A Room of My Own

I'm in the home stretch now...just two more weeks of classes left, a few days of performance exams, a little tidying up to do in the studio and then my days will mostly be my own. I can hardly wait!

As summer approaches our list of projects grows. We're up to two solid pages already. Projects range from landscaping the front yard, to staining the deck, along with major demolition and partial wall removal. There's also indoor painting, wallpaper removal and expanding the vegetable garden (including putting in a new fence). At this point I'd like to "lose" this list and reprioritize with a new and improved version that looks something like this:

• Sit and contemplate my belly button for at least an hour every day
• Linger over dinner, leave dishes in the sink, sit on the porch and listen to the peepers til after midnight
• Have friends over for dinner once a week
• See at least one movie a week
• Read a book (or 25 books for that matter)
• Hang out at the Farmer's Market over coffee and take in the music and the breeze off the lake
• Attend those amazing free outdoor concerts on the Commons and at Cornell
• Lose some weight (oh rats, wrong list)
• Take Ken to see the Andy Goldsworthy wall at Storm King
• Make regular trips to NYC and Philly
• Work on my old time music skills and find friends to play with
• Learn how to enjoy practicing again
  

I'm liking this version of the summer better already.

The other thing that has me very excited personally is that we're starting to talk about finding me my very own "room of my own" practice shed/hut/retreat. I've longed for decades for a dedicated practice/teaching space separate from the house. I also want a tree house and a pony, but that's another post all together.

In my mind this space will be cozy, light and airy, a magical place of contemplation and inspiration. In my dreams it looks something like this
Of course a little porch, a sleeping loft and a skylight or two would make it even more perfect. A good wireless connection is a must and now that I think of it, it'll probably need indoor plumbing too. Really I should just stop all of this, I'm setting myself up for major disappointment.

I wonder if this little number is in our budget...

Sadly I'm pretty sure this one is...

We passed on several fantastic looking auctions this week in an effort to try and make it through the ever expanding piles of stuff that need to be prepared for listing or taking to our booth at the antique center. It was like archeology - we found some ancient things we'd purchased a year ago!!

Here's what we're up against (brace yourself, this is just one room's worth)