This Sheet Rocks!

I really feel we're closing in on completion! Bob and I worked to get sheet rock on the walls and should be done with that tomorrow. The begins the messy joy of taping and applying and sanding joint compound.
The walls make it seem like an actual room, not just an uncompleted space. I can already envision making masterpieces here...
Here's another shot of the corner. it is great that we got the entire north side of the studio covered.

It's one of those funny paradoxes: does the sheet rock make the space appear larger or smaller? Maybe a little of both.
And meanwhile, back in my old studio, we had four sheets of sheet rock up for me to work on, and we had to take them down so as to reuse them. Of course, this necessitated my moving an ungodly pile of magazines, art materials, a flat file, years of old work that was piled up. What a mess!

My old studio is a complete disaster! But I guess we can recite the old saw about having to break eggs to make an omelette. I keep reminding myself (and Bob) that a remarkable side effect of my studio being completed is that we'll have a real living room. A place to entertain and (gasp) relax.

The Society of Yard Sitters

Here I am, sitting on Maggie's back. We're contemplating Bob's sculpture, "Angels Trump". Despite being astride my splendid palfrey, I am sitting still. At least temporarily...
A friend of mine from work, Susan by name, opined that she was exhausted. I concurred that Bob and I had been feeling the same way. Susan and I began comparing notes and we both realized we were reeling off vast lists of all the work we had been doing. We were so crazy task oriented, that we never stopped to admire all the work we had done. Planting our gardens, mowing the lawn, shopping for food, insulating my studio: the lists went on and on. (Susan added something quaint called "cleaning the house" but I'm not really sure what that is...) Additionally, everything needs doing at once. And, of course, to this compilation of errands and chores and endless responsibilities, you have to factor in going to work so it's no wonder we're all beat to Hell.
Even worse, I'm suffering from a related problem: I've been so on-task and multi-tasked and uber-directed that at bedtime I can't sleep. I'm plain old too tired. I sometimes fall asleep just fine, but wake several hours later, certain that I haven't accomplished something that absolutely needed doing. Truthfully, most of these things can't be done at 2:00 in the morning, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about them.
The other day, I was high on a ladder in my (soon to be completed) studio, stapling insulation to the studs. I happened to look out the window and spied my neighbor Meagan performing an unusual activity: she was sitting on her deck. Yes, just sitting. I marveled at the skill she exhibited in doing so unusual an activity. I then thought to myself, "I'd like to try that".
Here is a radical proposition: that we occasionally do nothing. I suggest we all simply stop and do nothing. I recommend ignoring all those pesky details that demand attention but probably can wait. Just sit still.
Will I follow my own advice? Probably not right now (even though I took a vacation from work) as I need to finish my studio (almost there...) and I must finish planting the garden (we are on a small tour this year...) You get the picture; it's much harder than it seems to "do nothing".
But The Society of Yard Sitters seems an idea who's time has come. If even for five minutes, I will sit still on our back deck and do nothing. Try this one at home.

Oh, We're Wired Alright

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! That's electrical cable looking pretty much like the squiggly things I cut out and apply to my collages. Bob and I threaded many feet of two different kinds of wiring through my rafters and walls. Who knew that switches and outlets were on different kinds of wire?!?!!? I guess this is why it's a good thing we have an electrical friend named Jonathan...

And this is the main box that Bob and Jonathan installed in my ceiling, where all the wires meet up and get sent to all corners of the room. (Actually, I think my wiring requirements are somewhat spartan as I don't use many tools that require power and really only plug my stereo and my lights in.) this is getting very exciting as I can almost visualize moving into my studio soon...

Look at this! I spent the later afternoon and early evening insulating the walls. I managed to do about half my space today, wearing gloves and face mask and goggles. I could barely breath and the goggles kept fogging up but I got it done. Now all we need to do is sheet rock and then Jonathan can come back and hook up all that lovely spaghetti and I will have power.
And here's another shot of progress on the hoof:

I have an interior door! But doesn't it look a wee bit "Twin Peaks-ish"? I'm sure once the wood wall gets covered with new sheet rock and I paint the door white and the wires are concealed, it won't reek so heavily of cabin and peculiar goings on.... but it IS my studio so peculiar goings on are the norm!
But the door is great: it allows me to shut the studio from my storage/annex room (which is still semi-occupied by living room furniture- although the rug and a chair or two are in my "old" studio and some of my studio stuff has migrated to the "new" studio. I'm in a state of flux and semi-confused!) Let's be real: it is going to take a bit of time before all the dust has settled and I have all my art materials and things arranged before it seems really real. I hope my muses got that change of address post card.

Spring Break (Out)

Now that's an alarming picture, isn't it? Maggie is either laughing at me or she's yawning because she's exhausted after her latest hi jinx... read on.
I couldn't sleep last night, having major and all too frequent panics as to why I am not a well respected and famous artist... yes, that could give you several years of sleepless nights! But I had finally fallen asleep and we were sleeping in when the phone starts ringing and there is a heroic knocking on the door and Jules is bellowing and barking. I pulled on a pair of pants and staggered downstairs, thinking maybe the law had finally caught up with me for an unreturned book or unpaid parking ticket.
But no, it's our neighbor Megan (whom was appropriately attired in a fuzzy pink robe) and I, in a half asleep daze, manage to understand that there's black horse loose on their lawn and Megan suspects (correctly) that it's our very own Mexican Pony, Maggie. At just that minute, Maggie rounds the corner and saunters up to the door as if to say, "There you are! Where's my breakfast?" I was about to go get a halter and lead rope, but I took a chance that, good horse that she is, Maggie would simply follow me back to the safety of her pasture and barn. Getting back in was apparently not as easy as getting out.
Bob and I had been living on borrowed time because the electricity hadn't been on and the winter did a number on the fence. I think we'd been crossing our fingers that Maggie hadn't figured out that her fence was essentially dental floss strung between some sort of sketchy posts. I easily spotted where Maggie had leaned against a post and it being a tad rotten at the base, it simply keeled over and she stepped over and away she went, visiting all the neighbors. It turns out she went further afield than I initially thought. She left thoughtful "deposits" on several neighbor's yards....

