Layered Living: books, hoarding, + nature

Hello friends! Welcome to my weekly update of all the things happening over here. This week let’s talk about books, hoarding and nature.

This week has been all about family. My brave 10-year old granddaughter, who lives in California, flew here by herself for a visit. She had saved her money from babysitting all summer and announced that she wanted to buy a ticket to Michigan.

I was not expecting the glorious week I would have, spending time with this brilliant child. She has an inquisitive mind and a playful spirit, just like her mother. I am full of so many feelings now that are fizzing over, like a soda poured over ice too fast.

What a blessing it was to share these memories with her, and be reminded to soak up the world around me.

Thoughts for the week

When you hang around a 10-year old, a few things come to mind. One, you can’t help but think about your own childhood or children. And two, you are reminded to view the world with an innocent lens, one that has been long gone from your reality.

But being with her definitely brought me back 25 years, to when her mother was that age. She is so much like her, that it almost broke my heart for how quickly time has gone.

DNA is such a strong thing. It is something that has always given me surprises in my life. From my son who is the spitting image of my father (and his namesake), to the many children and grandchildren who possess the family ‘crazy’ a bit, and even the little one who has the same beaded hair texture and curls as her aunt (courtesy of my mother’s ancestors).

Books

This week, I headed to 3 different estate sales. The first, with grandbabies in tow, we found some great finds for my booth and a few things to keep.

The next two, offered some interesting items. One of my favorites was this set of books of the works of Shakespeare. A well loved stack of his most famous plays, I might need to take a read before I decide to sell them.

I also found a set of 8 small chunky book stories from the 30s of Mickey Mouse. The graphics are amazing and iconic.

Whether old or new, read by millions or just a few, I have to say that I just love books! I am jazzed to have found out this week that Barnes and Noble is opening very close to me! I am so excited. They moved out of our area about 20 years ago and I have been so sad!

I’m doubly excited to know that it will also be their new and improved look, which I love. I know not everyone would be a fan, but I think it looks super cool and modern. Looking forward to long hours of perusing the magazine aisle and smelling all the new books in there!

Hoarding

They say it’s not hoarding if your stuff is cool. Or at least, that is what I tell myself. Trust me, having been a frequent shopper at estate sales for decades, I have seen true hoarding, and it ain’t pretty.

But I also think, that when my life is done, will I really have done it right if there’s not a big line waiting to shop my estate sale? Or if I really did it right, all my progeny will know the blessing of receiving tokens from a life well lived.

Hoarding certainly isn’t just about art or collectibles. For most, it’s about craft supplies or fabric, scrapbooking supplies and ribbon, yarn and floss waiting to create the next project.

It could be about legos or games, or stacks and stacks of books. We all hoard a little, don’t we? Some people like to hoard money. That sounds good, wish I could do that.

Who hasn’t cleaned out a loved ones home and found piles of grocery bags, rubber bands, gift bags and tissue, newspapers or old magazines? We can call it what we will; saving the planet by recycling, waiting for that moment we know we will need it, which would inevitably come if we ever decided to throw it away. It’s being thrifty right? We save because we’re…afraid? Of what though?

Outside of tangible things, this past week I was also making a conscious effort to hoard memories. I love that the kids crave time at the cottage, building their independence as they explore the lake, and play until the stars come out.

If that qualifies as hoarding, then call me Martha Stewart. Cause baby, it’s a good thing!

Nature

One of the things that my granddaughter was intrigued with was the different trees and plants we have in Michigan. Since she lives in Southern California, she’s used to swaying palms and some eucalyptus trees. She was continually asking what types of trees we were seeing.

So on a blustery day, we decided to take a nature walk down to our neighborhood park through a wooded path and out to a pond filled with nature. We took a bag with us and filled it with leaves.

Some we plucked from branches we could reach, others we were lucky enough to find perfect specimens blowing by us in the wind.

When we got home, we spread them all out and let Google help us identify all the species we had found. It was one of those moments you are reminded how beautiful the earth is and how we should notice it more often. And also, learning is fun.

Weekly finds

So three estate sales in total, and a pile of stuff I now need to go through. Fall is a great time to go picking since it isn’t as hot. Sometimes if it is too hot, it makes me want to finish up quicker than I would want to.

Happily, there are some fun things I am keeping and others that can end up for sale in my booth. How cute are these crocheted hangers? Loving them!

Have you been inspired by our word of the month, REARRANGE? I have been implementing it in a few different ways in my life. One, is the obvious way of rearranging some items in certain rooms that haven’t been serving me as well. I feel like this is a constant thing that needs a watchful eye.

The other is just rearranging some processes of how I get things done. I do like to be efficient, and it feels good to move tasks around, rearrange a bit of my thinking, and start fresh. I feel ready to tackle the last quarter of the year as it comes.

Until next week

Well, thanks for spending some time with me this week. Drop a comment below and tell me how things are going for you. How do you add layers to your space? Are you a book lover too?

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