House or home V

"Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is a place of confidence. It is a place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is a spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule." Frederick W. Robertson.

The body, the home of our soul.

Home is where the music sounds good and where my needle awaits patiently.

The song I picked for today is a song by Bryan Adams called Roomservice

When a hotel room's the closest thing you got to home

You could be in Philadelphia you could even be in Rome
You gotta dial nine to get an outside line
I even need a concierge just to take a drive - it's a crazy life
I hope to see you smile - but I'm always wrong
It's a different melody but the same old song...
Ya I've been on the road nearly all my life
Been around the world 'bout a thousand times
Still a knock on the door makes me nervous
I think I'll see you standing there - but no
It's only room service - ya room service
I've been living out my suitcase as long as I remember
Life's the same - it doesn't change - it's a gibson or a fender
I still think about you babe - I swear sometimes I see your face
These are crazy days
Ya I think I hear your voice - but it's just a dream
It's a brand new movie but the same old scene
Ya I've been on the road nearly all my life
Been around the world 'bout a thousand times
Still a knock on the door makes me nervous
I think I'll see you standing there - but no
It's only room service - ya room service
Ya know I wouldn't change a thing - no
I'm just waiting for the bell in my room to ring
I hope to see you smile - but I'm always wrong
It's a different melody but the same old song...

Home: A collection of ideas,  which when met by an experience provokes a certain feeling, which is identified as home

This last sketch is the conclusion for this week. It has been an interesting week filled with a lot of learning experiences for me. Hope you enjoyed my thoughts about this subject and got you thinking about your feelings and ideas of house or home.

Have a great weekend filled with christmas preparations.

Elizabeth

House or home IV

"It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home" Unknown

In the post Soul Food 2  I wrote:"Being open is a neccesity". This applies not only to a shell or a human being but also to a house. A house without doors and windows is a prison in which no one can live because it stops the growth we are seeking. A door or window is the place of a house were there is an exchange of energy, I love to open the windows in the morning and feel a fresh breeze coming in.

The drawing I made is called "looking into nothingness". I made it after seeing the movie "A walk to remember". This movie made an impression because of two scenes. The first scene is here, from the 4.00 til 4.36. For the second scene click here, from 4.00 til 4.32. This together with the book I made "Listen to the wind" makes opening the window in the morning even more special.

"My home is not a place, it is people" by Lois McMaster Bujold
This is another quote that keeps floating around. My idealistic, romantic self wants this to be true but my practical self says: "look at the rate relationships are broken." If people are the fundament of a home than that would mean that the house is under constant reconstruction. Which contradicts the feeling of safety people experience by coming back to the same place over and over again.

"Home" of Michael Bublé

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky, I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home 

Have a fantastic snowy day and listen to the whispers of the wind.

Elizabeth

House or home III

"My home is where my books are." Ellen Thompson

Found this quote after reading this post. Later on I found this quote: A house without books is like a room without windows" by Horace Mann.
What is reading? Reading is seeing the world through the eyes of someone else. This will influence you and gives you a chance to learn because of the experience of another human being.

In the picture you see the house I build with the eyes of writers. What is the relationship between reading and a home? Maybe it is learning in a safe environment but people also read in the train, airplane or in the park. They feel comfortable but they aren't at their physical home. Maybe it is like Diarmaid O Meara said:"Home is where my loved ones are, lucky for me, that means many places."


"This Is Home" of Switchfoot

I've got my memories
Always inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was
I believe you now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was

Created for a place I've never known

This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong
Where I Belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
This is home

Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back
Back to how it was
And I got my heart set on what happens next
I got my eyes wide it's not over yet
We are miracles and we're not alone

And now after all my searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home
I've got a brand new mindset
I can finally see the sunset
I'm gonna call it home

Now I know
Yeah, this is home
I've come too far
And I won't go back
Yeah, this is home

One final link today to get you thinking about the choice of living place and how that influences you.

Have a great wednesday!!!

Elizabeth

House or home II

 "A house is a pile of materials neatly organized for which human beings will sacrifice their lives." Lisette Ruijs

To a large extend this might be right because we spent a lifetime to pay for our own home. Due to the economic crises a lot of people have to leave their houses and find a different place to live.This is hard because when times are rough human beings don't want to leave the warm blanket of their home. During divorces the hardest battles are fought over who can stay in the house due to the memories, the sense of security which is experienced in that particular place.