That's a nicer picture of my splendid palfrey! We're truly lucky that Maggie didn't get into the road and hit by a car or eat too much new grass- the kind that is always greener on the other side of that fence. (Horses have ridiculously delicate digestive tracts and do terrible things like colic and founder. Maggie is lucky that she has actual pasture so that she has already been introduced to rich, new grass. It's especially a trouble for horses that exclusively eat hay.) She looked pretty pleased with herself for having a small, private adventure. To show her my appreciation for being a horse in search of new sights, I took her out for a lovely ride later in the day. A girl's got to have a little fun!

A Floral Interlude...

Wow! I've been so busy that bloggery seems so long ago! Look at how lovely our Magnolia is; I think it's extra pretty because the spring has been so cool. Personally, I love a warmer time of it, but the trees seem to like linger in the cool weather. here's the whole thing:

This will sound nuts, but we're going to mover this tree before it gets any bigger. And we've read that you should move them in bloom, so as soon as Bob gets his chain saw back, move it we will. (We need the chain saw to remove a dead tree where this tree is moving to.) The Magnolia smells great, too. And on the Magnolia front, the Star Magnolia that I gave Bob for his birthday last year isn't deceased after all. We were sure the stellar combination of extreme heat and drought last summer coupled with extreme cold this winter had done it in. It sure was doing a convincing impersonation of a dead tree. But I discovered today that it has leaf buds and I'm relieved. I was searching high and low for my receipt as most nurseries guarantee their stock for a year. (And we're not neophyte gardeners who plant things upside down or do everything all wrong. Not usually!)
Also, we got a tiny- but delicious!- harvest from our second year asparagus planting. My sister Beatrice gave Bob asparagus plants for his birthday last year and they are doing really well.

It's okay to harvest a few stalks this early on...
So maybe it's been good that the spring is off to a late start as we've been busy. We've been working a lot and I applied for a grant and we're still at work on my studio... I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!
And I have only just begun to get psyched about this year's garden. I'm going to bed.

Hole in the Wall

How exciting is this? I got home from work yesterday and Bob had gotten the wall opened up! I was soooooooooooo happy. It makes my studio look huge! I actually have a doorway. This shot is from the living room (which will be my storage room) into the studio.
Here it is from inside my studio, looking back through to what has been our living room.

Not sure why the florescent overhead light looks hazy, but it's thrilling anyway. You can see all of our living room furniture sort of shoved to one side and looking a bit insecure. The sofa must be wondering what's up.
I had a funny little experience this afternoon while at work. I sometimes communicate with Jules at around 3:00. We sort of mentally check in and say "hi"; call it ESP. I mean, I miss my dog at work and it's not like I can call him on the phone or email him (like Bob) but then I guess I don't have to as we send small messages anyway. So I kept hearing from Jules and I even debated calling Bob to ask if Jules was okay, but I presumed that had anything actually happened to Jules, Bob would let me know. But Jules was sort of poking me and wanted attention, like "I'm here".
When I got home, Jules greeted me extra ecstatically through the fence and seemed fine, but very happy to see me. A while later, Bob tells me that a friend stopped by and they looked at the garden and then my studio. Later, Bob came up to the house for a cup of coffee and he was surprised that Jules didn't come to the door. So Bob walked around the house, looking for Jules. Bob confessed that he even started to worry that Jules had gotten out when he and John were walking around the yard. Bob finally opened the door to my (new) studio, and there was Jules- he'd been shut (accidentally) in the studio. So Jules hadn't been really lost, just temporarily misplaced. But boy did he try and tell me that at work! The next time Jules contacts me so persistently, I'll call home and make sure we know where he is! Smart dog!

Opening Up

Door Progress! Bob and Joe are hard at work cutting out a section of the wall so I don't have to climb through a window to get into my studio (or go all the  way around the house outside.) It's a labor intensive procedure as they have to cut through two layers of boards and remove a stud and a cross member.
It's funny, in the photo above you can see clear through the window (to Joe's right) because Bob removed that this morning. It's thrilling to me to see this advancing the great cause of Rita's studio...
Our friend Jonathan the Electrician came yesterday and rerouted the wires that ran through the wall. He made it look so simple. I was so pleased that he was able to come; I dreaded that I might have to wait a week or so and we really couldn't cut the hole in the wall until he rewired us. You can see the new path for the wire up and over what will be the doorway.
The living room is a real mess right now. It's hard to answer the phone because all the chairs are pushed around and the rug is rolled up and in my present studio. The beginning of a big transition!
Bob is wielding that drill because they have to drill holes in the wall so that they can see where to use the saws all. Joe is marking where the header will go. Me? I'm getting ready to order pizza for dinner. I have to do something to help out!