Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
Yesterday I was sweaty.
I was sore.
I was teary.
I was at times speechless.
Why?
It's all because of my friends.
See, I am in the process of trying to get my house ready to sell.
I know that might come as a shock to many of you, but it's true. The Funny Farm will be no longer.
In fact, all the farm animals have been rehomed, and we are left with only a handful of cats and dogs. Big change from where we were at the peak of farmdom.
But yes, due to some life changes and the fact that the kids are reaching the "grown and flown" stage, I am downsizing. I will likely be moving on to a house roughly a third to half the size of the one I've been in for the last 11 years.
So for probably over a year now, the kids and I have been working on this old house.
Painting, ripping up carpet, tearing down wallpaper, changing out curtains, changing out rugs.
Putting in new light fixtures, installing new flooring.
Cleaning out the barn, the garages, the workshop, the basement.
Filling dozens and dozens and dozens of bags and boxes for Goodwill, for trash, for sale on my local Facebook yard sale site. Filling to the brim one of those giant construction yard dumpsters with rubbish.
I have hired professionals to fix and paint the deck, pressure wash the house and porches, fix broken stuff galore.
And now I'm down to the nitty gritty. And I'm down to the wire. I have set a date with my realtor to come take pictures and get this house listed.
And all of a sudden, when I thought there remained only a few details to take care of, I realized how much more needed to be done.
I found there still remained a handful of drywall holes, and already patched holes that needed to be painted. There were leaky shower heads and non-functioning lights. There were large items that needed to be moved, and cabinet pulls that needed to be put on, and flaking paint that needed to be touched up, and caulking, lots of caulking. Plus ceilings and even whole rooms that should be painted. There were errant paint marks (more than I care to admit to) on wood trim throughout the house. Basically if you were a piece of wood trim within 30 yards of a room we were painting, you got paint on you.
What else.... baseboard radiators that were falling apart or rusty or both. Chimney flanges that needed to be replaced, speakers dangling from the wall, broken heat units, broken windows....
Enter my friends.
They have been an enormous source of support for me over the last few years: listening, advising, hugging, wine-pouring, card-sending, shoulder-lending.
And now, paint-brush yielding. Drill-swinging. Hammer-holding.
They gave up their day off to come over yesterday with tool boxes and paint clothes. They took my lists and went room to room fixing up my house for me. They went above and beyond my expectations, doing so much more than I had asked.
I did my best to answer questions, find supplies, pour wine, scrape paint, hug, kiss, laugh, put out munchies, bring ladders.
So like I said,
I was sweaty.
I was sore.
I was teary.
I was at times speechless.
Theresa,
Tim,
Sue,
Mike,
Susan,
Thank you.
With all my heart,
Thank you.
You are, quite literally, Godsends in my life.
I was sore.
I was teary.
I was at times speechless.
Why?
It's all because of my friends.
See, I am in the process of trying to get my house ready to sell.
I know that might come as a shock to many of you, but it's true. The Funny Farm will be no longer.
In fact, all the farm animals have been rehomed, and we are left with only a handful of cats and dogs. Big change from where we were at the peak of farmdom.
But yes, due to some life changes and the fact that the kids are reaching the "grown and flown" stage, I am downsizing. I will likely be moving on to a house roughly a third to half the size of the one I've been in for the last 11 years.
So for probably over a year now, the kids and I have been working on this old house.
Painting, ripping up carpet, tearing down wallpaper, changing out curtains, changing out rugs.
Putting in new light fixtures, installing new flooring.
Cleaning out the barn, the garages, the workshop, the basement.
Filling dozens and dozens and dozens of bags and boxes for Goodwill, for trash, for sale on my local Facebook yard sale site. Filling to the brim one of those giant construction yard dumpsters with rubbish.
I have hired professionals to fix and paint the deck, pressure wash the house and porches, fix broken stuff galore.
And now I'm down to the nitty gritty. And I'm down to the wire. I have set a date with my realtor to come take pictures and get this house listed.
And all of a sudden, when I thought there remained only a few details to take care of, I realized how much more needed to be done.
I found there still remained a handful of drywall holes, and already patched holes that needed to be painted. There were leaky shower heads and non-functioning lights. There were large items that needed to be moved, and cabinet pulls that needed to be put on, and flaking paint that needed to be touched up, and caulking, lots of caulking. Plus ceilings and even whole rooms that should be painted. There were errant paint marks (more than I care to admit to) on wood trim throughout the house. Basically if you were a piece of wood trim within 30 yards of a room we were painting, you got paint on you.
What else.... baseboard radiators that were falling apart or rusty or both. Chimney flanges that needed to be replaced, speakers dangling from the wall, broken heat units, broken windows....
Enter my friends.
They have been an enormous source of support for me over the last few years: listening, advising, hugging, wine-pouring, card-sending, shoulder-lending.
And now, paint-brush yielding. Drill-swinging. Hammer-holding.
They gave up their day off to come over yesterday with tool boxes and paint clothes. They took my lists and went room to room fixing up my house for me. They went above and beyond my expectations, doing so much more than I had asked.
I did my best to answer questions, find supplies, pour wine, scrape paint, hug, kiss, laugh, put out munchies, bring ladders.
So like I said,
I was sweaty.
I was sore.
I was teary.
I was at times speechless.
Theresa,
Tim,
Sue,
Mike,
Susan,
Thank you.
With all my heart,
Thank you.
You are, quite literally, Godsends in my life.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
I'm in Business
Today was a heady day for me.
I took my creations of barn wood and old horse tack and Christmas greens, and bottles and little bits of this and that over to a local consignment shop.
I didn't even take the stuff out of the car, because I thought they might not be interested. I was already planning which shops I could get to next before it was time to pick the kids up.
Picture me walking up the steps with head hung low, with my fingers in an "L" on my forehead.
I told the ladies they should just come out to the car to take a look, rather than carry everything in and then back out again.
But when I opened the back of my little wagon?
They just about exploded with joy.
Those kind ladies from Rooted Ooohed and Aaahed. They exclaimed, they fawned. They swelled my head to about 10x its original size.
They. Took. Everything.
They helped me price everything, and I signed a contract. They asked me to bring them some tags for my items, and to set up an Instagram account.
And now? I'm in business.
Well, kinda-sorta. I just have some pieces in a consignment shop, but it was a big moment for me, let me tell you.
Here are a few pictures of some of my pieces. Hope you like them!
I took my creations of barn wood and old horse tack and Christmas greens, and bottles and little bits of this and that over to a local consignment shop.
I didn't even take the stuff out of the car, because I thought they might not be interested. I was already planning which shops I could get to next before it was time to pick the kids up.
Picture me walking up the steps with head hung low, with my fingers in an "L" on my forehead.
I told the ladies they should just come out to the car to take a look, rather than carry everything in and then back out again.
But when I opened the back of my little wagon?
They just about exploded with joy.
Those kind ladies from Rooted Ooohed and Aaahed. They exclaimed, they fawned. They swelled my head to about 10x its original size.
They. Took. Everything.
They helped me price everything, and I signed a contract. They asked me to bring them some tags for my items, and to set up an Instagram account.
And now? I'm in business.
Well, kinda-sorta. I just have some pieces in a consignment shop, but it was a big moment for me, let me tell you.
Here are a few pictures of some of my pieces. Hope you like them!
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