I am extremely excited for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law–they have decided to buy nothing new for one year. This is something I have been interested in exploring further myself, but I never expected to know anyone who would take this amazing plunge. You can read about the “rules” they are following, and I also recommend reading the Good magazine article.
I feel as though I’ve been working on the floors forever. Soon they will be done.
I am on phase two: the kitchen side. Meaning: the other half of the bottom floor of our house. Carpet and linoleum are both ripped up. (Thanks to Grant for finishing that part.) On to patching, priming, painting, glazing, sealing…Trim work–painting and caulking. Finishing the bathroom–ceiling: painting and glazing, hanging the light fixture, installing the cabinet…Moving all the furniture back, moving the studio downstairs, buying and installing an actual curtain for the arcadia door in the kitchen…
Monday is supposedly my last day at work…
Christmas is only two weeks away. I feel unprepared. I wanted to observe advent this year. So far, I haven’t. I don’t feel like my spirit is in a state of waiting; I feel like it is in a state of wishing everything would just slow down.
I’ve been a bit reclusive since I returned from my trip. I saw so much art my brain got full…I am still uploading and resizing pictures…soon I will post them on a website.
The plane ride home felt too long. I got airsick, then my lymph nodes swelled up. I spent the last week recovering from both jet lag and some sort of ailment. Blech.
Anyway, I have done a lot of thinking lately. I am going to leave my job soon. I am going to focus on making art. My biggest revalation in Europe was that I am never going to be good at art if I don’t start truly making it. These past few years have been a desert in which I have been very parched. I am sad to leave my job because I really do love it, but it is not what I am meant to do with my life therefore I must leave it.
I am afraid of the expectations I will face. The questions…the pressure. At the same time I am excited and feel hope for the first time in a very long time. David has been most supportive, and I am grateful for that. I feel as though we have been through a lot of challenges lately, but I am more confident in our marriage that ever. I do appreciate our differences, and I am grateful that the opportunity is still there to grow. We certainly don’t have everything figured out, but I suppose that is part of the road we travel together.
We are finding remnants of the old carpet…and it must’ve been shagadelic.
The neighborhood will have a dumpster this week, so David and I thought nothing would be more fun the week before I leave than to pull up all the downstairs carpet. Not only did we not even bother to move the furniture out of the room, but we really don’t have a plan to put down new flooring yet.
We do have dreams of cork flooring though…
sweet potato vine
staring by cats
dreams of goat herding…
wondering at sparkly cupcakes
mmm…cyclo…
Today we had our first workday for our community garden. It was a lot of fun and hardwork. We planted a lot of fall and winter vegetables, we dug out a space for a garden in the spring, and we overhauled the compost pile–whew!
Moving rock…
Tara brought Baby Shea…
Baby Shea
Adam was a working machine!
Wendi showing us her wheelbarrow skills
Brenda swears she always closes her eyes.
Stephanie, Kellen, Kirra, and Kelli planting our food
Craig and Wendi are bringing over the compost
Good job from A-Z (couldn’t resist)
Stephanie found a nail in the alley
Kellen took a break from the laborious digging
Finit…
Friends, September is the month to start planting your garden for the fall and winter. Wendi will host a garden workshop at her house on September 8 at 10 a.m. Mark your calendars because you know you want to grow your own broccoli.
Don’t forget to change your air filters if you haven’t done it in the last three months. It will ensure your air inside is cleaner and your AC unit won’t have to work as hard. It’s especially important here in the summer months because of the extra dust in the air, the extra use of the system, and pets tend to shed more.
I buy my salad in the form of a head of lettuce.
I wash it, let in drain, chop it, put it in the salad spinner, then stick it in the fridge for easy consumption throughout the week. Occasionally, in the process I find small black flys or dirt. Meh, all part of buying food that comes from the ground.
About a week ago, I bought a head of lettuce. I left it in the fridge for many days before I got around to my lettuce ritual.
As I was chopping it, I found a ladybug. It was dead. Its little black legs were tucked under its body–dead bug style.
So sad. I never feel bad for the dirty flies. But the beauty of a ladybug–dead–in my lettuce…
I placed the leaf I found it on off to the side to be thrown in the composter later.
After a few minutes, I glanced at it.
It was moving.
I picked up the leaf. I walked outside.
I let the ladybug crawl onto the flowers in my garden.
I wonder if he even knew he was getting a second chance.