Of Paint, Pixies and Epiphanies ~ Part 3

 Hubby is heading back to school this Spring for his final semester at the local community college even though he has already received his degree in Computer Geekery. Hubby will be taking courses to complete his certification in several Computer Specialties, one of which is Computer Forensics. His graduation ceremony will be in May and then he will be heading back to Colorado for work (our sons live there). If I am able to locate a rental property by that time, then I will be heading back with him. We're planning on putting our house up For Sale in March. Anyone interested??

So many things to hope for....that Hubby finds a good job. That I'm able to find a place to rent that is pet friendly. And that our house sells quickly (and we get a decent price for it). Once our house sells then we can begin looking for a house to buy.

The last two years have been a test in patience and perseverance. We have learned to be frugal and appreciate the everyday joys that have come our way. We've also learned to have Faith in the Universe that everything would work out.
 Optimism has not always been our friend. And there have been times when the dark clouds loomed and threatened to overwhelm. But a kind word, an email or a phone call from someone dear would always happen along at the right time to push the clouds away and bring back the sun.

And speaking of sun.... I am looking forward to getting back to Colorado where the Winter's are sunny. I have missed the sunshine that the state of Colorado basks in. Winter's here in the South have a tendency to be cloudy. Too cloudy for my tastes! And I have to admit that I do miss seeing the snow. And there is snow in them thar hills of Colorado in the winter! I miss the silence that can be heard in a snowfall. I miss the beauty of a landscape draped in white.

So, I am warning you now. I may get a bit introspective over the next few months - pondering this strange journey we've had living in the South.

And sometime in the not so distant future, I will be having a giveaway. I see that I am approaching the number 300. That's 300 people who have chosen to join me in this strange and wonderful corner of Blogland. And I have enjoyed getting to know you all!

300 Friendly Folks stopping by for visits ..... Boy, that's sure a lot of muffins (and crumbs!) and tea!

Of Paint, Pixies and Epiphanies ~ Part 2

As I rambled on about in the last post, prepping the house for sale and mundane daily chores have been consuming most of my time and I have been away from my creative corner
for far too long .......

In fact my corner has become overwhelmed with plants and things that need to be organized and integrated into my studio supplies - which happen to all be packed!  You see, my studio used to be upstairs, but I relocated it downstairs several winters ago because it was easier to keep tabs on the dogs, the cats, Hubby.....  I left the majority of my supplies upstairs and would just 'run up' and get whatever I needed. When I started packing, I figured I would go ahead and pack up everything that was still upstairs to get ahead of the curve (so to speak...).
Well, now I am wanting to get back into the creative mode and need some of those supplies. {So much for planning ahead!} So I guess I will carry the boxes downstairs and reorganize my creative corner.

And I am doing this because there are some Faeries that are screaming to be let out! They have been trapped in my sketchbook for quite some time now and they are threatening a revolt if I don't let them come into existence! Oh My!! 
What Persistent Pixies they are!

And because I have had Faery (and houses) on the brain of late, our weekly Sunday Art visits this month will be to Fairytale Houses, Furniture for those houses, and even some cool Garden adornments for those Fairytale Gardens.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I have a mouse in my kitchen! In a household with 6 cats, I have a mouse!
I sat the gang down (okay, half the gang - you know how hard it is to get employees to attend those company meetings! I shoulda promised 'em some tuna!)

and had a talk with them about responsibilities, job descriptions, and such. Unfortunately the meeting kinda dragged on and some of the attendees fell asleep!

Epiphany #2

I just realized that this guy, who has been hanging on my kitchen wall for the last 4 years, is Krampus! DUH!

Stay tuned for the next post. I really will talk about Winter this time and pass on our plans for the future.

Of Paint, Pixies and Epiphanies ~ Part 1

Before I get inspired with thoughts and lead you through several pages of what-fors & how-comes, I want to introduce to you my Hubby, THE GRADUATE!

He completed his degree in Computer Geekery in December. Hubby achieved another straight A semester. He graduated with highest honors (straight A's every class every semester). 

Woo Hoo!! 

Congrats Honey! I'm so proud of you! ♥  

{more on the graduation ceremony & plans for the future in a future post!}

Okay, Now back to all those what-fors ......

It seems that painting and packing and mundane daily chores have consumed most of my time of late......
I started painting the outside trim of our house in August. Then began painting  inside when the weather turned cold. You'd think I'd be done by now. But when you have 3800 sq. ft. of house, there's a lot of acreage to cover with a paint brush!

Fortunately for me, we live in an unpainted cinder block house which has paneling on the interior walls. So most of what I have to paint is ceilings. I just finished the bathroom. And what a difference a gallon of paint will make! This is the bathroom before the paint job...

Bathroom BEFORE

And this the same bathroom after a coat of paint....

Bathroom After

I used a color of paint called Swan Grey to pull the wall color, counter color, and floor tile color all together. I think it turned out really great! 

The next project is the dining room ceiling and then into the kitchen. But before I start any painting in a room, I will  pack it up. It's so much easier to paint a room that is almost bare than one filled with 'stuff'. And we had our share of 'stuff' -
 3800 sq ft of house + owning an antique business = LOTS of stuff!
But we have been thinning out our 'stuff' since we made the decision to move, so the packing is going fairly quickly.

And the Black Walnut Tree has now almost totally disappeared from the yard. A local man cut it up for next year's firewood.

He did give me these two lovely pieces. I plan on using them as tables when they are dry. And once the stump is out of the ground, it will be trimmed and turned into a table base.

And the bright side of the tree falling over is that a swamp rose I have in that section of the yard will now receive more sunshine and thus have more blooms.

My daughter-in-law Tracy found the grandest book for me for Christmas - Fairies and Elves. 

It is part of The Enchanted World series. 

MOST AWESOME! Thank You Tracy!  {{HUGS!}}

And for the 1st Epiphany ~

NEVER brush the dogs with your gloves on!

Stayed tuned! Tomorrow I'll ramble on more about Pixies, Winter, and another Epiphany.