I always enjoy reading blog updates on what people are doing in their lives, so I thought I'd take a break from writerly-talk and check in with a few of the other things going on right now.
The husband and I have been considering, on and off, whether to sell the witch's hut and move since the house/property is entirely too witchy for me to fix on my own. We've had plumbers, electricians, landscapers, renovating companies, and builders all tromping through the house and yard over the last few weeks. We've also been checking out new homes/townhouses closer to downtown so the husband could possibly walk to work.
So far we have not made a final decision.
I have signed up for the Porcelain Artists of Canada convention in Ottawa, so if anyone out there is in/around Ottawa during the first week of May, let me know 'cause I'd love to chat/meet for coffee. I'm betting I'll be the youngest person there by a good 20-30 years (and if it's not clear, I mean the PAC convention, not Ottawa)
I also met a local painter who is interested in meeting/painting together after I have finished going through all my grandmother's stuff... which I've been picking away at. To give you an example of the job at hand, so far I've found close to 60 small bottles/containers of different kinds of oil. Most of these I am clueless as to their purpose. Apparently, depending how open/closed you want the paint to be, you can mix together many different ratios of these oils into the powdered paint. Frankly, it blows my mind how complex this art form is.
I'm also trying to figure out which corner of the house I can actually use to paint in... since the witch's hut is really small and all the materials are oil-based, so everything has a really strong smell and I'd rather the entire house didn't smell like turpentine.
The husband and I have also been going through all our books/dvds. Since we have moved 8 times in 8 years, we don't usually collect much *stuff*, but books and dvds seem to be the exception, so we're trying to purge anything we don't plan to re-read/re-watch. It's amazing what you find... especially since through most of our moves, we've never bothered to unpack everything, so some of these books I haven't seen since we got married (9 years ago this June).
A few people we know are moving, so we've been loaning out our pickup truck... leaving me housebound/vehicle-less, or (since one of the people moving is my sister), packing a bunch of stuff we're not using over to the mainland so she can use it in her new place.
To amuse myself, I have been pulling out large tracts of the horrible ivy that covers most of the witch's hut yard.
I've also been in Vancouver a number of times.
The husband and I decided to renew our Seahawks seasons tickets and we're pre-planning a trip to Seattle in June with a bunch of people to see a Mariner's baseball game together. Like, 30 people or more. It should be a lot of fun.
I moved all the bird-feeders behind a fence to hopefully prevent the deer cleaning them out... yet the deer simply put their legs up on the fence and lean on it while they take their time eating all the birdseed. It feels a bit like an exercise in futility, but at least I'm not rolling a rock up a hill...
The hummingbirds are coming back! I've cleaned out/filled all the hummingbird feeders in preparation. I've seen about a dozen or so in the last month as they slowly trickle back along their migration route.
Since the weather has been really nice, I've been taking Eva to the little beach that's only a couple blocks away. So far she has tried to eat many different kinds of kelp & seaweed, crab & oyster/clam shells, rocks, driftwood, weeds/plants, sticks, feathers, and she licked the garbage can at the beach entrance.
...Yup, she's a beagle. We joke that she was a goat in her previous life since she tries to lick/eat everything.
How about you guys? What's going on in your lives right now?
Got a lot going on there. Seems appropriate to clean up and consider moves this time of year.
ReplyDeleteGot to give it to the deer. That's some determination :-)
Life is clicking along at a steady pace. Work the paying gig, mother my little one and write when I can.
Yup, tis the season for moving :)
DeleteOh yeah, they are determined. And pretty brazen. I went out to get the mail and there were three of them just standing on the front lawn eating the bulbs that are coming up. Guess crocuses and snowdrops look just like grass...
Sounds like you've been making some advancements with your writing! I've been enviously following your word-count-updates ;)
If you wanted to move, now would probably be the time to do it :) Since you are already cleaning out stuff anyway :P
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me, again, to do my own post. It probably won't nearly be as long as yours since I don't have entirely too much going on right now ^_^
And deer are as beautiful as they are pesky ;)
Well, RA Desilets posted her update here:
Deletehttp://radwrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/life-update.html?showComment=1331147373926#c5644513393224126129
How about anyone else?
The deer are awesome :) ...I just wish my goat-in-a-former-life-beagle wouldn't keep eating their droppings and throwing up on my kitchen floor...
Ah, I'm the one that doesn't really want to move though ;)
that was nice - we're not just writers but people too. Except I don't seem to have time for the people part... I wrote for two days and today in additon to acupuncture was supposed to be taxes day. Well if it's not one thing it's another. Last night as I was shutting down I got a huge virus - I was on an author's site at the time.... and I knew it. I couldn't even start windows. so out comes the netbook and I emailed my techie. Usually he's not in London on Wednesdays. He e mailed me back in the am and I phoned. He said he could be here at 4 - that thump you heard in the middle of your sleep (unless you get up at 6) was me falling on the floor in shock. He arrived at 4:30 and left before 7. I've written poems about this man. He comes and doesn't leave til th job is done and always teaches me something new. Today we talked about writing and music. Luckily nothing planned for tomorrow except catch up. Whew!
ReplyDeleteWow! Sounds like he's worth his weight in, uh, computer parts?
DeleteThis post only reminds me that it's almost time for Spring cleaning in my house. When the sun starts shining through the window and illuminating the dust and cobwebs I feel like I should do something :-)
ReplyDeleteHahahaha... do something like get outside to avoid the dust and cobwebs?
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