Garden Ideas : Vertical, Straw, and Flower Pots

I'm beginning to THINK GARDEN so here come some of the ideas that are bopping around in my head.

You'll recognize this if you've seen the What to do with old fence sections post.

This is the idea I want to use to make a backdrop for the garden I want to have this year.

The area of my yard best suited for a garden is not tilled. Every year for I don't know how many years, one of my sisters promised to let me use her tiller to make a garden plot in my yard. Every year when the ground finally thawed enough to till I waited until she got her garden tilled first; by then it was so late I had given up on the idea. Other years I made plans that included being absent for much of the summer; naturally I couldn't plant a garden. I inevitably was home all summer after all - but hadn't planted a garden using any of my alternative plans.

This year I'm not going to fret about tilling; I'm not planning on being gone for any length of time. 

This year I'm planning on having a garden.

The picture shows, kind of, what the backdrop of my little garden will be. One difference is that instead of stars it will sport climbing pea plants, and I'm going to leave the wider spaces that my fence sections have for this project and plant the peas in dirt between the boards at the foot of the fence.

Next idea:

Yup. 

Straw bales.

Living in the middle of farm country, I'm betting I can find someone who might sell me some straw bales.

There's a procedure to follow when it comes to this, apparently. Since it doesn't require tilling I'm fine with a bit of prep work. Especially if it works!

-First you get your bales a couple of weeks before you want to plant anything in them.

-Then you get them to where you want them.

-Then you turn them so the poky sides are up and down. If you want them to retain moisture better, or if (like me) you're fretting about them falling apart halfway through the growing season, you can wrap plastic around their sides.

-Then you get some stuff called 30-3-3 fertilizer (don't ask me; I'll find out when I go shopping for it) and some dead fish (this part is an experiment; if I were you I'd just go with the fertilizer until further notice) and some potting soil or dirt of your choice.

-Then you use the water and fertilizer every other day for ten days. The bales you're going to plant tomatoes in get the dead fish in them at about the depth you're going to plant your tomatoes. If they stink, plant them deeper or hold your nose or something. I'll let you know how this goes for me when the time comes. And no, I don't think you're supposed to use canned tuna.

-Once your ten days of every-other-day watering/fertilizing are done, let the bales set for four days, to cool down a little (the water will begin their decomposing process, which produces heat).

-Then have your bedding plants, sets, seeds, or whatever you're going to plant ready to go.

-For the seeds (like carrots and spinach and beets and such), trowel a V shape in the top of their bales, fill the V with your dirt, and plant the seeds in the dirt.

-For everything else, make holes the size your individual plants or sets need, fill 'em up with your dirt, and plant your garden!

-Pray for regular rain or water the bales enough to keep them from totally drying out. Fertilize them every week or two at first. As the season progresses you can cut down on the fertilizing because the innards of the bales will be decomposing and providing their own, and the roots of your plants will be down far enough to take advantage of that.

-Now, here's something you have to keep in mind. As roots start growing they'll have a tendency to push your plants up. Push them back down as needed until the roots get down into the straw.

Me, I'm going to TRY for spuds (potatoes), onions, carrots, cabbage, beets, and tomatoes in the straw bales. Until I'm reasonably sure I can make it work there's no point in me getting too ambitious about the whole thing.

The peas will presumably climb the fence backdrop.

In front of them, at a distance (probably several feet) I'll arrange my six bales in a triangle with its base closest to the backdrop. Said fence will face east, by the way. Our morning sunshine is great; come afternoon it can be brutal. I'll post photos as we go along, once we get around to the time to start going along.

In the back bales will go the tall stuff - tomatoes, potatoes, and probably the cabbages. Four plants per bale, to be on the safe side and not crowd them too much. Next come carrots and onions. In front, the beets. 

