Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Moments of My Life, My Designs and Gratitude

Today's blogs....

BLOG CITY – Day 239

If your life flashed before your eyes, what are 5 moments you know would be included? Bonus points to the monthly blogging if you tie this in with Halloween.

As the lid closed down on the coffin and the light was gone, my life flashed before my eyes. Walking in my daddy's shoes, playing a board game on the living room floor with my friends while making a music tape - trying to be quite so that our laughter and chatter doesn't make it onto the cassette tape, University graduation day on the sunny field at the University of Guelph, snuggling with my cats and my wedding day walking out of the church with my husband. A moment and it is gone. The blackness presses into me and I feel the air squeeze out of my lungs before I faint dead away.

Welcome To My Reality - Week Forty - Five

1. What pivotal moment in your life helped sculpt who you are today and would you change it?

Life is a series of challenges and delights. Who we are today is a collage of all that has come before us. My more pivotal moments changed me forever and although they were traumatic at the time and I would not want to relive them, I would not change them because that would be changing who I am - and I like the essence of who I am.

What changed me happened in a span of time when I was seven or eight years of age. Whether these things happened close together or not, I do not recall... in my mind;s memory they were within the same year. The first was having a male babysitter touch me inappropriately. He was the son of my regular babysitter. My parents had him look after me twice and then I told my mother I did not want him to babysit again. My mother asked no questions, but she listened to my request - apparently she had experienced something similar as a child. The subject was dropped and buried.

The second event was my parents separation. I felt the tension in the house long before my mother moved out. I did not know what happened to cause my parents rift, but it was palatable. I was one of the few children in my small, Northern Ontario town to have separated parents.

I later learned - now that I am in my forties, that my mother had caught my father in bed with a friend of hers. This woman was a friend to both of them. Her husband was a really good friend of my fathers. It boggles my mind. My mother never said a bad word against my father in front of me, but her depression deepened. Moving to Southern Ontario got her away from that crap.

2. If you were to design something, what would it be and why?

When I was a child I used to love designing houses and living spaces. Many of my designs were quite intricate but then I would realize I was missing something... something vital - the bathroom!

I am not sure what I found so interesting about this but I was drawn to creating spaces that were creative. I have an appreciation for house designs that incorporates the landscape and takes advantage of the scenic views. I have had the pleasure of visiting a friend of my aunt's up near Thesselon. She is a potter. Her husband is a painter. Their house is a rambling sort that had a warm living area for them and their family, but also stretched out to house their studios which were full of light and shadow from the Northern Ontario bush that inspired their work and captured their souls. I think the studios were also blocked off from the regular full heating system.
Their house was carved into the landscape. The lane way was cut through the bush - giving their own little piece of the dark, Black Forest of their German ancestry. It opened into a small yard big enough to turn around and put their cars in the driveway and garage and keep the winter plough in storage until needed.

The house sat back with the forest swelling up around it. From the kitchen window you could see the forest drop down to the lake behind them. It was a spectacular view. One that could also be seen from their bedrooms upstairs. The living areas stacked up to two floors, but the studio area had high ceilings, particularly in the painting studio. Huge windows let the light in. but also made it chillier - hence the small wood burning stove to warm that area in the winter months. In summer the sun warmed it.

I have always loved wandering through new homes that are being built to see what they have included in their plans. It has always intrigued me. I would love to design my own dream home.

30 Day Blogging Challenge

Prosperous Snow celebrating is listing gratitude moments and enjoying Autumn in Vegas. Today is supposed to be unseasonably warmer and the sun is making an appearance. Just that alone is worthy of a gratitude fist pump.

I spoke too soon, the sun has disappeared behind a bank of clouds that threaten us with more rain. That's okay. I don't need to go out until later today.

Later, I did go out to visit with my mom. I was home in time for dinner and my husband barbequed hamburgers so I got a pass on making dinner. Another thing to be grateful for!