Riding the motorcycle on the freeway this morning reminded me that I don't have a current will or health care directive. I'm not exactly scared, but I sure feel like I have to stay alert the whole time we're underway (which I do). It's a good exercise in overcoming yet one more thing that causes me anxiety.

Speaking of anxiety, I'm staying in tonight, cranking the music and sewing in the basement. I don't need mosquitoes and fireworks.

Ooooh! I might get to go to CONvergence after all :) Just maybe, but enough of a possibility to make me excited. Even if I don't go, it will be a good weekend. Plenty to do around here to keep me busy.

I'm sitting out on the front steps because I can't get wireless reception in the house today. And, I see an flying ant fly to the corner of the step I'm sitting on and disappear. Gotta go investigate, because I'm a curious kid, and I find a hole in the mortar between the concrete step and the brick wall. Damn. We've had flying ants get into the basement in that part of the house before. Much as I like to be green and all that, I hate having ants get in the house. We used to do yearly battles with pepper sauce, dishsoap, bleach and Terro, not to mention dumping boiling water on the nests outside near the house. I've had the exterminators out once or twice to do the outside perimeter of the house. Now, I'm seeing more of them fly in and one fly out. I wonder what I have on hand that I can spray in there to get ride of them. I'm afraid that if I just seal up the hole, they'll find another way out, probably into the house.

R and I went to the Art Festival this afternoon and walked around for an hour or two. I didn't see anything I REALLY wanted, so I came home without spending any money. One of these years, I'm going to get a big, boldly painted metal flower to stand in my garden. Or a little ceramic fairy house. But not the tea set windchimes. I like the peace and quiet I get here. Perhaps it was the overcast weather, but the general atmosphere of the place was a bit subdued, and undercrowded. It started to mist when we were near the end and I was fondly reminded of a walk I took in Hamburg, Germany in a heavy mist, way back in 1983. Just now, it's started raining harder. We timed that well :)

The shop is finished and I moved everything back in today. The living room is now cleared for living, all the lint vacuumed up and furniture in place. There's still a little arranging to do of various piles of fabric and odds & ends, but I really have a functional shop!

I'll think about posting pics, or just visit if you want to see for yourself. One of my friends spent most of yesterday doing some sewing of her own here. Hooray for collaborative spaces :)

Shop is painted! Now I'm debating whether to start putting the oak trim up today, or tomorrow when I have help. Hmmm. Tomorrow it is.

I did something stooopid, but not sure I want to admit it, since I think it's fixed.

A friend of my family died last week. I just found out today- ran into a mutual friend at the coffee shop at lunch time. Cary was 48. He and his wife entrusted me to care for their son when she went back to work. The son and Tiger are the same age and he was at our house 3 days a week from age 2 until starting first grade. They are one of those families that seems so together - a happy couple, a bright active kid, well employed, respected in the church and secular community. I am so sad. I haven't seen much of them the past few years, but they were so supportive of my family when mom was dying, and I wish I could do something significant for them now.

The cork flooring is getting installed today. Good bye to standing on concrete floors while I work. I want to paint before moving everything back in, so if anyone wants to come over and help this weekend/next week, please let me know.

The new wall is insulated and sheetrocked, the ceiling is sheetrocked, and tomorrow the new door gets hung and taping and mudding begin. Yippee!

My iron crapped out over the weekend. I knew it would happen eventually, but the timing is kinda coincidental with all the other upgrades happening. I had to spend a few bucks, but I found a top-of-the-line iron with great steam, and no auto-shutoff. It's heavier than my old one, but ever so much better. Now I just have to get used to using it.

This week's assignment? 45 peasant skirts. No extra orders this week, since we're going to be gone for the weekend.

I've raided the neighbors yard and came home with about 5 pounds of rhubarb. It's all cut up and in the fridge awaiting requests to bake it into pies or crisps, cook it into sauce, etc. Welshbard has first priority on the current batch. I'll go pick more once I get this used up.