MOVING OUT -- AND MOVING IN

Friday morning, Mike completed the shelving project in the storage shed and pronounced it ready for occupation. I set to work moving from garage to shed to house to shed. Friday afternoon Mike looked into the shed and declared that I would need more shelving. I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but at this point I’m not ready to say what I need.

Concern for certain goods stored in the shed has been voiced. However, I say the conditions are not far different from those in the farmhouse or in our town loft – cold and damp in the winter, hot in the summer – and things seem to survive. Nevertheless, dolls and my beloved vintage ephemera will stay in the house. The purpose of the shed is not so much for long-term storage (though that will surely happen) but to make useful things accessible. So far the concept is working well, but then, I’ve only begun.

I would say my little sewing studio has heaved a sigh of relief, but alas! if that were only true! It’s still a mess even though I’ve carried notebooks and bins to the shed. Now I have to reorganize the cupboards and shelves and reassign things that have been on the floor to new homes, and that takes both mental and physical effort. Sometimes I just have to close the door and walk away. Sometimes a solution comes to mind when I’m not in the room.

Here we sit on the edge of February, and I have to say that despite my best intentions, I didn’t finish projects as I had hoped in January. I didn’t sew, but I did finish a crocheted “teddy bear” tote for Emerson, who received a second “Build-a-Bear” for Christmas, and I’ve organized an unfinished afghan so that I can proceed with it. I also upgraded aged dolls and have more to do. But of course, the storage shed is a major accomplishment.

Bess relaxes in her favorite place

I said we had plans for the year, and one major plan has already come to naught. We had proposed to Bess that she should have pups this spring. They would have been born in March, which meant we wouldn’t be able to spend time on the farm until after mid-May. However, for whatever reason, Bess wasn’t interested in the suitor Mike chose for her, so that was that. Meanwhile, Mike decided he has misgivings about her suitor, too. Will we propose this to Bess again? Not sure.

A golden sunrise against a dark sky

By the way, here in our valley, the crocus and some daffodils have pushed up through the ground. Surely spring is on the way. KW