Last Wednesday, when I had nothing new to report about the studio, I decided that work on the house needed to be downgraded to project status and work on (and in) the studio needed to be upgraded to priority status. That didn't quite go the way I'd planned however, today - over a month since taking possession - the studio is finally sew-able. I still need space to store my fabric but this morning I finished unpacking all the thread, patterns, books, and other supplies that go on shelves or in cupboards, drawers, or baskets and I set up the machines and I can sew. YES YES!
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Typically when I move, I set up the kitchen and the studio a few days before, set up the bedrooms on moving day, and put things into the closets as they arrive. After that, life functions fairly well. However... I've always moved around town and never to another town. That changes things. This time, the kitchen is still not set up, the studio is just barely set up, and it took almost three weeks to sleep in our bed off the floor. The bedroom is not completely finished but it's warm and cozy and quite lovely none-the-less.
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The paint I used on the studio floor takes about three weeks to cure. I didn't have that long so I painted one coat and then - last Thursday - dragged the furniture around to find the best layout that would allow me a good view of the pond from the window. Now that everything is in place I'm going to do something I've never done before and paint the second coat around the furniture. Later, if and when I move the furniture, I can resolve that issue. At some point...
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... we want to build out the basement and that will change the flooring as well as impact the current studio layout. For now, one half is empty. There is space for four to six tables for students with plenty of working room for each. I feel very strongly that one part of this move is a return to teaching and I'm excited to see how that unfolds. I'm planning to put an exterior entrance into the studio so that when I do have students and open studio times there is direct access without everyone coming through the house. LOL - I may need to teach a few classes first to pay for that. Meanwhile, that far corner of the "empty" side will be my learn to paint corner. I recently purchased...
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... Painting Abstracts: Ideas, Projects and Techniques by Rolina van Vliet. It contains almost seventy assignments that focus on learning through play. An assignment example would be to work with primary colors only, to mix the paints on the canvas, and to use only a palette knife. The assignments sound like fun and the emphasize is on learning and not on creating sell-able masterpieces. Since that's my preferred approach, if I do the work, this should work.
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The laundry room is just off of the studio. It's quite narrow with just the washer and dryer. This is where we'd like to make some changes and expand to the right into the studio where the bookshelves and work island are now. The house has one full bathroom upstairs and one downstairs in the suite. When the suite is rented, that washroom is not accessible so rather than expand the master bedroom and add an ensuite, we think it would be far more useful to have a second full bathroom and a workable laundry room including a sink for dyeing fabric. My plan is to add a toilet and a bathtub as well as a vanity with a larger sink and to put the washer and dryer in a closet so we don't feel like we're taking a bath in the laundry. The washer and dryer came with the house. They're good quality and the washer is the "old" kind where you can lift the lid while it's washing which is PERFECT for dyeing fabric. I was more than happy to take it.
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It was a good thing I arranged the studio on Thursday so that Howard was able to screw together the computer desk and work island this past weekend. He's about to leave on a business trip and this isn't something I could easily do alone. I helped with one hand only. I'm injured.
On Friday, I had just ripped the old, dirty, ugly, smells like smoke, runner off the stairs and was cleaning up the paint supplies. They're stored in the basement, as is the hammer, which I planned to get and use to remove the exposed nails on the way back up the stairs only on the way down, my left sock got caught on a nail. All I remember is thinking I am going to fall with a bit of shock since I'm not at all accident prone. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground in a pile of paint supplies with the bifold doors that had been leaning against the wall now on top of me and blood everywhere. My glasses broke and the arm gouged into the skin beside my eye. I have six "pretty stitches" in a star shaped pattern.
My eye and elbow are the least dramatic bruises. They get worse. The rhythm of the fall is evident down my right side with bruises at the eye, elbow, wrist, hip, thigh, calf, and ankle. I don't remember exactly but I think I hit the noses of the stairs quite hard with my right side before rolling over to the left. I didn't pass out but I did have blurred vision and a bit of confusion at first. I couldn't remember my husband's phone number. Thankfully, I was able to make it up the stairs and to the phone and my friend and realtor came, took me to the hospital, brought me back home, and stayed with me until Howard arrived.
I'm doing much better now although my hip is severely swollen and still at least five inches bigger than normal with a "moat" of bruises all the way around the joint. I'm sure I hit it straight on with the most impact. This is the most severe injury I've ever had. It has certainly given me a new understanding of pain and exhaustion. I spend about twenty minutes doing some small thing followed by two hours napping on the couch. It's been five days and today is the first time that I've driven my (standard) car and gone to journal. This is good. I'm healing and very lucky.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - I'm not dead, paralyzed, or broken and visibly on the mend.
