My Great Aunt P.'s home ~ going back a month

I have been in my Great Aunt P's house various times in my 

growing up years, and I love how it has stayed the same, and that I got to 

see it again this past July.  My Great Aunt P is 90 now and still living 

in her own home; she was widowed when I was 9, so about 30 years ago.

She kept busy volunteering at a school (she is a teacher),

 delivering flowers to hospitals (she said this volunteer job ended 

because hospital stays now are so short,

that if anything, a florist would deliver flowers right to one's home!), 

and she still volunteers at a Christian thrift store

 (the GR MI area has several, 

one for a Christian mental hospital,

one for a Christian adoption agency, many for Christian schools, 

one for Bibles-for-Missions,

another for a Christian shelter and soup kitchen, 

not to mention Good Will...)

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I just love kitchens; Aunt P's kitchen is so nice, with so much cupboard and counter space,

gas oven, window over the kitchen sink!... 

It's pretty much my dream kitchen!

I love her dining room area as well... such a lovely beautiful big window, wall space and 

place for dinner with guests!

My Great Aunt P is a knitter!

She is doing a sweater with lots of cables!

I love it.  She's really good!

She says she has to be careful what she tells her kids she likes,

as they will surprise her with it later!

Sweet tray, near to her cottage that I wrote about here.

Polished petoskey stones, from Lake MI, found years ago... 

I also have that pewter tray, for our daily bread.... such simple beauty!

Whenever I think of my Aunt P's place, I think of her books; she loves to read,

has been part of a book club for many years...

such a fulfilling life she has lead! 

I treasure it and every detail therein... 

She said that this print was a set of prints that she used to trade out 

every so often, but it was her Mother's frame and got too delicate to be 

touched / used this way, so now this print stays in all the time...

my Mom has the same one... Rembrandt's I mean Vermeer's Milk Maid... 

(thanks Lisa!) 

I had to memorize this when I was a child, as did my Mother....

a cornerstone of CRC/Dutch Christian culture...

 Paintings that my Aunt P's daughter D. did years ago,

when she was a teacher in a town with little to offer...

she's lived in CA now for decades and does not paint as much now,

but reads, teaches math to high school teachers; she is at retirement age,

but is still teaching; she loves it; how wonderful that is!

My Aunt P told me that her husband, my Uncle P, built her these bookshelves, with tile

on top so she could have flowers there...I love this tangible act of love he did for her...

she said they designed a few houses a before this one,

 and they got exactly what they wanted by this 

house, which they had for a few, maybe 7,

years together, before my Uncle P got sick... he died when I was 9

of an adult form of leukemia, 

I still remember being at a park at a picnic table with them all,

the last time I saw my Uncle alive...

it was summer time...

if I remember rightly, My great Aunt B's husband my Uncle H died first, 

then my Uncle P, then my

Grandma, Aunt P and Aunt's B's Dad, 

and the newly widowed Mother of overcome by 

the sorrow of losing two sons-in-laws and

 her husband within about 3 months time; 

I think there were other deaths around that time too; 

so much; so quickly;

I think my Great Grandmother lived 

about another year after this.

Yet, they will all tell you of the goodness of God....

My Great Grandmother did the embroidery on this chair. 

She collected dishes, having 3 sets I think; she did embroidery like this for various

family members, apparently the flower pattern was set on there and one only had

to do the background colour; I can see I am like her; this sort of simple crafting is often

what I do, not wanting or having the brain space to do all that counting that

knitting patterns call for.

Look at all the pots of tea my Great Aunt can make!

So many tea parties could be done! :)

I love her simple canister set, next to her eat-in kitchen... 

I loved seeing her house again, it had been at least 10 years or more since I was there....

And, there, is my Aunt P's home!

I loved seeing it again!