Nest feathering, because it is too damn hot to go outside.
Wednesday was spent doing the final push on the sorting and clearing Patrick's office. It took the better part of the day to get it done, and there are four boxes of sorted items awaiting Patrick's final judgment call, but the office floor is finally clear. There are a couple of drawers to clear out and re-purpose, and Patrick has yet to assemble his new storage unit/printer stand, but it appears that my timing was perfect because Patrick connected with our friend Jean Palmer last night and bought a drafting table that she had decided she wasn't going to use. This is a win-win situation because Jean has hopes of someday getting a car in her garage again and getting rid of the table is part of that scenario for her. Patrick desperately needs a place to spread his calligraphy and cartooning artwork out a bit so he was delighted when his friend Dan mentioned that Jean had the table and was looking to unload it. I laughed when Patrick told me that the party with the table was in fact Jean. Fandom is a very small universe. The table is going to eat up most of the momentarily free floor space in the office, and it may intermittently spend quality time in our garage, a place where no car is ever going to go, but for now it is just what Patrick needs and the price was very reasonable for a quality piece of furniture. It is a far cry from the wobbly piece of crap we saw in Michaels a couple of weeks ago.
I also spent some time doing a second round of paint samples this morning and this selection of colors was even more satisfying that the first batch. Puma has won for our basic wall color. It is the color of Vicky's fur, a linen colored neutral that really looks fantastic on the living room and family room walls. Curry and Adobaca will be our accent walls, the Indian food inspired Curry in the entry way and along the long wall in the family room, which will eventually become the sacred feminine wall with artwork featuring Prosephine, the Virgin Mary and Quan Yin. I also finally got my hands on a Waterhouse print that will finish up the family room It just needs a mat because it will go into an old frame I have had for years. Adobaca is a deep rich red and we are going to use it as an accent wall in the kitchen. We will smear Puma everywhere else. That process should take me the rest of the summer. Because the paints are zero VOC I will have the luxury of doing just a bit every day, which is the only way I can do the work any way.
Our master closet is still a work in progress. Finally having the front bedroom closet as out-of-season overflow and renfair garb storage has been wonderful, and gives us breathing room for the stuff we wear on a daily basis. I am also storing a few items of clothing that will eventually either need to be altered in the front bedroom. I have a couple of my circus tent dresses in very high quality crinkled rayon fabric that I just couldn't send to Savers. One is th dress I wore to Larry and Tisa's wedding. It is absolutely huge, but the fabric is beautiful and I have fond memories of that special day, wearing that dress. We are either just going to use the fabric to cut out a new dress or make it into a skirt. Either way, it is the kind of recycling Frances is up to. Re-purposing those half-dozen or so pieces of clothing will save me a fortune in the long run. Thread is inexpensive and I can barter interior design services for the labor.
I did break down and order a few new items of clothing on Tuesday, taking advantage of the end of season sales, because summer clothing on clearance is always a good bargain here in Arizona where we can wear it about eight months out of the year. I splurged on two stunningly beautiful elastic waist skirts I have had my eye on for monyhs and bought three sleeveless cotton sweaters to go with them. I also ordered two long rayon dresses one in a red and white print and another in a black and white. They have a lattice back, but I finally found a bra that ought to work with that, so I am looking forward to adding them to my wardrobe. Right now I am wearing tank tops and crinkle skirts that have been taken in a couple of times or dresses that are just plain too damn big. I have some fairly nice winter things that I bought end of season last year that fit me well, but my summer stuff was pretty picked over and tired looking, so this will make a huge improvement in my wardrobe.
Tomorrow I need to clock some time on my novel, because I fell out of my routine over the holiday weekend and haven't worked on it for nearly a week. Putting a couple hours a day in on it is really necessary and an excellent way to spend the time when I am waiting for pain medication to kick in. Sometimes having my body tell me in no uncertain terms to stop moving about is a good thing. As Monk says, "It's a gift and a curse."
Ha!
I also spent some time doing a second round of paint samples this morning and this selection of colors was even more satisfying that the first batch. Puma has won for our basic wall color. It is the color of Vicky's fur, a linen colored neutral that really looks fantastic on the living room and family room walls. Curry and Adobaca will be our accent walls, the Indian food inspired Curry in the entry way and along the long wall in the family room, which will eventually become the sacred feminine wall with artwork featuring Prosephine, the Virgin Mary and Quan Yin. I also finally got my hands on a Waterhouse print that will finish up the family room It just needs a mat because it will go into an old frame I have had for years. Adobaca is a deep rich red and we are going to use it as an accent wall in the kitchen. We will smear Puma everywhere else. That process should take me the rest of the summer. Because the paints are zero VOC I will have the luxury of doing just a bit every day, which is the only way I can do the work any way.
Our master closet is still a work in progress. Finally having the front bedroom closet as out-of-season overflow and renfair garb storage has been wonderful, and gives us breathing room for the stuff we wear on a daily basis. I am also storing a few items of clothing that will eventually either need to be altered in the front bedroom. I have a couple of my circus tent dresses in very high quality crinkled rayon fabric that I just couldn't send to Savers. One is th dress I wore to Larry and Tisa's wedding. It is absolutely huge, but the fabric is beautiful and I have fond memories of that special day, wearing that dress. We are either just going to use the fabric to cut out a new dress or make it into a skirt. Either way, it is the kind of recycling Frances is up to. Re-purposing those half-dozen or so pieces of clothing will save me a fortune in the long run. Thread is inexpensive and I can barter interior design services for the labor.
I did break down and order a few new items of clothing on Tuesday, taking advantage of the end of season sales, because summer clothing on clearance is always a good bargain here in Arizona where we can wear it about eight months out of the year. I splurged on two stunningly beautiful elastic waist skirts I have had my eye on for monyhs and bought three sleeveless cotton sweaters to go with them. I also ordered two long rayon dresses one in a red and white print and another in a black and white. They have a lattice back, but I finally found a bra that ought to work with that, so I am looking forward to adding them to my wardrobe. Right now I am wearing tank tops and crinkle skirts that have been taken in a couple of times or dresses that are just plain too damn big. I have some fairly nice winter things that I bought end of season last year that fit me well, but my summer stuff was pretty picked over and tired looking, so this will make a huge improvement in my wardrobe.
Tomorrow I need to clock some time on my novel, because I fell out of my routine over the holiday weekend and haven't worked on it for nearly a week. Putting a couple hours a day in on it is really necessary and an excellent way to spend the time when I am waiting for pain medication to kick in. Sometimes having my body tell me in no uncertain terms to stop moving about is a good thing. As Monk says, "It's a gift and a curse."
Ha!