we're off!

so it looks like we're moving!

and that has given me reason to blog again.

we're getting a real fixer.  

this'll be my third grownup house and my third fixer, maybe the worst yet!

which makes it the best to my mind.  

i am so excited about making it amazing!

i have always wanted a Tudor cottage

when I was little we would drive around and I would say

"Oh mum, I want *that* one!  someday"  

and this has all the hallmarks:  

she's asymmetrical, cross-gabled, with prominent chimney and rounded door.

and even has a window with diamond-shaped panes!

of course need must get rid of those awful awnings and cutify

with paint and lots of flowers.

the outside doesn't look so bad, but the inside is *rough*

oh, i can't wait.

there are so many pretty trees 

like this luscious sycamore in the front yard.

i'm a little stressed that i haven't found an oak tree there yet.

"dru" means "oak" in old gaelic.

and i've always had them around, they are my protectors.

but there are 13 acres.  

most of them are pasture, which will make our critters very happy.

and rocky loves it, which makes it so special!

we've never chosen a house together.  

and there are lots of woods around.

another signal that this was right:  this is in the hoos.  

which is a variation on another one i have!  

there are so many projects that need to be done.

outside:

roof repair (& remove ancient antenna)

pressure-wash

scrape and paint windows

replace missing masonry tiles

termite inspection/repair

take down hideous awnings and fix any damage

take off the metal panels blocking the basement windows

(bad for moisture, i'm told)

chimney sweep

unbrick fireplace and get it working

reinforce barn so it doesn't fall down

clean out and haul away junk in barn and workshop (oh my)

(but there looks to be some good stuff in there too)

fencing, fencing, fencing

inside:  

pull up awful old linoleum (hardwoods underneath!)

figure out what hardwoods need:  sanding, patching etc.

demolish ceiling in one room and replace (water damage)
scrape off popcorn on other ceilings

take down and replace tile in bathrooms (see about rot or water damage)

new shower heads and faucets

paint

scrounge craigslist etc for appliances 

(mum is furiously trying to talk me out of a wood-burning cookstove)

cover up insulation on patio

install radio fence for doglets

i'm sure there's more but that's my running list!  

i'm leaving off the decorative stuff for now, although that will be the most fun.

so i'm thinking i'll document this massive labor of love here,

along with my journey toward homesteading.

hope you'll visit!

i remember this day

i was five.  i remember going out to the truck that morning thinking,
i'm five.

that would have been 1973.

this was in luce park in kansas city, where we're from.

i always loved going to luce park because i could feed the ducks and swans.

they are still there, too.  but where am i?  who is this child?

that's mum and papa in the foreground, in their matching white shoes.  

so strange looking at mum's face at that age because
it's my face, looking out at me.

and next to her is mrs. watson, the mother of my little friends

michael and miriam watson, who are sitting on the other side of me.

funny we are eating KFC.
that was a birthday food of choice again not so long ago.

my disgruntled older siblings are at the other end of the table.

seems like some weird energy down there, or maybe that's how i remember it.

although my sweet brother nick, on the end, always the photographer.

he took that pic of me, and he recently sent me these.

this wasn't too long before we moved to florida, i think.

papa is being released from the hospital today, after two weeks.

a midlife crisis of seemingly epic proportions

as told through a hair-story.

the first pic shows poor mum combing out my beaver tail.

i'd been flirting with the idea of dreads.

she took care of that.

and then she took me to the salon for a root treatment.

last shot is without filter for truest colour.

i do not care if this is shallow.  it's the best i've got right now.

a little antiquing

some of my favourites of the day out with mum..

although the only one of these i brought home was the good shepherd.

which was irresistable at $10

i also got a vintage hat with a large black bird on it.  

will have to show you that soon!

old friends at mum's

family photos i've never seen

except for this first one of me and my parents, xmas 1969. i was one.




the others, my brother just scanned and emailed me today. so odd and melancholy that there were these dear ghosties out floating, stuck somewhere in mum's stash. glad to have them more solidly here now.

gather ye

mum and i are fascinated with old-time recipes for making rose beads. this is our first, experimental batch. the rose petals are to be ground every day and left to sit in cast iron for two weeks. then they should be a paste to roll into beads. roses seem to be in my future, since while thrifting we also found a book on antique roses of the south, rose-gardening gloves and pruning shears. i planted one bush last year and will add one or two more every year until i am old and surrounded.

the flue has delayed my homegoing and new year to-dos.. although i did stich a bone yesterday. trying to just relax and enjoy blogland, sleep, and dreams of rose bushes, hips and beads.

what's inside

this handmade doll body, picked up by mum to go with an antique china head that she had also found, had a surprising interior.. not sawdust or excelsior or cotton... but tightly rolled-up old quilt pieces. we don't want to take the body apart to examine it... but are enjoying how it's peeking out from its sutures..






if i know mum, soon she'll have her head attached and be prettily dressed and very dignified once again.

i'm discovering much about the interior journey lately. still feeling a bit pre-verbal but hopefully i'll be able to share more with you soon.