A House for my Story!

On our way back from Rugby, Autumn and I took a little side tour through the small town of Towner.  (They weren't much for imagination when they named that town, were they?)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towner,_North_Dakota
Towner has a population of around 540 people and is only 49 minutes from Minot.  It has a hospital, and nice school.  We drove around a bit and saw that they also have a grocery store, hardware store, impressive county courthouse, and a modern Cenex convenience store.  We saw a couple of parks, many cute houses and a really nice Lutheran Church.  And right across the street from the church there was this little white house that instantly caught my eye in the biggest way! 

Now, don't laugh, but this is exactly the kind of house I imagined for my short story!  (Big city girl moves to small town, buys small house, finds old diary, which opens up a whole can of worms etc,etc,etc)  The house I had envisioned looks just like this, a small house in need of a little TLC!  Whoever owns it is a lucky person (as long as it's not collapsing into the basement or full of bugs or anything like that).  And the house is probably bigger inside than it looks.

The picture above shows the front door and its big front yard that is just begging for some flower beds, a lilac bush or two and a bird bath.  I envision brick pathways, hollyhocks along the house, and maybe a rose bush.
The house would be painted a creamy, buttery, yellow with white shutters and trim.  (Flashback to Shannan and mine's first house.)
I imagine that the bigger window would look into the living room and the bedroom would be off to the side with it's low ceiling.  I'd put the kitchen in the back and imagine one of those windows being inside a small walk-in pantry.

The kitchen table would be a very small, drop leaf table painted white with two farmhouse chairs on each end.  It would have a vintage, fruity table cloth draped over it and Grandma's Antique lamp on top.  There would be a window above the vintage kitchen table and one above the kitchen sink (of course one HAS to have a window above the sink) all with cute vintage curtains.  It would be nice to have a Hoosier cabinet to keep cooking and baking items in, especially if there turned out to be no pantry. 

A Hoosier Cabinet

The living room would have a large rug, two comfy chairs a small table with a radio on it and a small china hutch.  Oh, and I'd love to have one of these!

Remember this from the Rubgy Museum post?  I'd fill the bottom with my favorite books and the top with all kinds of goodies.  

I wish I'd have gone back around the block and through the alley to have gotten some pictures of the back.  The back side of the house had a cute little back door and (get this) an old fashioned washing machine sitting out on the back step!  It's as though we'd driven through a time-warp.  I half expected to see a woman in 1940's dress walk out the back door with a load of laundry in her arms, yellin' at her kids to "Git outta the mud, and let that poor critter go!"  Then she'd smile and say, "Go pull a few carrots, and set them in the kitchen sink, then go wash up for lunch while I get this laundry started".

Here is another look at the front.

Some people have prairie cabins out in the middle of nowhere.
Some folks have mountain or lake cabin get-a-ways with docks, boats and jet skis.  
THIS would be my get away...a small house in a small town. 

I'd have flower gardens, a small vegetable garden and a root cellar.  There would be morning walks to the grocery store, and later on, I'd sweep the vintage linoleum and slow-cook a stew on a small stove.  I'd sit in a cozy chair, and listen to old time radio while embroidering or writing a letter.  There would be time to get to know the neighbors and to sit out in the yard in a vintage patio chair, sip iced tea and enjoy the trees and watch the birds sing and the laundry flap on the clothesline.  The neighbor's cat would wander by and I'd reward him with treats for keeping the mice out of the woodpile.

Exactly!  This is actually a stamp from http://www.lockhartstampcompany.com/index.html.  They have some very cute stamps.

And most importantly...(ahem) there would be no TV allowed.  No loud gunfire, or people yelling profanity, no fake laughtracks, or national new stations yappin', no infomercials trying to sell us stuff we don't need.  The atmosphere would be one of quiet, calmness.  Say it with me slowly..."No television".

It WOULD be hard work, but no more work than I've seen other people put into their get-away places with their rewiring, landscaping, moving rock, building up waterfronts, etc.  And did I mention it's only 45 minutes away?

I'd even visit in the winter...a closet full of quilts and wool blankets, a wood stove, corn muffins baking in the oven, snowshoes, bird feeders, maybe even a small Christmas tree with vintage "shiny brite" ornaments. 

I had a playhouse when I was a girl.  This would be a playhouse for my grown up life. 

*sigh*  A girl can dream.

Until tomorrow,
Keep dreaming and have a Happy, Vintage Day!