I also have a great big flower pot (more than two feet in diameter) that I like to plant spinach in. I'll move it back to my garden so as to have everything together. The first time I planted spinach I harvested my crop when it was the size of the 'baby spinach leaves'  you buy at the store - by pulling it up by the roots - and planted a second crop since spinach grows fast. THEN somebody told me to just snip the leaves and more would grow. That significantly cut down on the number of spinach seeds I had to use.

A note on beets: the greens are incredibly good for you. IF I can manage to make this work, I'll take some from each plant as they grow - to eat in salads and to dehydrate and use in soups and hotdishes and such come next winter. I'll do the same with the spinach.

Yeah, I know it's gonna be a pretty small garden. I'm okay with that for the first year. I'm only just one person.

Come harvest time I'll have myself a feast and can what I don't eat or already have dehydrated. When it comes to canning and/or dehydrating, we have plenty of farmers' markets close by - I'll go to them for corn and beans and squash and pumpkin and stuff I don't have room (yet) to grow my own self. 

Oh ... one of the perks of using straw bales is that once I've harvested my crops I'll take what's left of the bales and put them into the place I want my 'real' garden to be, which is right near where this one is going to be. They'll continue to decompose and eventually kill the grass in my yard right there (especially if I cover their remains with black plastic) while building a right fine topsoil for said 'real' garden. The same thing will happen where the bales themselves are so it's a good thing that's where I want my 'real' garden to go.

Being as I'm not getting any younger here I'll likely build myself some frames for raised garden beds, hopefully before I get too old and feeble to do it. The composted straw bales will be a significant contributing factor to the soil for them.

That's Plan A.

Plan B, in case I can't make this work, is to hope everyone else has better luck with their gardens and buy what I want at the farmers' markets.

Either way, I'd best be stocking up on canning jars and building more shelves for them.

WINDOW TO DOOR

First you choose a window that doesn't have a radiator in front of it, more rare than you'd think in 100 year old houses.  This one is in my new kitchen, which used to be the back bedroom.  It looks out into my courtyard on the south side of the house.

In order to get the window out, you have to remove the trim and moldings.  Sounds simple enough but they only come out in a certain order, so you have to see what can come off first.  If your house is as old as mine and as well built, be prepared for a lot of humongous nails.

These are the inside moldings, holding the windows in place.

Here goes the window sill.

Finally the window frame comes loose, after a lot of cussing.

These weights, with pullies, are built into the window frames and the framing beside the windows.  They make for incredibly easy raising and lowering of the lower and upper windows.  They're also heavier than you'd think.  I didn't weigh them but they have a number seven embossed on the ones attacked to the upper windows and a number eight on the ones for the lower ones.  I'm guessing that's how much they weigh in pounds. 

I don't kow if you can read this but it's the name L. Schwartz written on the top of the window frame.  Since the name Louis Schwartz is written on other dismantled parts of the house I'm guessing that he's the one who built the place.  If he were still around I would first thank him for building such a very sturdy house and then ask him if it was REALLY NECESSARY to use so MANY very BIG NAILS. 

Here's the top parts of the pullies.  Those knots and the top part of the cords fit into the top outer edges of the windows, in a hole hollowed out in the side for the knot and a slot that the cord fits into. 

At the other end of the cords are the weights.  They have their own space alongside the window framing.

Knocking out the wall beneath the window is easier than I expected.  My skilsaw cut through the outside siding and the wooden wall with a minimum of hand-sawing at the bottom since I didn't want to make the cut past the level of where I wanted to fit the door sill.  The lath and plaster on the inside was a pain in the patoot.

Looking from the outside in, you can see through the room to the door just opposite - it has one of those windows that open up on top of it; I forget what they're called ... it'll come to me one of these days.

Here's the screen door I put in.  The heavier one will go in when the weather cools off.  For now I'm just happy to finally have gotten my door into my courtyard!  Duke likes it too. 

And yes, the trim is going back on as soon as I recuperate from the stress of it all. 

Also, a special thank you to my big sister who stood by me through the entire ordeal, cussing and all!

