November 26, 2023 Sunday--6pm

 Good afternoon!

I am posting on Sundays this week and next due to medical appointments on the following Mondays.  Was another week where I got a lot done on the studio.  Was too close to being done to quit and work on Christmas card envelopes--lol!  I just finished today!  Done in the studio!  Whoohoo!!  

I sorted through all the miscellaneous supplies.

When I got through all of those then I started on the three plastic bins and two boxes full of adhesives of all kinds.

A huge tossing was involved--lol!  About time, actually.  I had rolls of tape that were 20-30 years old!  They stick together and become gooey after a while--lol!  The liquid glues get thick or turn into one giant immovable lump.  Glue sticks shrink down and dry up.  It was long past time to purge all of those.

Been chillier so the Critter Cafe has been busier.  Still just have the one covey of eight partridges.  I know because the limper and hopper are still with this group.  :)

I have worked all week just on finishing up in the studio.  Feels great to have it done for the winter!  And winter did arrive again this morning.  I no sooner tossed out some seed...

...and the small birds were there for breakfast.

There's a huge flock of small birds I just call the sparrows--over 30 of them come at once.  But there's a small flock of juncos that come, too.

The partridges were here in the morning, too.  A couple more times already today.

It snowed and blew like crazy this morning but quit early in the afternoon.  Will all be melted this week as we are supposed to get back up over freezing again.  Not tomorrow when I go for my CT scans with Leah.  Only a high of 21 it says for Monday.

I'll show you the studio--all set for the winter.  Closet is empty except for some tall stuff against the wall.  I tried to pull apart the wire cube shelving, but I am not strong enough.  

The bookshelves with cardstock, stuff I use regularly, and projects in progress are in these two bookcases.

I never planned to empty the wall unit until I move.  The die cutting table and below, punches racks, and small wall shelves are all cleared off.

The art table.  I haven't even decided what will go on that lazy susan yet! 

The two bookcases on the other wall have a wide assortment!  I could keep more things out than I had planned because of not selling these bookcases before winter.  :)  

I could keep out more card making supplies, art journaling, mandala, mixed media, bookbinding, and even all the fun stuff for jazzing up my letter-writing paper.  

The U-Haul wall is a little bigger, too.

Allie is so used to me packing boxes now that she didn't even move when I taped the other huge box up (also cleared out most of the TV cabinet today, too).

Not even the ripping sound of the packing tape...which scared her witless the first time she heard it...did more than raise an eyebrow.

There won't be any boxes packed again for a while.  I was supposed to have Christmas cards on the top of my list this past week--and the studio got done instead.  So, cards are next.  And I only have one room left--the pantry.  But I think I need a break.

Once I finish with the Christmas cards I plan to play some in the studio!  

Goodness!  Just now there was a nasty partridge battle going on outside.  I went to go look and there were quite a few more than eight partridges all over the place out there.  So--a second covey has arrived.  They will learn to take turns.  They always do.

Meanwhile...

Okay...

There was something going on with the build and Leah wanted Dagan to be the one to tell me.  He brought me for my lab work on Friday so I finally got to find out what was happening--or why nothing was happening, I guess you could say.  At least part of the story, anyways.  Dagan is not excellent with all the details but I will see Leah tomorrow for my CT scans so she can fill me in some more as to what they plan to do or what the options are.

Okay...

They had an inspector come on the electricity.  All was progressing well with what was being done--but 1) he was not happy that they hadn't submitted plans before they started, 2) there were a couple of small things he wanted tweaked, but the worst was 3) he was not going to allow Trent to do any more work on the electricity!  So now they have to hire an electrician to finish the electrical work.

This makes no sense to us.  The inspector would have been fine if Dagan and Leah were doing all the work themselves--even though they wouldn't have any experience and not know what they were doing--but having "a pal" coming over and doing any work on it was forbidden.  ??  He even sent Trent a cease and desist letter!!  Dagan and Leah do not want to try and finish all the rest by themselves, so now they have to hire somebody.

