Thursday, January 7, 2010

quiet days & the lonesome old homestead

I hope that these lovely days of quiet January are just what your heart needs.
I love them, for the stillness and the slowness of them. The contentment in them.
I can dream and draw, make plans, move furniture and clean the
clutter away from my heart
and my old farmhouse,
No hurry or scurry.
My farmer and I like to go traveling the countryside of our high desert
on these cold quiet days of January.
Taking the big 4 wheel drive down winding & muddy roads out into old homestead country
we often come across old homestead houses and barns,
falling down fences, rock cribs marking the 4 corners of the places
and sometimes, if we're lucky,
we find a once beautiful old homestead house.
I like to think of the lady of this old house standing on her porch a 100 years or so ago,
shading her eyes and looking out into the vast openness, looking for a puff of dust.
Knowing that puff of dust
was her farmer with his plow and horses working up a new field.
She would have dinner cooking in the wood cook stove, maybe a venison roast
and few carrots and potatoes, some good biscuits,too.
The scent of burning juniper wood in the air,
a faint blue smoke rising from the skinny kitchen chimney.
The laundry flapping in the wind on a make-do clothesline out back of house.
A few chickens scurrying and scratching around the kitchen screen door.
This old homestead was a once grand place.
At one time it had fancy cut shingles,
glass windows, a wide porch, a parlor, a kitchen lean-to
a garden with herbs and wild yellow roses
and a lovely privy out at the end of a rock edged path
in the back.
It was indeed grand and full of hope.
like the dreams of these old homesteaders,
grand and hopeful.
Until then, we are off, traveling the country side
to find more treasures of our high desert to
share.
I hope that these quiet days are filled with what you need,
peace filled and hopeful
in this new year...
which I'm calling the "aughts"
"aught ten" feels good to me.

13 comments:

Heather said...

What a haunting and beautiful homestead...you live in such a beautiful face. I would love to explore those old homesteads, those long-abandoned houses always tug at my heart.
Happy january to you!~
Heather

Dixie Redmond said...

Beautiful, Christe. I love finding old places. :-) Maine is full of them.

Dixie

Kim from The Sheep's Nest said...

Hello old friend,

It has been so long Christine. I think of you often when I move my precious doll of yours around my home. I am just starting to learn of the land of blog! I started my own and hope to regenerate my creative spirit. Hugs to you,Kim Whritner

Ulla said...

Lovely... I can only imagine what made the owners leave such a treasure... perhaps lonliness?
Hugs
Ulla

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

The old homesteads that have been left abandoned dot the countryside mesmerizing us with their haunting beauty and daydreaming of the lives that once echoed within their walls...
Hoping you are enjoying your new year, with the promise of Spring casting a wee reflection in the rear view mirror.
x Susan

Rilda said...

How beautiful!! As we all come closer to our reality and realize the pastness of our lives we just go onward with the knowledge those before are cheering us onward. This is a great time in our lives to see a clean white blanket of pureness from heaven cover the earth to cleanse us and renew us to the right way of seeing. Have a blessed time, rilda *U*

Katie said...

This posting gave me a lump in my throat and made me hold my head up...I come from that sort of sturdy stock...it is the stuff from which I'm made, I am sure. Giving me a glimpse at it like that makes me forever proud. Lovely photo ma...another lump in my throat at how lonely it looks now.
And I LOOOOOOVE your catchpenny lady going travelling!! So sweet ma.

a little work of grace said...

Dear Christine,

What a peaceful place, far from all the clatter and clutter. Thank you for bringing us there through your travels and story. I'm imagining you and your farmer there on the homestead finding quiet moments in the deep of winter.

Love,
Laura

Susan Walker said...

I love your beautiful pictures, Christine..thank you so much for sharing the beautiful countryside with us here on your blog. Wishing you a Happy and Blessed New Year...Susan

QUAINT AND PLAIN said...

NOTHING CAN FILL OUR HEART WITH MORE COMFORT THAN A RIDE IN THE COUNTRY WITH THE ONE WE LOVE...OLD HOUSES~ & BARNS ALONG THE WAY MAKE A PERFECT DAY ALL THE BETTER... YOUR POST IS QUITE WONDERFUL~IF I CLOSE MY EYES AND DREAM A BIT I CAN SMELL BUTTERMILK BISCUITS BAKING IN THE OVEN TO BE SERVED UP WITH BUTTER AND BLACKBERRY JAM... B

Laura Frantz said...

What a wonderful blog, Christine! Heartfelt thanks to Heather/Audrey Eclectic for sharing you:) You're a history lover like me. Heather said it so well - those old homesteads do tug at my heart. Your dolls are so beautiful!

Gayle said...

Christe'

Your photo transports me to a peaceful feeling. But your lovely writing also paints a picture for me...

good work...

my best Gayle

Finegan Antiques said...

Dear Christine,

You are truly blessed with elogence of words and a pure soul which sees the joy in the world.

Donna