I Love Little House on the Prairie So Much I've Decided To Live In It! (For Now)

Good morning, my dear mermaid hearts, 

This post is one of the most vulnerable I've written in quite some time. As many of you, my dear friends, know, I grew up in a detrimental environment, which caused me to develop a need (for most of my life until I changed my belief system three years ago) to have a strong desire to control as much as conceivable, whether that was my home decorating design, people, situations and the list goes on. Most of my anxiety and want to control disappeared after I divorced the narcissistic dark horse; nonetheless, I had some fine-tuning and pruning in a few more areas.

Now, I must preface: I will not say that things won't alter drastically from one point to another, but that's the vulnerable aspect of why I am sharing. It's necessary to state that merely because a person meanders from one idea to another does not mean I or any other woman is a flake, all over the place, unpredictable, indecisive, unstable, etc. It is that most Pisces, like unto myself, are highly creative and artistic. We have so many ideas, and our imagination is popping off at every whim, and that is why we appear wish-washy, although that is not the case. I'm eliminating those predictable labels and boxes in which folks want to place us. The buck stops here, my fruits. (smile) 

I want you to know how much I value each of you who read my writings. How much and how long it took for me to get where I am today, and one of those aspects of myself that I am proud of is being vulnerable and down to earth. I think that's why my blog is so successful. For one, I am writing from my heart and trying to put out little merriment seeds of happiness and joy with each post. I love this wee little corner of the interweb. 

Along our lives, and mainly when someone is manifesting and is purposefully aware of one's ability to create consciously, there can be much prattle about imposter syndrome. Significantly, when conscious manifestors (such as myself) decide to begin sharing their lives publically and teach about how to manifest, usually it's for the reason we can honestly say we have displayed such and such. For example, I will bang on for two fortnights concerning how to manifest a twin flame and how to have a healthy, happy and sustainable marriage for over eight years. I can also share how to successfully use Neville Goddard's revision technique, as I did when Sawyer passed. Neville's revision technique made that possible. Again, I can speak on thousands of manifesting demonstrations; another one, for example, is being cast on a (Hello Sunshine) reality show. However, I've never talked too openly about manifesting my dream home because it's not a tangible demonstration (as of yet). It was due to imposter syndrome, and many spiritual teachers and leaders, such as myself, blunder with imposter syndrome to varying degrees. 

Here is the skettle of fish, or perhaps it's a blessing in disguise or the silver lining at the end of the rainbow, or whichever way you'd describe it. I will be the optimistic gal and proceed with all is well, and the joy is in the journey. 

Well, what's all this prattle about being vulnerable of which you are eluding to Razz? Let us get on, shall we? 

I am constantly meditating, and after I reprogrammed my subconscious mind with all new beliefs, I am on autopilot with all the beautiful pleasantries and notions of where my spirit (Mermaid Inner Being) nudges me, and I follow the inspired action. So here is what I received in spiritual prompting last night, and here is where my story unfolds. 

When Sawyer died, Jeffrey Shawn and I moved into my folks home, and that was nearly four years ago. Into the second year, when the pandemic (the black plague) was in full effect, I pleaded with my father to let me have a go-in with his old storage building and turn it into a little Victorian mermaid cottage. As I've spoken about before, I needed something to distract me and fling my sadness at, and utilising my energy in an old storage room did the trick. Well, I began tearing old cattle fences down and recycled them for flooring; I then used old pavers and made a hearth, painted, decorated and found loads of antiques on Facebook marketplace, antique shoppes, estate sales and charity shoppes. I had nestled in quite comfortably. Then, about three months ago, I felt as though I wanted to begin searching for our Victorian forever home, which I have quite the list of ticking off, which includes substantial land, an authentic Victorian home, also including a stone cottage, a tea room, a place for my farm animals, sheep, barns, etc. I mean, honestly, you could merely look at my page about The Carter Settlement and know what my significant dream is: a little village, The Carter Settlement. I will have it one day, and I think that day is closer and closer to my natural state. I'm a powerfully master mermaid manifestor whenever it has anything to do with manifesting. The particular element human folks get hung on is time and trust. However, I will profess that is merely because most landlocked folks haven't reprogrammed their minds with a whole new set of beliefs. If you'd like to work with me on changing your life, I have the map for creating a life you love, my darling. All you have to do is e-mail me at Raquel@RaquelCarter.com

Okay, where was I? 

Oh yes. 

The other day's accreditation, I saw intentions for the day, and without going into explicit detail (well, because my golly, it's long, my darlings), I was thinking about what to do as Jeffrey Shawn is now having to have extensive hip surgery. That has now put a wrench in our moving or continued forth in finding our forever home as he will need several months of healing and convalescing.

