Well, at least my hair feels like it is on fire. The first weeks have been crazy!
At the house, we have been fine tuning bits and pieces. Where do we hang this pic? Why doesn’t this door close well? What is that in the rose bush? (two trees) Make a trellis for said rose bush. Find a couch… replace the couch… organize this, that and a few other bits. Plus, we’ve actually been working here! You have no idea of how great a feeling it is to have someplace to work without interruptions! We’ve been trying to spend at least one night a week here as well.
At my mom’s we planted the big garden. Same size as last year, but a few new additions. We are trying eggplant, two new squash and potatoes. 🙂 Plus, the layout is a bit different.
Then there is our um… social life. I am taking two SCA classes. Beledi dance (belly dancing) and bobbin lace. Both classes are in Pueblo, so we have to make sure that everyone gets fed before we leave and that we have all of our gear. It’s a bit daunting at times, but oh it is fun!
And… there is the regular stuff. Housework, cleaning the yard at 203, and meetings! School board, DAAC, the Wellness committee, Celtic Music Fest, etc. It’s enough to make me want to run away. Or, at least lock all the doors at least once a week.
The breakfast nook is done. The furniture is moved in! The bathroom needs a little work. It needs a new wax seal on the toilet, a wall area patched and painted, and eventually the tile board taken out of the shower stall. It will be replaced with tile to match the rest of the shower stall. Otherwise, it is usable.
I brought over 99% of my craft stuff today too, and began to organize the studio. The baker’s rack shelf needs a little adjustment before I can use it. The wardrobe is filled, and oh my… I had forgotten I had so much fabric.
Dan did some work downstairs as well. He is beginning to set up his office space. I still need to bring my desk over, but that won’t happen until we have internet.
The next two days will be sort of ‘light duty’ as we have a meeting on Tuesday. Lots of good thoughts about the job would be appreciated. We have work up in Castle Rock on Thursday. However, I’m feeling so much better about what we are getting done. My next big task will be arranging the kitchen. Aieeee-ya!
Today we hit a milestone. The kitchen and breakfast nook are totally clean. Every surface from ceiling to floor and every cupboard and drawer has been cleaned. Lots of bleach, water and elbow grease. Over the next few days, we will be getting ready to sand the floors and prep the rooms for painting. All of the rooms are getting new paint. Especially the bathroom. I like lime green, but in the bathroom, I feel overwhelmed.
Here are some pictures to show you what we’ve been doing. I should have taken some “before” pics, but… I was too busy cleaning. The dining room minus about half the stuff on the floor is the best example.
Living room partially cleared
Looking from the front door, down the hall
The dining room
The hall
The guest bedroom
The OMG green bathroom
Master bedroom
Looking out into the hall from the master bedroom
The library
Looking into the kitchen and breakfast nook
Dan leaving the kitchen
Dan doing his Darth Vader impression
Looking through the breakfast nook to the dining room
The breakfast nook
Looking through the breakfast nook to the kitchen
Dan fixing his respirator
The dining room, mid clean
I will be posting more pics as we refurbish the house. The dining room will become my sewing area. Dan will have office and workspaces downstairs. We have a ton of books to put in the library. We are looking forward to returning the house to more of it’s 1936 glory. Our big challenges at the moment are paint and fixtures. We are looking for Mission style switch plates and lighting. Some of the rooms have what I think of as the ‘boob lights’ from Home Depot. You know, the dome lights… sigh. I’m hoping we find the old lights downstairs. If not, we will do our best to figure out how to replace the three domes.
We’ve decided to paint all of the rooms a cream color. Sort of a hint of wheat/gold. The bathroom will have an olive/forest green highlight. We haven’t found a color to work with the tiles in the kitchen and breakfast nook. We’ve tried green and blue, but they don’t work. Next time we head to Pueblo, we will be looking at the tans. We are trying to keep in that Mission/Arts & Crafts style color pallet. The kitchen inner cupboard on the one side was yellow. John and Beth decided to match it, but it is just too much. The original paint on most of the kitchen was white. We found this out when we were scrubbing shelves.
