Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning to you all, how are you? Right now it's early morning and I'm sitting at my kitchen table listening to the birds outside. At this house we can feed the birds without bear activity. What a delight! I've heard there are foxes but so far we haven't seen one yet. There are also deer that come right up to the house, so bold.  When I do my morning routine that consists of journaling, praying and meditating,  I ask myself two key questions. I never write down my answers, I just mull them over in my head. Sometimes the mulling over gives me some insight on myself. Question #1: What would make today a Great Day? Question #2: How will I make today a Great Day? A great day for me is usually some knitting time and reading time. I'm finding that these questions I ask myself are more about how I want the tone of my day to be and how I want to feel and not necessarily a litany of tasks to check off from a list. I want to feel relaxed, calm and content. Going down a

  My husband and brother in law worked all day Tuesday removing overgrown bushes and trimming trees. Now you can see the front door. There's a large resident toad that is unsure what has happened lucky for him they left a few bushes. I like how the house is shaping up inside and outside. I know I'm not supposed to wish for Fall but that's where my mind is going these days and if I mentally stay there it's going to be a long time for mid-September to show up.  On Tuesday I met my new to me family doctor who is newish doctor and seems young (but I'm 'old'). He was the doctor I saw at express care the Friday before who sent me to ER who then sent me home saying I need to see my primary care doctor which I didn't have until mid September. One of the downsides of moving is establishing medical care, the appointments are scheduled 1-2 months out. Anyways, my new primary care doctor just joined the practice and got me into the schedule (I was his first patient)

Good morning! I hope you all of you have had a fine week. This is the first week where we are not unpacking boxes. Believe me there are still boxes here and there but we have lost some motivation. I started up with my exercise program after a few months off and it felt good to get back into the groove. I'm surprised at how little muscle was lost, not that I have a lot of muscle. Sadly the morning walks will be ending due to hot humid weather creeping back in. I'm ready for fall but I cannot let myself go there! I compiled all documenting into the above Hobonichi Weeks planner and I've been happy with the simplification so far. Besides keeping track of appointments, I'm marking down the menu plan and exercising sessions. I have a whole page for a sentence a day gratitude list (I love doing that).  I do have an art journal that I write in a few times a week. The knitting is coming along - I try to sit and rest in the afternoons and put in some much needed rows. I've b

  Good morning! How is everyone? I've been chipping away at setting up my new studio/office and it's quite the challenge. Even though I decluttered like mad, I have too much stuff. It's funny, our new home is slightly bigger in square footage BUT we've downsized considerably because of storage space. The closets are so small which isn't a bad thing. My decluttering journey has not ended but begun. I am determined to thin out what I own regularly. I've saved tons of cards, programs and other memorable events for years for the kids growing up and for myself. I stuffed them in shoeboxes. My Big Plan is to go through them and toss what isn't necessary and maybe scrapbook or capture significant events or achievements. Ideally I want to be down to one box per person - the size of the box is to be determined. I also have some of my mother's memorabilia that needs attention. We are nearly done with unpacking. My jobs are done - I have a few boxes here and there

  Around here things are settling down a little more each day. Back in the day when the kids were little and I was young and for of energy, I could unpack a house in two weeks! We are mostly unpacked. Today, my husband and I will start hanging pictures and my studio is still a mess, but less of a mess when I mentioned how messy it was the last time.  Yesterday during lunch on the back patio we saw a fox (or a large cat..but we think it was a fox). Also the deer come right up to the house - I don't think they know they have a resident nemesis yet. Frodo is onto the deer and barks at them diligently. So far NO bears seen and that is fine with me. a needle gauge by cocoknits  (not an affiliate link) In the mornings I try to get as much done around here before the afternoon before my fatigue sets in. I continue to rest as much as possible and that seems to help. I see the new RA doctor on Monday afternoon. We haven't explored the area yet but hope to do some local outings in the n

Good morning! How are you doing? We've been in the new house for about a week and the kitchen is almost done. The cabinets and walls are painted and my husband finished installing the new floor yesterday. All that's left is that pesky lazy Susan that will not reassembly (grr) and baseboards and transitions. Oh and we bought a new light and a new faucet. All of this was a face lift for the time being until we decide what we really want. I have to admit it was really nice using the double oven, I've never had one before but it came in handy!  The kitchen is smaller than my old one but I'm completely okay with that. There is less to clean. Next up will be the family room where the paneling will be painted. We were going to paint the shelving but have decided to put that decision on hold for now. The animals are doing okay. Frodo is extra needy and Holly is hiding more so than usual. However, they know where their food is and every day it gets better and better.  I had an a

  Hello! I'm moved.  The past week was a blur and quite stressful, I had a mini meltdown on Monday night over needing more boxes. The movers arrived Tuesday and Wednesday to load up our house then early Thursday morning they came back to pick up our bed and we all headed to western PA to immediately start unloading their trucks. The movers were so nice, friendly and kind. The original plan was to unload on Friday but my husband and I were successful in getting rid of enough 'stuff' that the estimated time was moved forward half a day. (all of the photos are in reverse order, thanks Blogger!) My sister, brother in law and my husband removed old wallpaper in the kitchen and will be painting the cabinets white. Unfortunately any kind of help I do is quite limited because of my RA. I can only take Tylenol for pain relief and so far I'm living off of it with whatever I do, I also need frequent breaks.  I unpacked the kitchen mostly, the hallway closet and the master bedroom.

