What You Need For A Reading Nook of Your Own

April's Full Pink Moon arrived on my birthday...a joyous gift!...and, absolutely knowing how to LIVE LARGE, (like you!) I treated myself to a frozen yogurt...smile! When the kind woman found out it was a birthday treat, she plopped a huge strawberry on top.

There are all manners of good things, on a daily basis, that, almost always, outweigh the not so good. Little kindnesses, treats that are both coming to us and, if we're smart, being given from us. One of the absolute best ways I give myself both grace and kindness is with a dedicated reading space.

After the Epic Mess and putting the bedroom to rights, I made a sweet little Reading Nook. I'm a firm believer that everyone should have a spot to call their very own, where they can sit and read or sit and think or sit and do nothing...all of which are done in my little nook.

The leather chair was a great find...not usually a fan of recliners but this one is on the shorter side and fits my body nicely...so nicely I've been known to fall asleep...wry smile. The sheep fleece keeps me comfortable, no matter the season, and, some years back, I knitted the purple wool shawl and use it to drape 'round my shoulders. The pillows are used to give back support and under my legs when the chair is reclined. A good reading light is a must and little touches like the battery operated candles lend coziness. Behind the candles is a green cafetan purchased in a Marrakech souk and hung for pleasant memories. Yes, that larger rug is Persian and was destroyed in the flood; while it can't be used in public areas, in the privacy of the bedroom, it's "okay".

Another cozy non-necessity is an electric fireplace that gives both ambiance and a little heat. It doesn't get very hot so the radio on top isn't in danger, neither is it hardly ever turned on. While reading, I'd rather have my imagination in use as opposed to warring with raucous noise.

The bookshelf under the candles contains books, magazines, writing boxes holding stationary, cards and colored pens to send notes and letters. It's not only reading I do in my nook.

The glass carafe was a gift from Sandra 2, my SC friend of many, many decades. It rests atop a small coaster from The Jefferson and another pleasant memory of a weekend with my husband.

This particular Reading Nook is in my bedroom and differs from others in the house and is only used prior to going to sleep. I love my space...each object has been placed with thought and consideration and every night, prior to sleep, great enjoyment is found here. Perhaps that's the secret to its success - loving the space, choosing each object with care, good lighting, comfortable chair, great reading material. It's a (not so small) way I, every night, take care of me gently and enjoy both space and act.

We're all different but the following are things that are a Must Have for my Reading Nook(s) and cozy contentment:

~A comfortable chair with good support...sides and back with pillows, throws, shawls or similar to cozy 'round shoulders should a chill arrive. The chair should have room to stretch out...a recliner or, perhaps a leather chair with ottoman, because one certainly needs a place to put up feet.
~A side table to hold book(s), beverage, essential oils, lotions, etc.
~a small aromatherapy diffuser with lavender essential oil. The diffuser doesn't have to be expensive as it's only going to be used for short periods of time and by the time I've read a chapter or twelve, my eyes are heavy with sleep and the room gently scented with lavender which is sleep inducing.
~Excellent lighting - I highly recommend OTT lights! There's an OTT light in every room in my house and my old eyes are greatly appreciative!
~A book case to hold old favorites and those to become favorites.
~While some do, I don't like cut flowers in a bedroom because their scent is overwhelming.

Do you have a Reading Nook? If so, what makes yours special for you and your situation?

Ponder this ~

"A reader lives a thousands lives before he dies. 

The man who never reads, lives only one." 

~ George R. R. Martin ~ 

New Photos of My Country Kitchen

My farmhouse kitchen is large huge, about the same size as most rooms in this house...20'x20' and eight people can sit comfortably before resorting to perching on the hearth or moving a dog off their bed. The kitchen is painted Martha Stewart's Bee Balm Red and curtains were never used because the window valences allow the 9'x3' windows to let the outside in. 

The cabinets, hand built on site, are birch and have piano hinges; some cupboards have glass windows. The pass through, to the living room, was made to allow both conversation and light to pass between both rooms. Hand made baskets are lined up over the sink and most were made either by my Grandmother or me. The metal dipper is for grabbing a drink of water so I don't dirty a glass (well, that's the way we've always said it). 

The table came out of the old Pembroke Bank in Giles County VA and still has the leather top and screw holes that held down an antique adding machine and two drawers are on one side. 

On either end of the table are sturdy chairs; one is a Morris type Chair and the other is a chair with heart cut-outs. I've had the heart chair for, maybe 40 years, and the Morris chair was given by a friend 10 years ago. Alongside the length of the table is an antique three seater choir pew and when additional seating is needed, I bring out the bench Daddy made two decades ago.

If you're getting the hint there's nothing much new in this house, you'd be right. I believe the wormy chestnut rocking chair is newest and it's made of re-claimed barn wood.

The stove is a refurbished 1914 Acorn cook stove; it has seven propane gas burners and three ovens with a warming oven on top left. For the story behind the stove, click here and here. 

