Next Steps

Another week has begun and the renovation mode continues into our fourth week.

Today, Doug is painting the washroom and the kitchen... after diligently preparing them!

The interior doors just arrived and are now sitting in the hallway.  Geoffrey gingerly walks around everything and I know he is looking forward to coming home next week from his extra long weekend to doors on, the washroom and kitchen in full use again... well maybe.  I must say though that he has been a fairly obliging camper once he realized that the renovation would not happen 'overnight'.

The kitchen cabinets and perhaps the doors are to be done this week - baseboards, not sure about! Then there are the halls to paint and hopefully we will have the stamina to paint the dining room and living room...  so looking forward to lighter walls.

Anyway - last Friday resulted in this! The floors were finally finished.

But -  the dining room looks like this!! - well we have tidied up the empty boxes - love the way the laminate tiles worked out and look forward to a freshly painted kitchen and dining room. Time for the brown walls to go.....

"In Praise of the Earth"

I just needed to 'get out' of the house and into the open spaces this evening so I drove south of the city and found these interesting clouds.  Since it is the Summer Solstice, and a good time to consider the space that joins earth to sky, I've also included John O'Donohue's In Praise of the Earth.

Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth,
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.

And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.

When the ages of ice came
And sealed the Earth inside
An endless coma of cold,
The heart of the Earth held hope,
Storing fragments of memory,
Ready for the return of the sun.

Let us thank the Earth
That offers ground for home
And holds our feet firm
To walk in space open
To infinite galaxies.

Let us salute the silence
And certainty of mountains:
Their sublime stillness,
Their dream-filled hearts.

The wonder of a garden
Trusting the first warmth of spring
Until its black infinity of cells
Becomes charged with dream;
Then the silent, slow nurture
Of the seed's self, coaxing it
To trust the act of death.

The humility of the Earth
That transfigures all
That has fallen
Of outlived growth.

The kindness of the Earth,
Opening to receive
Our worn forms
Into the final stillness.

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth
For all our sins against her:
For our violence and poisonings
Of her beauty.

Let us remember within us
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the wind,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken,
To live to the full
The dream of the Earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit, and light.

Bit by Bit

Renovate:  meaning "to make new"

Bit by Bit:  meaning "by the smallest degree"

 

Renovations are progressing gradually - but they are moving ahead!!

This is an incredibly big step for us having lived in this house about 18 years and only doing some minimal repairs and painting.  As well, like most people told us from the beginning, renovations grow.  And I'm afraid it has grown a little but we are still trying to keep things under control.

Progress today: the cabinet maker stalled as the floor needs to be installed before the edge cabinet support by the fridge can be completed.  

But we love the green soapstone colour of the counter top and the cabinet colour seems to bring new life and warmth to the space.

Tomorrow the sub-floor and who knows, perhaps the laminate or washroom vinyl will be laid?? The laundry basket is getting rather full.

 

 

All this to say we have at least one more week camping out in the living room making meal treks to the fridge in the dining room, heating food up in the microwave, and trudging upstairs to wash dishes.

But, no need to complain... as we are on the other side of the "pulling apart" stage - although Doug is talking about changing the interior doors now as well! ... and are moving into the "new" stage.

Meanwhile, as a result of Molly's suggestion and Michelle's encouragement I am looking for an interesting thought or quote or, perhaps a blessing,  to insert in the wall behind the washroom medicine cabinet.  :) 
 

Stone

Stone

 

Stone reminds me of “forever.”  

I had to think about "stones" for a retreat I was on lately so before I went here are a few thoughts I came up with.

I love the feel of it as much as the sight of it… I remember searching for perfectly round or oblong river stones when we were kids, skipping flat stones at the lake, picking up and examining the stones that shone most brightly from the stream beds and marveling at the absolutely white stones.  I brought lava stone home from Ethiopia. I wandered along a low stone wall on a mountain in Norway. I think it was to separate sheep pastures.

I love the stone path in our backyard.  I love that violets work their way into the stones and find what they need to grow, and I love how the stones shine after a rain.

I just realized that in our house renovations, which are presently in the drywall repair stage, we have chosen a stone patterned vinyl for the washroom, laminate flooring with slate look tiles, a green soapstone laminate countertop, and stone tiles for the kitchen backsplash.

 I am drawn to Cathedrals, Abbey’s, ruins, almost anything built with stone…. cobblestones, river stone, clay bricks!!

This is a painting of Dryburgh Abbey in Scotland painted from a photo taken by a friend. It is "almost done" but needs to be set aside for a few days...

Here are a few photos of stones and stone ‘structures’ which I have taken lately.

renovations....

I was thinking of "developments" - "transitions" - perhaps "time for a change" but quite frankly the truth is it's time for "renovations".... yes, they have begun in earnest!!

After a short consultation I retreated to my 'workroom' and two young fellows got on with the demolition.  There was a lot of banging and many loads out to a large trailer parked in front.  Several layers of flooring, cupboards, the sinks, some of a wall, etc. have gone - and we are living rather haphazardly at the moment. 

When Geoffrey woke -  from a disturbed sleep, I'm sure -  he asked about breakfast, then walked out the door and came back later with coffee and food for his lunch as well!

When Doug finally got home about 4 he checked the progress and then we got on our Vespas and headed to the Roastery for coffee!

I was intrigued by this former wallpaper that was hidden behind a set of cupboards... I love many colours of green and I like flowers but this design makes me think more of material than wallpaper.  Not bad, but not sure I could have lived with it happily for very long....  I wonder if many years from now when someone pulls 'our' kitchen apart they will say the same thing:)

A few days away...

I spent a wonderful 3 days away at St. Michael's Retreat Center, Lumsden and found this beautiful bird flitting amongst the trees.  They move so quickly it is difficult to find them paused long enough to get a photo!

Below, some always beautiful lilacs which may have been planted by former residents - farmers/ homesteaders - as they were back in the trees. 

I think of these

inside  & outside paths as leading to a sense of mystery. 

The one on the left is the outer circle which surrounds the inner sanctuary - the heart of St. Michael's.  

The path on the right  leads towards an open vista of the valley below and the hills beyond. 

Both may be experienced as paths to the beautiful and contemplative.

Stop, look, and listen to life...

“Literature, painting, music – the most basic lesson that all art teaches us is to stop, look, and listen to life on this planet, including our own lives, as a vastly richer, deeper, more mysterious business than most of the time it ever occurs to us to suspect as we bumble along from day to day on automatic pilot.  In a world that for the most part steers clear of the whole idea of holiness, art is one of the few places left where we can speak to each other of holy things.”

Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

“Creativity is a way of living life – no matter what our vocation, or how we earn our living… The creator is not afraid to leap over the ‘accidental fences’ and to plunge into the deep waters of creation.  There once again, and in yet another way we lose ourselves to find ourselves…”

Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water

On May 3rd I began this painting of the Peony - and today, I've finally finished after many hours. As I've said before, "There comes a time to say, enough!"  

That doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the painting, or that it couldn't be improved upon, or indeed that it couldn't have been painted in an entirely different manner - it just means, simply, enough... time to let it go:)

A painting such as this is for me meditative. It takes hours of quiet, steady, pondering time.  I work in silence mostly.  I lose myself in a strange way.  There is a point when there is absolute dread and fear and the decision needs to be made -  to throw it away in despair or move on in faith.  I hope that by moving on with it I have learned more of myself, my art, and of my life.