My name is Suzanne, I'm married and am mother to a lovely nineteen year old daughter. My husband and I are new empty-nesters and have recently begun to renovate the 150+ year old mill house we call home. The mill village we live in is near the center of a mid-sized, southern city in the United States of America.

Sadly, I am the kind of woman who would probably infuriate those of the 1960's and 70's who fought so hard to displace me from my rightful place in the home, cooking, cleaning, and decorating to my heart's contentment. You see, by day I'm unhappily employed as a baker in a health food store that specializes in vegan and macrobiotic baked goods, soups, salads and entrees. But by night I strive to regain my true identity as a housewife, best-friend-sort-of-mother, gardener, and culinary dare devil. Now and again I claim a day, sometimes two, for my very own, escaping to nearby loved cities and towns such as Savannah and Charleston.

I am also, I confess, the kind of woman who enjoys her days off spent mostly in well-worn cotton pajamas, sipping a nice cup of tea and browsing the internet for vintage treasures. I like my rituals. They give my days some sense of order, where quite frankly there would otherwise only be chaos. If you ask my husband he'll likely tell you there is still only chaos, but he isn't privy to the exact depth of my lows, or the invisible peek of my highs.

Which brings up a topic I will discuss only at minimal length. I live with severe clinical depression, and struggle daily with Semantic Pragmatic disorder. The depression is greatly improved by medication (if I take it, and often I don't), but the SPD is a tiny sliver on the autism spectrum and no treatment exists. I act my way through most days, smiling and nodding at the appropriate times, pretending all is well. But inside I feel like an alien in a foreign world. And so the rituals: favorite movies, music, books, the proper daily requirement of solitude. Comfort items, all of these, bringing my world back to center. Or as near as possible.

The purpose of this blog is multi fold. I hope to chronicle transformations taking place in my life; the home that's being renovated, the gardens through all seasons, my body as it sheds fifty unnecessary pounds. And I hope to share a little bit of loveliness along the way through my admittedly amateur photos and words.

This is enough of a start for now. There's so much more to tell you about, these 44 years are filled to overflowing with travels, births, deaths, letters hidden under stairwells. So, tomorrow then.