The people at the end of the hall...

Last evening my landlord stopped by with a child in hand (he does not have any children of his own, but many friends with youngsters) and when I opened the door with a smile, he said "My little friend here just wanted to see where the people at the end of the hall live."

The young one looked inside wide eyed at the house crawling with kitties, the barking dog in my arms, the glowing candles and Christmas lights and let out the tiniest smile.

I invited them in but they declined politely, standing on the porch under the over hang to avoid the rain as they took a glance around and pointed at the various cats lounging about.

You see, we live at the end of my landlords hallway.  A very large house divided into three living spaces, with Sean and I on one end, my lovely landlords in the middle, and our other neighbor on the other end.  All the spaces are separated, each with its own front door, porch, and garden area... And our landlords hallway dead ends at our living room wall. Our place is quiet and only very rarely can we hear our landlords through the walls, but I imagine a young, curious child could plainly hear me watching Twister on repeat and want to know "where the people at the end of the hall live."

The Grateful Project: Day Ten

Today I am grateful for Felton, California.

I like that there's only about fifteen business but two of them are health food stores, one is a yoga studio, and three are fun places to shop for clothes and eco-friendly gifts.  Oh, and not to mention a tattoo place.

I love that the elderly owner of the hardware store knows my name and always says 'What are we painting today my dear?' when I walk in the door.

I love that there are two Chinese restaurants, two Mexican, and two pizza joints but nowhere to get a decent salad.

I love that there are only two streets and one stop light.  And that this little town is nestled only fifteen minutes from downtown Santa Cruz for when I need a bit more hustle than two streets and one stop light.

I love that it's in the mountains and feels really far away but in reality it only takes twenty minutes to real civilization, twenty minutes to the ocean, forty minutes to family, and ten minutes to really good sushi.

I love living here.  What do you love about your town?

Where We Live: Favorite Corners

There are some lovely corners in my home.

I am one of those people that feels uneasy in the middle of a mess. Work can be messy and complicated (you should see my office. Notice how there are no pictures of it here.), but home should be easy and neat. So yesterday after a marathon cleaning, I snapped a few pictures to share with you.

There was a game of cribbage abandoned on the kitchen table and it was bathed in the late morning light, too picturesque to put away. And my cook book corner above the fish tank finally has art hung above it. We're getting in to the season now of soups and knits and fires in the wood burning stove and these are the months where I adore our little home in the mountains for what it is.

Cozy, warm, small, light, and ours.  Do you have a special corner that brings you peace?

Where we live: The Occupants Part Three (of Three)

Meet the canines.

Mops is 11.6 pounds of reservation.  When you meet him for the first time he'll let out an old man grumble and give you a look of disdain, but I promise within 5 minutes of you being here he'll be up in your lap and licking your hand.  He's a little dog with a huge personality and when people meet him they always say 'I'm not usually a fan of little dog, but Mops...' and I nod with a knowing smile.  Mops was a rescue from my days of the Emergency Animal Clinic and he was a good one.  When he was found wandering on a busy street by a caring couple and brought into the clinic, he looked like a mop and had a very badly damaged eye.  A few surgeries  and haircuts later, here we are.  He came into my life on Valentine's Day in 2006, so we always celebrate his birthday with a double breakfast that day.

Mops likes 7:00am, the breakfast guy (Sean, to you and me), sitting quietly next to you, and going for car rides.  He'd also love it if you would drop some bacon on the floor every now and again.

Huckleberry is 45 pounds of unrestrained goofiness.  When you meet him for the first time he will probably jump on you and try to knock you over with glee.  He bounds and leaps like a champ and has a cute habit of doing circles when he's excited.  He's a pretty pup, but sensitive and doesn't like to be yelled at (which happens quite often) or reprimanded, yet challenges your authority whenever he has the chance.  If you're not paying one hundred percent attention to him, he'll eat your shoes.

Huck likes hugs and kisses, the beach, rolling around in dead things, and when you sit on the floor.  He dislikes water, vegetables, and his new $70.00 bed.

Where we live: The Occupants Part Two (of Three)

Meet the felines of the house.

Secret Agent Ninja Geoffrey Weston (Code name 'Sneaks') likes to meow at his prey, sharpen his claws, and plot his escape.  He is a retired secret agent with ninja tarantula killing skills and a beer belly.  We imagine his voice would sound like Bruce Campbell's were he to suddenly speak human.

Stuey Mac Daddy (Nickname 'Princess') spends 23 hours a day grooming himself and the other hour prancing about like he's on a cat walk.  Don't ask us when he sleeps, we don't know.  Stuey is gay, pretty, and fond of belly rubs and stealing your chair.

Wilson is... Well, Wilson.  He spends most of his day pouncing on the dog's tails and collecting knick knacks and hiding them under the couch.  He is a kleptomaniac with a penchant for whatever you happen to have in your hand and he loves to explore new frontiers.  Like the inside of the linen closet.

Together they make an incredible trio.  Geoffrey sits quietly next to you dreaming of murdering baby hummingbirds, Stuey would love a kind word and some rough pets, and Wilson likes to cuddle and gaze at you adoringly.  You're never without the perfect companion for your personality type.

Next up, the canine post.

Above the couch.

Yesterday I decided a little living room love was needed so I re-worked my 'above the couch' space.

Before:

I love that elephant foot more than words can say, but I have more walls than wall art so it will find another place to adorn.  The photos in the tri-frame on the left are FIVE years old!  I put them in that frame in one of my first apartments so maybe it's time for a change?

After gathering frames and art from the rest of my house, this is the after:

Much better!  And this wall is full of memories and love.  You can visit the flickr page to find out where the art came from and what special memories are attached to the photos.

What's above your couch?

Where we live: The Occupants Part One (of Three)

We are Brie and Sean.

We like to take long drives to nowhere.
Our anniversary is August 15th.
Sean hates doing the dishes, I hate laundry.
We want to own a ranch one day (with sheep!).
We read very different books, but every now and again we'll overlap so we can have our own little book club.
This book club takes place on our couch with cups of tea.
I do the cooking, Sean does the building of fires.
Sean is very understanding of me saying 'Not now I'm counting stitches!'
I am very understanding of Sean talking about televisions.
We can recite Friends episodes verbatim.
Sean can fix anything.
I can break anything and throw it away and buy a new one.
Sean is very steady.
I have a tendency to overreact.
Together we dream of a life full of animals and DIY projects and a house with secret passageways.

where we live...

My front door.  Welcome.

Where we live, we love to have visitors in feline form.  And sometimes in person form, too.

We have the most impressive tea stash you've ever seen outside an actual tea shop.

We move things around a lot.

We have a book you'd like to read.

We have fresh basil, rosemary, chives, parsley, and cilantro.
It's often cold and if you require a sweatshirt to be comfortable, we have one that will fit you.
We also have a wood burning stove... Although I might make you start the fire because even after 3 years I haven't been able to get the hang of it.
We're having heirloom tomatoes for every meal this week.
We like it here.

P.S.  Part of a new series for the blog.