New ceiling

And a new much brighter light fixture! The drywall guys did it in one day! Of course, I've cleaned up in the sewing room since this photo was taken. It's so nice to be in there now.

My She Shed

I've been so happy living in this sweet old house for all these last few years. The neighborhood is really coming up, with the Sears building transformed into the Crosstown Concourse, mainly. Great eateries, YMCA, and the Crosstown Brewing Company, all a ten minute walk away!! My neighbors are the best, too!
   It did cross my mind for half a second to move, since property values are good right now, but the thought of finding another house in this area, sorting through all my shit, packing it, hauling it somewhere else, unpacking it......well...that seemed like less of a good idea. Then there was the partial ceiling collapse in my sewing room that reinforced the whole sorting packing horror story in my mind. If one room was that bad, doing that with an entire house would put me in the loony bin!
   New drywall on the ceiling has been installed and it's so nice, I decided to fix up other things.
    Like the roof! The last roof was put on at least 20 years ago, and was the third layer. Yes, there was a complete tear off. But it's been so worth it and it only took two and a half days.

Future food

Here's the nearly completed raised vegetable garden bed. Leaves have been piled in all fall and winter, along with newspapers. Yesterday, a couple inches of compost was spread on top. As you can see, the frame from the unused swing set fits perfectly over the bed. It will make an ideal support for wire and strings to encourage plants to grow vertically, plus an oscillating sprinkler could easily be attached to provide spot watering when conditions are dry. 

   Some plants are being started indoors, but most will be purchased from the local garden center. That makes more sense. It'll be at least six weeks before anything is ready to plant, but seeds for cool weather greens have been sown in the raised bed next to the deck. 

   I'm looking forward to being home a lot more this year and spending time in the garden and working on projects that have lately gone by the wayside. 

Okay, kids.

Having recently learned there ARE actual readers of this blog, I shall continue in this endeavor.
Today was a very good day. Work in the yard continues. Yesterday afternoon, the tree guys came to remove a dead limb that was hanging over the house. A couple days ago the wind was mighty and scared the crap out of me, because of the dead tree parts that could potentially crash through the roof into my kitchen, the heart of my home!
  The scare passed, but a phone call from the guy who had cut some tree limbs awhile back, made me think about the horror story of dead tree parts invading my home. So he came by to rid the danger of certain mayhem to my happy home.
   Then there was a big mess. But not for long. With help from the stalwart Mrs. Gleadhill, the leaves and sticks were dispatched to a lovely stick fire and raised garden bed. The driveway is swept, compost spread on the raised bed and plans made to remove another tree threatening to crash into other parts of the hovel.
    This is just another day on top of another where I feel empowered. I have been able to accomplish more than I ever thought I could a few years ago. Yes, some days I am tempted to indulge myself in sorrow and self pitying, especially when I miss my grandson and want to second guess how I could have handled that fucked up situation any differently. But, there's no going back for useless recrimination. I decided to love myself in spite of all that has passed. Looking at an ad in the newspaper the other day, I thought I might buy myself an engagement ring! Dang!!! I spent that money on trees!!
   The next self love fest will be tomorrow afternoon at the opening of collaborations show. Some other people who love me might be there. It will be a great day anyway. Many more good and great days are ahead of me. Seeds have been sown for this year's garden. New art works are waiting to be created. Blog posts will be written for those who are interested in reading about my wonderful, simple life. I love y'all too.

They are upon us.....

The pesky winter holidays are coming closer, friends and loved ones! Since the last one, Thanksgiving, I have been a total slug, except for certain duties. I guess it was all the food and drink......yeah, right. One of the activities that got checked off my list today, was the annual holiday card. Photos were taken, downloaded to website, design chosen, sly and funny message added, order placed. Pick up, postage purchase, addressing of envelopes will ensue shortly. 

   I do love cards, sending and receiving! Two have arrived already and I feel like I'm falling behind. Other projects have fallen by the wayside in my stupor, and I must snap out of it, get to gettin' and all that. This past year seems like it has gone on for months and months, but is snowballing to its inevitable end. 

   The photo accompanying this post is a bit of a spoiler alert, yet I cannot resist showing Jerry in her best photobomb!

Kitchen upgrade

So I bought the new sink and got it home, then realized I'd NEVER be able to install it by myself, so my son said he'd help me. Picked him up, got yummy breakfast and just a few hours late, I had a new kitchen sink!!! It is so awesome and I am sooooo happy!! 

Little by little, I am making this MY house, MY home! Five years ago I would have never thought life could be so good. It's not perfect, but pretty damn good!

My boy under the sink, doing his best!

Old sink, new sink

Making a life

You know how it is when you watch all those shows on tv about changing your surroundings to your liking? And it costs thousands of dollars? And you get all those sweet pot lights and new appliances, countertops, and floors? Well, that's not happening here, but......I decided, because I can, to change a few things to make me happy. 

 A couple of weeks ago I changed the kitchen faucet to one I liked better, and was able to do it myself with only three trips to the hardware store. Thankfully, Home Depot is just around the corner.  The other day at the HD competitor, I saw the perfect kitchen sink ON CLEARANCE!!!! 

   Not sure of the size, I went home and measured then returned to the store, only to find that sink sold out!! Boo hoo......but there were the last two in Memphis at another store. Early, I mean EARLY, on this Saturday morning, the sink was mine. Somebody else can have the LAST one.

  I know I'll have to reinstall the faucets, but that will be easy now that I have practice and all the required wrenches, Teflon tape, etc. Photos will be posted!