Rebuilding Home

Home is where you take off your shoes at night, where you go to bed at night.  According to Emily Dickinson: “Where thou art, that is home.” 

Webb City (north of Joplin) home for sale, found here.

The American Dream to most people includes owning their own home.  We are supposed to own a home in the Midwest, maybe not in New York, LA or Chicago, but in the Midwest it is expected of successful adults.  But what happens when Mother Nature shreds your home to pieces, your entire neighborhood, and most of your town, in just minutes?  The F5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday, May 22, 2011, has been heavy on our hearts.

There is horrific destruction in Joplin, but there is just as much hope in Joplin.  Here some Joplin High School trees have been carved into Eagles.  Photo by Justin Pittman, found on Facebook.  Again, Emily Dickinson illustrates with words: “Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.”  We can all help provide hope for Joplin's students.  KY3 has details about the new "Adopt an Eagle Program" which was created to help displaced Joplin students have a backpack when s/he starts school in August.



Live - Find Rescue dog, named ChicoDog, with the handler Kathleen Kelsey; photo found here.

I drove through Joplin, about two weeks after the tornado, and until you see it with your own eyes it's hard to comprehend the intensity of the F5 tornado's destruction.  I have several friends and family that have donated their time helping out the best they can.  Those of us who can't physically donate time have donated money and essentials.  Convoy of Hope, my favorite local charity, has been a world of help for Joplin residents, as well as the Red Cross and several other not-for-profit groups and government agencies.  The Missouri National Guard has been in Joplin looking for survivors, and unfortunately finding those that did not survive, as well as providing extra security.  They have been out there in the trenches, the hot, smelly trenches.  158 confirmed lives were lost, according to the current news.  158 loved ones gone.  Our entire state, as well as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, and probably residents from many other states have contributed to the Joplin community's aid and search & rescue.  Some locals and out of town visitors fed the surviving victims and those who did the search & rescue, some helped the surviving victims find what little possessions that were left behind.  

Map found here.

Everyone deserves praise for helping Joplin.  It may take years to rebuild Joplin, but we are determined to help our neighbors.  The historic district of Joplin, which looks similar today to the vintage postcard below, was spared by the tornado (just to the north of its path).  The schools and St. John's hospital will be rebuilt.  Brick by brick, block by block, business by business, house by house, Joplin will be rebuilt.  

Vintage postcard found here.

We are no strangers to tornadoes in southwest Missouri, but we are getting our practice taking cover this spring.  Mother Earth has been an angry force to reckon with in 2011.  We can't control the weather, but we can control how we deal with our losses and the losses of our neighbors.  Also, we can control our own homes.

Photo found here.

 I drove past this house (to the left) in Joplin and it hit me hard.  I looked at the destruction, and I felt like a higher power was protecting a large number of Joplin's population.  Houses were leveled, businesses were leveled, the hospital was totaled, and a town of around 50,000 lost 158 of its people.   158 too many, but I would of expected more lives lost.  Houses go up, and sometimes houses come tumbling down.  It may sound corny to repeat the saying "home is where the heart is" but, isn't that true?  So live it up.  Celebrate your life, celebrate your house, whether you own it or rent it, and make it a home.  I've been fortunate, I've never stayed in a shelter, but I hope if I ever do I will remember:  life will go on, and have faith it will get better.  Your old home (house) is still in your heart.  You are still alive.  You are the primary ingredient of your home.   Even if you end up in a FEMA trailer (below) for six months or longer, it will get better.  Have faith.

Photo found here.

Frederick W. Robertson summed it up here:  "Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other.  It is the place of confidence.  It is the 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 the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule."  

So whether you live in an old farmhouse, pink Victorian house, a brick front ranch style house, a split level house, a duplex, a trailer or an apartment complex...make your house a home.  Don't feel guilty about spending money decorating your house.  It is where your heart rests.

If you must rebuild your house from a twister, hurricane, flood, wildfire or any disaster, or if you just decide to renew, repaint, remodel and/or simply give new life to a current residence, I hope you end up with a home to crow about!  Remember to pick local businesses that have been around a few years, and will continue to be here in the future, no fly by night builders need apply!


If you would like ideas and/or home decor & antiques, and/or a friendly smile, come see us at the Ozark Market Basket in Ozark, Missouri.  Need a rooster?  We have those, too; just not live roosters!

It's Summer...Dine Out! Eat on the porch, patio or at the park!

It's almost officially Summer, and while some of the days are simply too hot to enjoy the great outdoors, most of the evenings are still enjoyable!  Dine out, as in outside, in the great outdoors!  Eat on the porch, patio, or at the park! 

This adorable cottage set --vintage white table and four chairs ($175.00)-- adorned with white Sincerity dishes ($55.00) is a cute set for your front porch, patio or breakfast nook.  Great Finds place-mats ($4.00) and napkins ($2.50) come in all colors and variety of patterns; we also stock the throws, runners and table toppers for all seasons.  Going out for a picnic?  You need a sturdy ice chest, so you may as well buy one that looks good, such as this old dairy box!

