A fire and a fierce determination

When we decided to move to the UK, earlier in the year, we had absolutely NO idea what was about to happen in Israel.
How everything we knew was going to change.
How we would feel so excluded from both places.
How we would question every decision we’d made over the past months because we were so desperate to be with our friends and people.

But it was done.

We had followed what we believed was the right thing, and so the game has been ‘grin and bare it’, or ‘fake it till you make it’ - since.

It was almost immediately after making the decision to move that I KNEW one thing we needed was a fireplace.
I went to town looking for a wood burning stove, and a guy who could create a faux chimney breast with alcoves on either side.

The living room is large, and light, with glorious views, but has ABSOLUTELY no character, interest or shape.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

It didn’t take me long to make the decision about where the fireplace should go - and how to use the remaining wall.

I had plans - big plans….
And I had lined it all up to perfection!

And then my world came crashing down, and I lost all motivation. I felt guilty for having options that our friends didn’t.
I felt like I’d abandoned everything I’d known, and everyone I loved.
Why should I get beautiful fireplaces and a live in the cotswolds, when my friends were in bomb shelters and living in fear?

And then it clicked.

I needed to protect my soul, my heart. To fill it with beauty rather than horror.

And that beauty, came in the shape of a fireplace.

It was starting to take shape.

Kinda like me, and my broken, splintering soul.

I was starting to come back to the light, I was starting to breathe again.
And this blog, this platform and this home is a rebuilding operation.
Part of which I knew I needed, some of which I didn’t.
And a big ole’ bit that was added in, on October the 7th.
The day before my birthday, when the world changed.

This home is a discovery. A way for me to create.
To force myself to focus on the beauty, instead of the pain.

Next came the cladding.

The stones were hand laid, and beautifully placed

Balancing each stone with smaller pebbles

Then very roughly grouted

And brushed to make it smooth and the finish perfect

I cannot tell you how much this process made my heart sing.

Seeing a vision you’ve dreamed of come to life, and watching as beauty is literally pieced together, stone by stone, is actual therapy.

All that to say - this came together in ways that even I couldn’t hope for.
The limestone hearth that matched to perfectly to the stone cladding I managed to find, along with the dark vintage brick chamber, are just perfection, and it fills me up every time I see it.

Its amazing to see how something so seemingly insignificant, coming at just the right moment, can make SUCH an impact on ones soul

The finished product is glorious - although we are still missing a mantle, and all the cabinetry on either side! - but that’s for another day!

We are loving our cozy nights, the character this injects, and the focal point in the room. It’s a statement, it’s beautiful, it’s different, and it’s ours.

But mostly - it’s been a healing process, a representation of what i need to go through, piece by piece, stone by stone.
Something beautiful will come out of this.
It has to.