THEN THERE ARE THE TRENCHCOATS-RAINCOATS

I flat can NOT part with them. 

Not the black traditional one.

Not the tried and true khaki one that can go everywhere I go. 

Not the light blue one that's for light wear.

And most certainly not the purple one that I got when I decided I wanted COLOR in my life! 

I had a pinkish one too, but I already threw that one away.

So there.

SORTING AND FILING COUNT AS PROGRESS TOO!

Feeling a bit on the guilty side because I'm not roofing, or wiring, or plumbing, or yard-mowing, or branch-trimming, or moving my washing machine and dryer down to the basement, or un-burying the north end of my front porch so I can get at that big propane heater to move IT down to the basement ... among a hundred other 'major things I ought to be taking care of right this minute' ...

All I've been doing is sorting and filing my clothes on this not-so-fine day. 

It seems a little lazy compared to the rest of it. 

HOWEVER ...

I look at the divisions and have to smile. 

The OUT pile is twice the size of the KEEP pile. 

I have been RUTHLESS, I tell you.  RUTHLESS. 

I have had NO business keeping three times as many clothes as I have the space to store them. 

Do I need an entire dresser full of sweaters? 

No. 

I do not. 

OUT they go, most of them. 

And onward I go. 

The trash pick-up guys are gonna faint. 

TELL ME AGAIN EXACTLY WHY I NEED FIVE BATHROBES?

Well, you see, the thing is that the pink snuggly one goes with the pink snuggly pajamas, the white one goes with the white nighty, the pale pink one goes with the pale pink nighty, the big green terry one is my favorite when I get out of the tub or shower, and the blue one ...

Okay, the blue one can go. 

OH MY SWEET BLESS-ED LORD! WHEN DID I GET SO MANY CLOTHES?

For cryin' out loud already! 

I seem never to reach the END of them! 

There are five loads of laundry stacked in the attic hall, another three in the new kitchen, two more in the morning room (which is my dressing room) and a big bag of bedding to get washed.  One person ought not to be able to have ten loads of laundry sitting about.

Even as I'm sorting out the loads for the laundry, I'm filling bags to go OUT - and STILL it just seems to multiply!  I've long lost track of how many boxes and bags have already been disposed of, yet there's always MORE. 

What the heck. 

Remember when I decided that from now on I'm not going to buy anything unless:

1) I don't already have one of whatever it is, and
2) If I DO already have one or more of whatever it is I have to get rid of one

I've actually been DOING that, believe it or not.  It helps me not to accumulate MORE STUFF. 

Now I'm coming to the conclusion that I have to set myself limits, especially when it comes to clothes. 

Socks, for example. 

Really, how many pairs of socks does one person reasonably NEED?  I have enough to fill two good-sized dresser drawers.  Something tells me that's too many.  I only have two feet and each week only has seven days. 

It all stems from the years I was working road construction projects and was only at home maybe one day a week.  I just kept buying new socks all the time because it was easier and less time-consuming than washing and matching them. 

Hindsight tells me that I ought to have thrown the old ones away as I bought new ones (my new procedure) but did I? 

No. 

I did not. 

No wonder I have two drawers full of socks (un-matched I might add, as who in their right mind wants to sort and match two drawers full of socks?) and since I personally have no intention in this world of matching them all up I think I might just throw out the lot of them and buy myself ten pairs of new ones and STOP THERE. 

Except for the wool socks because I wear them for slippers in the winter time.  And except for the ones with toes in them because I like them.

You know, maybe I could just go through them a LITTLE and if I'm lucky I'll hit on ten pairs that match right off the bat.  Then I won't have to buy new ones. 

And THEN throw the rest AWAY. 

See, this is how my life goes. 

It's the same with tee-shirts, and tank tops, and sweaters, and jeans. 

Maybe if I start with the SOCKS the mood will carry over to the rest. 

One can hope. 

This is a sad commentary on the wastefulness of one human being. 