They already talked to the lady owner of the place they dealt with a couple of times for things on their house previously--like when they needed the plug in for the electric car in the garage, for example.  (And that lady knew of this inspector, BTW--not positively.)  Dagan told me that it would cost about $4,000.00 for her company to finish the job.  So--more delays...and more money.  I'll find out more probably tomorrow.  Maybe Leah is still getting estimates...who knows.  Whatever the case, it will work out somehow.  But it is stressful.  Dagan thought the cabinets would be finished sometime in December.  So they have to try to push that back.  Sounds like a lot to deal with at once...with Leah's new job and the kids in a new school and on top of that--all of this.  You always hear that construction never goes smoothly or as fast as expected...very true, I guess.  Our two weeks on the basement floor staining turned into three months right off the bat.  

So, I have no idea whatsoever when the apartment will be finished.  But Dagan and Leah don't know, either--lol!  We just know it will happen eventually.  On my end--I will be as ready as I can be for the move.  I will have purged and pre-packed everything I can.  Only room left is the pantry.  One can only do what one can actually do, right?  That's my part.

I have plenty to keep my busy.  I haven't showed you the other side of the bedroom where all the letter writing stuff, desk stuff, printer, bookbinding & art papers, and so much more got shoved and stacked because I knew I needed to keep most of this out until I moved.

Yup!  I do need to go through all of this more thoroughly.  

Once I get the cords reorganized in back of my chairs so I can get the other table up...this is where I plan to move all the actual writing materials and stuff I had in my desks--until I move.  But that is just rearranging stuff mostly.  

Can you see Allie hiding behind the blinds to watch the birds eating?  She loves to "spy" on them.

Anyways, that's all the news from this last week.  Dagan said Trent is only not allowed to work on the electric.  That inspector was only for the electrical.  Trent can still work on plumbing and HVAC.  Okay.  ??  I guess those are different inspections?  And inspectors?  I don't know much about construction, obviously.  

Maybe I'll know more when I post next week.  Maybe not--lol!  But I will be posting on Sunday again because the following Monday I see my oncologist, Dr. Failing.  I'm hoping to not have to go through all the tests for six months next time vs. the every three months I have been going.  I expect everything to be fine again.  :)

So, until next Sunday...best to you and I will get busy on my Christmas cards this week.  I hope to have them all mailed out by the first week in December.  And any little positive construction-energy sent our way (if there is such a thing) would be appreciated.  

I am just so glad I am suddenly feeling halfways decent for the last three weeks.  I have been able to get something extra done almost every day!  (Maybe 5 days out of the week!)  Been feeling closer to my old self than I have for a couple of years.  Quite a ways to go, but there hasn't been this much progress for sooo long that it makes me giddy just thinking about it.  Bless you all.  I do so appreciate every single comment or email or good thought.  Till next time...     

November 20, 2023 Monday--5am

 Good morning!

First of all, I have to tell you I did not call Federal Housing this week.  I try to wait whenever possible to talk to people when I am upset.  It usually never goes well when I don't have a better perspective, if you know what I mean.  And I am glad I waited.  The more I thought about it...I decided to leave well enough alone...at least for now.  I already signed the paperwork for Federal Housing and my share won't go up till July, anyways.  I plan to just sign another lease with Goldmark because I will have another one to sign in July.  

Main reason is that I decided I don't want to piss off Goldmark when I plan to be moving this coming year and they could get nasty about me breaking a lease.  They could be stinkers and make me pay rent until it gets rented after I move out.  And I think they've been having more trouble renting them because they've been trying to encourage residents to get other people to move in here by offering us rent reduction or credit for a month.  

Also, it plainly says that if I didn't sign the lease I would revert to a month-to-month rental.  If I am not gone by July--well, a month-to-month might be a good idea at that point.  I won't be breaking a lease I would be responsible for, you know.  It would prevent them hitting me with the paying the rent if no one moves in right away.  Plus, I still plan to give a two-month notice, regardless.  (I honestly think it will take Dagan and Leah that long to get all that IKEA furniture put together and all the other arrangements made.) 

So, I am just leaving things as they have been now for a couple of years, I think...and pray the move goes well and Goldmark doesn't give me any grief.  I will be gone fairly soon, anyways.

What have I done all week...besides being entertained by the Critter Cafe?

It's been a week of baby steps in the studio with P&P that have slowly added up to a lot.  This is what it looks like right now.  The closet.  I still need to finish going through in there.

The two bookcases on the far wall.  The bottom shelves are emptied out so that I can turn the small table up against them for so much more room in there!

Keanna came Tuesday and I asked her if she could climb up and get down all the punches for me.  Even on a stool when I have to reach across so far over the tables...I am just too short on one end--lol!  Keanna not only took down the punches, but all the rest that was on those two shelves, too!  You can probably see the die cutting table is cleared off...

