House Firsts - May

First time I trimmed the Boxwood hedges.
Peace

North Star Growers Market

Last weekend we had snow, this weekend it's 80 degrees and rising.

I loaded up with flowers, artisan bread, sugar peas and kale, free range eggs and dried fruit from the valley fruit growers.

The North Star house is a beautiful place.

Tonight the fountain is burbling away in my back yard.  I've had the doors and windows open almost all day and "oh my gosh" a bug or two has gotten in, oh well.  A couple of nights ago I heard a coyote pack singing way out in the mine property.  This is the best season, ripe with promises of hot days, cool nights, plenty of water to play in, baskets full of fresh produce to eat and preserve, garden projects, decks to build, plants to plant and lots of fun to experience.

Life is good.

First Day of 2012

And a fine day it was, unseasonably warm, incredibly sunny, fragrant with lingering wood smoke and the mountain defining smell of pine.  We slept in and went to the park later to play frisbee.  The boys looked pretty hot after clearing the ball field of geese and chasing the frisbees so I let them cool off in the duck pond and then we headed over to the dog park for some social time - also known as sniff butt time.

With the help of a great and talented guy I've gotten a lot of the more complicated projects done around the house.  The garage is almost ready for two cars and looks pretty damn neat and tidy. Locks work, curtain rods are ready for curtains, shelves are up and so is the really large mirror that takes up most of one dining room wall.  The potted Turkish Fir has been moved back outside.  We also have a really great door knocker.  It's a cast piece by Michael Healy.  I love people who do fine metalwork, this is truly a nice piece.

What an incredible year!

This time last year I was hanging on.  I was just starting to make friends.  The weather was awful, cold and wet and gloomy, it didn't seem like California.  I wasn't really sure what I wanted.  I had an idea forming, a wish for how things might be, and yet, no, I didn't really know what I wanted.

Do I now? Maybe, maybe not.  It's true that the more you know the more you realize how little you know.

So what do I know now?

I know that having my very own space is gratifying and satisfying way down deep in my heart.

I know that each person has the capacity to love but that each person loves in their own way.  Learning how our styles of love fit together is half the fun, sometimes frustrating, sometimes fabulous, always a learning process.

I know that rushing anything is a mistake, good things really do take time.

I know that keeping an essential vision of what we need and want is crucial to actually finding it.

I know that good friends are few and far between but that those few fill our hearts to overflowing and they are enough.

I know that we often do good things for people not because they are good but because we are.

I also know that a tiger doesn't change it's stripes and has big teeth and is often hungry.

I know that watching my children become adults is pretty freaking fabulous.

I know that pounding on a piece of metal makes me happy and a little sore when I miss.

I know that each day is a gift.

I know that I am enough, no matter what.

My heart, my words, my thoughts go with you.

Peace

A week ahead...

I'm trying to get lots done but it seems I can't make everyone else go faster.

My gutters look like porcupines having a bad hair day.  I was expecting the leaf guard gutter guys to show up this morning and waited and waited and waited.  Then I called them and found out my appointment is for next Tuesday, oh bother.

Some days nothing seems to go right.  So I took the boys for a long walk and emptied a few more boxes and now it's nap time as I have a shift this afternoon at the gallery.

Peace

Some say...

No, no, no, don't paint the wood.  I tend to be a bit heretical about that, figuring that eventually things have to change. This wood was cheap pine, nothing really special even 60 years ago when it was installed.

From this:

To this:

I liked the wood, loved the texture of the old boards with their knots and grooves but hated the dark and gloomy feel of the rooms.

So, Chris Sgambati and his painting crew came in and transformed it into a light filled space, airy and bright.  At my request they filled the million little nail holes but didn't seal the wood so the knots may still bleed through.  There are two coats of paint,  under the white is a rich coffee creamer base, which will peek through with a little hand sanding. It looks like a seaside cottage hidden in the mountains.  I'm completely happy with it now.

My long time house sitter is moving in with me this weekend, this will be her space.  I'm excited to have a young one around again. The boys will be ecstatic having her here.

Peace

Hey!

What's a guy got to do to get some attention?

Looking adorable works eventually.  I'm actually in heaven having so much to organize and arrange.  Of course, I need to get the blankets into the closet but need shelves installed in there and can't do that because the closets are full of artworks, but can't get those moved out until the display shelves are installed and that requires me to actually decide where to put the shelves and find a talented volunteer to actually put them up, oh boy.

We did get outside to the park this afternoon and hit the new Grass Valley dog park for the first time.  It was a hit, lots to sniff and some big friends to chase.

With every day and every box emptied this house feels more mine.  I knew as soon as I saw it that it needed to be mine so it's very satisfying to make it so.  My bed is more comfortable at night, not surprising since I practically crawl into it but the sense of peace and comfort is there.  And getting up in the morning is sheer bliss,  making coffee in my sunny kitchen, eating breakfast and listening to the boys chase each other around their yard.  I love cooking in my kitchen, the range is exquisite.  I do tend to get a bit distracted playing with the fiestaware though.

I'm watching Ghost tonight, mourning the passing of Patrick Swayze and grooving on Unchained Melody.

Peace