Thursday 13 September 2012

Home for a Cuppa

 
Photo: Alicia
 For the past five days, I've been living with two others
in a cosy little home belonging to Stella Chapman, an elderly member of the Keels community. I haven't met Stella, as she now resides in a nursing home in Catalina, but I'm in love with her home! With a wood fire crackling away in the living room stove, a comfortable perch on one of the kitchen's rocking chairs, a cup of tea in one hand and a generously buttered piece of toast in the other, I don't want to leave in the mornings. That kitchen is made for comfort and designed for visiting!

One of three rocking chairs in Stella's home,
my personal favourite.

Photo: Alicia
This is something I've noticed throughout Keels. Though I've not had a chance to visit with many of the residents, there is a definite sense of welcome and comfort. Just as in my hometown, everyone cheerfully greets each other in passing. Chairs are situated invitingly on porches and in living rooms. Even the occassional whiff of woodsmoke in the air when walking past a charmingly curtained home sends out the invitation to come and pass the time with friends.

One of many cat figurines
welcoming visitors to Stella's home.

Photo: Alicia

My five days in Stella's kitchen has me convinced that its furnishings are a pure expression of being in comfort and being together. This is certainly exemplified best in the two rocking chairs (the cosiness of which I was unable to capture adequately in photo form), the becushioned loveseat and the attractive, humorous and cute variety of ornaments scattered throughout the kitchen. It exudes warmth and welcome.

I really had no idea what to expect when told I'd be travelling to a small community clinging to the coast of Newfoundland, and it was a great pleasure to be greeted with a cosy bedroom, bountifully supplied in blankets, and a lovely house that insists in all its decor that I make myself at home. On top of that, Stella's daughter Crystal had supplied us with drinking water and various utensils, and even lit the stove for us on our first night in residence. Altogether this has made a wonderful entrance into the community of Keels and I can only send out a warm thank you to these two ladies. As well, I must give a nod to my fellow cat-lover!

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