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More Progress

Posted on by Sandy Webster

The building is quickening. Now the garage lights and door have been installed. And this morning when I went over, the screen porch has been finished.

The landscaper will get on the job later this week. This morning the builder told me that the shower grab bars, glass doors, towel bars and the mirrors I took over will all be put in.

Not much more to go as far as I can see. The beautiful gas double oven is still in the box….maybe tomorrow.

I have been so busy here with the last of the packing. There is nothing left for me to do downstairs.

I have one more rug upstairs to clean with baking soda but will wait until the cats are dropped off at the vets. So much cat hair!! There are just a few things in the pantry and cupboard to pack up. Most of my clothes from the closet went into garbage bags to haul over. Two small weekender suitcases will hold the rest of the things I will need to stay in a friend’s apartment until I have been given the okay to move in with my things at the new house.

This morning I called the movers to make sure we were still on for a week from today. They told me that anything I don’t already have in boxes they will carry out to the truck. They also will unhook my TV, pack it and place it where it goes in the den. They would even hook it up if I wanted. And the big thing is they plug in the refrigerator and connect the water line. They also will install the washer and dryer. Such a relief to have that all taken care of. For the twenty minute drive over, I can take the food from the refrigerator and not have to toss it out. They will roll the rugs and make sure they are placed first in the house before furniture is taken in. And best of all, they arrive at 8 0’clock in the morning! The whole day to get it all sorted.

This week I received a call asking if I would like one of my late student’s pieces of art work. She is the one who did so many pieces based on the Old Testament. Rather than go for one of them, I was given my favorite piece she did of the many anti war works.  We shared that as artists, making work about the futility of war. This is her piece titled, Cope. Two left feet from dolls attached to an old military pouch that looks like the innocence of a child in breeches, standing in a pile of spent bullet casings…several holding rolled up pages from the old testament. The small book sits below with a metal cover that says, “Cope”. I love it and am thrilled to own it.

Lin had the best things to work with.  The feet straddle a small foundry mold placed into an old wooden box. Dirt from where she sourced the casings settles into the bottom when the bag of spent bullets are poured around the feet. And just the word, cope, is so powerful as I adjust to changes in my own life.  I have always kept a picture up on the wall of Lin working in my studio. I think I will fold it tight and slip it into the back of the book, Cope.

Speaking of books, I am trying to keep up with all the additions to the new house.

The past couple of days I have been watching home makeovers programs on Netflix. At first they looked nice, fresh, clean. And then after a while all the makeovers looked similar…soft blue or grey hues against white walls. Then on every shelf or surface of any kind the decorator carefully placed things from her own warehouse of endless objects. It occurred to me that none of these homeowners appeared to have belongings of their own. There were no “stories” on the walls, sitting on shelves, or put within arms reach on a coffee table. It was all picture perfect…ready to be photographed for a magazine I suppose.

Anyway I did not pick up any tips except I think I would covet some of those ever so fluffed up pillows on the bed. I will check on Amazon once I get settled.

Til later…..

 

Could Be Good News

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I might be in my new house when my furniture goes in on the 29th this month. This morning when I walked over a painter told me that the builder was calling for the final cleaning to be done next week. There have been a lot of changes.

Starting with delivery to an open garage of the toilets and hot water heater yesterday.

All fans installed and appliances delivered to the house.

A meeting with the shades person….and choices made.

Then this morning I see the microwave/exhaust vent is in place along with faucets in the kitchen and shower. The garage now has its door and outside lights installed.

Toilets installed.

Yesterday I took the day off to draw in the books.

And the meadow is changing…..

So today I went ahead with giving the insurance company the date to start insuring my belongings in a new place and filled out papers at the post office to have my mail forwarded. It felt good. What little bit of packing is left can be finished this weekend.

If something unforeseen happens I still have the option of moving into a friend’s apartment. The cats will still be boarded at the vets so as not to be traumatized by the movers. I am looking at a new smaller rug for in front of the fireplace. Something with a muted mud cloth pattern would be nice.

I still need to clean two rugs for the den and guest bedroom.

The builder was about to order a laundry tub yesterday morning when I stopped by. He asked what I thought of one that had a built in cabinet below. I said it would not do! I needed the old fashioned kind with four legs…otherwise there was no place to put the cats’ litterbox. So he ordered a much less expensive one that will require him ordering faucets for. But at least the cats will know that the litterbox remains in the laundry room.

It may take a couple of weeks to get the high speed internet hooked up but there is always the library for me and my computer.

I was telling my family on the group call last night that even the memories surrounding this place have slipped out through the windows and taken advantage of open doors to go away. They said that the memories will all come bursting out of the boxes as soon as they are opened.

But I think they have all found their way to the new place and are picking their places to reappear in the company of new ones.

Til later….

The Wine Helps

Posted on by Sandy Webster

To say I was sick of packing and looking at boxes would be an understatement. But when I see the completely empty spaces, I see real progress!

