Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

I finally did it. I took a deep breath and said just do it. So I drew out a wad of money and got my fireplace the way I really wanted it: with a wood-burning fireplace insert. A year and a half ago, I had a vent-free gas insert installed. I liked it, but it just wasn't what I really wanted. I figure I only get one go at this thing called life -- there are no dress rehearsals -- so I decided to remove the vent-free gas insert and go with a woodstove. I had initially planned to do a free-standing woodstove and tile the firebox a really pretty pattern, but that plan just wasn't going to work out. The chimney needed work I wasn't going to be able to do. So I called in the professionals, and after discussing the issue with them, they got me all set up. The work took about five and a half hours, and I enjoyed watching the entire process. I think the coolest part was looking up into the chimney after it was cleaned. All the nasty was gone. I could see the red brick instead of blac...

   

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been able to make lots of progress on the stairwell to the basement. It was just a shell, basically nothing more than the frame and outside walls and roof. My vision was to put in insulation then cover that with plywood, which would give me a much more functional space. Sometimes when I see a space that's not being used for anything I get a little verklempt. Unused space is a waste.  So I went to work and this is what I now have (yes, I totally neglected to do before pictures). I'm able to hang a lot of my garden tools in this space, freeing up area in the garage. I'm thinking I might also hang my bike here, moving it out of the guest bedroom. I'm so loving having this space be functional. And the doors. Painting them then hanging them to replace the awful doors is like the icing on the cake. A few weeks ago, I guess more like a month ago now, my brother and sister-in-law stopped by on their way home from visiting their daughter i...

My summer is well underway, and so far I'm enjoying each and every minute. I really am very fortunate. Not many can say they get their summers off to pursue all kinds of fun things, so I am very thankful I am one of the lucky few who can.  Speaking of being thankful . . . I've fallen into the habit of saying thank you nearly every day to whatever it is that's out there watching over all of us. And I've noticed when I utter the words Thank you, a warm sense of wellbeing just washes through me. I was told recently that my living out here in this house has brought out the happy in me, that the happy is quite evident in the way I look, the way I talk, the way I am.  Yes, I am very happy. Along with the happy is being content. I'm incredibly content. I don't think I've ever really known what this feels like, what this means, until being out here in this wonderful little house. Speaking of wonderful little house . . . the painting is moving along. The base color ...

Another magical moment happened at 2:30 am. I woke up, which I do a lot during the night these days because Ado is up and down all night, his nails click-clicking against the hardwood floors. He meanders out to the living room, down the hall to the second bedroom, then back. This happens three or four times a night. I'm going to have to start closing the bedroom door to keep him confined. I know why he's doing it, too. He's mad at me because I bought a new bedframe, and the mattress is now too high off the floor for him to just step up onto. He's too lazy to jump up on the bed with me, so instead he wanders around the house, nails click-clicking against the hardwood floor. So I was awake at 2:30. Through the lace curtains I could see Jupiter and Saturn. A few minutes later, the half moon peeked above the trees across the street. It had a hazy rainbow ring around it. I got up to part the curtains for a better look. Seeing all the stars, planets, and the moon never ge...