The first blush of spring

Spring is flirting with us.  It's been cold for so long.  Flowers come out and then the frost comes back. 

I keep thinking of negative thoughts about global warming, but NO.  I just want to be positive for the moment and enjoy the beauty of the weather and the world.
Happy Earth Day.

Before and after, so far

I love to take photos of the progress at the cabin, but I don't want to keep posting photos on Facebook, I feel like I'm bragging.  But since hardly anyone ever looks at this blog anymore, I can put them here :)  The blog is more like a journal than Facebook is.  Facebook is more like a conversation with your friends and acquaintances.

Kitchen, before

Kitchen, after

There are a lot of differences, but not a lot of differences.  We haven't spent that much money on this place.  We are using hand-me-downs and cast off stuff, and repurposing things.  A lot of the improvements might not be noticeable - we started out with no electricity and no water, and now have electricity AND hot and cold running water!  Woo hoo!  That makes a huge difference! 

Kitchen, before

Kitchen, after.. a little messy :)

Some of the "improvements"- knick knacks and decorations - aren't really that great.  What can I say, I collect stuff!  It makes it feel more homey to me, at least.  But it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Fireplace, before

Fireplace, after

My parents bought us both the wood stove and the kitchen stove :) which was a lovely thing for them to do.  Frank moved the stairs and added the railing upstairs because we thought it was MUCH SAFER that way... did the previous owner really have no railings?  Wow...


This end was painted this weekend.  It makes a HUGE difference.

Living room looking towards kitchen, before

Living room looking towards kitchen, after

Bathroom, before

We didn't have much to do in the bathroom... except for plumbing and a new hot water heater... and I like our "new" cabinet more than the old one that was in here.  And we are adding an outdoor shower too...

Bathroom, after

Bedroom, before

This is also something that got painted this weekend.  We still have a lot of painting to do upstairs.  Free paint is good paint!!!  I really like the way it looks, nice and cozy!

Bedroom, after

Bedroom, before

Bedroom, after

Bedroom, after

Bedroom, before

Don't ever change?

A little late for that, isn't it? Change happens every minute. The creek is never the same two days in a row. The water flows on.

Thorns

When I hurt someone... unintentionally ... but because of the choices I made,
and I'm really sorry, and I apologize profusely, and I feel deep regret,
it still doesn't make the other person feel any better.

What is regret?  What is forgiveness?  What is redemption?

I have to remind myself "forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me."
And the other important quote, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

It's a hard sun

It is bright and it shines a hard light.   And it can blind you if you look right at it.

What is true?

There is more than one side to any story.  There is probably even more than two sides to every story. 

But truth is truth.  And there must be at least one person who KNOWS.

That person isn't me... I only know one side.  My side.  But you - YOU know, don't you? And now, you can live with it.

You must be uneasy whenever the hard light shines in your eyes. 

Restart

Starting now.  I'm in bed already.  I've been looking backwards a lot through old posts and old photos and old thoughts. 

Right now, it's pretty warm.  I can hear the tv on downstairs and the sound of the rain in the gutters, not exactly a heavy rain, but it's there.  I can hear a vague murmur of conversation. 

Right now, I see my messy room in the dim glow of the lamp that was my grandmothers, when I was little it was in her bedroom, and now it is in my bedroom.  Even with one missing piece of glass and one cracked piece of glass in the shade, it is one of my most prized possessions. 

Right now, only the tip of my fingers on my right hand are numb, and really, nothing much hurts. So that's a good night, because it isn't always like that right now.

I've looked back a way, and found that a lot more time has actually passed than I feel like has passed. 

Time passed, and was never seen again.


It's time to restart Now.

Sunset

...and then they were never seen again.

Sue and Frank's Art Gallery | Paintings & Prints | ArtPal

I've got a new thing going... so I figured I'd put it up here...



One of my new years goals/resolutions/whatever was to put up some paintings on a web site to sell.  I am going with the quote that "you miss 100% of the chances you don't take" with this... and even though I am not overly confident yet, I wanted to take a chance. 



Hey, what makes someone an artist?  It's all about creating the art.  So yes, I'm an artist, because I'm creating all of this art. What makes it "ART"?  I think that's totally in the eye of the beholder, right?   But now I have all of these paintings and nowhere to hang them.  And the next step in the whole ARTIST process would be to sell some of these pieces.  I have already sold some art, but mostly I haven't been doing much to promote it.  So this is my attempt to promote.



If you want to see my paintings, go to this link:



Sue and Frank's Art Gallery | Paintings & Prints | ArtPal



I hope you see something you like!  They are creating prints based on the paintings that I have done.  You can order pretty inexpensive prints, or you can go totally crazy with expensive printed canvases that are framed and everything... I haven't even ordered anything myself yet, so I still need to see what kind of quality it is.  But I hope it works out - it is really exciting, even if nothing happens with it!