When they pick up all the shelving units from my studio storage area, they will have to pack up my drill press as well. It doesn’t fit in a box and I cannot lift it. The shelves and that old work table will go into the garage on the side I will use as a studio of sorts. Mostly for printmaking with the etching press and proof press out there. My fingers are itching to start carving again.

I never thought I’d see the back of the under stairs storage but it is all cleared out and I stood back there to get the picture.

And I thought of giving the large easel away but was talked out of it. So into the garage it goes for the time being.

And at the new house there are some new things happening. All flooring and baseboards are in. New granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms.

And the shower is complete except for the glass door that goes here and in the guest bathroom shower.

I delivered all the light fixtures and fans on Friday. I might be a couple of lights short and will check on that tomorrow.  Seems I need to get a ceiling fixture for the entrance to the front door and a second ceiling light for over the sink island.  I did not want those hanging down pendants so opted for a recessed fixture that the builder and electrician think needs to have a mate. Easy.

I have started packing the pantry. Good grief! Why was there so much in the way of canned goods and pastas in there?! Did I think I was not going to the store before the year was up? This morning on my weekly trip to the dump quite a few out dated jars and cans went with me. But I did keep three jars from the back of the shelves….maple syrup our son harvested and cooked down in 1984 as a school project. When he comes for Christmas I think we need to open a jar and have some over pancakes. As I remember the syrup had a very smoky flavor due to the open fire he had to use to cook it down. And I remember that it is a bit thin for syrup because how many hours upon hours can any of us watch sap thicken. Harvesting from our own maple trees was so much fun. Just like making wine from the wild grapes along the road and dandelions from the yard. Does anybody even do those things nowadays?

A new drawing in the house book.

Maybe when I walk through the meadow to the new house tomorrow morning the builder will greet me with the house keys…..maybe not. For now I am enjoying a glass of red while I write this. Friday night friends picked me up to go to the winery to meet their friends. It was another chance to practice my social skills….woefully fading over the last few years. It was delightful. I think I am getting better at it. No where near ready for a whole room full of people, but a couple at a time seems doable.

Til later…..

More Time Gone

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I was sitting on the porch the other day and thought that soon I won’t be here anymore. So I took last pictures of the view I have taken for granted for seventeen years.

Then I turned and saw this.

The porch bar with high stools that Lee and I bought before we moved into the house. We took a couple of beers over to sit there for the evening. The electrician was working late and took pity on us. He turned on the electricity to the porch so the two of us could pretend we were already living there.

They are ready for new owners.

I took a walk over to the house earlier.

My shoes were soaked! Another drawing in the Meadow Book….

Yesterday a friend came over to have what is likely the last lunch on the porch. The furniture refinisher brought back the table and counter stools.

They are so much better than when he took them away. I can’t wait to see Amy and Patrick sitting at the table they grew up with.

The yard man came later in the day and took all the pieces from the yard to the new place where he will do some grading, etc. before getting it all placed.

This morning there were more changes at the house.

Just the bench to place in the shower…

And flooring!

About one third of the house is laid.

Today I went to the window treatments place and will meet them at the house this coming Tuesday.

The cats start their boarding time at the vets on the 26th. My movers come the 29th, I follow them to the new house and we unload all boxes with work tables and shelves in the garage. The furniture will be set inside the rooms they go to and appliances put in the kitchen and laundry. I take my pre-packed suitcase and move into a friends apartment closer to my new house. On the 30th cleaners come here to this house to spend the day. On the 31st is closing at the lawyers and I start a new chapter.

Yesterday while eating lunch on the porch I was fidgeting with my loosely folded paper towel/napkin. I thought if I folded it in quarters then I could try to tear a perfect circle. Here it is.

There is something about this torn paper that says so much…it could be an entire short story ,,. or poem.  But for right now it was a making of something that represented more than a torn paper towel.

My friends in Australia are getting themselves all sorted out for their workshop next March and their stay at the house we all shared for several years.  Some of them are following the yearly challenge we set for ourselves, some are lagging behind. One is preparing for a teaching tour for the Embroiderer’s Guild of America. Five weeks in nine different states. The thought is daunting! All of them have such energy and so many ideas for their art making. I look at my torn napkin and it reminds me that we have long been a circle,  the six of us.

Sometimes, with being so far removed physically from them, I feel a bit empty. And then I think of how they will all be together next year and they will do an early morning call that comes when I am having an evening wine. (I make sure it is Australian). They will crowd together in front of the camera to say hello and then individually show the work they did in the class, what they learned without me being there to hover and suggest. Next we share how far we did or didn’t get on the goal for the year. We wave goodbye and they get on with another day of making. I take a deep breath, a deep sip of wine and this next time I will have a nice place to lay out my project to start the next morning.

This torn paper towel is such a wonderful image and so evocative that I think a book with the hole slowly filling in, getting smaller is where I will start as soon as I get moved and have my things where I can make ideas come to life.

Til later….I have talked myself into a glass of red.