The Unexpected Guest
JOURNAL ENTRY #4
WEDNESDAY JUNE 17, 2026
There is something special about old houses. They seem to hold little surprises, waiting patiently for the right moment to reveal themselves.
This morning began like most mornings at The Union House of Hogarth.
One of us always wakes first and starts a half pot of coffee and a half kettle of water for tea. Today, that person was me.
Still moving slowly and not yet fully awake, I grabbed the glasses from my nightstand and made my way downstairs. Unfortunately, they were my old prescription glasses — not terrible, but certainly not the clearest.
As I reached the bottom of the staircase, something caught my eye.
A strange dark mark stretched diagonally across the grain of the wooden floor.
I paused.
“What is that?”
I didn’t remember seeing a mark there before.
“Is that moving?”
Curiosity quickly replaced confusion. I pulled out my phone, opened the camera, zoomed in, and immediately started laughing.
There, slowly making his way across the floor, was an unexpected houseguest.
A leopard slug.
Now, waking my husband before delivering his morning coffee is generally unheard of, but exceptions must occasionally be made.
“You have to come see this,” I told him, trying not to laugh. “There’s a mark on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.”
Together we investigated the mystery.
After a quick image search confirmed that our visitor was one of the garden’s beneficial residents — a helper that feeds on decaying plant matter and unwanted garden pests — I decided he deserved a proper escort home.
I slipped into the studio, grabbed a sheet of drawing paper, and patiently waited while he made his way aboard.
Once safely transported, I carried him outside and found a shady patch of mint and violets nestled among soft, composting leaves. It seemed like the perfect place for a creature whose purpose is to help nature recycle and renew.
I laid the paper down and watched him slowly disappear into his new surroundings.
He seemed content.
And honestly, so was I.
Moments like these remind me why I love this old house. Every day brings something unexpected — a flower blooming where none existed before, a bird song I’ve never heard, or, a leopard slug taking an early morning stroll across the hardwood floors.
The Union House continues to surprise me.
And I find myself looking forward to whatever tomorrow’s visitor may be.
— LHogarth
Healing Hands & A Good Day in Spartanburg
JOURNAL ENTRY #3
TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2026
Some days carry victories that only the person living them truly understands.
A year ago, around June of 2025, I began noticing signs of eczema on my fingers. What started as a small irritation gradually progressed until even the simple tasks became painful. As someone who loves creating art, gardening, cooking healthy meals, and restoring our historic home, The Union House of Hogarth, the loss of comfort and function in my hands affected nearly every part of daily life.
After months of worsening symptoms, I finally visited a dermatologist this past March and was diagnosed with Dyshidrotic Eczema.
Today was my follow-up appointment in Spartanburg, and thankfully, it came with opportunity to enjoy a few favorite places along the way.
Before my appointment, James and I stopped for lunch at Ali Baba. As usual, I ordered my favorite Mediterranean Jacket Potato along with a slice of baklava. If you ever find yourself there, I highly recommend both.
From lunch, we walked around the corner to The Spice & Tea Exchange, where I picked up one of my regular favorites, Ginger Turmeric Tea. I also brought home something new to try — Holy Basil Tea. As someone who enjoys incorporating herbs and natural wellness into everyday living, I’m looking forward to sitting down with a warm cup and seeing what I think.
While James visited The Tangled Web to pick up a few comics, we had enough time to browse one of my favorite antique shops, Time & Time Again. There is something comforting about wandering through old treasures and imagining the stories they carry.
Then it was off to my appointment.
The best part of the day wasn’t the lunch, the tea, or even the antiques.
It was hearing that I’ve healed well.
Today I can once again work comfortably with my hands. That means creating art, tending the garden, experimenting with healthy recipes, and continuing the restoration of The Union House of Hogarth. These are not small things. They are pieces of the life I’m building.
Even better, I don’t have to return for another year.
Today was a reminder that healing sometimes comes slowly. Often we don’t notice progress while we’re living through it. Yet one day we look back and realize we’ve come much farther than we thought.
Today was a good day.