 

 Nothing beats an ice cream cone on a hot summer day!  This antique European pub table with metal base ($195) converts into an ice cream table!  This antique "Laesoh Dairy" metal box is really cool, and keeps your food really cool as well!  The ice cream cones are bubbles...great fun for the kids!  A Junior scrabble board serves as the table topper.  Bandanna's are fun summer napkins; the ice cream ceramic cones ($6/set of four) are fun for ice cream or ice cream cones!  Set of four plates are $20.   Caramel Fiddle Faddle is always tasty as well!

Take your kitchen table out to the garden!  I know that sounds crazy, but it would be fun!  Get out your garden dishes (44 pieces for $65.00, Thomson Pottery Company)...complete with the antique red wheel-barrel ($45.00) on the antique harvest table ($275.00) for ambiance...and have a good time!

Very few dish sets we find have teapots to go with them.  This Thomson Pottery Set also has a sugar and creamer, as well as all the plates, salad plates, cups and bowls. The cute black wooden fence bookshelf ($58.00) is perfect for extra storage space in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom or garden shed!

Grow spices like oregano, mint, sage, rosemary, and thyme in the kitchen area or outside your back deck for quick access when you are cooking.  This metal terrarium ($45.00) is adorable, and lifts at a top side for easy access to your indoor gardening.  The humble framed stitching ($15.00) reads words of wisdom: "ye shall reap in life the seeds ye have sown."  Little ceramic mushrooms compliment the terrarium.  The oval wicker table ($115.00) and white bunny ($15.98) make for a pleasant side table in your living room or sun-room.  White wicker adds pleasure to any sun-room or porch, but you don't want to leave it outside in the winter or rainy/stormy weather.  Most wicker that has survived decades is well built but it still needs to be handled with care!  We have several antique wicker chairs and rockers, as well as a quaint love seat to use for summer entertaining.

Bless Our Nest...

The Fourth of July is creeping up on us fast...buy our the patriotic gear!

Dine out with your patriotic table...this table is displayed with red silverware ($38.00) matched with white ironstone plates (6 for $35.00), on sheet music as place-mats, and vintage Coke glasses (8 for $18.50).  The bird cage ($16.00) has patriotic candles, Coke collectibles, and a large shell.  Geraniums add a splash of red, along with the red pillar candles.  If you don't have a fire pit outside, you can always roast Smores over your big pillar candles!  These massive campfire marshmallows in antique bowl below are for sale at Big Lots.

This giant antique trunk ($55) is great storage!  It would make a nice coffee table.  The Victorian antique wicker high chair ($125.00) is lonely and needs an occupant!  Paper plates are easy, but food tastes better on china, and china plates are easier on the environment!  If you have extra china plates, like these souvenir plates, you'll have extra dishes come party time! 

On your serving buffet, stack plates for your guests on a small child's chair for fun party effect.  The antique green child's bow back chair ($36.00) is great for a stack of plates.  The white shabby chic table ($65.00) is very useful for a buffet table or desk, it would fit in any room in the house or the sun-porch.  The wooden sign ($32.00) below reads:  "back door guests are the best"...wouldn't this be great on your back deck?  The large glass cloche ($55.00) is perfect for keeping flies away from fruit and other food! 

Do you plan to Barbecue a lot this summer?  Keep all your BBQ necessities handy with this large wire baskets, like the one below.  You can pack it away in the pantry when its not in use, or hang it on the wall or sit it on the deck, either one, while cooking outside!

In the shop this cute wire basket (large $24.00, smaller size available for $16.00) is hanging over this wonderful antique porcelain top worktop with metal base ($65.00) would be great for preparing your meals!

Have trouble reading your cookbook while cooking?  The cookbook metal holder ($18.50) pictured above & below solves that problem, and it also displays platters and other books quite nicely.  Pig bread boards are fun for any BBQ!  The green baker's rack ($59.00) is also a nice kitchen storage piece.

This antique shoe drying rack ($195.00)--in its past life--makes for a wonderful wine rack or other kitchen storage, as well as shoe rack, for current day times.  Recycling old shoe factory furniture is green and fun!

 

This black pine cabinet ($350.00) is a nice addition to any room, and it would make a great serving buffet.

This cabinet sits nicely next to any large dining table, such as this table ($245) shown with both leaves inserted, and six chairs ($195.00/set of 6) in the photo below.  The white Simplicity china dishes ($65 for 46 pieces) are simple and flexible for any season.  Do you anyone getting married in June or July?  Chances are they could use a nice set of dishes to start off their new lives together.

Or pair the black pine cabinet with this nice black drop leaf table ($130.00), which has more a french country decor for summer.

Come in and see all our wonderful furniture and home decor to add to your humble abode or large castle!  We have plenty more ideas in the store for you to feast on!