New Look For My Old Kitchen - A Work In Progress

This is the ktichen hutch I got from my Grandparents.  It belonged to my great-grandmother, Mary Jane McCord Branson (wife of Samuel Levi in Kansas).  There's a story that goes with it but I'll tell that another time!

This vintage kitchen range, once refurbished a bit, will go into the spot in my old kitchen that belongs to it.  Again, there's a story but it will have to come in its own good time.

PLAN A: TRUDGING ON THE ROOF

There's not much to see here I know, but a lot of hard work and sweat and anxiety went into getting it even this far!

The beginning of what will hopefully be a substantial pile of cedar.

Rubbish pile to be sorted, filed, and disposed of one way or another.

Indeed. 

Trudging right along on the path, that's me.

The east half of the roof, almost up to the south dormer, is cleared and sealed, waiting for shingles, so I AM making progress! 

More importantly, there are no drippy spots at ALL, which is a quite very good thing.  Gramps gave me some tar for the seam areas which I duly smeared on the appropriate places and it seems to be working quite well so a sincere thank you and a big hug to Gramps.

Also a sincere thank you to the uncles who brought over my mom's big scaffolding which affords a great deal more security than my small though efficient smaller version. 

I've been using brute strength and my little hand saw to remove the tree branches that get in my way more than they help as I have advanced to the top of the roof.  I break off the ones I can (brute strength, LOL) and saw off the others.  As I get the shingles into place I'll cut them further and further back.  Meanwhile, I'm still using them to steady myself up there from time to time.  There's one big branch resting on the dormer.  It will have to come all the way off, but I'm planning to tackle it in small increments beginning with its smaller branches that are at the top of the roof, my next work area.  When I get to the really big parts I'll have to fire up my chain saw, sigh. 

I'm managing to salvage some of the cedar shakes to use for art projects, but most of them will go into my chiminea or the wood stove in my old kitchen for kindling.  I'm bundling the ones that are full length, to neaten up the work area in my courtyard and for convenience when it's time for me to use them. 

Recent weeks have been slow on the financial side of things which has slowed my progress quite a bit when it comes to roof work, but it's getting there.  Slow but sure - and when it's done I won't have to worry about it ever again!

Plan A: Still Proceeding In An Orderly Fashion, Thank You Very Much !!

Okay, let's define "orderly fashion" here. 

To me, an orderly fashion includes setting some priorities. 

Although my personal priorities may not conform with what society at large may agree with, they are MY priorities. 

For example, in my own little world, the one I live in here in my Tumble Down Cottage on Main Street of Small Town USA, books and artwork are a priority.  According to most people I ought not to be sitting and reading a book when I've got plumbing and wiring to do.  According to ME, that's exactly what I ought to be doing.  The plumbing and wiring will get done, have no fear, and it will be done exceptionally well - in my own good time.  So will everything else. 

At the moment I'm multi-tasking. 

In between paragraphs, I'm painting a picture (not the recalcitrant child one; this is a different one I'm working on while that one's in Time Out to contemplate its evil ways until it agrees that I'm the boss here - it might be a long time out), putting things into place in my kitchen, sweeping the floor, telling Duke that no he can't go outside because it's the middle of the night, reading a book about Maine just before the Revolution, and working on a sculpture for one of my daughters. 

I'm also congratulating myself for the fact that there are NO boxes of stuff in 1) the dining room, 2) the kitchen (WHOO-HOO!), or 3) the bathroom.  And no it's NOT because there are boxes of stuff that go in those rooms sitting in OTHER rooms.  It's because everything is put AWAY.  Thank the Good Lord that I build sturdy shelving units! 

As I empty out the boxes I toss them (the empty boxes) into the morning room, which is getting mighty full.  Pretty soon I'm going to have to flatten out all those boxes, bind them up with baling twine, and haul them out to the dump.  I've got at least two loads of filled boxes (clothes and other burnable stuff) to haul out, so I hope the boxes flatten out well. 

