Me Musing . . . February 4 , 2010 . . .

Yowie! A lot has happened since my January 19th post that we scrapped the idea of the Alley Workshop for my Sewing and Art Workshop area due to the flooding of the back garage.

Trench I dug on the barnlot to take some of the
flooding waters away from the Alley Workshop.
My friend Janet christened it the 'Mission Ditch'
as I was a 'woman on a mission' as I was digging it!

We decided a few days later that the attached one-car garage would be a better space for me to use as I won't have to go outside to get to my workshop!

I felt so bad for Eb . . . after adding all those 2 x 4's for insulation and putting in two new windows in the back garage, now it meant putting in yet another in this one! There are two little windows in the garage, but they are single pane and don't let in much light. Having been gifted a 5 ft. x 4 ft. double-pane vinyl window by Eb's niece back in November, we decided it was just the ticket for this new project!

Here's what we have been up to the last two weeks:

Out comes the old window
and framing for the new . . .

Now I have my view of Mt. Aetna again . . .
the same view I had in my little house in old Aetna
when first I moved to this Valley.

Getting ready meant moving all the boxes
of art and sewing supplies from here to the Red Barn.

No insulation in the garage . . .
so I carried the R38 batts up to the attic above the garage
and hired a guy to lay them in place. I just knew I'd freak out
trying to do that part!

Insulation-Shooter Woman . . .
Our friend Susan volunteered to drill all the holes
and run 'THE MACHINE'
so we could shoot insulation into the walls.
Talk about a mess . . .
as Daddy used to say, "That's ANOTHER thing I wouldn't want to do for a living!"

We were amazed when Eb took off one of the wall panels
afterward to find how well it filled the spaces!

After spending a whole day cleaning up insulation from
the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the tables
(the feeder hose blew off the machine, shooting insulation everywhere!!!!!) . . .
I was ready to prime the walls for painting.

I decided to leave the ceiling the knotty pine,
but knew I HAD to have colour in the rest of the space.

I had already ordered a 12 x 18 carpet
for the Alley Workshop as a sort of 'area rug'.
This garage is 13 x 19, so I painted colour around the edges
so it wouldn't just be cement colour where the carpet doesn't reach!

The carpet is called 'rusted copper' . . . of course!

Mike, our electrician, came up with a brilliant idea . . .
install a room-to-room fan that will pull the warm air
from the woodstove through the kitchen and into the Workshop!

Mike cutting the hole in wall for fan!

Fan all installed. The switch is behind the vase painting.
It's totally amazing how it DOES work!

We had to move in the carpet, more insulation, my long art table, the paneling, the tack-board and other building supplies before Mike, Eb's son began putting up the 2 x 4's for the wall that covers the garage door.

Mike and I taking a photo break today.

The garage door is still intact behind the wall
so the black things you see are the door runners . . .
and I can use them for hanging things!

This will be SOME PLACE!!!!!!

And to top it off, I got an email this afternoon from Judy, a neighbor who we grew up with in Ohio. She said she couldn't remember if she had ever sent me a photo of the painting Daddy had done for her as a wedding gift back in '63. I had never seen that painting so it was a 'blast from the past'!!!!!!

I wrote her back and told her that during that time period Daddy was studying the works of Van Gogh, Dali, Kandinsky, Pollock and others while trying out different painting techniques. I thought this was one of his 'stand in the dining room window and throw paint down' onto a canvas that lay on the brick patio below!!!!!!!!!!!

Is fun to see his signature again . . .

Geeeeeeeeeez . . . seeing the date next to his signature makes me wonder . . . what are the chances that after all these years, Judy would pick 2 days before my 63rd birthday to send photos of a painting that Daddy did in 1963 ????

I smile, knowing that he and Mother are chuckling at all this work being done for my little Creative Space . . . and they are sending their
love for my birthday on Saturday!

How cool is that???????!!!!!!!!!

Until soon,

Che'usa

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