways. You will feel more pride of ownership if you make or tweak things yourself into objects of beauty. What are your favorite things...??

Easter Treasures

Easter is one of my favorite holidays for all of its significance and symbolism. Beyond that, it is also a time for all that is pretty. Usually, the sun shines brighter, the grass is peeping through and we begin to shed our wintery layers. I love the pastel colours, pussy willows, delicate Easter eggs, and pretty dresses to wear to church.
Because we associate Easter with spring, it is also a time to lighten up our homes. As overwhelming as spring cleaning can seem, I love the feeling of starting anew and refreshing my home in preparation for summer. This Easter, my brother Alistair and family came to visit and we had a relaxed and enjoyable visit drinking tea, watching our children reconnect and discussing their plans to build a new home. My sister-in-law, Denise, wants me to sign on and help her make some design decisions and select some of the finishes. Denise has great taste so I was flattered to be asked to help. She and Alistair loved the idea of building in lockers in their mudroom, as I have, and took some pictures of my kitchen as Alistair wants to build his own cabinets as well. They asked my husband, Paul, to think about building the cabinets for them. Although tempted, he is too busy with his new home inspection business to take the time off.
I am so glad we are content to stay put. I am tired of building (for the moment) and am enjoying helping clients create beautiful spaces. I just started working with a client who wants to update her kitchen. It has wooden cabinets that need refreshing with paint, countertops that will be changed, she wants open shelving, and to take down a wall between the kitchen and living room. I enjoy working with clients like her who know what they don't want, know their needs in the space, and are open to suggestions to get what they do want. I love this job and look forward to growing my business into what I have envisioned. New beginnings, fresh starts, peeling back the old layers to reveal a new beauty. Decorating can be like spring...an unearthing of all that is pretty.