The fireplace was re-built using slave made brick from the original farm house (which burnt during Christmas 1899) and in lieu of a mantle, now boasts a slab of wormy chestnut. The original lithograph is The Gleaners, an oil painting by Jean-Francois Millet, finished in 1857 and hanging in the Musee d'Orsay in France. The three peasant women glean a field of wheat after the harvest and remind me of Ruth in the Old Testament. The story behind the painting is here and I hope to visit the original at some point in the future.

The mantle is lined with trip treasures...a copper coffee container Dave purchased when he visited a Romanian Gypsy village (I stayed in the vehicle due to feelings of unease about our belongings being left alone...a good thing, as I was in the back of the van, a man climbed aboard and was quite startled to see me!), sugar and tea containers hand crafted by the nomad Bedouin's in the Sahara Desert. Dave bought those while we were in an antique shop in the Marrakesh souk. The kerosene lantern is from the 1800's but the hand thrown pottery flower vase is newish, purchased from an old friend who was laid off from the coal mines then taught himself to throw pottery. The vase is only 15 years old so it's almost brand new -lol.

The gas log insert broke and was replaced with a propane fireplace that brings more heat into the room and I enjoy more than the gas logs insert.

All the crocks are original and handed down through Daddy's family; the smaller crock sitting on the propane fireplace, and the larger crock to the far right, are both from my Great-Grandmother and still in use when I churn butter. The smaller crocks are used to make pickles using my Grandmother's Bread and Butter recipe.

The rocking chair on the right is made of re-claimed wormy chestnut barn wood and was Amish made to sit alongside Dave's Amish made casket at the wake. It's a nice, sturdy chair and gives me good memories amongst the painful ones.

So, that's part of my kitchen and a portion of the stories. The Welsh type cupboard can't be seen and if anyone is interested, I'll post about it of if you'd like to see something close up, let me know. The kitchen is a Working Kitchen and everything in it earns a living by doing what it was made to do. Someone asked, "Aren't you afraid you'll break _____?" and I replied, "If I do break it, it'll be broken while in service and not being dusted.

Life was meant to be used, hearts were made to be broken and, when we're most blessed and fortunate, all put to rights again. Please don't put "whatever" on a shelf or keep in wrapping paper; put it into service today! Have your memories be good ones...when you were on holiday and bought ___ or the family said, "Sandra would enjoy having that rocking chair" or salvage something from your family...or even the thrift store...give it a home and make your own memories so you can tell your own stories.

Because memories are the key 

to both our past and our futures.

Blessings ~ The Gleaners ~ 1914 Acorn stove ~ Morocco ~ holidays ~ memories ~

My Marrakesh

 ~ the water seller ~

ADDED NOTE: Jacky Miller has written a marvelous article on 100 Things to do in Morocco and I recommend it highly! The photos are wonderful and brought back so many memories. Dave and I managed to get to Morocco three times and all three were fabulous...I'd love to return but, in the meantime, I'll review my posts on Morocco and visit Jacky's article.

Book giveaway post April 29, 2010 post, the one just before this post.

If you've ever noticed, on my 'Cozy Visits' sidebar, there's a blog called "My Marrakesh". It's a beautiful blog, beautifully photographed and well written. It's the story of an American woman and her husband who purchased a home just outside Marrakesh and have set about restoring a guest cottage and the olive grove. It's long been a favorite read as Morocco is one of my favorite countries, if not my favorite country, to visit.

Perhaps, when most people hear the word "Africa" they think of the Congo or safaris or elephants, lions, giraffes and wildebeests. Not me. I think of Morocco and camels, Blue Men, Sahara Desert, Bedouins, Berbers and other nomadic people. Since I was a little girl, sitting in Sunday School and listening to stories of Moses leading his people out of Egypt, traveling toward the Promised Land but wandering in the desert for forty years or the story of Abram, his wife Sarai and how they traveled, pitching their tents or the many other similar stories, I have been absolutely enthralled with nomadic people as well as the Middle East and general area of North Africa. It amazes me how people lived, and do live, and it's fascinating to be a first hand witness to same.

In 1989 there was a Nomadic Peoples Convention but very little since then that I could find. I did find that in September 2007, the Declaration of Nomadic and Transhumant Pastoralists was written in Segovia, Spain. This document represents 50 tribes in Africa, Asia, American and Europe who gathered together to address common problems and, hopefully, find workable solutions. Nomadic people all over the world are finding themselves being pinched out of existence, or existence as they know it. They are, slowly, being forced to move to cities and give up their tents, their roving lifestyle, their very being. Governments are confiscating forest lands, deserts and other land masses and forcing the Nomadic people to move, move, move, always move. The concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a very few are forcing the rest ...of us... to, at the very least, compromise and, at the worst, to do the bidding of those elite. Sound familiar, yes? It begins with the least among us. Also, Nomadic Peoples Project has some great photos and good, but outdated, information.

A few years ago Dave asked if there was someplace I'd really, really like to see. Immediately, two places came to mind: Morocco and Mongolia. He grinned, turn around to his computer and said, "thanks." A couple of weeks later he asked, "how would you like to visit Marrakesh, stay in a riad in the medina, shop in the souks and stay in a Bedouin tent in the Sahara Desert?

