reaching

5.05.2021


I had a few days to myself while my boys took a road trip to California last weekend and used them to work on a project I'd been wanting to tackle for some time.  I painted the bathroom including the vanity and built-in cabinets and drawers, put pulls on the vanity doors and drawers, took down the blinds that always got stuck / put up a rod and curtain, replaced the sink faucet, and replaced all the cabinet hinges.  I don't know how long the old faucet had been in place, but the four nuts holding it to the water lines were absolutely fused on and it took over three hours and much swearing to get them all off.  Frustrations aside, I love getting lost in a project like this.  It's nothing fancy, but I'm glad I persisted and that our little bathroom (our only bathroom) has been given a lift.  And it feels good to have done it all myself.

So many projects in process and still in mind for this new little place of ours.  I've gotten a small herb garden going, a greens bed, and miscellaneous plantings here and there, but the ice storm that brought down a large part of a neighbor's tree, and part of our own willow tree as well, have us dealing with big piles of branches and debris that we have moved up onto the back portion of the yard.  I had really hoped to use that area for shade planting, but I don't think that will happen this year.  I've been cutting up the smaller branches, but the bin only holds so much and at some point we are going to have to set aside what we want to keep and haul away the rest just to have the space back.  Along the side yard in the back is a row of sickly-looking arborvitae that we're going to take out.  It's one of the few places in the yard that gets sun and is prime planting real estate, so they were doomed even if they weren't sickly.    

The red shed/to-be dining hall has one coat of paint on inside, and I need to get cracking on that since the weather is just getting nicer and nicer now.  We also want to paint the exterior of the house and shed, and that will be a process unless we actually hire someone to do it, which I doubt we will.  

These are the things I love about spring.  The projects, the ideas swirling about, the days ending feeling bone and body tired from working outside - the very best kind of tired.  And the hummingbirds ... always the hummingbirds!

Evenings are for getting out - rambling along the Willamette River in different spots, walking the hills of our neighborhood to and from the park, or maybe sitting outside in the sun at a downtown spot for drinks.  This time of year feels so magical, as we unfurl our winter selves and start reaching for the sun in all the ways we can.


slow notes:  

⩥  This, from Laura Marling
⩥ This, about Gordon Hempton & silence, by Kathleen Dean Moore.   I'm fascinated by his work.  (Mentioned here last year.)
  This, from Haika Magazine
⩥  This, on Nan Shepherd's river from the BBC's Slow Radio.


book notes:  

I've given up trying to have a diverse reading list this year (not that I've ever had one, but I always have the intention).  For the most part, I always want to read nature-oriented books, preferably involving solitude.  Those by writers of Britain and Ireland, with their deep reverence for such things, really resonate with me, and I've started making my way through a very long to-read list, with a few random reads/listens in there, too.  I'm making time every day, several times a day, for quiet reading, even if for just a short time.  Somewhat related, did I mention we cancelled Netflix after 11 years?  

I listened to two audiobooks while working on my project, and I really loved them both: 

Currently: 

Until next time ~ keep reaching. 

by mlekoshi