Change.

Today I was thinking about my hip pain, wondering how come my hip(s) are causing me so much pain.  My mother didn't have her hip problems, and subsequent hip replacement until she was 80.

Hmm, I am not yet 70, and even though that sounds older than dirt, I thought my hips would last longer.

Then it dawned on me.
I have NEVER been kind to my body.  Not ever.

When I was a kid, I went everywhere with my father,  while he was searching out good deals.  He was a dealer of furniture, antiques, and pretty much anything that would make him a dollar.  He was the original "American Picker".  I was his sidekick, and he had me lifting things before I was 10.
My mother was always yelling at him, reminding him that I was a girl.
 I know I hauled on things that were way too heavy for me, because I was always looking for his approval.

I always had horses, so I was comfortable with carrying bags of grain on my shoulder, throwing bales of hay into the loft.  I also got kicked, thrown, and otherwise hurt.

When my ex and I were building our first house, I shoveled gravel, poured cement, insulated, and cleared the driveway with a chain saw.  It was a long, uphill driveway.
I never thought that I was hurting my body.  I was young, and strong, and I wasn't afraid to tackle whatever was in front of me. 
I worked out, lifted weights, ran miles and miles and miles.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with being active, but I probably could have had  added some balance to my life.  I could have taken it a little easier.

It's no wonder that in spite of my vehemently declaring I wasn't going to be a production weaver, I ended up being just that.
Big surprise.
So now I'm paying the price.
I tell my three daughters all the time........be kind to your body, kinder than I was.
Do you think they'll listen??
Probably not.

I guess my point here is this:

I've been worrying and fretting and overthinking this retirement thing.
I've been resisting.  Dragging my feet.
When the truth is, that one way or the other, we ALL have to slow down.  We all have to "adjust" to getting older, to our less than perfect bodies.    All my downsizing,  selling looms, making changes........well, it's time.  That's all.

I am working on it, every day.
Practicing.

Like having my lunch on the screened back porch.

Taking the time.

I did some yard work, but then I amused myself and made a "playpen" for the girls.

Gave them a little change of scenery, and some greens.

They were very happy.


One of the Araucanas laid this GIGUNDUS egg.   OUCH.

Is this even normal???  Should I "call the midwife"?

Still cleaning out the "old house", but getting closer and closer to being done.

Then I'll have more time to practice this semi retirement thing.
You notice that I've already added SEMI?
Ha!!

Home Sweet Home

I am kind of pinching myself.
After wanting to live at the studio for the last ten years, I can hardly believe that now I do.

I love living in the country again.  I love going to bed, looking out over the fields drenched in moonlight, waking up hearing the birds outside my window.
In the city, you have your blinds drawn. 
I won't pull my shade in the bedroom, because I love to look up and see the stars filling the night sky.  Even when the moonlight floods the room in the middle of the night, I still won't pull the shade.
I close my eyes, and go back to sleep.
There is such peace here.

 I am an early riser, and I love the quiet of the morning to myself.
The first sunshine of the day is so special.  There is nothing quite like it.

A cuppa coffee, and daybreak.  Perfect.

I don't know what to do about Roy, though.  He is so obviously stressed with this move.

I have to get him to calm down.

JOKING.

The cat situation is changing every day.
I have taken to putting their food in the loft, which is actually the second story of  the old part of the house.   That way they can relax while they eat, and not worry about Roy coming around the corner.
(he loves cat food)

But this morning there was  a breakthrough.  If I didn't know better, I would think that my cats have had a little pow-wow.  I was sitting on the couch with Roy tucked along my side, when Miss Puss jumped up on the couch and SNIFFED him.  And he never budged.
Then, Kizzy, the most timid cat in the world, came into the living room, first time with Roy in the room.  He proceeded to jump up on my lap.  I think  I gasped.  I petted him for several minutes until he jumped down.  He and Roy were about 8" apart.  Roy turned and looked at him, and went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Jinks and Miss Puss were playing on the chaise lounge, while Sydney looked her usual placid self.
I think all my critters are going to be ok.


So, this is where I live now, in the "hamlet" of Kingsbury.

The Parish House.

 This is the village green, or the park, complete with a tractor on lunch break.
And the Baptist church.
There is a small cemetery on the left beyond the tractor.

If you look way down the road, you can see my house, the one with all the windows.

The Kingsbury General Store.  I think it has just been sold, and we will all miss the present owners, who make the BEST SUBS AROUND. Seriously.

And my good friend, Karen, of This Old House  sent me this lovely, and PERFECT gift.

It is hanging in my kitchen, where I can see it every day.

It's true.
I'm home.

It's time.

Moving has been stressful in a few ways.
Roy has been a little nervous, but seems to be adapting.
He has his chair, he has the fire, he goes for walks, sleeps in the bed, gets his greenie treats after dinner.
So he's not too shaken by it all.
Oh, and his fenced yard is four times the size of his previous one.  Poor pup.

Miss Puss has been mad.  Just plain mad.  She has stayed out of sight pretty much since Friday, except for late in the evening, she ventured out in the living room, to perch on the couch and glare at Roy sleeping across the room.
Until last night.
Apparently, she decided to let him know that the queen was present.

She rolled and showed off right in front of him, keeping an eye on him all the time.
She's fine.

Sydney on the other hand, has been unwavering in her attention to anyone who might pet her and appreciate her finer qualities.