...and the art table, too.

I am down to the "keeping for the winter" stuff in these two bookcases on this wall, too.

So the U-Haul wall in the bedroom is bigger.  The black bag is a donations bag.  But those two large boxes you see in the middle of the floor...

...well, I discovered that size is really a lot harder for me to push or drag all the way down the hall into the bedroom after I moved one of them, as you can see on the right side.  Yup!  Took me struggling all the way down the hall to decide it made more sense to fill the biggest ones right there in the bedroom--LOL!  Duh!

As you can see, though--I've made a LOT of progress!!  It's been work, rest, work, rest...baby steps...all week.  Sometimes I had to rest for a day or more, but the tortoise wins the race, right?

Allie has been checking out everything I do, of course.

Sunday--made a roast in the crock pot!  Yummm!

Even the table behind my chair got cleared off.  Just holding my Christmas cards awaiting envelope addressing--lol!  Which I must do now this week.

I thought Allie was being pretty calm about all the box filling and things being moved around...but what is this?  I have never seen her drag out this many toys all at once--ROFL!  

She has mostly only taken out 2 or 3 at the most.  She was all wound up and half her toy basket is now on the floor--LOL!

It is so nice to look into the studio from my chair and see the progress.

I just might finish in there this coming week.  But I do need to get Christmas cards ready to mail, for sure.  That is on the top of the to-do list this week.  

It was in the 40s and 50s all week, but starting Thursday we go back into the deep freeze.  Leah brought me in another bag of bird seed from the garage, so the Critter Cafe is all set for a while again.  This is a short weekly blog for me this time.  Been busy and getting things done.  Hope to do the same this week.  Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it.  Be kind.  Keep positive thoughts in your heart.  Till next week, my friends.  :)

November 13, 2023 Monday--5am

 Good morning!

I've basically got one covey of eight partridges so far this fall.

The two crippled ones are still with the covey.  :)

I got a lot done this week, too!  

Monday--before I even started on the Christmas cards I was digging out stacks of papers and journals from the studio and piling them on the kitchen counter.

Why? Well, because I have had these four half-filled boxes around in my living room for such a long time that I did not want to look at them anymore.  I needed some more studio stuff to finish off the boxes and all these stacks were something that would take time to sort through.  Thought it would be a good next project after the Christmas cards.

Meanwhile--I get a notice in the mail from good old Goldmark telling me that my lease was up in January, my rent is going up $90.00 a month January 1st, and I should sign a lease soon to keep it at that amount for the next year.  I dug out files--the yellow ones you can see under the letter from Goldmark--and I just signed a lease in July, if you recall.

Meanwhile, I got the notice letter from Federal Housing that my share of the rent won't go up in January.  (They do a revaluation in July--and it will probably jump up then.)  BUT--how can they raise my rent if I just signed a lease six months ago?  They drive me just crazy!  I plan to call Federal Housing this coming week to find out if that is legal for them to do that.  I think that is what they did the year before, too.  They raise the rent in January and then I get the hike in July--just weird.  I have not understood how I can be signing leases twice a year for the past few years.  I was too sick to deal with it--but now I am not.  I want this explained to me.  Aren't they cheating the government for six months of the year then?  And how can they be increasing rent by leaps and bounds recently?

I had always heard that Federal Housing has a cap as to how much they will cover so that if your rent goes over that cap then you pay the difference.  I want to ask them if that is still true, too.  I am so glad I will be out of here eventually.  I'm glad I won't have my share go up in January--but there will probably be a big jump in July--and why am I signing leases that mean nothing whatsoever?  Gives me a headache.  But I will call this week.  Will not be fun as I do not have a worker assigned to me anymore since covid.  I think they lost a lot of employees.  :(  

I filled one of the boxes from the living room, sealed, labeled, and moved it into the bedroom wall of boxes.

Tuesday I scrubbed down the patio door...so Allie and I can see the critters more clearly--lol!

Wednesday I added more to the kitchen counter piles.

Do you get the impression that I was procrastinating on the Christmas cards?  ROFL!  I was.  Why?  Well, Leah and I were talking and she said I should use up the other tape runners I don't want to use or ever buy again.  True.  And the biggest--literally--is my old Scotch tape runner.  Neither Leah or I ever liked using it.  It is hard to get the hang of, inaccurate, you have to press really hard, and it is truly unwieldly!  