We will be touching up the woodwork with a matching stain. Eventually, we may have to replace doors, but we are trying to hold off on that. As it is, six of the kitchen cabinet doors need replaced as well as four drawer fronts.
Once we are moved in, I will be making curtains or modifying the ones that I have to fit the rooms. Some of the curtains I made 12-14 years ago are still viable, and they will go back up as well. Once again, that historical color pallet will be put into play.
Crazy? Stressful? Awkward? Daft? Over and under booked? Yeah. All of those.
Meetings. Hello, my name is Jaye, and I have a serious case of S.T.P. Syndrome. (Same Ten/Twenty/Thirty People at a meeting.) It comes of living in a small rural community, where there just aren’t enough people around to fill out all the various positions at a meeting. I’ve had board meetings, committee meetings, Maker group meetings, SCA meetings, festival meetings, etc. I’m still the school board president, and Celtic Music Festival chair. I’ve tried to resign as secretary from the district accountability group. (DAAC) I’ve cheered when some of them have been canceled. And… I’ve had to set up a few. sigh… I think I need Meetings Anonymous… (oh wait… that’s another meeting!)
Cars. A couple of weeks ago, my parent’s Subaru started acting up. A mysterious oil leak. Turned out that the engine had a fault, that all Subaru’s of that era and engine type develop. We took it to our favourite mechanic who suggested we take it to a place in Pueblo. After an hour, that place got back to us. Their recommendation… Junk it. The cost of the repair was prohibitive, and no guarantee that it would stay fixed. The result is that we have a new to us Subaru. It’s a 2000 Forester. Runs well, and Dan has been making the minor repairs it needed.
Work has been crazy. Line up a job, have it canceled. Think we have a free day, job pops up. The inconsistent income is driving me crazy. However, it has had an upside. We were able to move 99% of our stuff out of storage and into the garage. Granted, that doesn’t mean I’m any more organized. We tried to find some of the stuff we needed like clothing, some dishes, etc. Found about 45% of what we were looking for. Oh well… At least I got my desk! I have missed it!
Meanwhile, the last of the garden was harvested. Onions and leeks. 🙂 We still have kale outside, but at the moment it lives under a plastic box. I’m using them up as fast as I can. There isn’t any more room in the freezers for a shred more of food.
I also turned 56 on November 9th. It was an alright birthday. I had lots of stuff to do, so I didn’t get to indulge myself in snuggling in a chair with a good book and being waited on hand and foot by Dan. sigh… There is always next year. I did get some nice prezzies though. A tool box, and a coloring book. 🙂
My tool box
The coloring book
While I don’t expect things to calm down or mellow out any time soon, at least I have things to occupy my time!
The Celtic Music festival board meeting went well. We have new officers, and while I am the president, things are flowing smoothly. Check out what we are doing in September.
Our superintendent is doing well. PHEW! We’ve also hired 20 new teachers to replace all those that retired or resigned. We have our moderator for our RE-1 ‘Town Meeting’ too.
Our garden is in full production mode! We’ve harvested green beans, zucchini, yellow crookneck, radishes, lettuce, 1 tomato!, kale, onions and spearmint. We are amazed at how much we’ve harvested. No soil amendment or fertilizers. Just water and weeding.
I’m working on a new bespoke tunic as well. I’m to the embroidery stage.
Today, we both got out of the house. Yes, no jobs, no errands, just OUT. Granted, we went up to the Battlemoor site and hacked at weeds, gathered deadfall and figured out where we were camping. It was great. It got a bit warm at first, but then the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. The first shower wasn’t too bad, so we ate lunch and kept working. The second shower made it almost too wet to do anything. So, we came home early.
The rest of the day has been one of hot showers, snacks and just relaxing. Oh have we needed this.