She walks right by Roy as if she has had a dog in the house forever.

"What's the big deal?"

S

My two feral kitties, Kizzy and Jinks, are not  feeling quite so warm and fuzzy about it all.

Kizzy ventures down, but if Roy moves or blinks, Kizzy is gone.

Jinks was not seen all weekend long, in fact, I put food  upstairs in the loft,  because she wouldn't come down.

Then this morning, while drinking my coffee on the couch, she appeared in the living room.  She jumped up on the chair opposite Roy, and gave him a look.  She jumped down, and disappeared into the kitchen.

She did this about 6 more times, until finally she settled and curled up there for quite awhile.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

She's going to be ok.  She just needs time.

This week is devoted to getting everything ready for a BIG Saturday garage sale at the old house.

When I had enough of it and  finished for the day, I took Roy to the Lock down the road for a walk.

 

It was a beautiful day.

Yesterday I started treatment with a new doctor.
I am getting OMT, or osteopathic manipulative treatments.

 
I have no idea what he did, but last night and today are the  BEST headache days I have had in 6 weeks.
He says he thinks he can help me with my headaches and neck pain.

 I am game for it.
I am so done with the medical community about my head, and don't ever want to see the inside of an OR again.

My dream of being able to STAY HOME and weave and just be retired is getting closer.
Soon.
Soon.

 Soon, I won't have to get in the car and drive anywhere if I don't want to.
I can weave and stay put.
Heart be still.

All in all, I am ready for it, the downsizing, the simpler life.
I guess it really did take a "brain reboot" to slow me down.

 Funny, though, how what you thought was so important 10, or 20 years ago, really isn't important at all anymore.
Funny, how life changes.
I think you have to know when to change with it.

There's a right time.
I think this is the right time for me.

Finally/At last.

Moving to the studio has been my dream since I bought the old house 10 years ago.  Unbelievably, it is happening.

 I woke up early, to the sounds of birds outside my window.
I went down to the living room and spent some time cuddling with Roy-boy.
We watched the sun come up and fill the living room with the loveliest, soft light.

 I have pictures to put up, things to put away, but it is remarkably organized so far.  It didn't hurt that I brought those 50 some odd containers over in March and April, and put it all away.

Roy was a little uneasy, being overnight in a different place, and a walk was just what he needed.
This is my new view walking.

 I love it.

Can I repeat myself here?
I love it.

Roy loved it, too.
I know him.

I decided to somewhat take the day off.  There is plenty to do to clean up our 'old' house, and get it ready to sell.
But today, not so much.
I putzed around a bit, with this and that.
Put my clothes away, cleaned off the kitchen counter, stuff like that.
Took a little nap.

 There are a few containers sitting around, and I will go through them one at a time, until I  have finished them.

Over in the weaving studio part of my house, I made some changes.
I wanted to be able to relax here, and have friends over, to a quiet TV-less, part of my home.

Just a couple of comfy chairs.

Lois had this brilliant idea to fold up the 2 Schachts, and store them along the wall until you are actually using them.  It works.

This is where I get to sit back and enjoy it.
I can't wait until the other house is sold, and finally, I have one house on my radar, one to worry about, one to maintain.
Sounds kind of like heaven.

Crying UNCLE.

With congestion and coughing and generally feeling miserable for going on SIX weeks, I finally said "enough", and went to Acute Care this morning.
Now armed with Levaquin, Prednisone, and Claritin, I am hoping to feel way better very soon.

I have way too much to do to be sick.

In an effort to downsize my weaving business, and make the "studio" a more welcoming place for us to live, I bit the bullet and said goodbye to more looms.  I already sold the Cranbrook and the Macomber last fall.
A week ago, I sold my Union 36 to a good friend.  Lois and I even put a 50 yard warp on it,  delivered it to her an hour away, put it together for her, threaded and sleyed it, so it is ready for her to weave on.
Then a few days later,  I sent my two Reed Ideal production looms to Ohio, with a passionate and younger version of myself.
I didn't feel sad, oddly. 
It's certainly a big change for me, and a huge change for Crazy as a Loom.

This is now my only rug loom, my all time fave, the Union Custom.

Lois and I are jointly weaving an order on it.

What's odd, and actually quite cool, is that when I took two rugs off, one she wove, and one I wove, I couldn't tell the difference.

 

When we finish the order, we'll be moving the Union Custom in where one of the Reed Ideal's was.

 

For those of you who have followed this blog, you know that my living room at the studio was a burnt orange, actually the color was "Florentine Clay".
But it's been on the walls since I bought the house, so I decided that it was time for a change, and besides it didn't go with my living room furniture.

This is "familiar beige".  My mother would have loved it.  She was the Queen of Beige.

 

 I can't wait to get it organized, and comfortable.

One of my dilemmas is framed photos.  I have about 30 of them.
I hate marking up the walls, and I really think I want a "not so cluttered" look.
I am wondering if I could get them all scanned and put on a flash drive.
Then I could put it in my digital screen, and have a slide show.

The other thing I am wondering about, is what to do with the windows.  I am not a fan of curtains.
But then the house is on a main highway.  It would be nice to have a little privacy when the lights are on.
I have balloon shades now, but I  want to see what else is available.

All in all, this is going to be a very busy week.  I hope to soon be able to kick back and take some time for myself.
That's my goal.