Neat and Tidy

 Lizzy turned one year old!  She liked sharing her cake with sister Sam.  Doesn't she match this Eloise Wilkin art?

 There is a Eloise Wilkin group over at Flickr.  You can look at all her artwork (almost).  I especially love the way she draws interiors.  Everything looks neat and cozy, as if a mother who loves her calling purposed to serve her family. 

 The color the cupboards are painted is brilliant, don't you think?  This is from We Help Mommy all those years ago!

Eloise Wilkin's  art has blessed so many children and mamas for such a long time.  Her work sends an invitation that says, "Come home."  I like to fluff up our bed and get it ready for us to climb into.  I like to arrange surfaces so they look cared for (I also am quick to let my arranging become scattered again, I must say).  I admire people who have a way of tidying and straightening that results in simple beauty.  I had a friend, a long time ago, that had such neat and tidy ways.  She could make towels behind a curtained cupboard front look pretty.  She built white shelves in her kitchen and the way she placed her useful things on those shelves was masterful.  My granny's kitchen drawers, with dishtowels neatly folded, made an imprint in my childish mind all those years ago.  Sometimes simply seeing these careful arrangements of useful things makes the observer feel assured, someone wanted to prepare a place.  There is a marked difference between "checking things off the list" and sincerely enjoying the work.
So, off I hustle to school.  I am going to clean the desks, staple the papers, finish a few charts, and try to send that message to my students.  
Have you done any arranging lately?  What have you tidied?  What have you folded?  Sometimes simply wiping surfaces can give a feeling of sweet satisfaction.