Yesterday morning, I woke up in my extremely comfortable, extremely cozy bed, underneath my cotton quilt (which is precisely the type of blanket that I like), with sun shining through my skylight, and I thought, “I have a skylight. And a tiny house. And hot running water, and comfortable pillows, and a snoring dog and a garden… I think I might be a character in a fairy tale.”

And then I woke up all the rest of the way and thought, “Fairy tale? Which one?” I don’t know the answer to that, but not Hansel and Gretel. Maybe a Robin McKinley book.

I told Suzanne I wanted roses for the strip of garden plot that exists between the patio and Serendipity’s wall. In another odd moment of serendipity, a house down the street is being knocked down to be replaced by some ugly apartment building. It had a huge, beautiful rose bush that was going to be destroyed, so we wandered down there and asked the guys doing construction if we could take it. They said sure. Unfortunately, huge, beautiful rose bushes are rather hard to dig up. But Suzanne took a bunch of clippings and they’re now sprouting leaves in a glass on the kitchen sink. Someday my tiny house will also have roses.

Meanwhile, it has lavender.

I am trying to remember if I have ever hung artwork in my bathroom before. That’s fairly high-level nesting. This painting was on a shelf in Greg’s office, half buried under some other frames, quite dusty. I stumbled across it when I was organizing & promptly carried it off to Suzanne and asked if I could have it. It seriously looks like something I could have bought specifically to match the colors of Serendipity — shades of blue and teal — which is sort of surprising since those aren’t colors Suzanne has anywhere. I suppose that explains why it wasn’t hanging, but I like it very much.

And then there’s the shower curtain: Suzanne’s electric kettle died so we were in Target a few weeks ago and I walked by this shower curtain, then stopped and looked at it. It’s the exact colors of the paint in Serendipity, from the Edgewood Gray dots at the top to the Jamestown Blue and Wedgewood Gray. Irresistible, so yes, my bathroom now looks like an interior decorator got her hands on it. I didn’t buy the shampoo to match; it’s just a coincidence that my shampoo is lavender and blue.

Of course, it would be an interior decorator who lives in Humboldt. I hung a coat rack on the wall behind the door, and loaded it up with all my layers, plus my towel. I only turn on that heater when I’m taking or about to take a shower, but it is so nice to step out of the shower to a warm towel. So cozy!

Related: Suzanne told me I’d really want curtains for the front window, heavy ones, that would keep it warmer when it gets cold. I was not willing to spend money on curtains, so she offered me a pair that she was no longer using. I had my doubts, but once I hung them, I loved them.

I didn’t think the purple would look good with the blue, but I also have purple scarves & purple coats hung on the walls, plus the quilt has purple flowers to go with the blue, so yeah, purple curtains. Serendipitous.

What a domestic post. But yes, I’m in a very domestic mood. I’m still sad on a daily basis that my son grew up to be a person I don’t know, still struggling not to let the state of the world drag me into despair, still worrying and then trying to remember to breathe & let go. Practicing happiness has honestly never been harder. But I love my tiny house more every day. Roses and lavender and serendipity — I know how fortunate I am!