The cognitive energy will adequately require me to remain focused and stress-free. As I am always conscious of my mental well-being, I will not place unnecessary measures upon myself. Now, this led me to another thought. What am I going to do now for these months of my inability to move and yet be comfy and cosy in my little cottage? I petitioned spirit and set the intentions. What do I do in the meantime? Leave crates and boxes, merely shove them to one side, rent a storage facility and store them all, unpack and live life by taking one day at a time; what should I do? In addition, I am still waiting for the writer's strike to know about filming for the reality show Cottage to the Core. It was causing me a bit of grief, I must admit it. I thought I was proceeding, and I am being vulnerable and sharing my story because I wager others can relate to me; as Aaron Dougherty says in The Conscious Coaching Accelerator program, folks love vulnerability.

It has been a wee conundrum, I must say. Ask my dearest friend in all the world, Patti Anne, and she will tell you I was at a beggar's knot, not knowing what to do, but I knew if I kept trusting and knowing with faith, I'd always receive my answer to every question. Fast forward to last night, and I received my answer, and im sharing it with you now! Eeekkk! 

I was strolling Instagram, which I have not customarily been doing for quite some time as it had lost its savour for me; however, I stumbled upon an account where this gal is turning her old home into the equivalent of the Outlander set. Well, that thought was of no significance to me; I've never even seen one episode of the show Outlander. So I kept scrolling and was about to move on, and the thought hit me like a ton of bricks. What do I love and have built much of my life upon? Little House on the Prairie! Many years ago, I actually received plans I had drawn up of the schoolhouse for one day when I had the land for The Carter Settlement. The thought was whilst you are waiting on your manifestation for your land and Victorian home, tea room, etc., turn your little cottage into The Little House on the Prairie. That set me right, I must confess. It's nearly like that now, but a few changes of rocking the fireplace and building a loft, a little decorating, and it'll be complete.

Turn your cottage into The Little House on the Prairie! Well, after 1800 words, there you have it, my fruits! 

I began that day. I called around and found a storage unit to put all of our boxes and furniture in for a few months, and I have started drawing up plans on how to transform the cottage. There are several aspects that I can start straight away, as I don't feel it's quite the stretch as it sounds. I had already planned on implementing various items, such as an outhouse and fireplace, anyway, so this makes it quite the natural fit. Now, does that mean I know what will happen tomorrow or the next month and so forth? No. But that's the fun of it, is it not? There must be trust in the not-knowing and ride those waves of uncertainty like a mermaid goddess. As we've often been told, my darlings, it's not in the destination; it's all about the voyage (journey).

I love Little House so much I've decided to live in it (for now)! What do you think my Pa (hahaha, dad) will say when I tell him I want his help in the transformation? I may have to go about it alone, for my "Pa" is currently having some health issues. I shall prevail. If these darling women on Instagram can DIY, I most certainly can, too. 

I hope you follow me on my voyage on Patreon and watch how it turns out. If you enjoy personal development, spirituality, the Law of Assumption, old-timey lifestyle (Little House on the Praire, Beatrix Potter, Tasha Tudor), home renovations, dreamy fairytale living, books, artistry, and mermaids, of course, well then my Instagram account is for you. Mind you, my darlings, some of my content is on Patreon, where it is behind the paywall. It is five dollars to join, and you can cancel anytime if you feel you're not receiving your money's worth, but you do, my dear hearts.

Have a lovely Sunday. I am off to work on the guest bathroom in my folk's cottage. I am renovating it. I have been sharing my stories all about it on Instagram if you're interested. 

Also, if you are interested in commissioned bespoke illustrations for Christmas cards, I am taking a few orders this year. Here is my latest one. Her name is Annabelle, and she's a little fancy Victorian cat. E-mail me at (Raquel@RaquelCarter.com) with the subject line "bespoke painting" or message me on my Etsy shoppe. I am so happy to paint for you. Just think of how unique and personal your holiday cards will be this year, and goodness knows we need some "Take Joy" in these troubling waters as of late.   

Most affably yours til' my next swim, Razz   

How I Make {DIY} My Victorian Notebooks And Organize Manuscripts

 My dear friends,

My oh my! I was out today snipping away at the creeping fig on the cottage to keep it tidy and adorable, especially since we still have many folks each day looking at the house. We had three showings today, two yesterday and five offers. I am hopeful one sticks, and we sell promptly. I love our little home, but I feel a fresh start is due for my Beloved Gardener and I.  

How To Make A Wattle Fence {For Your Victorian English Cottage Garden}

My dear friends,

Today is being spent indoors; garden planning with my dear ol' spirited friend, Beatrix Potter.