Thursday I did finally get down to it and used the pink monster for the rest of the inside panels.  Leah suggested I label the ones I used the big old tape runner on.

Because I remember also that they didn't stick as well.  This will be the test since I have enough cards for two years since Leah isn't sending these handmade ones anymore.  So this is the last batch of about 100 that I had already started for both of us.  Now I will have some of them saved for a few years and labeled as using the runner tape inside of part of them instead of the double-sided tape.  We'll see if they are falling off in a couple of years--lol!

I finished applying all the fronts with the double-sided tape I had prepared--and about a third of the inside panels, too, had double-sided tape on them already.  That pile to the right is peeled paper off the double-sided tape.  (Does hurt under your fingernails after while from peeling them off.)

So this year all the inside panels will be from the tape runner.  If any of you get cards where the inside piece is already coming loose--that is why--LOL!

I was more than happy to put that gigantic pink tape runner and an extra couple tape rolls into a bag and then into a donation box.  ;)  I finished the Christmas cards!!  For all that time and effort they are still pretty simple cards.  Whenever I mass produce cards they have to be pretty simple--lol!  :)

Friday I started on the piles on the counter.  I even went in and searched for more from the studio.  I got pretty far on the three boxes I had left...

...and even had to pull out another larger box to hold some things too big for the smallest boxes.

The partridges seem to be thrown off by DST, too, this week.  They often come so late that it is almost dark out instead of early dusk--lol!

Saturday I switched the shower curtain again and the towels from teal to tan.

This is one of my two old original shower curtains.  Still love this one so I kept it.

This is Allie's favorite way to spend the afternoon in the bedroom when I am busy and making too much noise for her.

I did laundry and Allie didn't even move as I hung and folded clothes right on the table in front of her--lol!  I spent the day scouring the studio to find items to fit into the tops of the boxes.  Afternoon visit from the partridges.  They are usually here a few times a day.  You can tell it's been warmer as they are half the size--lol!  They puff their feathers all out when it is cold and they look like fluffy round balls.

The box wall is growing!  I got three more boxes sealed, labeled, and moved to the bedroom.  One box left that is almost full.  

I know I said I was putting the P&P on hold but turns out the very idea of staring at those half-full boxes for however much longer just was too much for me to take--lol!  I thought I could just fill the four I had going...but then needed another larger one...and now that I have been really digging around in the bookcases and closet in there...I think I would have several really easy to fill boxes I could do this coming week.  

Since I am no longer going to try to empty the bookcases to sell before the snow flies...I can keep them all winter.  So I can just have those full of the things I know I will use for cards and art for the next year or so and pack away the rest (and purging is going on, too, as I have been going along).  I have filled a box with donations and two bags of trash!  

Remember I had originally thought I'd be moving before the snow flies?  Well, I packed up my bedroom dressers long ago--and only kept out a couple handfuls of envelopes.  I am not going to dig through boxes to find envelopes...so I ordered smaller boxes (100 & 120) of the two sizes I use all the time (A2 and A6) so I have plenty to last me for the winter--and for Christmas cards.  (I usually buy like 500-1000 at a time of each.)  So when the envelopes arrive, then I can begin addressing them--and be ready to mail my Christmas cards early!!  Whoohoo!!  

After being in such rough shape for the past few years it feels downright wonderful to be getting back to being my old semi-functional!!  I am used to doing things in baby steps--a little at a time--and know I can get things done that way if I am feeling half-ways decent.  Minor to annoying perpetual aches and pains and exhaustion I can deal with.  That's been my life for years...a couple decades.  I don't want to jinx myself, but maybe I am finally getting past all the effects of the cancer treatments.  *knock on wood!*  Been almost a year.  In fact, Leah and I just realized my last treatment was actually in November last year.  The first treatment I missed was in December...they were three weeks apart.  

Maybe I will be able to go visit at McFamily's one day soon on a weekend.  Make it out to the garage once in a while.  Bring my own bird seed in.  I've been bringing out my own trash to the dumpster several times recently.  Who would ever think those things would be such an accomplishment, eh?  Everything in life is relative.  Nothing we can count on but change.  Sometimes negative--but sometimes very positive.  :) :)

Anyways, I've been sleeping so well!  Usually bed between 11pm-1am and up between 7-9am.  Remarkable!  Makes such a difference to sleep well.  I'm sure the melatonin and CBD oil help with that.  I also decided to go back on the oil of oregano for a while longer.  I noticed that for the first time since I got shingles (back last December--got over the worst of it but not the rash) that the residual rash actually got paler and shrank a little while I was on the oil of oregano.  So, I will take it another week or so and see if it does anything.  Can't hurt.

