Many of us here at b5s lifestyles channel are going to be sharing where it all happens…I mean…where we blog..so do check that out!

Today, in the Tea with Me tour that I am doing of the house I am sharing a picture of hte Hall.  This is the main hall, the view that you see as you come into the Reception Parlor. 

Actually, the paint isn’t white anymore..I have faux finished it to look like stained mahogany.  Anyway..

To the left, the first doorway, is the door to my office, and fittingly, almost directly across from that is the doorway into the huge, but ugly-unrestored, kitchen.

The antique piece in the hall is a sectretary desk from the early 1930s.  I do actually sit in the antique chair that is next to it, with the desktop in a down position, and check mail and drink tea…or coffee.  If I am paying bills I might wish for something stronger.

If you were to continue down the hall, you would find the guest bathroom on the right, my sewing room which is now my daughter and son in laws bedroom on the left and the laundry room straight back. Please don’t go in there.  :/

Our house is done in intense Autumn colors because they are my favorites.  You will see burgundies, spicy golds, browns, deep greens, and even rusty reds here.  Because of the size of hte house the colors do not close up the rooms, and because we live in the country I leave the windows curtainless.  At least for now.

On of my favorite tea to drink when I am doing the hallway stuff (mail and bills) is Twinings Black Currant Herbal Revive 

Of course, if you were visiting we would not sit in the hall.

Before Marc got sick I never did bills.  Not that I couldn’t, I was an office manager years ago and am quite good at it, but it  was something he did.  Marc and I have always had the 1950s Father Knows Best/Leave it to Beaver style marriage and we were both satisfied with that. It worked for us.

When he got sick he was on high does of morphine  and then that tapered off to still high doses of narcotic pain meds.  He is brilliant, has an incredibly high IQ, but on the meds things just weren’t clicking the same way. I took over not only the bills, but increasingly the responsibility for producing income.

I didn’t imagine, nor did he, that at 48/49 our lives would be like they are. Our vision and dreams seemed to have been whisked away in a tornado of chaos.  In a 5 year period of time my mom died (the last of either of our parents living), my son went to Iraq, we lost a business, and Marc’s health literally deteriorated over night.  On the day before he got sick we were at the gym and he was leg pressing 450 lbs and running 3 miles in 20 minutes. Then, because he was in a wheelchair he lost his job about 3 days before a scheduled surgery.  He was with a very small company so there was no recourse for us legally. Did I mention that my daughter and son in law,and two kids moved in during this time, and neither of them are working? 4 adults and 8 kids in our house.

Overnight  my life changed.  The label of wife and homeschool mom was still there but it had a new look to it. New challenges, new responsibilities, new fears. A stretch in my faith to say the least. I have always been mom. Now I wasn’t sure what this new me looked like. How to implement all of the new patterns and processes that I needed to know and be  and do?

I am learning. I am learning that the house doesn’t always have to be perfect and that you can really buy bread at the store if you have to. I am learning that bill collectors are just trying ot do their job and that I can politely hang up on them if they get unkind.  And I am learning that sometimes it is just too much and I need to go and recharge my spiritual batteries. I can do all things through Christ who is my strength.

I am so sorry this is so long. I guess with the tour of my house you are getting a tour of my life.

Whatever is happening in your life, roll with it. You can do it. Our lives change in ways that we don;t anticipate and we must learn to change with them.  The changes can be frightening but they also bring us new depth, new joys, new faith.

Previous Tea with me areas:

Porch 

Parlor 

Image:Marye Audet 

Post from: Kettle and Cup