House for sale of Lucifer

The sign went up one rainy morning
Just a couple of hours after dawn
Mrs. Hadley peaked out through her curtains
Wondering what was going on

The neighbors said over coffee cups
That nice young couple is breaking up

And in the living room the linen and the crystals
Sit all packed and set to go
I tell myself once more I won't be here in spring
To see my roses grow

And all the things you tried to fix
The roof still leaks, the door still sticks

House for sale
You can read it on the sign
House for sale
It was yours and it was mine

And tomorrow some strangers
Will be climbing up the stairs
To the bedroom filled with memories
The one we used to share

I know you've always loved that painting
From that funny little shop in Spain
Remember how we found it when we ducked in
From that sudden summer rain

But I think I'll keep the silver tray
My mother gave us on our wedding day

House for sale
You can read it on the sign
House for sale
It was yours and it was mine

And tomorrow some strangers
Will be climbing up the stairs
To the bedroom filled with memories
The one we used to share

House for sale
You can read it on the sign
House for sale
It was yours and it was mine

And tomorrow some strangers
Will be climbing up the stairs
To the bedroom filled with memories
The one we used to share

House for sale
You can read it on the sign
House for sale
It was yours and it was mine

And tomorrow some strangers
Will be climbing up the stairs
To the bedroom filled with memories
The one we used to share

House for sale
You can read it on the sign
House for sale, oho
It was yours and it was mine

And tomorrow some strangers
Will be climbing up the stairs
To the bedroom filled with memories
The one we used to share


On the other hand people are moving more than ever before. Each time all their belongings are packed up and moved to a new location. So home has to do with belongings. No not necessarily, we are full blown consumers who discard our belongings relatively easy.

For a long time explorers were the once who brought new ideas, objects and skills home. The majority of people lived their lifetime in one place. The findings of the explorers invaded their home slowly. During the industrial revolution the bond between home and work was cut. More people started moving, seeing more of the world, experiences were incorporated in their new life and home. New inventions, new experiences, new inventions, this cycle got really spinning.

Nowaday inventions go so fast that when you leave the store with for example a computer it is already outdated. More and more people want to restore the bond between home and work again. Are we trying to get control over the pace of life again?

" Home is a shelter from storms"  W.J. Bennett

House or home

In december the winterseason starts, it is also the period of becoming still and reflect. That's what I'm gonna do all week.  This week will, at least for me, be a little different because I will just journey through collection of thoughts, quotes, music with lyrics and visual work related to house or home without knowing my destination or the point I want to make. I want sort out all the different thoughts that are floating around in my head ever since I wrote these words: "The word home for me is a feeling of contentment. When I'm really busy with something that holds meaning to me and I accept all my experiences (instead of worrying about ....) I get a warm, awesome feeling. It is that feeling that I call home." (Soul Food 17) 

The pictures I made during the summer, just after weeding the garden. A house gives a person roots. Roots mean a fixed place where you can grow. The longer you live in one house, the more the house grows on you, becomes a home. First you get acquainted  with the house, the grounds, your immediate surroundings. Later on you slowly grow into the local society. Staying means growing in the pace of your surroundings. This is probably why youngsters want to leave their village in a hurry but long for to return because that is the place of their earliest memories and with that comes a feeling of security.

"Home is a shelter from storms" W.J. Bennett

Sing me back home of Merle Haggard

The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say good-bye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
'Let my guitar playing friend do my request.' (Let him...)

Sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing Me Back Home before I die

I recall last Sunday morning a choir from 'cross the street
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers 'There's a song my mama sang.
Can I hear once before we move along?'

Sing me back home, the song my mama sang
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing Me Back Home before I die

Sing Me Back Home before I die


Have a lovely start of your week.

Elizabeth

From my two puffles

Today I have some paintings from my boys which they made at school and I really liked because of the colors they used.

Are they extremely talented? No, still I'm very proud of them and their work.

Thank you all for stopping by this week, leaving the inspiring comments and making me a  part of your life. Next week will be a projectweek again with the title House or Home.

Have a fantastic weekend and I'll hope to see you monday.

Elizabeth

Vintage embroidery

Today some pictures I took of my embroidery books. I have a small collection of craftbooks and most projects are not for me, still I can learn from the craftwomenship and draw inspiration from them.

This picture above is from a book published in 1980, bought this book at our local thriftshop because of this project. This hassock is made with pieces of felt which are embroidered. How many symbols could I incorporate do you think? 

Here a detailed picture.

This is a picture of a wall hanging from a dutch book, dated 1973. Fell in love with this piece because of the various techniques that are used and hoped one day I could make a piece like this.

Have a lovely day where the past and your envisioned future will bring you today.

Elizabeth