What I've been doing

Saturday, 1:48 pm

Jul

19

2008

Hello. I thought I’d dip a toe back in the pond...I didn’t mean to disappear quite this long. I’ve been doin’ things. And you probably didn’t even realize that I’ve been blogging like crazy—in my head. By the end of the day, it was all recorded—in my head—and that’s where it stayed. So. What have I been doing?

The last two weeks have been very domestic. I’ve helped one friend resolve a flood issue and reclaim her house. It was a mess, exacerbated by relentlessly high humidity that made drying anything out a real chore. Think mushrooms sprouting in the house. That kind of big chore. It was a godawful mess and a challenge of enormous proportions but, by golly, we did it.

And then, the lad and I helped J and her family move into her beeyootiful new home. I’ve been overcome by waves of envy. Gorgeous woodwork and gleaming hardwood floors. Oh my. Older homes have such charm and grace. It has been a while since I’ve been in an old house and the difference is startling. If you jump up and down in an older house, you get the sense that it’s there for the ages. Nothing rattles or vibrates. Old houses are solid things. Newer houses (like mine) are obviously not here for the ages. They simply do not have that feeling of solidity. They just don’t. As I said...envy.

With all this poking around in other people’s houses, I’ve been inspired to poke around in mine. There has been a sponge or wet rag affixed to my hands for so long now, I think they have rooted and we’ve become one. I’ve cleaned and scrubbed. And gotten rid of more stuff. And rearranged furniture. And washed walls and curtains and blinds (sticky yellow pollen glues itself to everything) and mopped floors. And cleaned out cupboards and cabinets and drawers. And hung pictures on walls in new places/positions and retired a few that I’ve tired of looking at.

And, finally, replaced the dining room light fixture. It was an ugly chandelier on the day that I moved into this house. It has been ugly for the last 14 years. I’ve always intended to replace it, but something else always seemed to want my attention more.

While J and I were out scooping up some odds and ends for her new home, I had an impulse to grab a new fixture. The one that caught my eye was sort of girly foo-foo (teapots and teacups in pinks and reds and blues and yellow...sort of like majolica ware only a poor imitation....don’t ask). J put her foot down and said she absolutely wouldn’t let me make that kind of awful mistake. I listen to her in these matters. She has an eye that never fails. She gently pointed me in another direction. Thank you, J.

Installing a fixture is a real intimate experience. You get to know the thing way better than you want and it’s a good sign if you still like it after you’ve spent a couple of hours cussing at it. I have no doubts that the teapot and teacup one would never have survived that process.

larger drop down imageThis is what I wound up with. It took me a few hours to get the thing installed. Because...well, I always have to do things bass-ackwards before I get it right. I had the fixture about 3/4 installed before I realized that, although I had the wires all properly attached, they weren’t running up through the middle of the fixture into the ceiling. It’s one of those “you have to have been there and done it before” to understand, probably. I took it apart and rerouted the wires. And then I realized that the bolt that affixes the fixture to the ceiling was about a quarter inch too short. I had to take the thing apart again. Finally it was all done. I thought. Until I started stuffing the wires into the junction box and realized that I had a rather ample supply of wire. Damn it. I had to take the thing apart again. I sat on the floor with it and started cutting wires. And then spent an hour turning the house upside down looking for my wire strippers (located in the lad’s room...I should just start looking for things there first!). At last, I had it ready to assemble again...and this time it was the last time.

I love it, love it, love it. How amazing that one little feature in a room can totally change the character of the room. It’s sort of like...the room isn’t embarrassed anymore. It is vibrant and recharged with happy energy.

Anyway. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last little while. And, also, thoroughly enjoying the lad’s company when he’s around. Between work and his social obligations, he’s not here all that much, but we’ve been learning about cooking and we’re deep into a late night Stargate SG-1 marathon. He’s doing some chores here and there and has agreed to paint the fence for me before the end of the summer. He also plans to build a couple of simple folding wood racks for the load of wood we’ll get sometime in August. There is always something to do around here.