1. I'm grateful for the house I'm now living in.
2. I'm grateful for the books I have to read.
3. I'm grateful for my friends, both online and IRL.
4. I'm grateful for my vision and hearing.
5. I'm grateful that I own a Bible.
Plan for the day:
1. Organize the back of the van.
2. Painting red flowers on green canvas paper.
3. Journaling in a pink Leuchtturm 1917, in ink; topic: what good am I, to anyone?
4. Cutting down some weeds.
5. Blessing the land I live on, with prayer.
Currently reading:
1. Perestroika in Paris, by Jane Smiley
2. Brave Intuitive Painting, by Flora S. Bowley
3. The World of Urban Sketching, by Stephanie Bower
4. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
5. One of my old journals (transcribing)
6. The Bible: Genesis 37, Psalm 71, Romans 15, 1 Corinthians 1.
Here's how my day is going:
Prior to taking my shower I researched folk art and hay fever. There's no time like the present for finding out more about how life works. I found out my antihistimine, Zyrtec, is approved for daily use, for people like me with allergies that never stop. I usually take Zyrtec just before sleeping because there's nothing more disturbing than waking up with a hay fever attack in the middle of the night. I don't need that kind of distress. However I've also discovered that Zyrtec can cause drowsiness which kind of explains my frequent napping as of late - two or three naps a day. That's too much. I'm 72 and don't think there's anything wrong with a nap at my age but when I spend most of the day napping, I feel robbed of my daylight waking hours!
Retrospective:
My lost time on this blog includes the entire last year and a little more. So let me catch you up on how my life is going. In May of 2023 when I last posted I was still living in a 30' travel trailer borrowed from the local tribe of Native Americans. Nice trailer, and I did my best to keep it nice though I lived in it for three years: 12/2020 to 12/2023. The man who picked it up was obviously surprised when he entered it because it looked nearly new still, at first glance. I've heard many if not most of the other trailers he recovered for the tribe were totally trashed inside. Sad but true. Travel trailers are not built to be lived in long term. Many people in my community got these borrowed trailers because our homes burned in a 2020 forest fire. The tribe didn't want half the community to move away from our small town because we were suddenly homeless.
I applied for help from a housing grant and in August 2023 building commenced on a two bedroom home here on my property. Or was it in September? I can't quite recall. Anyhow, from then until late December I had builders on this property and the happy result is a pretty green two-bedroom fire-recovery home. Two bedrooms are plenty for me. I have a room for sleeping and a room for art-making that I call my day room, and a great room with a kitchen in the corner, and two bathrooms and a laundry room. What old single woman could need anything more? I also have my 10x12 shed out back. It holds everything I don't want to put into the house. I like that. It helps keep the house uncluttered.
The builders finished and occupancy was approved by the county on December 21. I was able to move into my new home right before Christmas!
Living in a house again has been wonderful and amazing for me. My art is blossoming. I'm getting a lot of reading done. Furnishing has been a problem but recently my brother brought me my mom's dining table and chairs, so I really do have plenty. My reading chair is a plastic Adirondack chair with padding. Quite comfortable, really.
So, I don't know why I quit writing on this blog last year. I think things just got to be "too much" for me and there was some depression going on during the final stretch of trailer living. House living is so much better for me.
I've created a lot of new art since I moved into the house. Here's what my art studio (in the day room) looks like today.
No comments:
Post a Comment