A HOUSE THAT'S LIVED IN

Do you like clutter? Most people go for the minimalistic look these days. The houses I have always felt interesting have been those displaying beloved collections accumulated over the years, each item with a tale of its own to tell. The cottages I visited in my childhood were full of strange looking things in one I remember seeing a small wooden house with two figures standing in the doorway, this was a weather box. If it was going to be wet the old man would come out and if fine weather was forecast the old lady would appear - quite charming. I also remember seeing a pair of buffalo horns on the wall of the same house.

There was another house I remember from childhood in which lived a lady who was fond of geraniums and she had lots of these plants all over the window sills and tables and in Springtime she would teach me how to take cuttings from them. Every time I see a geranium I think of her.

Not long ago I came across the following, called A House That's Lived in:

I love a house that's "lived in"

With clutter here and there.

A magazine left open,

A jacket on a chair.

A smell of something cooking

A special recipe?

An over-eager offer

Of hospitality.

I love a house that's "lived in"

It seems to stand apart,

For in it is a woman

Who has a loving heart.