ROOF INTERIOR

Here's a photo I took through the attic hatch door to show my sister how come I'm not finding any antique high chairs with built in potties or any other fascinating stuff under MY roof!  It's all just one big wide open attic!

POPPIES!



The flowers never last as long as we want them to, sigh ... !  But they're beautiful during their short lives!

DUKE FROLICS IN THE BACK YARD

Hey Duke!

Go THAT way!

Swing arm.

Duke goes that way.

And again.

And then the other way.

It's good for him.



IVY OVER NORTH DOOR

This grape ivy is making a comeback over the north door of my Studio House!  When we first looked at the house, WAY back in the day, my children and I didn't even realize a door was under there!  I have a plan for this side of the house; implementation may take a good while, but once it's complete it's going to be GREAT!  Just you wait and see!  And yes it involves the ivy.

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.

MY ARTWORK AT MY SISTER'S SHOP

Here's a sampling of some of my work that may be showing up in my sister's shop:

My sister has opened up a small shop called 'Close to Home' at the edge of our little town, and some of my artwork will be finding a home there. 

Right now it's mostly a binder of rough cut small peices done over the course of the years and tucked away just because I wanted to keep them. 

A couple of bigger pieces, the Wolf and Raven silhouette and my Carnival Life, are there as well.

I had a very few cedar shake skyscape/silhouette pieces but they need finishing up work so they're home with me. 

Also still at home with me but slated for development are lots of photos.  They will be used in any number of ways:  postcards, greeting cards, prints of different sizes, posters, backgrounds for personal silhouettes, etc.  I've gotten most of the photos sorted out according to general location (i.e. Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado) and have chosen groupings within those categories as well, so there's been at least a LITTLE progress on that front! 

As the seasons will be changing (as they always do in this neck of the non-woods) there will be new photos to add to the collection, and new directions for the developments to take.  I'm looking forward to working on the seasonal projects!

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!