DO WHAT?!!!  By the time I could get out the word YES!, my head was already bobbing like those little dogs you used to see in the back windows of cars. YES!! YES!!!! YES!!!!!!


He went on to tell me he'd been in touch with Sahara Trek and was in process of planning our trip. He and Luiza planned a trip so fabulous we still can scarce believe we were there...in Morocco, Marrakesh, Sahara Desert, Atlas Mountains and other, almost too, beautiful places. If you're ever in the position to go to Morocco, talk to Sahara Trek first. I pour over their website and have long wondered how I could possibly do their Crafts Tour.

Salem Aleikum - peace be unto you was the first phrase we learned and used it mightily while in Morocco. When Dave and I travel, we fit in as well as two pasty white Anglos are able -smile-. We both dress respectfully and I make sure all my body parts, save hands and face are covered and, usually, wear a scarf except when overheated. I figured Muslim men would rather see my bare head than see me sprawled on the street -smile- although never did I enter a holy place with my head uncovered! We wear tie shoes, no sandals, though that's just as much for safety as respect. I've seen what a donkey cart can do when the wheels run over a sandaled foot and it's not pretty. Remember the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and when traveling, it's worth even more!

Morocco has a colorful history, being owned by the sultans as well as being part of the Ottoman Empire and then various other, European, countries claiming bits and pieces if not the whole. The French influence is in evidence, to my eye at least, more than those other European countries and we heard Arabic, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and other languages being spoken.

 ~ Dave, Julio, driver ~

Our primary contact in Marrakesh was Julio, an expat from Brazil, now living in Marrakesh and he was wonderful! He actually saved us from being stranded one night. Dave and I had gone out to eat and returned to the riad around 9 p.m., certainly not late, there were children still playing in the narrow streets of the medina. We stepped up to the door, grasped the handle and...nothing. We were locked out. We were struck dumbfounded! The woman who was responsible for making breakfast, cleaning, etc. had gone home for the evening something we couldn't remember her doing prior. We stood there, gathering our wits and wondering what to do when Julio strolled up and said, "Is there a problem?" If this hadn't been a Muslim country I would have fallen upon his neck in happiness! He took us to his home and made arrangements for us to be let in to our rooms and all within the hour; thank you, Julio! 

~ Abdul, our guide in Marrakesh ~

Abdul was our tour guide in Marrakesh and he was fabulous! We saw so much of the Medina and of the Djemma el Fna  and Abdul was so gracious and kind to us. He has a wife and a little boy and little girl and we compared notes on how we live. He was amazed I made my own bread..."but my own wife buys our bread!" he exclaimed. The fact I could sew, quilt, spin yarn, knit, garden, put up food and do all those things one does on a farm absolutely astounded him. He kept saying, "but you're not like other American women I've met." Dave would respond, "that's for certain!" -smile-

~ Djemma el Fna, the Square in Marrakesh ~

~ basket seller ~

~ carving tiles ~

~ gardens near Yves Saint Laurent's home ~

~ knife, at hand ~

~ tea seller, don't you love her apron?! ~

~ Berber village ~

Julio made it possible for us to visit a Berber family and this was, yet another, highlight of our trip. This kind woman graciously invited us into her village and home, gave us a tour, fed us refreshments and allowed us to take photos. Julio is trying to help build tourism in the outlaying areas and if our trip is any indication, he's doing wonders for both tourists and villagers. Well done, Julio!

~ Berber woman, her son, me ~

She was so, rightfully, proud of her new kitchen. In it she had a two-burner Coleman camp stove while in her old kitchen she had something similar to a kiva fireplace for cooking. She served recently pressed olive oil, freshly harvested honey, bread and always, always, always mint tea. Sublime! The various rooms of her home were centered around a wide square where a sapling was growing, I believe a fruit tree.

~ the central square in her home ~

 As we sat in her living room, making small talk between the interpreter and our hostess, like a big ejit I began to cry. Immediately, she noticed and wanted to know what was wrong. I nodded at her and grinned like a monkey. "Nothing," I replied, "I'm just happy." She grabbed me and gave me a huge hug and started chattering away like I could understand. And you know what? I believe I could. We were just two country women, one with a bit more money, one with a bit less money, but interested in the same things...taking care of our families, making sure everyone had food and clothing, being a good hostess. Maslow was right; it all comes down to food, shelter, clothing. After that we're greedy.

She invited me to stay and told Dave he could, "go to the city, get a good job and send money home." That's what her husband did and it was a workable solution for them. She told me she wanted me to stay because I "was useful. You can milk, bake bread, spin, sew and you dress like us. You stay," she said firmly.

Of course, I, nor Dave, stayed but continued on through the Atlas Mountains and adventures beyond. I'll tell you about those in my next post. Now that I'm re-visiting Morocco, I find I don't want the journey to end, quite yet. How about you?

Blessings ~ Sahara Trek ~ Luiza ~ Julio ~ Abdul ~ water sellers ~ tea sellers ~ drivers ~ Berbers ~ Morocco! ~
 
Dei Gratia,
Sandra