"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." ~ Dolly Parton

Despite the sun this morning, we have had an incredible amount of rain, with more in the forecast. Now, I really don't mind rainy days, but I am enjoying this little burst of blue sky!

We took a break from household things this past weekend and traveled to Vermont to visit Alex and to attend my niece's college graduation - the last of the younger set. It was wonderful to spend time with family and to enjoy beautiful Vermont. We put unpacking on hold for a few days.

You may wonder why we are still unpacking, and actually, that is at a standstill at the moment.  The tower of boxes that still sit in the garage are 75% mine. Between soaping materials and studio supplies, they remain boxed until there is a place for them to go. The plan at the moment is to build a studio shed out behind our home. We have been talking about it more seriously now that most the house is settled and there is no way around the garage until those boxes are dealt with! 

The paint for our under TV cabinet has not arrived yet, so that project is still on hold. Another mixup to deal with - curtains. We have 9 foot ceilings, which require ordering curtains rather than just going to the store and buying them. I thought that I had measured properly, but when the bedroom curtains arrived, they were (are) too short. Living-room curtains were already on the way when I discovered this, so they are now being returned and longer ones ordered. I will improvise something for the ones already hanging in the bedroom. No complaints about such minor things to deal with. 

Welcome June!

"Oops!" ~ The Both Of Us!

As we plug along with our unpacking and setting up house (will it never end, you ask?), I think that it's probably to be expected that not everything will go smoothly. Such is the case with the cabinet to go under Bruce's new TV. 

Ordered nearly two months ago, and only just delivered, the "soft, somewhat country blue" that we thought we were getting is very different from the "I belong in your Florida condo blue" that we got. So, after minimal deliberation (no, we do not want to wait another two months, and the cabinet is otherwise what we wanted), I ordered some chalk paint in a lovely "Spanish Moss" green, and hope to set to work on painting it sometime next week. The paint may or may not arrive in time for me to share some pictures next week, but I will down the line if it doesn't.

Fortunately, Bruce and I both roll with the punches pretty well with this sort of thing. We have had over a year honing our patience skills!

The picture below is similar to one that I posted to FaceBook last week. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that a tremendous storm had rolled through, blowing neighbors lawn furniture down our street, and filling the ravine behind our home with water. This past week, we had a similar, though more severe experience. I didn't realize at the time that I posted the picture of the clouds behind our home, that many homes in our area suffered severe damage. It was only the next morning, when I got texts and emails from friends elsewhere checking to see how we were, and then my trip around town, that I realized how lucky we were. It is quite amazing that no one was hurt. 

At the time, I was simply marveling at the peculiar clouds, and how I felt certain that there was a knitting pattern to be found in them. We were very fortunate.

"We are making progress, slowly, but we are making it." ~ Me

Obviously not a "moving in" picture, but connected anyhow. I have been working slowly on a simple shawl since before leaving Florida. Something mindless and good for travel. Well, I stretched it out as long as I could, and finally finished it last night at knitting. 

I have hunted and hunted in the boxes that I can reach to try to find some of my yarn stash, but it is buried too deep. Bruce has also made a valiant effort on my behalf, but neither one of us has been able to unearth what I know is a treasure trove of yarn.

Fortunately, a scarf kit that I had ordered arrived today. It will at least allow me to have something in my hands while at knitting group. That doesn't necessarily mean I will be actively knitting, but I will look the part!

Now for a bit of a housing update. It has been somewhat slow moving, but we are making progress every day. Bruce ended up returning some boxes to storage that we don't need to deal with right now, like Christmas boxes and things that we know we are going to have to get rid of. This will hopefully give us a chance to focus on only those things that need to be immediately dealt with. Also, the painting is complete! This is major as we repainted every wall but three (in the living room). Things are lighter and fresher, and most definitely more "us". We are moving along!

"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home." ~ Matsuo Basho

As promised, an update on our move -in process! We are here, furniture, boxes and all. Working on unpacking, painting and cleaning all at the same time. It is overwhelming and exciting. I should have taken a picture of our garage - wall-to-wall boxes. I told Bruce that if I just went in and out of the front door, and never went in the garage, I would think that we were in pretty good shape!

Actually, we are in pretty good shape. The lion's share of boxes are mine for studio and soaping. The soaping materials will ultimately go on shelves along the garage wall. As for the studio boxes, that will be a ways down the road. We have two bedrooms, no basement and no attic. Which all add up to no room for a studio. We have some ideas, and I'll keep you posted as those ideas develop.

While the walls in the larger bathroom were painted a color ideal for Florida, we will did not keep it. First primed, and then painted a very pale shade of blue (not the color that you see).

On our second night here, we found ourselves under a tornado watch. We have never seen such weather. As we looked out the front windows at one point, we saw two lawn chairs cartwheel down the street. When the rains had subsided, the gully behind our home was transformed into a pond. Fortunately, locally there was no serious damage. At one point Bruce mentioned that he thought that we had moved to Tully, not Kansas!

 While things are still in disarray, come quitting time each night, we are comfortable and know that progress is being made. We are home!

"No Blog This Week" ~ Me

Ok - I'm too "in upheaval" to post this week, but it's all good. It really is! Next week!