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"Let's be cheerful"! We have no more right to steal the brightness out of the day for our own family than we have to steal the purse of a stranger. Let us be as careful that our homes are furnished with pleasant & happy thoughts as we are that the rugs are the right color and texture & the furniture comfortable and beautiful"! Laura Ingalls Wilder

Monday, June 13, 2011

our tree swing



This is the swing that hangs in the giant weeping birch that has shaded our yard for the past 20 years. Well, it's been here much longer than that.  We are the ones who have only been here for 20 years.  I once saw a picture of our home from the 1940s in the museum archives.  It was built in 1936.  There stood our tree, right where it belonged, only it was hardly more than a sapling.  In fact it wasn't much taller than the people who were smiling in the front yard ~ certainly not  big enough for a swing.

This is where I like to sit with a glass of iced sun tea and read the mail when the days are hot.  This is where I like to sit when I feel like the walls are closing in, or the decibel level is acceptable to everyone in the house but me.  This is where I sit with a friend, sharing an afghan and eating marionberry pie while watching the 'boys' set off the 4th of July fireworks in the street.  This is where for the past 18 years we have photographed the smiles of the A. kids with our P. kids while they are visiting for the 4th.  Not only do the children grow in each years photo, but so does the number of kids change.  We started with 3,  grew to 7 and now have dwindled to 5.  

Every time I have a yard sale someone invariably asks, "would you consider selling me your swing?" Hmmm...no, no I won't.  It's part of the family.  It's making history... 

Blessings, Debbie

29 comments:

  1. I am on my way so we can sit, knit and swing together! I'll bring the pie!

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  2. That's wonderful Debbie! Just the kind of place every woman needs. Love the old red paint on it!

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  3. You have a beautiful swing with a beautiful view! I have always been fond of swings and they remind me of both of my grandmothers and my mother!

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  4. I can understand why people would ask if it is for sale, a very special place for a swing of that size. How nice that you are documenting family life with your swing.

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  5. I know just what you mean. We have a swing like that on our front porch. It is my absolute favorite place to be on a warm summer day.

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  6. I would love a swing like that, though I would more want one for a verandah (that way I don't need sunscreen). But I don't have a verandah, so I keep dreaming :)

    Paula

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  7. It is absolutely perfect! The peeling red paint, the view, the tree....
    No one could afford that swing, ever! I can't wait to find the perfect tree in my new yard for either a swing or a hammock.

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  8. hi
    what a beautiful swing you have.i love the view.
    a perfect place for dreaming.
    blessings regina

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  9. Love your swing! It does look like an old friend.We have a very shady yard so when we had yard sales, people would ask if they could buy our yard! :-)

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  10. Yep. Got that swing in my bones. And kid - you write like an angel. For a minute, I thought you had a river out back too - which, at this point, I found alarming - looked pretty full. Then I figured out it was the street. We don't have to be afraid of streets filling your basement. Good. Good. I had tulips I used to use to shoot Cam against every year. Then Cam and M. I have two left of those, but my birds have flown. You will treasure those images forever. I know. I know.

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  11. what a beautiful swing. i love material objects that hold so much family meaning.

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  12. if i lived there it would definitely be my spot! i imagine there has been lots of time spent there. and the swing itself is perfectly imperfect with the worn red paint - love it!

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  13. Oh, you picture took me back quite a few years! my grandparents had a similar looking swing in their front yard, hanging from a huge tree that all the grand kids loved to climb in. Loved sitting there with my grandma on a spring morning. I'm so glad you posted this!

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  14. O my - I could sit there too - that's the area to be right by water, under a tree with nature all around - yeah that's a good place to go --

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  15. Hi Debbie,
    I had a swing like that and I just loved to sit in it and just let my mind drift. At first it was on the porch then we moved it out under the trees in the back yard. I liked it better away from the house! Thank you for commenting on my Garden Road story - I'm hoping to do it once a week on Mondays...and yes, I'm keeping copies of it for my kids and grandkids.

    ~Jean

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  16. I can't think of a nicer place to sit. How special.x

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  17. Dear Debbie,

    What beautiful memories! I'm glad you're not selling your swing. :)

    Love,

    Marqueta

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  18. What a great swing...and a fabulous place to make memories! You shared some lovely ones. :)

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  19. I love your swing--and how neat that you were able to see a picture of your home (and tree) in a museum!!

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  20. Love the swing and your view! I do enjoy mine too.So many memories are made sitting in swings. Thanks for sharing.
    Sue

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  21. If that swing could talk, I bet it would have a lot of happy memories to share. It's just lovely and the view is so pretty and peaceful.

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  22. Those yard salers are a brazen bunch, aren't they? Thinking that you could even consider selling such a treasure as that gorgeous red swing that has shared so many memories? Posh.

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  23. We love having a swing--ours hangs out on the deck. It is a great place for calming.

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  24. I love that you have documented your family in one spot over the years and what a spot. Our swinging bench is one of my favourite places to be.

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  25. I love it!! I've always dreamed of a swing like that on my front porch. Right now we have a premade metal type swing. It works and the kids love it. It's special because it was given to us by dear friends.

    I hope you are able to enjoy your swing for at least another twenty years!

    Blessings!
    Deborah

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  26. That's the kind of story and family history I love to hear about, Debbie!! Your swing is beautiful and the memories it has made and held are even more beautiful! blessings ~ tanna

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  27. This tugs at my heart...more than you can imagine. My grandfather had a swing on his front porch...I too always wanted that history, but in God's plan it hasn't been. I hope one day I will have one for my grand kids and even if it only starts in my later years it will hold history also.
    What a treasure.

    Look at you go on this blog...you are still so new and look at this! Go girl!

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  28. Beautifully written. Isn't that another good reason to blog, in order to have a place to record such things?

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  29. This post is so endearing! How wonderful to have seen a picture of your tree and your home and to view the changes that have taken place. Your view is as lovely as is your swing and the memories it contains!!

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