Progress

The grand purge and reorg of our upstairs continues today and hopefully finishes tomorrow.

Before...

and mid-way through.

 

At least now we can get to the window to get the AC in.

I'd like a week's vacation now, please.

Independence Day

On July 3rd I moved the last of my belongings out of my studio up on the hill in the Ivory Tower. 

I snapped this pic on the computer just before I wiped it clean and shut it off for good.

 Learning to live on less has been a lesson in simplicity, gratitude and patience. 

There are no regrets. I am finally free.

Antique Gods

What?! You're going away AGAIN?

I'll just sit here on the bag that holds our phone chargers. That way you'll change your mind and stay home where you belong...

On-site auctions are always such an adventure and I really wish I could've scored a shot or two from our most recent one. The house and the EIGHT CAR garage were full (yes, EIGHT CAR). There were boxes and boxes and boxes piled high and deep over an at least an acre of backyard and there were two auctioneers at once standing practically shoulder to shoulder. One on one row and the other on the next. I'd never heard anything quite like it. It was like listening to an Ives symphony at full volume with headphones on. I couldn't tell if I was coming or going, and though I'm pretty good at understanding auctionese, I had a tough time keeping up with both of them and lost out on a few coveted things in the process. Fortunately there was plenty to go around! We were full up and loaded by 4pm when the auction ended.

Dinner at the Quaker Steak and Lube was almost as entertaining as the auction and just as loud.

 

It's a racing/biker/sensory overload joint with a menu the size of Texas and all manner of large two and four-wheel things suspended mid-air, directly over your table. Did I mention they also twirl? The food was as you'd expect - fried, salty and tasty, and the margaritas were sweet. If you were up for the challenge you could order the "Tube Lube" - 100 ounces of beer that comes to your table in a 2 or 3 foot tall tube with its very own tap. We saw a number of couples happily downing them and hoped they'd be walking home and not hoping on one of the many Harley's parked out front.

And though Ken was officially off for the weekend, there was still a little work-work to be done. 

We returned home to the news that we'd been promoted!

WOW! Antique & Vitnage Gods. Who woulda thunk it.

It's nice to be home where the coffee is strong and fresh, the porch is always quiet and shady, and a cat is always happy to occupy your lap. Next week there'll be another adventure. Stay tuned.

Mercy

It's been a sorrowful week. One filled with tragedy and close calls, far too close for comfort. An enormous tractor trailer towing half a dozen cars behind it careened into a favorite local restaurant at full speed, after its brakes failed coming down the hill. 

 

It destroyed the building and sent four folks to the hospital. Saddest of all, it killed a sweet young woman in her twenties who was at work, minding her own business, preparing the bar for opening. She had a husband and 14 month old daughter at home, and having just past her first tri-mester, had just announced her pregnancy the day before.

She never had a chance. The truck crashed through the entrance, went through bar and came to rest just inside the building next to it.

The mercy of it all if there is any, is that the restaurant had decided that morning NOT to open for lunch because of sidewalk construction just outside their door. Had they been open, the outdoor seating would've been filled with folks minding their own business, enjoying their lunch.

The mercy of it all if there is any, is that all of the restaurant employees save for the bartender, were safely in the back half of the restaurant at a staff meeting when it happened.

The mercy of it all if there is any, is that our sweet Lexi was safely out of the way, busy at her own restaurant job across the street. She was cleaning the glass on the front door and saw it all as it happened. She was minding her own business, getting ready for a long day tending bar.

Mercifully the construction workers saw it coming and were able to run for their lives. Mercifully many courageous men and women ran straight into the building and were able to put out the fire before the truck exploded.

As I go about my morning, minding my own business on another beautiful summer morning, I'm struck by the sacred ordinariness of this life. I know it will be a long time before the lump in my throat fades.

Goodness

It's the day after the FOUND FLEA and it's another perfect summer day.

We are taking very gentle care of ourselves today. My sweet husband, who's not had a day off in many weeks, is dutifully and cheerfully coding away in his upstairs office. Weeding, pruning, cutting asparagus, checking for strawberries and finally going grocery shopping are on my to-do list today.

We've been subsisting on bare-cupboard rations lately - take out from Thai Express and the Covered Bridge Market, and a LOT of brown rice. This morning leftover Wegmans rotisserie chicken was on the menu. If there'd been ice cream in the freezer I would've dished it up and called it breakfast in a heartbeat...

The house is a disaster BUT we can now walk through the garage without risking life and limb. 

The kitchen smells vaguely of rotting onions BUT the frig is cleaned out and the dishwasher is humming away, full of leftover containers. 

My feet are killing me BUT they feel much better when I stretch over the roses to do some pruning.

Life is good.

Purge

As of today I am 97% moved out of my office having packed up and removed all of my music and books. I would be zero percent along with this project were not for the efforts of my sweet Cassie, who plied me with chocolate, good company and youthful strength enough to move those heavy boxes. Surprisingly the process was not emotional for me. All that procrastination and angst for nothing! Instead the purge felt cleansing, as most do. Almost as good as cleaning out the closet in Spring. Cassie gets about half my library and any day now I'm sure I'm going to find the perfect spot for those fourteen boxes of music somewhere in the house. Now to find a home for the infamous green bench. Home to so many viola cases and backpacks over the years. If I can get it all glued up I might just sell it at the FOUND FLEA on Sunday.

I am once again grateful that the garden does not hold a grudge. We've been picking asparagus for six weeks now and there is no sign it'll stop any time soon. Strawerries have started to form and if I can stay ahead of the critters, we might just get a bowlful for ourselves. The peonies are plentiful, strong and sweet this year. So are the poppies,

 the Asian lilies, the rhubarb and the hosta. 

 

Some plants didn't fare so well this year. Our female holly is a goner. So are the two Andromeda bushes in the front and sadly, most of the blue hydrangea. Some how the oakleaf hydrangea we received as a wedding present looks unscathed,

and just today I swear saw what might be a flower bud on one of the few live green limbs of the blue hydrangea.

Since my last post we've set up and sold at the Funky FLEA in Syracuse, traveled to Rhinebeck to check out the Country Living Fair and somehow gotten ourselves ready to sell at this month's FOUND FLEA. Summer's officially in full swing now!

A Most Perfect Day

I haven't met an on-site country farm auction I didn't absolutely love.

When pickups outnumber mini-vans ten to one and the Methodist's are selling baked goods, you know it's going to be a great day!

Temps in the 70's clouds and sun, a spot under the tent and the most delicious rural location ever.

A most perfect day.