One Bright Spot

in an otherwise gloomy June. I found this baby blue jay sitting on the side porch this morning. He's a smart little thing, finding a place out of the rain. Cairo wanted to eat him, of course, so I moved him to the wisteria after taking these photos. Although he showed no fear when I got close, he was not happy when I picked him up. His adult feathers are not all grown in, but his voice is fully mature. He is able to fly several feet at a time, so I am hoping he gets better at it quickly. Our next door neighbor has a houseful of cats, and I'm sure they would love to have him for dinner.



This is the wettest June I can remember. I am not a rain person, particularly right now. Our wood floors are being redone and they just won't dry. I had hoped to move back into the house tomorrow, Clara's 21st birthday, but we're not even close. Maybe Friday, the floor guy said. That's the day the appliances were supposed to be delivered. So now we're putting that off until the following week. I am sleeping in the new basement (which is almost finished, but not quite). Even though it will someday be a nice room, right now it's not. The foundation is not completely dry, and all our belongings are piled everywhere you look. We are lucky to have the old fridge and a sink in the basement, as well as access to the mud room and new bathroom. Thank goodness we had that floor tiled.

Pete is commuting to his office on the second floor via ladder. I feel like we're living in a reversed version of Rapunzel. I call to him from outside when I need something and he throws it down to me . . . His office is connected to our spare bedroom, so he has been able to sleep there. I, of course, don't do ladders that high since my knee surgery last year, so I am in the basement with the cat and dog. Clara is sleeping on the couch in my studio, which gives her (but not me when I need to work) a bit of privacy. The studio is a mess right now, too, because I'm getting ready for a show on Saturday). We've had offers to stay from several friends and neighbors, but with a cat and dog, we don't feel we can impose.

I know we are near the end. I know I am incredibly lucky to have been able to do this renovation, but I am at the end of my tether. Tuesday was particularly bad. Pete left at 5 am for an appointment in Binghamton, NY (a 6 hour drive). I had to finish moving the last of the furniture to the front porch so the floor guys could start. The electricians were here, as were the painters. It was mayhem, and I was very close to tears. But I was saved from disintegration by Brian, one of our electrician's, who talked me back from the edge.

I am eternally grateful to all the guys who have been building our addition. They have been wonderful -- friendly, respectful, thoughtful, supportive. They find solutions to every problem (and there have been a lot of problems, thanks to an architectural firm who is not friendly, respectful, thoughtful or supportive). Although I am looking forward to the day when I no longer have to listen to the air compressor, table saw, and nail gun, I will miss all of them when they move on to their next job.

In the mean time, if the sun would shine, I could handle all of this so much better.

Home Sweet Home

This used to be my kitchen:

When we started the renovation, we had planned to keep the old kitchen intact until the new one was built. But, of course, nothing ever goes the way you want it to . . .

I had hoped to make our 24-year-old microwave last until the renovation was over, but it died in November. I bought a cheap one to replace it and that died within two weeks. So we don't have a microwave. We've ordered a new one, but it won't be coming until the construction is just about finished. I figured I'd use the toaster oven a lot, but that broke last week. So the first night without my beautiful Viking range, I cooked dinner on the wood stove in the studio. I won't be doing that again soon.


This is not a good option because we don't have outside lights in the back yard right now and by the time I carry the dinner into the house it's cold -- that's if I don't fall on the ice because I can't see where I'm going . . .

I used a newly purchased hot plate the second night. Worked much better, but having to carry the dishes upstairs to the one working bathroom is a real pain in the neck.

Last night, Paula rescued us! She invited us over for an eat-and-run dinner. It was so delicious -- shrimp cocktail and brie & crackers for starters, followed by a green salad with toasted pecans, currents, and blue cheese, baked salmon, brussel sprouts and roasted potatoes, and poached pears with chocolate for dessert. Pete and I felt revived -- by the delicious food, by Paula's clean and cozy home, and her wonderful companionship. We were able to face the rest of the night's work: painting trim, moving furniture, and cleaning the basement for the plumber. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Paula!


Tonight we're doing take out. I've packed up all the dishes and bought paper plates. The plumber is setting up our old kitchen sink in the basement as I type this, so we won't be washing our coffee cups in the bathroom after today . . . Things are definitely looking up!