miss Gladys Sharpe

did I ever tell the story of my home, the one I live in now?. . .
well ~ . . . oh! but first of all - let me tell you about my hope chest or really, about Gladys's hope chest. . . . about 9 years ago, I went into a local junk shop and spotted a gorgeous 1930's maple blanket box - it was lined inside with the most delightful pink wallpaper and on the outside it has a plaque with the word ' Gladys' written on the side. . . loved it. . . . . just had to have it. .. . .. . so bought it (of course) for a wonderful sum of $85.
about a year later, we stumbled across this house that we are living in, it was a little ramshackle, railway cottage built in 1927 - fibro & weatherboard complete with rats & possums in the ceiling - an over-run garden with a great backbone - I fell in love with it the minute I walked through the gate. I knew I was meant to be there ~ ~ I remember bringing my mum up to see it * her reaction - 'you are joking, aren't you?'. ~ ~ ~
You see, we were moving from a double story mansion, with all the trimmings ~ (just like a big lemon meringue pie - it was all lemon & white) ~ to this ~ a mouldy old pie. . . . . It was unloved ~ three layers of carpet on the lounge room floor, masonite sheets covering the original inside weatherboard wall . . . 1970's bamboo wallpaper and the most horrific metallic wallpaper in our bedroom. . . Lots of work, hard work, to be done. . .
Most people would have demolished this house. But we could see the potential and bought it.
I adore this home. It has soul.
We worked on it every weekend for about two months before moving in. . . . every weekend, I would come up here with my trusty pliers and a packet of panadol and on my hands and knees, I would pull out the carpet tacks. ONE BY ONE - hence the need for the panadol. . . .
we washed all the floors & walls with hot soapy water and painted everything white! floors, walls & ceiling, not because I wanted shabby chic ~ just to make it fresh while we renovated. . . We had plans of renovating as we went ~ a room at a time.
It was rustic and primitive - to the point that I was asked if it could be used in a country magazine !!
I remember that first night we slept here - I felt someone standing at my bedside during the night - not a scary prescence more a comforting one. I just accepted that I had a resident ghost - no bother at all. And I got on with life.
a few weeks later I decided to do a history on my home, through the local historical association. it was built in 1927 by a Miss Gladys Sharpe of Rose Bay and the home was called Sunhaven, back then.
My blanket box !!! I wonder? ~ ~ ~ I still feel Gladys with me sometimes - she likes me and she likes that I love her home. I can just feel it! and I talk to her often - asking her for advice and help. sometimes I see her foxgloves popping up everywhere or her forget me nots and sometimes her rose campion ~ each time I notice them ~ I wonder what she was like, what did she cook? did she love to make things? would she have been a kindred spirit?
Sophie asked me once ~ if I ever got lonely during the day. ahhh, but I am not and it comforts me to know that I am not alone, that I have Gladys.