I am so exhausted. We’ve been trying to figure out how to dig enough garden for what we want to plant, and the thought of all the shovel work had daunted us. Then in conversation with Brian Rosino, he offered the use of a rototiller. Wheeee!
We picked it up this morning and started on the right half of the back yard. My mom’s yard is huge. After the first go round, we picked up weeds, raked and then took a break. After lunch we trimmed a tree and I took out three sucker trees in the yard. Those got chopped up and or saved out for trellis bits. Dan mowed the front yard while I did a lot of this. Then he mowed the back. While he did a second round of tilling, I raked up and moved the weeds to the area that will be our compost bins site.
Brandy of course thought we were nuts and took a nap in protest of all our work. We think we have about 500 sq ft of garden. 🙂 If the rains will cooperate, we will be planting squash, (3 kinds), pumpkins, radishes and whatever is left of the seeds from the side garden planting.
Around 4pm, we returned the rototiller. We finished up the last of the work in the back yard and then collapsed. Tomorrow is going to be a very stiff day. Even now my hands are aching from all of the weed pulling. Ugh!
Yesterday, it was warm! mid 60’s with decent winds. Today, it’s 33F, and snowing. Brrr!
Snow on the vehicles.
The alley.
Looking out the window
The last week or so has been a game of catch up. My Aunt Debbie died on Friday the 13th. We had work up in the Castle Rock area on the 14th, and Dan worked for the county and school district during the rest of the next week. We had lots of little meetings too. Tech committee, and website committees.
We took care of Dad for a week and Mom came home on Saturday. We almost got to sleep in on Tuesday. Today, we shopping in Pueblo. We started out warm and sunny, and now we have close to 3 inches outside and it is still falling.
There are a few other things going on, but I’m not going to post about them until the dust has settled.
We are under a Winter Storm Warning. One that had people scrambling for groceries, firewood, batteries, etc. It even canceled our SCA event, Corazon. I took my mom to the grocery for a few things and then for a bit of a drive. It was crazy. Oh, and 62F was our high temp today.
When I got home, I made bread, a plum cake and then a casserole. While it was baking, I helped Dan with the firewood. We heat with it, and we’ve been whittling down a ‘hedge’ of pine. Today, we cleared the last of it. What wasn’t chopped, split, or stacked went into the compost bin. It was so strange to see the yard clear. By the time we came in, it was 38. We now have a bunch of firewood. 🙂
Since I posted last, we’ve had a bit of snow. Nothing like my friend Kirsty, who has 7 feet in her front yard. She lives in Massachusetts.
I’ll post pictures if we really get the snow they say we will.
Since last I had a chance to write, life has been just a little chaotic. First we had the Mountain Miners Day on September 20th. While I didn’t watch the parade or go to some of the events downtown, I was involved with a play written by Barbara Yule. It’s called “For Tomorrow We May Die”, the story of Mary Thomas. It was about a woman who survived the Ludlow Massacre. Originally it was a 3-4 person play, but turned into a one woman dramatic reading by Tanya Perkins. I made an apron and scarf for part of her costume and was the school connection as we were holding it at Washington School. It was lightly attended, but Oh My! It was beautiful.
The next week was a surgery for my dad, a school board meeting, a field trip with the school STEM class, a CASB (Colorado Association of School Boards) conference and the Celtic Music Festival. Yes, just a little jam packed. Dan drove my parents up to Colorado Springs for Dad’s surgery. I stayed home and attended the school board meeting.
On Wednesday, I went with Mark Thompson and his students to the Wings over the Rockies flight museum in Denver. That was a lot of fun.
Thursday was crazy. Once again, lots of stuff to get done. Dan was gone doing Celtic music festival stuff while I got things done around the house and prepared for the concert in Gardner. A Taste of Things to Come is always fun. The Gardner community center was packed.
