Billy and Blue:

Of course these are not pictures of them. These are images from a couple of vintage school books I found.



We are going to the farm to bring back our pets. I have missed them so. As of today it's been exactly a month since they've been at the farm. I can hardly wait.



We are able to bring them home because we've been back in our house for a week. AND the painting is finally finished. Monday will be kind of like a circus here as we will be getting back everything that was removed from the house, main level. We have to wait for the flooring to be put in, week of June 16, before we get our basement possessions back. Even though most of my studio was left unharmed we've been using it as one of our living spaces for things like storage and laundry separating.

We still won't have our kitchen completed but we'll get back our microwave so we'll finally be able to make suppers here again. Both Kat. and I have been suffering from the junk (I mean processed wheat, additives, cow's milk) food we've been consuming.

The kitchen won't be complete for another maybe 6-8 weeks. I will plan a giveaway or two for that time. Keep in touch for announcements about that.

I also have plans to do a video with some writing I did shortly after the fire. I'm not certain when I'll get to that as we will be bombarded with so many boxes and boxes and boxes of all our belongings. I caved in a bit and asked Greg if he could please take some time off work. My brother may also be able to come up to try to help also. I'm kind of scared about feeling totally overwhelmed but I have had much courage so far. It can still keep me going.

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness,
and nothing is so gentle as true strength.”

Ralph Sockman
Inspiration Peak

I took a tiny bit of time for art last Thursday. I did these spoons and bottles with alcohol inks as taught by Kelli Perkins in the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I also get their e-mails. I guess it was actually there I saw directions for the bottles. Neither is complete. I like these and will probably do more.





The last two are words I wrote sometime this past week. My main journal has been with the rest of the stuff - away. I anxiously await its return. In the meantime I decided to start in one of these little ecojot notebooks. I love them. I will also be using lots of the papers I have accumulated and still keep purchasing from the craft stores. maybe I'll capture a minute or two to share them with you next week when I need to take a break from the recreation of this house, this home.





Be well. Be gentle. be strong.
And finally angels be with you,
Wendy

recreating our house while remembering that home is in my heart:



You can see photos from our house which show some of the empty spaces there. I've also shared some of the things which have brought me comfort and the feeling of home while being displaced from our house. The painter has been working diligently. I believe that all of the items which had been at the dry cleaners will be arriving tomorrow or the next day. the painting is complete in the living room and hallway so many of the boxes from those areas will also be returning. it is hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since the fire. I've done very little creating in that time yet I have mostly been able to laugh. Of course there have been moments of total frustration but I cannot allow myself to be pulled down.



Some day I will return to the more artistic creating. I will be able to move away from the home creating.
Until then - may angels be with you,
Wendy

The more tranquil we become, the greater our success, our influence, our power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.


James Allen, 1864-1912
Inspiration Peak

Creating and design:
The painter has finally started in our house today after 20 days have passed since the fire. Our patience has been wearing thin. In the meantime I decided to rip the wall paper off the one wall in our bedroom and paint all the walls there. Insurance is paying for painting in the kitchen, living room and back entrance. We have decided to paint two of the bedrooms and the main room in the basement as nearly everything is out of the house. It's quite scary in the basement especially as we had SO MUCH STUFF there. I had many of my vintage books which I recently acquired as well as many magazines and also most of my cardstock. Fortunately my main studio which was recently completed has not been affected. Big sigh.



I won't show you colours yet. We are in process of getting ready to move back to our house on Friday. The painting will not be finished but Greg's Mom has a big birthday celebration happening on Saturday so out of town family are coming to stay. We will be very glad to move out of the basement here after 19 days. We were SO LUCKY to be able to move in temporarily as the hotel would just not have cut it for this lengthy time period especially with a teenage daughter and all of our special food needs. I really dislike restaurant food at the best of times and if I'd have to do it everyday for every meal - YIPES.

So we'll kind of be camping in our own home for awhile till the kitchen is finished (could be a number of weeks yet, but, we'll try to enjoy it. Kat has been fantastic with the whole thing. I actually had a meeting with her teacher this morning to do wrap up for this year and make plans for next. I was so impressed with how attuned the school has become to our daughter and her needs. Teacher also commented on how terrific Kat has been doing. THANK GOODNESS FOR ALL THE ANGELS AND FOR OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH WHICH HAS GOTTEN US THROUGH MANY CHALLENGES.



And so I've been buying numerous magazines and borrowing many from the library to help me through this difficult time.


I've been trying to do designing on a budget to help myself with the design and colour choices that insurance is not covering. Unfortunately our flooring is in really bad shape as is our bathroom. We'll have to wait. Other things have been priority.



It's now Thursday. I want only to say about the painting that I walked past our house at 10 p.m. last night. The painter was still there with his bright lights shining. I am SO impressed with his concern and time commitment. So many people have NO CLUE what it is like to not be in your home for an extended time period, without having planned to do so.

I'll quickly share a link to a blog that I absolutely love. the photographs, the designs, the colours. lafifole.blogspot touches me, and I think many others, at many levels. Take a moment to check Anne's blog if you are able. You may fall in love with it just as I have. I know numerous of my friends will enjoy the most recent photos from teatime.

Angels be with you dear friends in whatever adventures you may be finding.