In a little bit I'll head for a bath in my 100 year old clawfoot bathtub, which is in incredible shape for its age, I have to say. 

Considering it IS the middle of the night, I've been busy. 

I tell ya - I'm gonna get through this Dakota Winter in FINE shape this year!

Good thing I work the 3-11 shifts at work!

Plan A: Still Working Full Speed Ahead

I really ought to have been taking photos all along here ... sigh ... but I'm making good progress, although undocumented by pictures! 

As items find their homes, the chaos diminishes only to crop in yet another room as one begins to take shape. 

Boxes get moved from one room to another in a kind of rotation.  While I'm putting things away in one room, the boxes that don't belong there get moved to another room.  If there's no space in the room they SHOULD go into, they get moved yet again when I advance to the room they're currently in. 

Eventually they will all at least get into the rooms they'll be unpacked in.  I hope. 

Today I brought my freezer over so am now well stocked with food.  My sister helped me get it into place and then I helped her move some things from town out to her farm, so it's a wash on the helping each other thing this time. 

Also tonight I did a mite of wiring.  It was no big deal and took all of a few minutes, but what an enormous difference it makes to have a stove.  Luckily for me the new breaker box I put in some time back came with a 220 breaker.  All I had to do was hook the wiring up, and I had the 220 from before when I bought like ten times more than I needed. 

An update on the CLEANING HOUSE HERE end of things.  I've filled another five boxes of clothes I haven't worn or even looked at in years!  I've also designated another two chairs for the dump and begun filling the front porch with the stuff that will be heading for the burn pile. 

In between there's a lot more sorting and filing. 

I have a LOT of art-related supplies and need to build myself some shelves SOON so I can unpack all the boxes and get an inventory of sorts made. 

My find of the day are boxes I'd forgotten I had - filled with 100 year old cedar shakes from when part of the roof got re-done!  I salvaged them and use them to paint on.  One of these days I'll post some photos of some, but not right this minute.

Right this minute I'm whupped and am going to read and listen to some Celtic Serenity and then GO TO SLEEP!

Plan A: Gotta Love It

This is going to be wonderful. 

It already IS wonderful!

As things get put away the mountains that filled the rooms shrink and chaos subsides.

Plan A Progressing Nicely

After working a full night shift I found I was wobbling a bit by the time I got home.  I took a power nap, got some things organized, and then pulled my little pick up truck next to the side door.

Two loads of boxes later I decided it was time to use the front door, as it's much easier to access and many things won't fit through the side door route.  After a couple of trials I got pretty good at backing the tailgate of my truck smack up to the door sill!  That makes for a quick and safe loading and unloading process, which is just flat out nice. 

Anything I can get out through the front door of this house is a piece of cake getting  into the studio, as all of those doorways are plenty big and it's a straight shot into the place via the front door, front porch, foyer, inside front door, and double dining room doors (for the things that aren't staying in the front room for the time being). 

Dark comes too quickly at this time of the year or I'd still be loading and unloading.  As it is, I'm a wee bit tired but quite very pleased with the progress I made today.  I'm guess-timating that there will be at least a half dozen more trips before I've got everything moved, so it's fortunate the trips are short! 

Now it's time for supper, a good book, a long tub soak, and snuggly warm pj's and robe. 

I'll take the day off from moving tomorrow because I don't want to go in for my 3-11 shift dead tired before I even get there.  The following day ought to be one of most satisfying days of my life.

Plan A Moving Along In An Orderly Fashion

The Box Piles Grow - and I've already taken two loads over!



Excitement is tempered with dismay as I take a good look at all of the boxes and furniture that I'm going to be moving by myself.

The living room and dining room and front porch and kitchen of my 'good' house are stacked sky high with packed boxes which bury most of the furniture.

YIKES!

Then I just have to laugh at myself because after all, what the heck.  It's not like I can't DO this thing, you know. 

