Why do we do what we do???

Do you ever think about that? I do. I have packed away all Christmas from the house and porch leaving only the Snowman theme in the gazebo until.....??? I guess until I get tired of looking at it! SO!! It is like having a clean slate, a fresh canvas, a new beginning! I have cleared out a TON of Christmas and it has left some vacant spaces behind. I feel COMPELLED to fill them! With SOMETHING! I hate 'empty'. I love to visit sparsely decorated homes and admire the minimalist mentality......in others! I simply do NOT have it myself. My motto has ALWAYS been....'MORE is always BETTER.' However I am TRYING to purge myself of things I have held on to for far too long. Only last year did I finally unload two bookcases of the outdated encyclopedias they were holding! WHY did I keep them so long in this age of instant knowledge at the click of a mouse in a  matter of seconds? I have so much I need to clear out even though I KNOW I will fill the spaces with something else! I am a creature of habit!

I often think we do things the way our mothers did....although this is not so true in my case. My mother was never a homemaker. She worked to put food on the table and there was never any extras in the way of frills, clothes, linens...or anything other than what we HAD to have! So I grew up yearning for beauty! Yearning for fragrance, fabrics, textures, color! When I was a (very) young married woman I remember opening all the bath soap bars and piling them in a bowl and setting it on the dresser.....because it LOOKED pretty and SMELLED good!

THIS is what started me thinking about WHY I do so many of the things I do!

As I cleaned OUT and cleaned UP the kitchen I reached under the sink for my BIG bottle of Fabuloso!

I LOVE this stuff!! It smells so fresh and CLEAN! And I DO love CLEAN!

I keep all these little jars full and as I make my cleaning water I can just reach up and pour what I need right into my bucket. I never EVER run out of cleaner! The reason, I suppose, is that as a child who had homemaking dreams of keeping house I so wanted CLEANERS! Cleaners that smelled good.

See? "Long-Lasting Fragrance."

My family knows how much I love little lights! I always have! Mother would occasionally take my siblings and me for a drive after supper. She had worked all day and was tired. I had fixed supper after coming home from school so as soon as we ate...if all things worked out well.....we would pile in the car and drive through nice neighborhoods. As we passed houses I would see soft lights shining in the windows.....often you could see the curtains fluttering and I just KNEW there was a warm cozy atmosphere inside that home.

Whenever I am at home there is usually a candle burning in at least one room or another. AND there are many tiny lights shining all over the house! I love these 'Wine Lights' and have used this one so much I have already burned out the first string of lights in it! I took the Christmas greenery off and added this TINY wine glass and bottle. These are actually Memory Christmas ornaments from Summer a few years ago. I have decided they should live all year long in my kitchen....at least THIS year! Perhaps I will return them to the tree this next December!

This little shelf is right next to my Wine Bottle Light.

Amber collected tea bags from her travels all over Europe this past year and gifted me with these as well as a special tea cup and saucer to enjoy!

I love ALL things warm and cozy and on this early January evening I shall sit in my

CLEAN living room in a comfortable rocking chair with a good book!

Now I must decide if I want a cup of hot tea......or a glass of white wine?

Decisions! Decisions!!