Sunday it rained during the night according to my phone.  It wasn't raining when I woke up at 8am but I do so love to watch the clouds slowly disperse.

By 10 am the sun was out and it got up to 57 degrees!!  Supposed to be up into the 50s all week long.  We used to call this Indian Summer...that last reprieve before winter...but I don't know if we are allowed to call it that anymore.  Does anyone know?  

Anyways, my U-Haul wall in the bedroom has grown this past week.  Might grow even more this coming week.  All my pre-packing.  :)

I'm using ten more small boxes as end tables in the living room, too, don't forget--lol!  

Leah liked the new job and felt comfortable there.  The boys liked school.  Ian did have a "bad day" when he and a few kids didn't finish their work and couldn't go out for recess.  He decided he'd best get his work done really fast.  He obviously doesn't want to miss recess--lol!  But it was a good week.

Ian had a sore throat that first weekend after they started school...then Leah got it this weekend but felt better and went back to work today.  You know when kids are in school they catch everything so this wasn't unexpected. 

Ian didn't say anything that Saturday before they went to Home Depot.  I'm sure he didn't want to miss out because they love going to Home Depot kid's crafts days.  But Ian made his project and wanted to go right to the car with Daddy to wait for Mama and Liam. 

This might be difficult to toss cardboard horse shoes on.  Maybe they are plywood?  Still.  The main thing is the kids enjoy making whatever the project is.

They are both lucky they got sick on the weekend, eh?  

I decided to take pictures of the studio as it is right now--more for myself than anything.  I know you can't tell like I can how much is gone, but I am hoping this will look quite a bit different in the next week or so.  The bookcase to the left is the most obvious one losing content. 

The other two bookcases on the other wall.  All the paper racks will stay--most of the right-hand bookcase holds card making paper.  The small table in the middle of the room was stacked high before.

The closet is getting more spacious--lol!

On top and underneath the die cutting machine has been cleared out a lot.

Three stacks are gone from the art table.

I know.  I said I was done with P&P.  But then once I got into those boxes...just got the bug again.  Mainly because I kept thinking once I got started that I want to play in here and it would be nice to have it as cleared out as possible for that.  You can probably guess by now if you have been following me for a good while that for me to try to sit and play in there when it is half done and a mess like this...well, it would drive my OCD side just crazy--lol!  And right now--recently--it doesn't feel as totally overwhelming to manage to do as it did even a few weeks or a month ago.  I think I am gathering a few spoons...almost daily I have an extra spoon or two.  Whoohoo!!  *knock on wood*  So I truly hope to show you a sparser studio soon...and a bigger U-Haul wall--ROFL!! 

I needed something to cheer me up and lift my spirits.  Imagining myself being able to sit and play in the studio with it being organized all around me...that just makes me smile to think about it.  I don't "settle in" the same way when I am doing crafts or art in the kitchen, if that makes any sense.  This little room is so quiet and peaceful...just feels different in there.  Hard to explain.  It's cozy.  And I love being surrounded by all the colors and creativity...when it is organized--lol!  And it hasn't been organized since before cancer...so it is about time!  You may notice I haven't been spending time in there at all for a long, long time.  But that is how I want to spend my winter.  That is what I want before the snow flies--lol!  ;)   Wish me luck!

I'm almost caught up on letters, too.  The boys are liking school.  Leah really likes the new job.  We have a last week of 50s to look forward to.  I already have the boys' Christmas presents.  I will have Christmas cards ready to go right after Thanksgiving.  I haven't felt this on top of things for like maybe three or four years!!  The couple of years before I got diagnosed, I was going downhill--from way back with the mysterious entire leg swelling up.  I am really hoping to have turned the corner finally.  Time will tell.  But I am feeling pretty darn good the past couple weeks, I tell you.  

So--very best to you all!  I hope you have a marvelous week and life is looking as good as it can be for you, too.  I know a couple of people who have had some very, very sad things happening in their lives right now.  Sending love and hugs and all the comfort I can.  Bless you!  Till next time...