I don't think I've ever been as busy during winter as I have been this year!
Normally my hours get cut, as the Cape has a tendency to slow down in the winter; but, year after year, the winters seem to stay active. This winter was especially crowded for us, I think due to fairly mild weather for the majority of January and February.
So without the luxury of a little downtime from work (Yes, I'm grateful to be able to make a living here, but summers are brutal and some of us actually look forward to that quiet of the off season), coupled with nicer than normal weather, I have spent a lot of time dealing with the home improvements on my list.
Having been able to deal with the roof and chimney already, that will free up the upcoming spring and summer days to work outside on the car and yard.
The fence is a major eyesore and such an embarrassment that when our weekend neighbors are in town, I run into the house when I get home, don't make eye contact and hope they don't decide to come knocking on the door to ask that I keep our fence from falling into their yard.
This past Monday we went to a town planning meeting, as they were addressing a development that is proposed to be plopped down in the middle of our already tight neighborhood (but that is a whole other issue...not for this post)...at any rate, these neighbors made the trip, from wherever their main home, is to attend. The next morning I noticed they had propped up our leaning fence with a 2x4!
Oh the shame! I am horrified and want to bury my head in the ground.
It is my new mission to fix that fence. After contacting a couple fence companies, I am confident I will be doing it myself, as I have zero budget left, and this fence re-do is going to be $2000 on the low side...just to fix the worst of the panels, not even the whole fence!
The original point of this (I have a knack for rambling) is that I have not done anything crafty in over a year!
My poor little studio has had no love!
It's just piles of stuff, and over crowded since I moved our old leather sofa down there.
the doll was a gift from 
I spent my day off emptying and rearranging.
Everything went into my workout room, I moved my desk and 3 sets of drawers, then moved everything back in as best as I could.
Obviously, my desk still needs to be cleared off and organized. The drawers all still need organizing. And part 2 of the big clean up is to take apart and get rid of the broken treadmill in the closet of my workout room so that I can use that space as storage and open up the studio more. The space, as it is now, is not super conducive to creativity.
The main objective to cleaning the studio was to get back to my calligraphy and embroidery, and to have a space to practice some hand lettering.
Since I did not have the energy left to clear off my desk, I took my pens, paper and a couple vials of ink that I could find and played around while watching some tv, upstairs.
My friends are having a pop-up event for the business they are starting up, called Nourish, today. It is 45 minute yoga session (lead by a friend of these friends of mine), followed by 20 minute guided meditation (lead by my friend George) and ending with a family style healthy meal all prepared by my other friend Sydney (George's partner, both in business and life). I believe it is a mostly vegan meal, but I am not sure. I will not be attending, but I wanted to make them a card and donate a little money for their start up, so that is why I was practicing 'good luck'.
I love having ink on my hands.
But I wish it was easier to clean off for work the next day. Also, I wish my pens didn't leak!