Friday, 5:30am. Up, dressed and out the door to the CASB conference in Pueblo. Dan was out the door an hour later to work the festival. Lots of good info at the CASB event, and then home just in time to help at the first concert at the Fox. Full Set played. It was heavenly. Got home and got a phone call… My Dad was in hospital with an infection.
Saturday, 5:30am. Up, dressed off to Pueblo. Legislative delegate day at the CASB conference. I finished up by 2pm. Took Mom out to the hospital to see Dad. Then off to the evening concert and the 10th Anniversary concert afterwards. We got home around 1am.
Sunday. We got to sleep in until 7am! Wow! Off to La Veta for the final day of the Celtic music festival and the final performance of “For Tomorrow We May Die.” Oh was it grand. Packed house. Not a dry eye either. Oh… Oh my.
Afterwards, we went to see my Dad again. He was not doing well. Confused, etc. Monday thru Thursday was a mix of hospital trips, running errands, meetings, and playing catch up with work. Oh, and lots of planning. Friday, we got to bring Dad home. It was also the day that the doctors told him no more driving. So, Dan and I are now “Driving Mr. Sudar.” Luckily, Dad took it well after an initial bit of shock.
Over the weekend, we’ve tried to get ready for winter. We chopped firewood, cleaned up the yard a bit, brought plants in and have driven Mom and Dad wherever they needed to go. Somewhere in here we got our bathtub for the Wendy House. We hope to plumb it soon. On Sunday we took a drive up Cordova Pass to see the aspen. Ahhhh… it was beautiful.
This week has been yet another rush of work, driving and meetings, and it is only Tuesday. Ah Chaos, thy name is normality around here…
This month has been crazy. Chaotic. Dizzying. Now, I thought it was a little crazy, because I spent most of the first week at the CASB Winter Conference. This is the big school board association conference held every year at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. It was a very good, although COLD conference. Average temperature was about 13F outside for most of the week.
I went up on the 4th, as I was presenting at the New Boardmember’s Boot Camp Workshop. 🙂 Five minutes of fame. LOL! Well, it started snowing on Wednesday morning and I was taking a school district vehicle. The VAN. A huge 12 passenger van, which made me feel like a five year old. I nearly needed a step ladder to climb in. Granted, it was nice to have the weight, as I was driving in snow and on ice most of the time.
This was also the first time in almost a year that Dan couldn’t come with me. As it was so cold, he stayed home to keep Brandy from turning into a Pupcicle. We had no one to feed her or dog sit her, so there was no choice but for him to stay.
Thursday was great. I went to my first session about Rural districts and then presented that afternoon. Five minutes on ‘how data is important.’ The rest of the conference was good, and I was very glad to get home on Sunday. Once I got home, we went and picked Morgan up from La Junta. Monday, I spent time with Daniel and Angela. We went shopping in Pueblo and had a great time. I should have gone to a District Accountability meeting, but I didn’t make it.
Tuesday was our board meeting. A long one, but good. Thursday was busy. Two events. A school holiday party and a school district office party. Sort of stacked together, but we managed both. 🙂 Good thing they were next door to each other.
Friday, we drove to Denver. We did a bit of shopping and on Saturday we saw our computer client. Got home late Sunday. The week started out busy. A trip to Pueblo, work for Dan, the holiday program at Gardner on Wednesday, cleaning my parents house and then up to Denver again on Thursday because our computer client was having weird issues. Friday we did shopping and then drove home late.
Saturday was Solstice. Yule. We got up at dawn and enjoyed the sun rise. Then instead of a nice breakfast, we had to check on the school wrestling tournament. Should have been a 10 minute stop. Nope. It wasn’t. At noon, I left to go help my dad stack a cord of firewood. I was done in 90 minutes, and went back to the wrestling tournament. We were there till about 7pm. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner and then collapsed in bed.
We woke up to snow this morning. Today we did odd jobs around the house and tried to relax a bit. Oh, and Dan built a faux satellite transmitter to test his ground station. The rest of the week isn’t looking much calmer.