Typically when I move, I set up the kitchen and the studio a few days before, set up the bedrooms on moving day, and put things into the closets as they arrive. After that, life functions fairly well. However... I've always moved around town and never to another town. That changes things. This time, the kitchen is still not set up, the studio is just barely set up, and it took almost three weeks to sleep in our bed off the floor. The bedroom is not completely finished but it's warm and cozy and quite lovely none-the-less.
The paint I used on the studio floor takes about three weeks to cure. I didn't have that long so I painted one coat and then - last Thursday - dragged the furniture around to find the best layout that would allow me a good view of the pond from the window. Now that everything is in place I'm going to do something I've never done before and paint the second coat around the furniture. Later, if and when I move the furniture, I can resolve that issue. At some point...
... we want to build out the basement and that will change the flooring as well as impact the current studio layout. For now, one half is empty. There is space for four to six tables for students with plenty of working room for each. I feel very strongly that one part of this move is a return to teaching and I'm excited to see how that unfolds. I'm planning to put an exterior entrance into the studio so that when I do have students and open studio times there is direct access without everyone coming through the house. LOL - I may need to teach a few classes first to pay for that. Meanwhile, that far corner of the "empty" side will be my learn to paint corner. I recently purchased...
... Painting Abstracts: Ideas, Projects and Techniques by Rolina van Vliet. It contains almost seventy assignments that focus on learning through play. An assignment example would be to work with primary colors only, to mix the paints on the canvas, and to use only a palette knife. The assignments sound like fun and the emphasize is on learning and not on creating sell-able masterpieces. Since that's my preferred approach, if I do the work, this should work.
The laundry room is just off of the studio. It's quite narrow with just the washer and dryer. This is where we'd like to make some changes and expand to the right into the studio where the bookshelves and work island are now. The house has one full bathroom upstairs and one downstairs in the suite. When the suite is rented, that washroom is not accessible so rather than expand the master bedroom and add an ensuite, we think it would be far more useful to have a second full bathroom and a workable laundry room including a sink for dyeing fabric. My plan is to add a toilet and a bathtub as well as a vanity with a larger sink and to put the washer and dryer in a closet so we don't feel like we're taking a bath in the laundry. The washer and dryer came with the house. They're good quality and the washer is the "old" kind where you can lift the lid while it's washing which is PERFECT for dyeing fabric. I was more than happy to take it.
It was a good thing I arranged the studio on Thursday so that Howard was able to screw together the computer desk and work island this past weekend. He's about to leave on a business trip and this isn't something I could easily do alone. I helped with one hand only. I'm injured.
On Friday, I had just ripped the old, dirty, ugly, smells like smoke, runner off the stairs and was cleaning up the paint supplies. They're stored in the basement, as is the hammer, which I planned to get and use to remove the exposed nails on the way back up the stairs only on the way down, my left sock got caught on a nail. All I remember is thinking I am going to fall with a bit of shock since I'm not at all accident prone. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground in a pile of paint supplies with the bifold doors that had been leaning against the wall now on top of me and blood everywhere. My glasses broke and the arm gouged into the skin beside my eye. I have six "pretty stitches" in a star shaped pattern.
My eye and elbow are the least dramatic bruises. They get worse. The rhythm of the fall is evident down my right side with bruises at the eye, elbow, wrist, hip, thigh, calf, and ankle. I don't remember exactly but I think I hit the noses of the stairs quite hard with my right side before rolling over to the left. I didn't pass out but I did have blurred vision and a bit of confusion at first. I couldn't remember my husband's phone number. Thankfully, I was able to make it up the stairs and to the phone and my friend and realtor came, took me to the hospital, brought me back home, and stayed with me until Howard arrived.
I'm doing much better now although my hip is severely swollen and still at least five inches bigger than normal with a "moat" of bruises all the way around the joint. I'm sure I hit it straight on with the most impact. This is the most severe injury I've ever had. It has certainly given me a new understanding of pain and exhaustion. I spend about twenty minutes doing some small thing followed by two hours napping on the couch. It's been five days and today is the first time that I've driven my (standard) car and gone to journal. This is good. I'm healing and very lucky.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - I'm not dead, paralyzed, or broken and visibly on the mend.