When the 'Buyer' officially said YES the first thing I wanted to do was start carting the boxes out to my little pick up truck and begin hauling them the half block to my studio.  I was getting ready to do just exactly that when it struck me that it was DARK outside.  It was COLD outside.  It was WINDY outside.  Plus I'd had a long day and was more tired than wired, AND a weekend of night shifts is staring me in the face.  

Through my mind meander the words, "Just do it in an orderly fashion."

There's nothing orderly about deliberately zapping my strength when I know full well I'll need every ounce of it to get through a challenging weekend.  There's nothing orderly about choosing to lug a houseful of stuff out into the cold and dark and wind when it's possible that milder days are right around the corner. 

I checked the extended forecast. 

Well skippity doo dah day, imagine that.  Next week, when I have some days OFF, is supposed to bring better weather! 

Hallelujah! 

By the end of next week I'll be happily and contentedly sorting through all my stuff, taking inventory of what I have to work with in terms of both artwork and project materials. 

And THAT, my friend, is something to look forward to!

Amid the chaos I will seek and find the quiet peace that has always pervaded that place, and it will calm me while I methodically, in an orderly fashion, battle the long dark of this coming Dakota Winter and transform chaos into tranquility. 

That's the plan.

Plan A Progress: The Contract for Deed is Ready

It's exciting and a little strange-feeling to have written another legal document. 

This one is definitely WAY less heart-wrenching than the divorce I wrote for my husband and myself lo these many years ago. 

There's a bittersweet feeling to the process and I'm having a hard time trying to define it to myself, let alone getting the words right here. 

The fact that it's basically a legal requirement means that I had it to do and so do it I have.  And it wasn't all that hard once I found one on line that I could modify to meet our specific needs.  The principles are simple and I simplified the wording without losing any of the pertinent necessities. 

Anyway, it's done.  All we have to do is take it to a Notary and sign it.  That part feels distinctly satisfying. 

In a very few hours now the 'Buyer' will be here to look at the 'Property' in the company of the 'Seller' (that would be me!) and we'll take it from there. 

If she doesn't like it after all, or chickens out, it's not really going to be a great big deal as I have Plan B all ready to roll. 

If she DOES like it and wants to go for it, we can get the 'Agreement' signed and notarized tomorrow and begin the moving!  Needless to say, that is what I'm hoping for. 

The thought of actually being able to live in my studio for the duration of this long dark Dakota Winter makes me happy.  The thought of being able to work on the projects that will turn that 100 Year Old Home into one that I will spend my later years in is exciting. 

AND, I'll have you know, I'm doing this in an ORDERLY FASHION.

Orderly Fashion Plan A

Already addressed are the preliminary phases of Plan A, namely getting my 'good' house into loving hands that will take care of it and fill it with the laughter of children, and getting my stuff and myself into my studio's serenity and peace.  And with any luck no more night shifts for me at work so my systems can settle into a regular routine that has a modicum of sense to it. 

Once that is completed, hopefully in very short order, Plan A follows its natural progression, which has been in the planning stages for a very long time. 

Basically the plan consists of modifying a 100 year old home into a wheelchair accessible one without compromising its historic integrity.  Let it be a challenge to me. 

One very positive aspect of the plan is that back in the day they built their doors wide and their floor plan is already conducive to chair mobility.  There are no unreachable built in cupboards and no carpets to contend with.  Everything's on one floor too, a serendipitous bonus.  There are laundry hookups in the basement, as well as old wash sink set (although putting in laundry facilities on the main floor will be a pretty simple task); the attic is wide open and a lift in the attic hall will allow access without interfering with the use of the hall.  It may also be possible to install a lift to provide basement access although I haven't really thought that one out all the way yet; it's just a glimmer of an idea, but having access to the entire house would certainly be an asset. 

The beauty of the place is that nothing I want to do to it will in any way change the original floor plans.  A door on the only side of the house that doesn't already have one and a doorway that wasn't there before are the only 'big' changes, and they aren't so very big.  Everything else I plan to  do will be absolutely easily reversible should anyone ever want it back the way it was. 

