downsizing · Moving

How quickly it adds up!

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As I’ve mentioned we were a military family, and as such we moved around. Part of that was you had to “make weight” for your moves. Each pay grade is allowed a certain weight for your household goods when moving, if you go over that you pay out of pocket for that “tonnage”. (Or at least that is how it worked when we were moving)

So that forced you to keep things streamlined while moving with the military. You always made sure you kept it below your weight allowance. It forced you to be brutal at times and not hold onto that stupid tiki drink umbrella from whatever party you went to before so-and-so got transferred to their new duty station that you had held onto to remember that night and what fun everyone had.

And then my husband retired and we not only have stayed in this house for almost 11 years now, but it is the largest house we have ever live in! So you can imagine how things just amassed and grew over the years. Now I’m paying the price for that! LOL

I’ve made quit a few trips to the Thrift Store already dropping things, the kids have gotten things, some stuff has had to go to the dump. (That pack-n-play for the grand baby that sat in the basement storage area for 5 years now then when you open it and it’s moldy – yeah, not passing that on to anybody! It goes to the dump!)

I’m getting to a point with my packing where I need to possibly clear a room and then start “loading it” like it’s a storage unit or something. Start getting boxes out of other rooms so I can function and pack in them better, clean them somewhat, and just go through things easier than working around boxes, packing material, things pulled out to go through them…

I’ve never hated moving until now. I need to remember this at our new home and not allow things to grow like this again. Might have to take on the tactic some folks use with something in, something out…

Art · downsizing

Challenge Day on Tour de Fleece…

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So yesterday was to be a Challenge Day on Tour de Fleece (TdF) since it was also a Challenge on the Tour de France with them climbing mountains. Chain plying, or Navajo plying, has always scared me because it looked so involved and trying to control the yarn while you “chain” it, keep spinning, and so on – well, lets just say I think I know how Bambi felt in that scene where he went spinning across the ice with all four legs sprawled out!

Add to the confusion I’m a lefty so I don’t “see” things and comprehend them the same way sometimes. There are times they get turned around backwards and it may come out great, just backwards; and sometimes it just comes out jumbled! Semi-dyslexic lefty hazard. LOL

I persevered and for my first chain ply I don’t think it came out too bad. There is definitely room for improvement, but there always is, that’s life.

Now I have to get back to work and make a run to the thrift store to drop some things, pack more stuff for the move. I think a local move from house to house is more of a pain than moving long distance! And trust me, after moving around with the military for almost 25 years I’ve made my share of moves!!!

I’ll still get my “play time” each evening during the TdF to spin some each day but I do need to get things packed and ready to move into the new house.

Tour de Fleece!
Art

Tour de Fleece!

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TdFshirt

It’s that time of year!!! Yes, I know the Tour de France is going on, but many avid spinners on Ravelry do our own bit of spinning and hold the “Tour de Fleece” at the same time.  This is my hmmmm, 3 or 4th time spinning along.  It’s a lot of fun, you see some gorgeous spinning done by others, lots of comradery, and just plane old fun.

I haven’t been able to spin as much as I would like to as I had joined in before we started the process of buying a house. So all those hours I saw ahead of me to be spent spinning away challenging myself are now slipping away going through things to send to the thrift store, pack, give away, whatever… sigh But I’m still putting in time at my beloved Kromski Minstrel wheel.

Some fiber-y progress so far –

 

 

Something’s Happening Here…
downsizing · Moving

Something’s Happening Here…

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It has been quite the whirlwind here! In a matter of days, and I mean that, as in like 3 – we drove past this beauty, called the Realtor to get a look inside, put in an offer (there had already been an offer put in by someone else the same day we put ours in), got a verbal acceptance, had the inspection and are now waiting for the VA Appraisal! Yes, my head is spinning!!!! 

I really fell in love with this place! We’ll be doing work on it slowly over the next couple of years to bring it out of the 80s and make it so we don’t feel like we’re living in an episode of Ponderosa or The Rifleman! 😊 But we’ll get it there eventually. It’s secluded, quiet, shaded, a very large lot for the area, and just hit all the ticket items we had. We found the unicorn. 