Yesterday, the weekend, and today, I'm using my time wisely, as today marks a week of daily rainstorms. The frogs love it, with their croaking and ribbiting. This is how I imagine the frogs in this type of weather. Dear Ms Magadalene, isn't she a sight with her apron, and bonnet atop her head?

Lovely Adventures At Staffordshire Cottage

My dear friends,

I spent the day writing away on fairytales that I am very excited to bring to your darling children very soon. I had the most enjoyment watching Olivier pounce about the cottage. He really enjoys being out in the garden with the chickens. He stays well close to the back door of the cottage. The chickens were especially quiet today. I wonder if the beautiful weather instinctually calmed them to nestle in the trees. They have their particular spots under the fern brush. They have created sand pits where they spend most hours of the day. The weekend ahead is predicted to be quite chilly, which I am looking forward to.  I couldn't be happier. My dear neighbour Joe and his wife have a roaring fire going and I can smell the umbers drifting over into our direction.

The Art Of Creating A Delightful Cottage Bathroom

My dear friends,

Might you pour some tea and let us visit. It's been dribbling rain for hours on the beautiful coast of Florida, and the chicken ladies are bathing in the puddles. I think they love the opportunity to root as the rain has a way of creating an upwelling of worms. I do love it so, as it gives me a lovely excuse to write and just relax with my Beloved gardener.

 I have been longing for a few years to actually write up this tiny post, but for some reason, I've not done it until now. Perhaps it's because I had wanted to wait until I did both bathrooms and make it a much longer post, but I digress.

I love doing little things to the cottage, and I have been thinking that if I started posting my projects, it might inspire me to create more and motivate me to get going. I spent the first year of living here at the cottage and did several things and then I just tapered off.

 I began by plastering the walls with sheetrock all-purpose joint compound. The walls had a 70's wallpaper, but instead of removing the wallpaper, I just plastered over it. I used a 4.5 gallon for the whole bathroom.

The light is original. I removed it, spray painted it, then replaced it with Edison bulbs that i picked up from Walmart. 

After I covered the walls with compound, I then painted over the whole room with some flat white paint from Sherwin Williams. I then washed over the entire room with a watered-down umber craft paint.

The mirror was found in the storage room when I moved into the cottage, so I just added some boat rope and hung it. The linen fabric is some stash leftover from a sewing project. I already had the mermaid hook, so i hung it for a towel hook.

The bath is super tiny, and there is no room for a cabinet for towels, wash clothes or the like, so I found this old crate at an antique store for 5 dollars and thought it'd work for a towel holder. I can fit 6 towels. On the back of the toilet, I placed a basket with rolled wash clothes and hand towels. I have a rule about towels. I only use white. They'll always match no matter the decor colours and style, and they can be bleached, which makes them smell wonderful.

Some pretty flowers to liven your day wherever you may be.
All in all, I spent about 12 dollars on the whole bath update. The $12.00 was for the Edison bulbs. I had 3 already and just had to buy one.

I shall write again soon. May you have a lovely holiday season.

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx

Starting From The Shoreline Again {When You Are Starting Your Life Over}

Hello there Mermaid Junkies,

I hope you're doing well. I wanted to share with you a few TTT {Treasure Trove Tips} that may be of some value to you.

As you guys know, if you're an avid fan of my youtube channel, You know that after my divorce I literally walked away with not one red cent. Not alimony, no money of any sort. The only thing I had was my car that's been paid for over a decade that was in my name {which I got 4 months down the road when the divorce was final}, and the two suitcases full of the things I could take with the weight restrictions onto the airplane. So when I say I literally am starting from scratch, that means literally from scratch.

I will say that because I was living the Law of Attraction, I was very resourceful and I had been a frugal woman all of my life. So I was able to manifest things rather quickly, and that even meant manifesting the money for my airline ticket, and money to pay for my own phone and new cell phone account that I wanted to be put in my own name. Things like that, if you may be specifically wondering.

I am sharing all of this with you; the nitty-gritty details. Because if there's one thing that has always annoyed me is that women talk about their journeys of pulling themselves from the ash, and so often they never tell you about the details. Like, "oh, so you started from scratch, but you still to this day have alimony from an ex every month. Or you got a payout from the ex, or you got the house in the divorce that was completely paid for." That to me, no offense, is not as much of a struggle. Does that make sense? I am not trying to make light of anyone's struggles, but I am just keeping the line of transparency open here on my blog. You guys know I'm one to tell it like I see it. I also want to clarify that I am a woman that is supportive of other women, but I am a woman that expects pure honesty and authenticity. If women aren't super transparent it gives other women that sense of insecurity of feeling like, "Oh man, I cant do what she did. What's wrong with me?" That's all I'm saying. I have been disillusioned by several women in this manner, and I will not do that to you, my readers.

