Making a House a Home

It’s been five weeks since we made the move to Morro Bay. It’s been wonderful to spend more time with our son and his fiance’, explore a new community, get to know new neighbors, try the local cuisine, and most especially, walking on the beach. All that being said, I have felt like I was on vacation and not quite at home. It really hit me on Monday, while driving towards San Luis Obispo to pick up Scott from work. You see, that’s the direction we’d go when we’d head for home from a day at the beach. I felt a sudden and unexpected pain of home sickness. Not for Bakersfield, but for home. A place you walk into, and you know that it’s your favorite place. Your sanctuary. Your cocoon. It was then, that I realized I needed to get on with making this house our home.

On Tuesday, I woke up with a new determination to get some quilts up on the walls, special things put out, cookbooks on the shelves, and the last of the random boxes unpacked. At least the boxes that were still in the living room. 😉 As I put up or put out each and every thing, I began to feel a bit more at home in my surroundings. As I unpacked each item, I got excited all over again, over a quilt pattern I’d made, the stitching I’d done, embellishments I’d attached, a gift given by a friend, my husband, or my boys. Special cookbooks that contained recipes I’ve used for years. My mom’s recipes. I also found several baggies of sea glass that Zack collected when he took a vacation with Scott’s sister a number of years ago. I took one of my large jars and filled it with all of Zack’s collection. It feels good to see a little bit of him every day.

Each of the Willow Tree Angels was given to me by my boys and/or my husband, and each has a special meaning. The last one I put out was the one with bluebirds perched on her outstretched arms. She is the Angel of Happiness. 🙂