It is a log cabin so first thing off the bat is we have to go in and chink or seal all the spots where there are cracks or gaps inside and out. Then to mitigate the overwhelming, in your face wood we’re white washing/staining the walls to brighten and lighten it up in there. I know, gasp, we’re painting the wood! Do a Google search for white washed log cabin interiors and tell me that doesn’t look nice?! Thinking of actually going a soft very light tint/hint of grey or blue to the color and not stark white. We want to get that done before we start moving furniture in there. We will eventually pull up the carpet and put down flooring so we’ll cover the carpet but if we get paint on it, no big deal, it’s coming out. This will be a large focus of my creativity for the coming months I’m sure. 

So now I’m waiting, not so patiently, to get that Appraisal done so we can keep moving forward. I have to slam into fast forward with my packing and purging here at this house. And hopefully it all comes together at the right time!

downsizing · Moving

Hello, Is there anybody in there…

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Just smile if you can hear me… Ahhhh comfortably numb. (Yeah, you’ll notice a lot of song lyrics/references and movies quotes in my posts! 😄)

Finally back home from Florida. Crashed last night after a long stressful week. What do I do tonight??? I wake up at about 2 am and can’t get back to sleep. It’s now 4:18 am and I’m wondering if I will get any more sleep tonight or if I’m doomed to be a zombie tomorrow. Or technically today.

Caught up on some things yesterday like laundry, mopping, things that kinda fell to the side while I was gone. 😊 Still have a little more to catch up on but I’m still exhausted from lack of sleep down in Florida which surprises me that I can’t sleep right now. Figured I’d crash again tonight. Oh well…

This weekend we’ll probably be looking at a few homes, just drive bys to see if we even want to bother with going inside. Looking for curb appeal, parking situation for both vehicles and the RV, and a safe yard for the pups. Check those boxes and we can progress to the inside.

I’m still working on packing up the house. I’ll be catching up on color coding the boxes here in the coming weeks. I have red for boxes that are fragile, then I need to pick up colors for the studio, bedroom, kitchen, storage, etc. Then I can put a strip on opposing corners of the box and we’ll know by sight easily where they go on moving day.

Time seems to be speeding up on me. I have Tour de Fleece coming up July 7-29! I will have to slow down, take time to spin during that time frame and enjoy the “Zen time”. Otherwise things will be on fast forward though. And I will probably be comfortably numb…

Art

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves…

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littlethief

I am visiting my parents in FL (Gypsy, galivanting, traipsing all over) and brought some work with me from Maryland. My parent’s poodle, Rylee, has decided she like the ever so soft yarn… (In comes the thief) It has been a running battle to keep this away from her and she has managed to get it a couple of times and get it up onto her “hidey hole” with her treasures on the back of the sofa. No damage, no big deal, until this morning. LOL You see the aftermath above. I was in the shower, my Dad was running errands, and my Mom was doing a nebulizer treatment when Miss Rylee snuck the ball of yarn and my work thus far off to her treasure trove. Which would have been okay if the Amazon delivery man had not shown up! There was a strand of yarn wrapped around a leg while she went berserk running around the coffee table dragging yarn from pillar to post leaving a trail from up top of the sofa down the front of it, across the floor, around the coffee table and all over the living room until I could get it off her leg! Work is destroyed now so it had to be pulled out and the yarn is now pulled out and wrapped around what was left of the skein! When I get back home I will have to use my skein winder and put it into a cake. LOL

(Don’t think I’ll have any tramps in the post, sorry. LOL)

So, being down here and waiting on results on some medical tests for my Dad and such has made this trip a little stressful. Since I flew down I could not bring my spinning wheel – which I would have brought along had I driven down. That is such a nice rhythmic, hypnotic, “zen” experience and a wonderful stress reliver so I’m really missing that right now. Bright idea – check Google for someplace with spinning wheels to see if I could rent or come get some spinning time on one in a shop. Well, this area is not the best to try and find something like that! Finally found Fab Fibers online and they were already closed for the day, and would not be open again until Tues. but I sent an email through their contact anyway explaining the situation and that I really needed a “fiber fix” and some spinning time.

The owner is so amazing! She personally called me with in a couple hours of me sending that message!!! She is bringing her personal wheel into the shop this Tues for me to get some time spinning! Fiber folks are just the best!!!!

So I will be going to visit her sometime this Tues to get my spinning fix and some much needed stress relief before going home this Thurs.