Okay. Okay.

Now back to this post. I wanted to share with you if you happen to be truly working from the shoreline to recreate a life for yourself, I wanted to give you a few tips on how to keep and maintain a few little luxuries while you are starting over.

Because you guys, let's be honest. When we're truly beginning again there are things like wearing makeup, or actually the basics of what to wash your face with, hair color maintenance, buying the normal things like a nice smelling candle to keep you happy to some degree, still dressing cute, or what if you don't have health insurance or dental insurance. What the crap are you supposed to do? I'll tell you. I am going to share with you what I did, in hopes that it might help to serve you if you are in that place right now. In future posts, I'll break down exactly what you can do if you are lucky enough to have your children with you, and are starting over. For instance, housing and support financially from the government {if you live in the USA}.

I know this is not what many want to address or talk about. We often times want to see the pretty flowery stuff in life. I am very much this way on a daily basis, but guys, we all have shit that hits the fan in life. I want to be that voice of inspiration when it does happen, and still inspire women for the pretty stuff as well, once we get back into the flow of joy.

Okay, so my housing was the blessings of having parents that were open and kind enough to let me stay with them. They also provided me with food. So yes, that's two huge things that I instantly had that I am so very appreciative of. I didn't have a bedroom to stay in so I slept on my parent's couch. I was going through a difficult time with not having my children with me. I had no sadness about my divorce, as I am the one that paid for it, wanted it and was super happy about that aspect. The ex wouldn't allow me to take my children, which would have been the two youngest {Zoë Kennedy and Brooker}. I let my children decide what they wanted to do since they were old enough and they wanted to graduate from the school they were enrolled at. They had moved so much, I understood completely why they wouldn't want to move again for the twenty-third time. I was not going to do that to my children. Too often women become vindictive and use their children as collateral to hurt the ex-husband. That my friends will bite you in the ass. Do not use your children to get back at someone, ever.

Now onto the things I was experiencing once I was settled with my parents. Only having the little money that I was able to earn through cleaning a relatives house, a painting job, and some organizing, I used to buy necessities. I did not go on clothes shopping sprees or out to dinner or leisure stuff. The pure basic necessities. My extended family was super generous in that way. I always worked for the money though. I didn't lay on my parent's couch expecting a handout because I was a soon to be a divorcee.

💦So when It was time to color my hair and cut my hair. I cut it myself. I had learned some tricks from my sister in law and I knew that if I needed to I could simply use some scissors from Sally's beauty supply and cut a basic line. No layers, just cutting the dead ends off. For the hair coloring, I went to the nearest Sally's Beauty Supply and bought the color that matched the best. I watched a youtube video on how to color my hair myself. Scissors were $9.59 {with beauty club card} at Sally's Beauty Supply, hair color Clairol $6.29 {with beauty club card}, tint brush 1.99 {with beauty club card}and hair mixing bowl $2.29 {with beauty club card}, developer $3.69 {with beauty club card}. The developer will last almost a year for the 16 0z.

💦My makeup consisted of drugstore makeup and actually still does to this day. I use Covergirl powder,  Cover Girl Neutralizer as a concealer, and lip pencil in "Mocha or "Real Red", Loreal mascara Brown/Black, Burts Bees lip shimmer in caramel. I also use the Burts Bees lip shimmer in cherry when I want a red lip.

💦Instead of using all the expensive facial washes I use ivory bar soap and Neutrogena fragrance-free lotion as a moisturizer. If I ever get a pimple, which rarely, if ever happens I use Melaleuca dōTerra essential oil. My dōTerra oils are going to be a whole other post, as I have a lot to share with you about them and it's going to call for a whole lot of information. Essential oils are my health care plan.😂

💦I use the Dollar Tree candles in fresh linen below even to this day. If you are like me, you love your surroundings to smell nice. I am a big fan of candles and have been since a girl. I have tried hundreds. I used to be obsessed with the gardenia candles from Martha Stewarts line at Kmart. That tells you how long I've been burning and experimenting with candles. My mom taught me all about candles and I used to sell candles for Salt City Candles and Partylite. I know. I am showing my age. Hehh...

I think those are the tips I'll share for today, even though I have a ton more. I'll be sure to keep creating posts for TTT {Treasure Trove Tips Tuesday}.

I hope this served you and be mindful that no matter where you are in your transformational tale, I am right here with you. Everything is gonna be alright I promise.

Yours til my next swim, Raquel