The Art of Homemaking

Our kitchen window sill is deep because our house is a stone house and wide enough to double as a frig or a freezer in the winter depending on the weather. Yesterday I was industriously scrubbing away all the bugs, dried food, and spider webs when suddenly I just had to see what some new paint would look like on our precious window sill.

Soon Amy appeared with a whole can of paint from who knows where in the basement looking expectant and mysterious at the same time. “Where did this come from, Mom?!” It was a good question. ” Hmmm…I don’t know for sure, but it sure is green.”

Green it was/is. So with my brush and canvas so to speak all ready to go, I began. “Yeah, it’s green, ” seeing the first strokes of my brush. It was fun… I mean it WAS green… but looking out through the window at God’s green and mine…it was kinda nice. So I kept on. Frances came into the kitchen and said, “It makes the kitchen darker, Mom.” I should take the hint, I know. But it was fun and different, really different, there isn’t anything else in the whole house this particular color of green. ( That’s good, too.) It didn’t take long to have it done and partly dry and I was thinking of what would look good on all that green. The pottery pitcher of garden flowers was easy…anybody could see it looks great! “You need something pink, Mom.” How do women without daughters know what’s next?! So I dug out my two favorite old bowls I found at a garage sale last spring. Perfect. And next came Grandma’s platters.

Lance came home and said. “Looks like the forties!” I heartily agreed, “Yes, it does, for a fact.” Elv came home and said, “Lime green???” (Make that an ascending incredulous tone, please.)

But I kept looking at it and liking it…until after the sun went down. Okay, so it was a bad idea. Good for daylight and sunshine; but bad for evening, and terrible at night. And I can’t very well stand there painting it back and forth from green to white every evening and from…oh, well, you get the point. Sigh!

It’s going back to boring old white again, but now that I’ve had those antique bowls and platters in there, I’m going to have to invest in some plate stands and display them there. That’s how homemaking is; you try this and that, but eventually you get it right. Remember, it has to look good both in daylight and dark, no matter what.
The people that I clean for over on the lake had this old rocker labeled ‘to give away’. So when I got home I called them at their city home and asked them if I could be the receiver. First I am going to look at it for a few days/months or however long it may be; and next I will refinish it. I wonder…if any of you knows what’s best to do with such a treasure. Please let me know, okay?
And then there’s the basket. It was an ugly, old, ratty looking basket, but it’s big and that’s why I wanted it. It’s big enough for magazines, games, lotion, pillow, books, you name it… it’s big enough for once. Now it’s red! Because I took it outside, stood back with a red spray paint can and covered it all up with red paint. As a result, it’s not only big, it’s nice.

I make a few mistake along the way with my art of homemaking, as I say, and my window sill painting is about the epitome of mistakes, ( I like it during the day, though) but now and then something turns out just about right…like a red basket.