Window on Munger Place

 

 

Here's another piece arising from the Awake course mentioned in my last post. It doesn't precisely relate to any of the lessons, but did come about as a result of my desire to participate in all the digital creativity.

I began with the photo of one of the front windows of our house, then added the background photos of the tall pink phlox which have been blooming all summer in a front garden. The swallowtail butterflies came from Pixabay, but there always seems to be one or two of them flitting around the phlox. The text is from the original promotional brochure for Munger Place which was developed in 1905. And the ornament is from Dover's 2,286 Traditional Stencil Designs.

I have to mention (okay, brag) that back when we first bought the house, the sashes of all 27 original windows in the house were removed and stripped, then repaired and refinished by me. And most, including the one above, received a redo a couple of years ago. However, a set of triple windows on the side missed out, until in June their deteriorating condition could no longer be ignored. 

Of course, when we bought the house in the 1970s and set about restoring it with boundless energy and optimism, I had no idea that decades later I would still be turning my hand to many of the same things. Back then it was an adventure, and this big, derelict house was a canvas which we could freely fill with our ever-evolving vision. Now we can enjoy the house we saw in our mind's eye, but it still requires behind-the-scenes work to keep it that way. It is, after all, 110-years old!  

And I am, well, let's just say, quite a bit older than I was in the 1970s. But I credit all that behind-the-scenes work with helping me stay in shape. And now that those windows are checked off my to-do list, I can get back to exercising my mind with more digital exploration.