Of course I have Tour de Fleece coming up and will be spinning my little heart out soon enough. Can’t wait for that event!

So, I’ve lost the battle with one project, will get some stress relief with some spinning wheel time, will probably buy supplies for a pair of gloves I want to start knitting and work on those on the flights home, and will see what I can work up during Tour de Fleece coming up…

downsizing · Moving

Good Morning Viet Nam!

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errrr, actually Seminole. But hey – can’t resist a good movie quote, never could! LOL

Taking a break from things for a short bit while I stay with my folks awaiting some news from medical tests my Dad had. Keeping fingers crossed for good news. In the meantime we are enjoying each others’ company.

I’m also taking this time to scout Zillow for listings back home and send copious listings to my poor husband to “yay or nay” or “maybe I’ll drive by to take a look see… Finding the “Goldilocks” one is nigh on impossible. But we’re giving it the good try.

We may end up with something a bit larger than we really want just to have an easier resale when we leave for good. We do have to consider that and what sells best so we’re not left hanging when we want to retire for good, pull up stakes and go to our “100 Acre Woods”.  Until then I’m blowing up my husband’s email with – how about this one, take a look here, maybe this one??? LOL

Before long I’ll be back to my pups, back to my art, and back to be able to help with the house search. I will be glad to get back to my routine!

Uncategorized

But seriously folks…

CLee1 Comment

on top of being sick the past week a friend of ours lost her husband to a massive heart attack. Nothing like a huge dose of reality to slap you upside the head. We don’t know when our time will come or how long we have here – “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32

“M” spoke about her husband and kept reiterating don’t overlook the small moments, don’t let the small things pass you by, don’t get too wrapped up in life.

It’s true. That’s part of our reason for downsizing and “getting back to basics”. It’s too easy to get caught up in the day to day rush, the need for “things” that the advertisers put into your head or the need to “keep up with the Jonses”.

The more clutter you have in your life, the more cluttered your schedule is, the less you live and actually enjoy life. You are a slave to your things and your activities. I have to do this, I need that. There’s no more enjoyment in the here and now and just “being”.

My husband and I always tell each other I love you, we still hold hands after 35 years(this Aug) of marriage even though his uncle said that would stop after 6 months,  we do most things together, we are best friends.  We support each other in everything. It doesn’t matter if we’re just sitting here reading books together or sitting around a campfire together at a campsite somewhere, as long as we’re together.

So tell that person you love them, give that hug, hold the door open for someone, smile at the stranger, take time to slow down and enjoy life a little and be present instead of just being a passenger in it and letting it pass you by…

 

 

 

Art

How Sweet It Is…

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To be loved by you… Remember that old James Taylor song? Well, it’s true. While I’m wallowing in my misery of a summer cold and photo editing hades I received the sweetest note through my Etsy Shop from a former customer –
Hey Carrie
I was just going through my messages and came across yours. You’ll be happy to know the notebook cover you made for me is still going strong. I always receive a ton of compliments on it whenever I take it out. Thought you might like to know.
Thanks
A
Now mind you, she bought this FOUR year ago!!! I was so happy that she still loves it and still uses it! That was awesome music to this artist’s heart. So if you have ever thought about sending someone a note thanking them for something they made that you enjoy whether it is a few days or a few years later, please do so. A little piece of us goes into everything we make and we love to know it’s being enjoyed.

Art · downsizing

Remains of the Day…

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Just a couple of my pendants from the show this past weekend. Sorry there weren’t more updates but between getting ready for the show, my husband getting sick, me fighting that off and being in the grips of a migraine last night this morning my computer time has been at an all time low.

Had a pretty good showing and I’m encouraged with the response to my work from the show this past Sat. I’ve signed up for a couple of shows this Fall in Sept. and Oct. I’m looking forward to those once the temperatures have cooled off a bit and it’s not so brutal outside.

On Monday I managed to get several more boxes packed up. I am having trouble making heads or tails of things in my studio so I started moving boxes out of the studio into a spare room. I also need to pick up some colored duck tape and start color coding things. A strip of red on any boxes that fragile and then pick a color for each room.  I’m far behind on going through things. sigh

Anyway, I’m also working on adding my jewelry to my Etsy shop so keep an eye out there if you are interested in buying any!