Friday, September 25, 2009

ROOM WITH A VIEW




I've had a very busy and sometimes difficult couple of work weeks that at times have spilled over into my "me" time. When I have times like that - I have to stop - take a deep breath and look out of the beautiful hand hewn mahogany french doors in my office and remember how lucky I am to first be employed and equally important - get to come to work every day with a family owned company in a lovely historic home. Here is the view from the veranda outside my office.
I work in a lovely historic district near downtown Jacksonville. The home I work in was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and this is the only house he designed in Jacksonville before moving on to a very sucessful career I'm sure. It will be 100 years old in 2 years and it is just awesome. Prairie style in every way. A wide veranda is evident on 2 sides of the house - the side I'm in - yes Betsy and I have the whole downstairs of the house to ourselves - opens onto the wide veranda you see above. My office was originally a library and smoking parlor for Mr Bensel who was a lumber baron in the early 1900's here in Jacksonville, I have a huge pocket door that closes my office off from the conference room. 99 % of the time it stays open and this is the view from my desk. Pretty cool huh? I feel so guilty when I complain about being so busy - that is such a blessing in the car business right now - to be busy. So my post today is all about being grateful - I think we can all find something to be grateful about today - even the small things - not to mention - time to stitch - stash to plunder thru if we so choose - friends who understand us and love the things we love - family who is tolerant - I'm sure you have your own list.


One last photo - here is the view of the mighty St Johns River - one of the only rivers in the US that flows north towards the Atlantic Ocean. This is taken from the front veranda. Jacksonville is a beautiful city and I am proud to be a native and 5th generation Bryan from this area.
This post is also about my being soooo busy these last 2 weeks that I have not gotten anything done. I missed rug guild last weekend because we had server problems - so not a loop pulled for many weeks - I have been too tired to stitch so I have just been doing some fill in work on my Plymouth sampler. I have been knitting a little - I started a KAL last weekend with The Local Needle - a not so LYS - here's Joan's blog where she introduces the Shawl of Cables project - Maybe some of you out there would like to join in - there is no charge for this virtual KAL on the internet. There is also a Ravelry group set up for this project if any of you are members of that great internet community.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments on my blog even though I've not had anything exciting to show you for a while. I hope you will enjoy the photos of "my hometown" and the beautiful views I am blessed with every day. Fall - I scoff - it is 91 degrees here and I think I will just get in the pool and float away all my cares. Remember - enjoy every day - your way - Mel

11 comments:

Cari said...

What a wonderful post!! You have a beautiful office setting. I've never been to Jacksonville, through it, but never stopped to enjoy. I can see it would be a great place to visit.

I am so very grateful for my family, my health, my cats, my friends, and my love of needlework. All bring me great joy!!

Hugs -

Margaret said...

Melody, I'm sorry the past two weeks have been so busy. But you're so right. We should all stop and count our blessings. Your work place is absolutely stunning! I love Frank Lloyd Wright and that whole Prairie style. We have mission furniture in our livingroom -- just no Prairie style house to put them in. lol! I hope you get some time to relax and get some knitting, hooking and stitching done. We all need that me time!

Jean in Georgia said...

Even though sometimes it's difficult, we must remember how we're blessed, because we surely are. Thank you for a reminder of that, and thank you for sharing the pictures of the beautiful place where you get to work every day.

Deb said...

I love this post. You have the most beautiful setting to work. And you're right, we all need to stop and count our blessings for our health, family, jobs, etc. Too many times we forget to slow down a little to do that.

I love that Shawl of Cables. I'll tell you if I wasn't so immersed in Ann, I would love to knit that up. I'm familiar with Ravelry and have to stay off there because of the beautiful projects. I can't wait to see your progression on this piece.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jackie's Stitches said...

Mel, I knew you worked in a historic home but I had no idea just how beautiful it is or how beautiful your views were. What a wonderful place to work!

I, too, am fortunate to be employed in a line of work where so many have been laid off. Thank you for the kind reminder that we have so much to be grateful for!

Loraine said...

What a fun tour of your office and town. So fun to learn more about my blogging friend.

Katrina said...

Gorgeous view! I really enjoyed your post.

Susan said...

The house is gorgeous! How lucky you are to work there and have such a great view every day.

Siobhán said...

Thanks for sharing those wonderful pics, Mel! I've never been to Jacksonville and now I see I've misssed out--what a beautiful work place! Lucky you. I'm glad that you've taken time to count your blessings whilst being so busy... and reminding us to do the same. I needed that reminder! Thanks. Take care of yourself!

beeinstitches said...

Oh! Thanks for the pictures. It is such a wonderful place! I'm very grateful that I have been lucky enough to experience it personally. Lots of good memories there!

Ellen said...

Hi Melody.

So much fun to see your gorgeous work place. Guess that I'm the only one of your readers, so far, who has seen this incredible place in person.

I still think that you should talk them into letting you live there. The house and the view are incredible. While your photos are good, they don't do the place justice.

I better not show Tom your photos--he loves the St. John's River!

Hugs.