Feature Works

The early morning walks are the perfect place to start. Especially going to see what, if anything, has progressed on the house.

I love the walk through the meadow from the gym…and the details are changing in the grasses.

I got to visit with two electricians. One tells me that they do not place the dining room ceiling lights until after I move in so he can see where the table is placed. I think that is such a nice idea. He said he will give me a couple of weeks of living there to decide where that table will stay. And we went over again where all the switches go for turning things on in one place and off in another. The dimming switches will be added later depending on which lights I want to be able to turn down. He has a good eye and pointed out that you don’t want a four switch box paired with a three switch box….keep the switch plates even. And how he wanted to realign the heat vent in the ceiling with where he is placing the recessed ceiling light in the foyer…you don’t want a crooked line when you glance up.

The other electrician helped me make sure that upright two by fours were where I needed them to hang heavy pieces and told me about how he helped a lady hang all her African masks in a stairwell. Nice fellows.

I love how the electric wire spool is put on this roller tool to just pull off what is needed.

There is now a shortage of electrical boxes making it hard on builders and electricians. Luckily mine are already here.

And put in place. Now the house is ready for the insulation and drywall (sheet rock).

Another walk to the dam.

And this morning back on a very overflowing river!

I have packed up more boxes in the office and up here in the living room, dining room and some pictures off the walls in a bathroom. Once the things come off the walls I get out my paint and dab at all the holes and scratches that have become exposed.

It isn’t just dust that clings to these things but the memories as well. I don’t dwell, just cover them all up with bubble wrap or paper and then into a box and taped up tight. The dust and memories will still be there when I unwrap them in new surroundings.

I miss writing. I was going to go to a writers’ group this evening but changed my mind. Writing is such a solitary thing, an emotional outlet, a way to fix a thought on a page…a story. I wish I could get back to my short story about a woman alone and the things that give her comfort. I don’t need to share a part of her story with others who may interpret the sharing as asking for suggestions or input as to what happens next. Only the woman knows and she only shares that with me when the time is right. I just miss her and wonder what is happening as she hovers above the page. When all my things are in boxes and there are several cloudy moody days in a row can she and I have that conversation.

What gives me such a good escape right now is the drawing in my house building book. When I thumb through it I can see so much progress on the house. New pages this week.

Last night I had dinner out with friends and then lunch today with two other ones. The leftovers from both meals will become dinner tonight. I will have wine as well, and be glued to the television coverage of the January 6 Committee’s exposure of what truly was a dark time for our country. I watched the Watergate Hearings, the Clarence Thomas confirmation to the Supreme Court that exposed how little the powers that be believe women, the Clinton impeachment process, the two impeachments of a despicable president still pulling strings of the weak….so I will watch this as well. And what strikes me as so obvious is that by far the sorriest behavior lands squarely in the lap of Republicans. Their attraction to greed and power seems limitless….and always at the cost of those less fortunate.

So I am off to pour a glass of wine and think of the moral compasses so many other countries hold dear….

Til later…

 

 

I have accepted an offer on the house! For a good look at what I am leaving go to:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/555-Rivercane-Rd-Brasstown-NC-28902/106959045_zpid/?view=public

As you can see, several boxes are packed and now I will wait two more weeks to start packing again. If Lee was who he used to be he would be pleased to have the house go to a woodworker and a quilter. It is a house built for makers.

With the internet being out for a few days, I needed to have the sight line from the disk on the roof to the tower checked. Sure enough, those pesky leaves came out in abundance. The tree man who has trimmed here before came to solve the problem. It makes me nervous to watch him but I photograph as he goes from my perch on the porch.

Then he cleaned it all up and stashed the debris deep into the woods. It turns out he is the brother of the realtor representing the buyer. This is a small world I live in and likely will not get any bigger where I am moving.

I made it to the dam.

The water was really high….

A walk over to the house to see how it was coming along. The heat and air ducts are now in.

And the garage cleaned out for more deliveries of wiring and insulation.

This morning I took time to catch up on my Riverwalk House book.

I discovered another small tree growing behind the lichen covered dogwood outside my living room windows. I will have to find out what it is.

I found a scrap of cardboard with some of the exterior paint on it. And strings from the webbing of a wrapping plastic that I used to measure distances by making overhand knots from one side to the other of short distances of where I wondered about furniture fitting.

The country is still in shock over yet another school shooting. Friends from different parts of the world ask what is wrong with us that we continue to let this happen. The best answer I can find is that the United States has become victim to a lazy ignorance that no one really saw coming. And this ignorance is very easy for the Republican Party, led by the previous president, to manipulate into so many wrong decisions based on the fears of those too deep in their beliefs to see the truth of what we have become. The women that support the men making choices for themselves and their daughters are the ones I find most heinous.

It may take the next generation to get us out of this revolving door of continual ignorance and the fears that come with it.

Til later….

 

 

 

Many people touring the house this week. When I get back from staying away and they are still here I get to answer questions. Some are very interested but I will wait for paperwork to show up. In the meantime the house is kept picked up and a book to read stays in the car.

I have been out of internet service for a few days and today they came and said it is tree branches in the way. My tree man called back and said he would be here later today. I hope so because I would like to see the final chapter of a Scandinavian thriller that just disappeared in a storm the other night. Plus it is a pain not to get the latest off my Iphone.

Yesterday I walked over to the new house site and saw that the heat and air things have arrived…

This could mean that by the time I get back there tomorrow it will all be installed…..could happen.

Yesterday I picked up the prints from the framers. So far they are still laid on the table.

Last night I had company for dinner here. First small group since pre covid times. It was lovely to share food, wine and conversation. Plus as my daughter said it lets me practice my social skills that have been locked behind no small amount of anger and sadness these past couple of years. And it is such a good feeling when someone wants to look at my sketchbooks and talk about the emotions connected to the imagery.

Then this morning a walk along the river.

Aren’t those yellowy greens wonderful? The color of my car.

More later when I might have more news on the house here and my new one…..