A house and a home

Monica Dawson of Port Elizabeth writes Another year has passed and with sadness and an ache-in-a-deep-place-thatstill-wishes-to-be-fabulous I realise that entries for the Fix it with Flair competition have closed. My humble dream ‘shattered’, I have to admit that having handed a 160-year-old renovated clay cottage over to my family, it is in vain that I reach for national ‘fame’.

With two small, slightly feral farm children and a mud-clomping Nguni-farming husband, window blinds are now broken, having served as safety places to grab after Superman attempts to fly from high places. Outside couches, once warm and inviting, have suffered a vicious, untimely ‘death’ at the teething fangs of a Bull Terrier puppy. Perfectly clean and painted walls bear the marks of paint, crayon, ink, make-up and nail polish.

Beautiful varnished oak floors bear deep scratches from who knows what and I’m sure a knife has been deftly delved into the fabric of one of my gorgeously restored and reupholstered chairs.

And let me not even begin to mention the simple, neat garden where cattle, sheep and donkeys now serve as free mowing and fertilising services.

Sigh.

Yet, in this dream-dashed moment of self-pity, I’m reminded that the Art and Winning of living is to create a space that holds both beauty and functionality. When Home’s soft lighting and cameras are gone and the quick Tjhoko Paint touch-ups wear thin again, it’s not the spit-polished marble tops nor perfectly manicured lawns that make a house a home.

It’s the wrecked, mangled remains of a house, once beautiful now brimming with everyday life and love that imbues a deeper sense of winning. And so, I am Fabulous and Famous, as are you all dear Fix it with Flair ‘Unwinners’ and Home readers.