My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A Story About A Moose

Moving to Idaho from the San Francisco area was certainly culture shock. Don't get me wrong; I love Idaho. Love it here. It was still a culture shock and we had a friend, who worked for a huge bakery, send us "Care Packages" of french and sourdough bread for awhile. Then we started seeing the brands we were familiar with inside the stores. But there were cultural differences we had to overcome.

Idaho is an agriculture state. It's also known for hunters. Now, we're never hunted and have no problem with people who do. We're all in the "food chain" somewhere and some of our friends hunted to feed their families. Personally, I do not like deer, elk or moose meat. It just isn't my thing. I'm not crazy about meat but I do like it and a good steak is my idea of a good meal, especially Applebee's asiago peppercorn steak.

But one day we had to go visit a family we knew from church and I had never been in their house before. It was a manufactured home on some very small acreage. Mom was a nurse and Dad was a middle school counselor and coach and they had 5 boys if I can recall. I felt sorry for the mom with 5 kids and all boys. But she handled it quite well. She got daughters-in-law and granddaughters after the boys married.

But our first foray into their home was a huge culture shock. We entered through the family room door, which was set up very masculine with a huge TV and all chairs and overstuffed sofa arranged in front of it—typical of a sports-loving family. We aren't into sports in any way, shape or form. I do, however, know the difference between a football and a baseball—one is round and the other is oblong.

As we proceeded through the dining area and into the living room—which actually was the hubby's office—I came face-to-face/nose-to-nose with a moose head that stuck at least five feet out into the room. I started quite visibly when I almost ran into it. Upon looking around I saw all the walls were covered with dead animal heads. As I said, hunting doesn't bother me. But coming face to face with so many animals was stifling in that small area. It was definitely a man's house! I think the mom was used to it and didn't care about the decorating too much. There was absolutely nothing feminine about that house at all. Boggled my mind. I think I was traumatized for a couple of hours but I got over it and declared I'd never hunt if the occasion every arose. It didn't! Thank heaven.

As I've said, we moved from that small town of 5,000 people to a medium-sized town of about 90,000 people. Let me hear it for big towns!! We never looked back. ;-)
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Another cute cottage in Carmel.


A beautiful entrance somewhere in Greece or the Mediterranean.


An attractive but unusual bedroom.


Oooooh my stars!!! I loved this color combination when I first saw it. Gorgeous.


A tub of beautiful posies.


You'd never have to worry about cleaning the shower walls, just sand blast them. :-) Big enough for two and no shower door is my perfect shower.


A cute little step stool.


And cute curtains also.


Pretty door. I have decals on all my doors also. Love this style.


Lovely table setting using blue and pink together.


This little craft room is sort of incongruous with the deer head in it, but cute nevertheless.


A beautiful southern-style home I thought you'd appreciate seeing.


Cute picnic area on someone's porch.


A magnificent kitchen with white shabby chic cabinets!


Pretty roses pillows and chenille on an old wicker chair.
~*~
Linking up with SSS WOW
NMH Open House Party

8 comments:

  1. Connie, my knowledge of sports is equal to yours! Love that vintage tablecloth arrangement on the picnic table! That kitchen with the shabby chic cabinets has a table with gorgeous chairs at the end of the island. That's unusual. I like a touch of the unusual in a room. Those chairs look comfortable. I don't like to sit on a stool when I'm eating.

    The craft room with the white deer head fascinates me. So many lovely things to look at! Did you notice the pink candles in the black wrought iron chandelier? Gorgeous!

    That shower! Wow! So much room! I love that fairy tale cottage in Carmel. When I see one of those, I always wish I could see inside.

    The little tub of posies is adorable.

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  2. DH and I had that conversation early on in our relationship - no dead animal heads in our living room OR bedroom! If he ever lucked out and did shoot a record deer, he would have to build a mancave in which to display it. lol I love the southern house - have always wanted a wrap-around porch. And, oh, to have that much storage space in my kitchen!!!!! Sigh.

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  3. I enjoyed your story and photos. My mother never would allow dead animal heads in the main house -- they had to stay in the basement. When my father died, my brother shipped them all to Colorado. (He became a "Mountain man" years ago, and has never returned to the South.) Mama was relieved, as was I who had to clean out the house after she crashed. None of my husbands have been hunters -- I wonder why?

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  4. Yikes almighty, I cannot even imagine.

    I can only hope and pray that somewhere for that poor lady she has a shabby roses tea wicker white lacey girlie girl space all her own.

    Never EVER in a trillion years would I EVER allow dead animals to hang on my walls, even it was 5 against 1 I would win.

    Go make yourself a Boys Cabin somewhere, sheesh, what a fun story.

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  5. You have such lovely taste in decorating! So many beautiful imagines. Especially love the roses on the pillow and the raspberry colored table and chairs and yellow background! Susan

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  6. Hunting is big here in Michigan too. I would not like the heads of animals on my walls. I am not a vegetarian but to see that would make become one.

    I love the rose pillows. I also liked the southern house. It was really beautiful.

    heather

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  7. I'm with you. I find taxidermy on the walls of a house disgusting. I cannot, for any reason, understand why anyone would hang that junk on a wall in their home.
    I also agree with you about people that think they have to yell into their cell phones. What's that all about. I keep my phone on vibrate. I find it terribly rude, not only the ringing, but, the yelling. Have a great day tomorrow. Paula

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  8. Hi Connie, I had to laugh at the moose head you almost ran into. I once saw a real estate listing with hundreds of taxidermy animals in one room....funny! Thanks for sharing these pretty inspiration pictures at the Open House party.

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