Saturday, April 11, 2009

Geranium Seeds


I'm making some progress on the corner of my world that I promised to work on this week, but still it needs a touch more inspiration. I'm not prepared for an unveiling just yet.  When I am (and it will be before summer's end), you all will be among the first to know. 

Do you have a favorite childhood book?  I do.  One of them is, One Hundred Pounds of Popcorn, a book I gave away last year to Stacie for winning a contest.  Another favorite is the story of a woman who buys a new geranium and places it at the center of her kitchen table.

Does anyone know the book I'm talking about?

I'd do anything to know its title right now, so I could share it with all of you. It would be the perfect end to our week about home decorating.  Actually, it would have been an even better start to our week about home decorating, but I only remembered the book this morning while taking a shower.

The story line is simple.  An older woman (at the time she seemed older, in retrospect she was probably twenty-something) purchased a new geranium to place at the center of her kitchen table.  So beautiful was the geranium, she had to replace the table cloth so it looked as fresh as her new plant.  Such a nice change was the table cloth that suddenly her kitchen curtains looked old and worn.  She made new curtains to match the new table cloth that matched the new geranium.  So nice was the new geranium, new tablecloth, and new curtains that suddenly the kitchen floor looked dull.  Off the woman went to wax the floors so that they would look as good as the new curtains that matched the table cloth that matched the new geranium.

So the story goes until eventually the whole house is freshened up - and all because of the new geranium she bought for the kitchen table.

How about you?  Do you have a symbolic "geranium" you purchased that inspired you to spruce up your home?  Or is there a "geranium" you have your eye on that would be all the motivation you need?  Tell us.

As for me... I'm off to buy a new geranium for my bedroom.

Signing off until Monday.

6 comments:

Heather @ HouseofShine.com said...

You've got me stumped...
First this post brought me to fond memories of my Grandmother because she loved geraniums and always put them in planters all around her yard, sidewalk and driveway.
But what is "my" geranium? Perhaps it could be a new bed set for our master bedroom. Like many of you it is the one room in the house that gets cleaned last and could stand to use some sprucing up. I have tried to hold out on buying a new set until we moved on with our lives and bought a house but I'm not sure it is worth waiting...we could sure use something new in here...so maybe that is my geranium.
Hey I have a 20% off coupon for Bed, Bath and Beyond sitting in my car perhaps I'll convince Bal to take a look for our "geranium" this afternoon.

But first, an Easter Egg hunt with the Beeny family!

Anonymous said...

I read a short story like that but not a kids book. I wasted a lot of time today looking but couldn't find a kids book.

Part of the time I wasn't commenting on HLA, I had a dumpster at my house. We actually threw away enough stuff that there are two cars in our garage once again! The basement storage area is also cleaned out.

So while the house didn't get a lot of attention in the well loved areas, I'm now ready to move on.

I love a made bed. I forget how this makes me feel. It can be the same dirty sheets as last week, but make the bed and it just feels better. Not to mention that it makes the whole room look better, even with tons of other "issues." The FL habit of the month is making your bed. I have a nice comforter and pillows, so I'm trying to remember. Perhaps that will be my geranium! (I do have some floor space now...)

Happy Easter to everyone!

Cheryl Houston said...

Two dumpsters! You were busy Robin. I did that when I moved from Utah to TX but seems that I still have a load of stuff. Oh well. I agree that the simple act of making your bed makes your bedroom all of the sudden look more organized.

My Geranium... in the past it's always been a piece of art, either something I've made or something purchased. Right now I need a shelves... in the dining room and craft room. :)

Kat said...

I think my geranium was fixing up Max's room before he was born. We moved into this house when I was five months pregnant and it was all I could do to fix up "the baby's" room. A few months after I had him, I would look at his cute little green and brown room and wish that I loved the decor in the rest of my house as much as I liked his room. Thinking about how good it felt to have one finished area is what inspires me to move on to the next one.
My kitchen is at a stopping point for now, so today I start stripping the wallpaper in the hall! Hopefully it comes off quickly!

Katie said...

I think the geraniums in my apartment are pictures. Each room has specific pictures in it to be subtle reminders of the geraniums in my life.

Today, I am spending the afternoon doing a deep cleaning of my entire apartment (preparing to move out in 4 weeks). I keep stumbling upon little things that I love about each room. Right now I'm sitting in my bedroom typing this and I love the collage frame that I have of my favorite pictures I took while studying abroad in Australia.

Maybe when I actually get my own place and live in each place for more than just 9 months at a time, I'll have a larger geranium, but for now it's definitely photos.

Anonymous said...

Claudia is the story....The Magic Geranium by Margaret Weymouth Jackson, Sept 27, 1947 A short Story in the Saturday Evening Post... also known as the Magical Geranium.

I'm a follower... my inspiration is normally something that someone else said, or found or was on display in a magazine. Then I work my magic from them!!

aka Peggy too lazy to do blogger