My brother is here for a week–and we are SO HAPPY to see him! Except Jack. Who’s surprised?
Jack will be spending lots of time in Fairy Cottage with Aunt Debby, while David will be in the middle guest room. (Lynne still stays with us several days a month, including some of this week, and she’s in the front guest room.)
This was one motivation to get Houndstooth Hall back in order and the reason we finally finished the Pooh Room. The old art is back:
That dresser in Winnie the Pooh color is new, and the top is the hutch from my mother’s old china cabinet. The lower part was destroyed by Harvey, but we kept the upper part. Pictures and mementos of my late friend Steve are in there because Winnie the Pooh and Piglet were our thing, and actually, the two on the top shelf there were gifts to him that were always with him in his hospital bed. On the lower shelf is a little wooden saying from Debby: Sisters are forever, along with a wooden butterfly designed and painted by Tom’s mother.
Two samplers cross-stitched by Mother with hers and Daddy’s names and birthdates, and a quilt she made. The squares are signed by family members and people who were close to my parents or us in the early 1980s. After they signed and illustrated a square, she embroidered it. I’ll share detailed photos of a few of my favorites sometime in the future. It’s the first time the quilt has been on display.
Also for the first time in years, the dolls Daddy brought to me from his overseas tours in Korea–some from Korea, a couple from Japan–are back on display. I love the way they brighten the space above that cabinet.
This room is full of good memories and love, and I hope it’s comfortable and welcoming to those who visit Houndstooth Hall.