Until next time,
LHogarth
The Garden That Was Waiting for Us
JOURNAL ENTRY #2
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026
When we first dreamed of making The Union House of Hogarth our forever home, I knew I was falling in love with the house itself. What I didn’t fully realize was that the garden had been quietly waiting for us too.
Every day seems to reveal another surprise.
In the front yard, we’ve been welcomed by blooming azaleas, a graceful white dogwood, a white crepe myrtle, purple coneflowers, lambs’ ear soft enough to make you stop to touch it, cheerful brown-eyed Susans, rosemary, red tulips, a rhododendron, and several mystery plants that are patiently waiting for me to identify them.
The backyard feels even more like a hidden sanctuary.
Towering pecan trees provide shade while patches of white clover, violets, wild strawberries, and fragrant mint spread across the ground. A peony bush stands as a reminder that beauty returns each season, and I’m already looking forward to discovering the purple tulips I’ve been told appear in the spring.
Scattered throughout are yellow and burgundy lilies, a purple crepe myrtle, a blueberry bush, four camellias, a rose bush, and even more plants waiting to introduce themselves.
Beyond that lies an orchard of possibilities — two apple trees, a plum tree, a peach tree, and an entire row of mature blueberry bushes. Though we’ve already lost the two fig trees and the French lavender before moving in permanently, they simply became part of my growing list of things to lovingly replant.
Perhaps my favorite discovery is that every pruning session, every weed pulled, every neglected corner cleaned is really an act of hope.
I’m not just tending a garden.
I’m becoming part of its story.
I can’t help but wonder what other surprises this old property still has tucked away beneath its branches and blooms. And honestly, I hope the discoveries never stop.
The Union House of Hogarth is slowly teaching me that sometimes the greatest gifts aren’t the ones you plant yourself, but the ones that were quietly waiting for you all along.
— LHogarth
The Road That Finally Led Home
JOURNAL ENTRY #1
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2026
Some dreams arrive exactly when we plan them.
Others take a detour.
In May of 2022, my husband and I purchased what would become The Union House of Hogarth. At the time, it was meant to be our vacation home and eventually our retirement home, with hopes of making the permanent move by 2024.
Life, however, had other plans.
My position at work evolved into a leadership role, pushing our retirement timeline back another year. When retirement finally came in 2025, we spent two wonderful weeks settling into our new chapter. I established LHogarth Creative Living, LLC, obtained my EIN, opened my business account, and began laying the foundation for the creative life I had dreamed about.
Then everything changed.
I received the phone call no parent ever wants to hear.
My son had been admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia, septic shock, and doctors did not expect him to survive.
Without hesitation, we packed up and returned to Florida. My place was beside him.
By the grace of God, he survived.
His recovery came with unimaginable loss. He lost both of his legs below the knees and all of the fingers on both hands. Already living with Common Variable Immune Deficiency, he had since been re-diagnosed with Combined Immune Deficiency, a rare condition that leaves him without the antibodies and immune cells most of us take for granted.
But if you met him today, you would see determination before disability.
Over the past ten months, he has worked tirelessly through rehabilitation, receives monthly immunoglobulin infusions, is transitioning into his second set of prosthetic legs, drives independently again, and has even begun helping with staging work he once loved.
Doctors believed he would require lifelong caregiving.
Instead, he chose perseverance.
As his mother, watching him reclaim his independence has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. Every bird eventually leaves the nest, and somehow mine has done it twice.
With his strength returning, my season of “Mama Bird” has gently come to a close.
Now, after countless miles between Florida and South Carolina, business registrations, medical appointments, moving trucks, paperwork, and one very tired pickup that somehow managed one final journey, we’ve finally arrived.
My residency has officially changed.
We welcomed a reliable 2015 GMC Sierra into the family.
And most importantly, The Union House of Hogarth is finally home.
There will still be another trip or two to finish bringing everything north, but this chapter is different. This one is permanent.
As I begin this daily journal, I hope to share not only projects and paintings, gardens and homemaking, but also the ordinary moments that remind us how much beauty can grow through unexpected seasons.
Sometimes the destination isn’t delayed because you’re lost.
Sometimes it’s delayed because the story needs another chapter.
Welcome to ours.
LHogarth