Plan A's immediate goal is to get me through the long dark of this coming Dakota Winter by providing me with peace and serenity as well as a challenge to my mind and body.  It is also designed to create a sense of satisfaction as the projects develop and progress. 

When I'm not at work or possessed by projects, another of the studio's characteristics will come into play. 

I don't refer to it as my studio for no good reason, you know.  There's something about it that jump-starts creativity.  It's where some of my best pieces have come to life.  It's where I found out I can sculpt a face and still not be able to draw or paint the same face - go figure.  Although I have found that I CAN produce fairly reasonable pieces in other places, I can't WAIT to get back in there and see what's waiting for me to find it!  The anticipation and excitement are heady, a real strength in Plan A.

Wry chuckle ... the pieces that don't turn out to my satisfaction I can just burn in my wood stove and nobody will ever know they even existed! 

There's enough sorting and filing to keep me busy for a good long time, just getting everything situated. 

Then will come the floor treatments, the wall and ceiling treatments, the window treatments. 

Then will come the building of accessible work counters and cupboards as the money accumulates to finance them.  The plans are already done so it's just a matter of doing the building. 

Also on the list is getting my double stainless steel sink set in and plumbed, as well as a walk in shower for the plumbing to-do list. 

Eventually I'm going to want a counter cooktop, but for the time being my regular stove will do fine.  For that matter the little wood stove would do fine for cooking purposes.  I also have table top burners, microwaves, and a big roaster oven so I don't even really need the stove at all but I'll put it in anyway.  The cold cupboard works great during the long dark of Dakota Winters for a refrigerator/freezer, but I'll put the ones I have in anyway. 

IF everything works out and Plan A is a go, by next spring most of the inside projects will be either done or well under way and I can leave them alone and get busy on the outside ones during the most wonderful part of the Dakota Year.  I will be in hog heaven while I'm finishing the roofing, getting the new door put in, and building ramps and decks in between working my 3-11 shifts. 

Having something to look forward to is as important as seeing progress on what you're working on. 

One of the outside projects I want to get under way is building a rock garage for my little pick up truck.  Heaven knows there are plenty of rock piles around that nobody would object to me robbing.  It doesn't have to be a very big garage.  Besides hopefully serving its purpose when I get it done, it will be good practice for a bigger project I have in mind - but that's a part of Plan B so I'm not going to get into it quite yet! 

Plan A, implemented in a duly orderly fashion, will keep me busy enough for quite long enough to get me through the next year!

Go About It In An Orderly Fashion

I ran into a dear friend at the post office and asked him if he thinks I'm too old to have a life, as in a REAL life, not just a job and home, work and sleep, ad nauseum. 

As we walked to our respective vehicles on packed snow and ice, I told him, "I think I want to expand my horizons, you know?"

He responded that he thought that was a great idea, paused as he was getting into his vehicle, and added, "Just go about it in an orderly fashion!" 

I answered, "Well you know me!  I always do!" and let go with a big belly laugh because he does know me and I NEVER do, apparently. 

Even so, there is almost always a method to my madness, which I cleverly conceal behind seemingly random and irrational behaviors. 

For instance, at the moment I am in the process of essentially giving away my 'good' house so that I can move half a block away into my 'tumble down cottage', which is quite truthfully a literal wreck of a place.  It's one of those apparently irrational behaviors that reinforce the idea that I am indeed a bonified lunatic. 

Explaining the method behind this madness here on my blog is not likely to blow my cover, as nobody even knows about it, let alone reads it! 

Nobody knows about me giving my house away except a few people at work (one of whom is the buyer) and none of them are confidants of any of my family or people who know me here in my Small Town USA.  The first indication they'll have is when they see my furniture being carted halfway down the block to my studio and the buyer's furniture being carted across the street into my house.  Since all three places are right on Main Street in the first block as you come into town, it's likely to be noticed by all and sundry.  We might get a couple of comments but more people will just shake their heads, maybe smile, and drive on by.  That's just the way it is.  People get used to the strangest things around here and don't bother themselves about it. 

