Book Collection.

Years ago, I watched a show about hoarding

and it scared the heck out of me that having

"collections" can lead to over crowding in a

home. Since then, and now that our children

are grown and the house isn't full of toys, we

have made a very conscious choice to still love

our items that we collect but ensure they all

have a spot AND that we don't have to have

every single item within a collection. This

has worked well for us. However, the book

collection we have amassed over the years is

a bit much! So much so we've actually joked

that we need to build an addition on to the

cottage that would be exclusively a library!

I know many people who read a book and

pass it along, and we do purge at least once

a year. But the books we have, we do read

again and again, and can't imagine parting

with them. Too precious to us! Is it actual

hoarding? No, it is our love of reading ....

💗 Chy 💗

Blogtober: Day 5.

I found this amazing photo of a board to

keep track of all the books that are read.

Thinking about putting one in each of

our classrooms for our new centre. Such

a new idea to keep track of books read,

especially in a classroom setting. Lovely!

Do you keep track of the books you read?

~ Chy

Heaven.

What I think Heaven should look like!

A soft bed, tons of books and a sweet

landscape outside my window. Oh, but

wait. This is what I have now for real!

~ Chy

Bedtime Reads.

Dear grandson sometimes sleeps upstairs if his mom

has to work a night shift. He wanted to read the other

night, and while he was down in their apartment, I

grabbed these 3 books that we gifted him as a baby

and a toddler. He was surprised but did read them!

The first two on the pillows have his name in them

and really special as his name is not super common,

so it's hard to find things that have his name. And the

big one below the pillows is actually the first book we

bought for him after he was born. It's got some moving

parts in it and he loved when we'd read this to him. I

love that we've instilled our passion for reading in him.

~ Chy

Christmas Books.

I LOVE getting books at Christmas.

Next to chocolate, books are my

very favorite gifts. This one above

was not to read but to store passwords.

The newest to me Susan Branch book

that I couldn't find last year but dh did!

And The Cottage Fairy, based on the

Youtube channel I love to watch. I

am now well set for the New Year to

read away the long, dark nights. Yes!

~ Chy

 

Recovery Cart.

To make life a bit easier for my

recovering, we brought down

this cart from the art studio. It

will be filled with magazines

and books on the bottom shelf.

Middle shelf will have the Lego

blocks in their respective bags

to complete "Assembly Square."

And the top shelf will hold my

meds, writing paper and cards,

stamps and return address labels,

and a spot to hold any cords I'll

need for my phone and laptop.

Above this will be the wooden

topper so I have a hard surface as

needed. Glad we thought of this!

~ Chy

BK Collection.

I started a sweet little collection of books

a couple of years ago. These are so hard

to find so I truly cherish the few that I've

been able to secure in a variety of ways

from author and artist Becky Kelly. Some

have been found at the charity shop, some

from Indigo, one from the antique mall

and one very special one was a gift to me

from a dear friend who moved away. All

are precious and reside in our tiny library.

~ Chy

Books with Flowers.

I stole this amazing image from Victoria

Magazine. I'd love to style my bookcases

like this, with a section for each color

in the rainbow. Wouldn't this be sweet?

~ Chy

Painting Day.

We brought this amazing cabinet in

to my new office on the weekend.

But it's been in our garage for a couple

of years and has lots of awful scratches.

Looking forward to a fresh coat of sage

green paint to brighten it up and make

it look brand new again. A lovely and

very sturdy unit for all my grief books.

~ Chy

Vintage Bookstore.

A recent Sunday downtown to visit a bookstore

we haven't been to in years. A favorite spot to

explore and spend time in. When we lived in the

great Big City, we used to go often but don't now.

Sunny day and vintage entrance.

Long rows of books and treasures.

Everything in order but hard to find.

No computers to look up our finds.

Under a table towards the back

of the store. A sweet little space.

Kids areas downstairs. We spent

time looking for our grandkids.

Look at those railings. Can you imagine

how many hands have held on over the years?

Prayer flags gave a holistic feel. Dh

at the top of the stairs as we walked.

The outside with a vintage feel that

welcomes all who seek atmosphere.

~ Chy

Sweet Bunnies.

Susan Wheeler is one of my favorite

illustrators. Love her work so much.

.Book Basket.

My little shopping basket doubles as

a book basket when it's not holding food.

My Inspiration.

When I was young, the tv series "Little House on the Prairie" was launched on Sunday nights. I loved the show and couldn't wait for the next episode. Reading the books prior to the show, and then again during the run, this was always one of my favorites. You may wonder  if the name of my blog had any  relation to the books and the tv series and my response is Yes! The fact that we got to finally live out our dream of living in "our little house in the big woods" was the background inspiration to my title. Shopping the other day at Costco, I spotted these DVD's in the cute little house box. Not on my wish list but I couldn't resist taking a pic. We have so many series that we've acquired over the years and now with things like Netflix, buying DVD's isn't on the radar. But this little house box was cute and I couldn't resist taking it.

Were you a fan of the Little House books and show?

Do you have a favorite series from your childhood?

A Susan Branch Christmas!

 I love Susan Branch's books. I've gathered quite the

collection over the last few years. This year, I had

a very hard time answering my families' pleas of

"mom, what do you want?" Then I thought of Susan.

And my gifts were very Susan Branch indeed! A

large calendar blotter for my desk in the Great Room.

Two books, "Autumn" and "Fairy Tale Girl" were

in the mix as well. Looking forward to reading both.