  My house is a big old mess. There are boxes everywhere and I still have more to pack but I'm very close to the end of packing. I dream in brown cardboard boxes. The movers arrive early next week and our adventures begin.  I will be on a short blog break as I transition from this town to the new town. 

  Hello! How was your weekend? We (well, I) started packing the kitchen. Boxes are everywhere and I'm trying to decide what do I need for the next week or should I pack it. I've learned something about myself with this process. Whenever I start a room I feel hopeless and like it's never going to end. Then it ends and I rarely celebrate it's finished-ness. I move onto the next room and start the hopeless feeling all over again. Where is the positivity in that?? I think I might need to meditate MORE. (just an astute observation) The above photo is a clementine from my husband's briefcase that has been tucked inside for OVER a year! He last went to the office maybe end of February 2020 - then the pandemic shutdown and zoom working from home began. He retired in August 2020 - only this weekend (!) did he clean out the briefcase. I had to document that beautiful shriveled piece of forgotten fruit, an incredible artifact. As much as I'm going to miss this house, this

  I thought starting this post with flowers would be a great beginning. Aren't they just beautiful? My husband is sad that after years of working on the flower beds and getting them perfect, he's leaving them. Of course he'll have new flower beds to create at the new home. We are excited for our new adventures. Yesterday was the first day I felt like we were on target and getting all the things done in a timely manner. More rooms are completely boxed up and tomorrow I can officially begin the kitchen (ugh). Fingers are crossed we have enough boxes - however my husband knows where to procure more free ones if necessary. We have become skilled with this moving business. We've completed thus far: 12 SUV-filled donation runs 2 recycling runs 2 scrap metal runs 1 furniture truckload pick up by a non profit organization I'm sure there will be another donation run to go from the kitchen even though I went through it once, I'm being relentless in giving away what I do n

  I have a morning routine that starts the day the best way possible for me. After pouring a cup of coffee in a favorite mug (there are many) I sit down and journal for one page, this might be about the day before or it might be about what's on my mind, it doesn't matter - I just write. Before I end my journal entry, I write what I am grateful for, usually it's the coffee in the favorite mug, the morning silence (my husband is a music listener during the day) and then always family and good health and new opportunities. Next up comes the praying. There are lots of prayers and I have a running list of who I'm praying for on a sticky note. I continue to read Magnificat and this year I read a Saint a Day.  I write a list of what I want to accomplish or what needs to be done in the next day or so in my weekly planner. I also try my best to squeeze in a meditation from the insight timer app (I highly recommend), I do meditate daily but morning time is best. Neither of the

  Good morning! How was your week? Can you tell I'm in a major teal color-loving mood based on that lovely photo above? It's been going strong for over a year now.  The weather has been kind of dreary and blah for a few days, so that makes being stuck inside boxing up belongings and decluttering that much easier. Dare I say we are done with decluttering? Maybe? I'm not sure, but the bulk of the madness is over. This week we dropped off the 8th and 9th carload of donations. I've been working on my studio room this week and am so close to be done. Rooms with closets take me four days on average. We started this process super early because I didn't want a mad dash near the moving date. My husband and I tend to work 3-5 hours a day sharing a pleasant lunch break. We are both exhausted by dinner time. Because I'm 'working', my creative pursuits have taken a back seat. I'm showing up for my art journaling pages whenever I get a chance (below photo). But th

  Technically since today is Memorial day it is part of a three day weekend but I wanted to get this post written and published. We are knee deep in decluttering and somewhat packing. I've been focusing on the two adult children's bedrooms. Yes they have a lot of stuff here and I'm thinning out the belongings. Yes this should have been done years ago with their help. There have been phone calls and discussions on what to keep or give away. A lot of the stuff can go and that is a very good thing. My husband and I were eating dinner and I announced that I (WE) would never ever 'save' stuff again. My house is not by any means a hoarder's house, BUT I have a set of kitchen dishes that have been sitting in the basement for sixteen years unused and I never liked them in the first place.  Why? Why save them??  While I've been in the bedrooms decluttering, my dear sweet husband has been in the basement going through tools and such. Again - many unusable drills that