The Gypsy Wagon

Shoving Off

Fifteen years of living, loving, laughing, crying, moving, parenting, cooking, eating, decorating, entertaining and crafting as a Navy wife have brought me to this place.  In creating The Gypsy Wagon, I am envisioning it as a place for you to visit when you're looking for ideas or recipes for entertaining, when you want to see what's new on the craft table, or if you're looking for ideas for decorating from thrifty sources. 

Our journey has involved 15 moves in 15 years - sometimes we've moved multiple times in one year, and then stayed in one home for two or more years.  We've reincarnated curtains as tablecloths, daybeds have become sofas, and the sewing machine has whirred along on both coasts, and up and down the Atlantic seaboard.  Taking cues from Martha, HGTV, and countless creative Navy wives whose paths we've intersected, we've heated up the glue guns, armed ourselves with paint rollers, and rearranged the furniture to make our space our home.

Along the way, we've had three children who depend on us to create the feeling of home no matter where we're living; and we've acquired a cat, a dog, and a Noah's Ark of lizards, hermit crabs, hamsters and fish who are no longer with us.  Some species take to the gypsy life better than others! 

Sometime after our 15th anniversary this summer, I began to look back at where we've been so far and was astonished to see how fast the years have flown.  While the time during deployments seemed to stand still, the overriding feeling was amazement that so much time has passed in what feels like just an instant.  I often tell people, that I don't know how all of this has happened - that just two weeks ago I was dating a young Navy lieutenant, and now here I am:  41 years old and married to that no-longer young Navy lieutenant with a teenager, a preteen who thinks she's a teenager, and a third grader!

Our adventures as we've travelled in our virtual Gypsy Wagon have been rich - the people, the places, the experiences and the food, have all contributed to this colorful life we've been fortunate enough to live.  I look forward to sharing some of these experiences, some of the recipes, ideas for entertaining and decorating for the busy woman, as we continue the journey.  Look for a generous sprinkling of Texas flavor throughout the Wagon because it's true:  you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl!   

 

Plant yourself here

Plant yourself here
Originally uploaded by The Gypsy Wagon.

Bulk pick-up was a treasure trove last month. We cruised the neighborhood streets along with other treasure seekers, stopping only at the houses whose garbage was interesting. If the bulk of the sidewalk offerings were toddler toys that were outgrown, or sad and tired lawn furniture, we passed them by. The same held for broken-down or rusty grills or corroding boxes full of unrecognizable tools. However, two blocks away from the downtown shopping area, on a lovely historical cobblestoned street, we found four of these chairs! Two were in great condition - caned seat and all, while two had only gaping holes where the seats once were. We loaded all four into the truck before anyone else could grab them, and headed home with different plans for each of them. This is the first one to escape the garage and it now resides on our front porch. I had hardware cloth stapled around the rim of the seat, then lined it with a coir mat intended for wire hanging baskets. Then I added potting soil, sedum, asparagus fern and coleus. I love it, but have had mixed reviews from my family. My daughter thinks it looks awkward, and my sons are unsure. My husband, though, thinks it's great - probably partly because he shed blood while stapling the hardware cloth!

Here Comes Ernesto

It 's been so quiet here lately, that our flag has maintained an unobtrusive presence.  We've known it's there, but take it for granted as we go in and out of the house noticing it more at night when the small groundlight shines on it.  Today the wind is up as Ernesto plods up the coastline, and it is snapping angrily on the pole, whipping about as the wind blows first one way then another.  While I probably should take it down so that the pole doesn't break, I really like that today, for a while, it's making a strong statement.