As for the method behind the madness, to get back to the point here, that has to do with being ready, willing, and able to do whatever it takes to get through a Dakota Winter. 

In this case, the factor under consideration is 'happiness'. 

If I'm going to make it through this Dakota Winter intact I'm going to need every vestive of an edge that I can find and hang on to.  For me, the peace and serenity that envelopes me at my studio is more than a vestige of an edge; it's vital, a necessity.  I barely made it through the last couple of winters.  The prospect of this one frightens me in an elemental way.  The long dark of a Dakota Winter must be countered with something more powerful than a listless and vague hope for survival.  While the instinct for survival is a force in and of itself, it is not undauntable.  Dakota Winters are bloody well DAUNTING. 

Happiness is perhaps the most powerful weapon at our disposal with which to battle forces beyond our control.  Part of my edge right now is knowing what I need to do and, perhaps more important, the ability to DO it.  The studio is haunted; I'd much rather be haunted than daunted, so part of Plan A is for me to put that haunting to good use and exorcise the daunting darkness of this Dakota Winter.  That's the happiness factor. 

It's not that I'm UNhappy here at my 'good' house.  It's that I'm MORE COMPLETELY happy at my studio, and I'm going to be needing that feeling of serenity with which the studio is haunted.  It's a tool I want, and need, to put to use this winter. 

Hence giving my 'good' house away to a young mother with two little ones.  I was in her boat once upon a time and God saw fit to bless my little family with a home of our own - the studio.  I've kept it all these years, empty for a good many of them, and perhaps this is the reason.  Perhaps it's another turn of the wheel as things come full circle.  Who am I to question the mysterious ways of things?  All I know is that it feels right, it feels good, and that's enough to guide me. 

There are other parts of Plan A which are also parts of every other plan of any letter of the alphabet.  These are the tea and vitamins, sleep and eat patterns, using my brain (what's left of it) to the best of my ability, etc. 

The thing is that all the parts have to fit together right or nothing will work right. 

The factor that concerns me at the moment is the sleep/eat factor. 

Because I have to work some nights at my job, and 3-11 pm on other days, my systems are all mixed up.  I can't do nights only (which would presumably provide a stable schedule) because I can't get my systems to settle into that schedule.  For months I tried doing nights only.  It didn't work.  The schedule person at work then finally gave me SOME 3-11 shifts, but with the nights still mixed into the equation.  That definitely does NOT work.  My systems are so screwed up and confused I can't think straight half the time and the other half of the time I'm either sleeping or feel comatose. 

I hate to be the one to break the news here, but THAT is not LIFE.  It's barely survival.  If I've been barely surviving my scheudule during the good part of the Dakota year, what does that say about my chances during the long dark of a Dakota Winter? 

See what I mean? 

As soon as my friend with the little ones says the word (the word is 'yes'), I can get my things and myself moved, removing that stressor completely from the equation and replacing it with its antithesis.  Out with worry and stress, in with peace and serenity - for both of us as a matter of fact.  Well, I'm not sure how much peace and serenity she's liable to have with two little kids running around, but they're darned sure to enjoy the running room and playing room.  At any rate, both of us will be getting what we want and what else really matters?  It's a win-win. 

As soon as I'm sure this house is going into caring and loving hands, and my stuff and I are securely settled in the studio, I can address the work schedule issue. 

It may well be that the happiness factor of the studio will balance the negative of the schedule.  Plus the fact that I do have a Plan B ready to implement on a moment's notice may well provide the needed incentive for the scheduling person to get me off nights, in which case Plan A will work wonderfully well. 

At this point I'm willing to give it my best shot, with the stipulation that if my best shot proves to be insufficient I'll go immediately to Plan B. 

So that's where it stands at the moment.  The next few days will have a lot to say I believe. 

If that's not an orderly fashion I don't know what is.