What the GOAT? Part 1.
Same scenario, except this time I was barefoot with four kids “helping” me, rather than just the two toddlers.
What the GOAT?
Our neighbor has recently extended his goat fence down the length of our property, to five feet from the road. Then he continued the fence to the center of his yard, made a very strange angle, then back up to connect with the other side of his goat enclosure. To say the fence job was incorrectly done is a bit of an understatement.
We have been entertained for hours by “city” folks moving into the farmhouse next door and trying to be “hobby farmers”. Such is the case with the newest owner of the farmhouse. The fence is simply wrapped around the poles, attaching it to one or two per side.
Tires squealed outside and I instantly thought of the two toddlers next door. Their two older siblings are in school, but the 2 and 3 year old are being babysat by their grandma. I rushed outside and saw all five goats had escaped the fence and were grazing merrily at the edge of the road. I headed out there.
I wrangled them all back into the center of the yard and away from the road. It occurred to me, the Grandma might freak out to see me in the yard, so I knocked on the door to tell her I was getting the goats back in, as they had escaped the fence. I told her to wait inside, as it was hot as hades out there. I went back to the goats.
Minutes later I hear the slider open and Grandma is telling the two toddlers to help me get the goats back into the pen. Then out bounds their very large dog, barking his head off. This scattered my gathered goats.
Now, instead of five stubborn goats resistant to returning to their enclosure, I have five goats, two toddlers, a large barking dog and a grandma yelling instructions at me from the deck. Things went down hill rather quickly after that.
Grandma is yelling at the toddlers to chase the goats back toward the gate. I’m chasing after the toddlers to prevent them from getting to close to the road. Chad, the dog, has decided barking hysterically would be beneficial for everyone. I told him to either help me get the goats or to shut up. I’m surprised Grandma didn’t yell at me for my bad language…
Two year old toddler was caught and three year old toddler sent back toward the house. I asked the little one in my arms if she wouldn’t like to play on the swing set for awhile and she said “Sure! Let’s play!” No, sweetheart, I still have goats to gather…
The goats are having none of it. I ask Grandma if she has any carrots to tempt them with. She says no, but I have bananas. She hands me four bananas which were clearly meant for banana bread. Yippy freakin’ skippy, brown squishy bananas for the wretched goats. I break them/squish them into pieces for the goats. They’re eating out of my hand!
I managed to get four of the five in the enclosure. Katie, the baby goat, is very timid and refused to come closer than five feet from me. Grandma hobbled out to the gate and held it, while I snuck behind Katie the goat and flapped my skirt around while behind her to get her to move. She finally decided to enter the gate and join the others.
At this point I’m fairly tired, as this chaos has gone on the better part of an hour. I tell Grandma I’m going to check the fence to find where they got out. She, who uses canes, begins telling me where the gap in the fence is…Grandma cannot see that far, and if she could she has no idea what she’s talking about anyway. I let her holler while walking the fence. (Since I actually worked the farm with my dad, I have walked many a fence line. I actually know what I’m doing.)
So I check the fence, but I have no tools with me. And to be honest with you, I wasn’t in the mood to fix the fence in this heat anyway. So I checked over everything, walking the perimeter. Low and behold, where John “attached” the new fence to the existing one, there is the fence pushed out and it’s clearly where they escaped. Apparently, John began adding the new fence without actually attaching the end of it to anything at all. It was simply leaning against the other fence of the enclosure. I called to Grandma to tell her I found it. She began telling me just how to fix it…
As I mentioned, I didn’t have my tools, work gloves or even appropriate shoes on to do any fence repairs. So I bent the fence pieces around the other existing pole, twisting them each a couple times. This would close the gap enough to keep the goats in, without it being difficult to untwist and attach properly.
So now I’m dirty, smell like goat and bananas, and have cuts on my hands from the stupid fence. Grandma is telling me John will have to take care of this when he gets home, she can’t keep chasing these goats of his…I’m thinking, “Darlin, you didn’t “chase” anything.” But she was quite put out by the whole experience and I expect John got a piece of her mind when he came home from work…
Now the goats were in, the toddlers went back inside with Grandma, and Chad-the-barker decided it was to hot to be out so he went with them. I sat on my porch with a can of soda. I look up and all five goats are staring at me from inside their fence, clearing wanting me to give them some carrots or something.
I told them to kiss my ass…
Religious Post! Don’t Read if you Don’t want to Know!
Bible Journal Revisit:
I have been arting in my bible. Journaling as I research the Bible study I’m working on about biblical marriage. While most everything is out of my workroom, one of my past journaling bibles was on my desk. I’m not sure where the others are, as I’ve worked though several. I’ve obviously packed them away already.
What I noticed while paging through this most recently journaled in bible is the differences I see in my focus and thought process. Most of the entries were involving women. But the difference is in the way I am approaching what’s written about them. Before I focused on the individual stories of these women. Now I’m focusing on the “big picture” of their stories put together. Because with each story there is meaning, insight and clarity. One by one, piece by piece, the truth is being revealed.
After I finish the research for the woman part of the study, I’ll have to do the same for the men. But, surprisingly enough, I’m beginning to think this study will take a different path than I thought it would. I sort of had an idea of where the study would go and what would be in it. As I delve deeper into my research I see there’s more which should be covered. For example, the cultural relevance is incredible and vast. This will provide enough information for a bible study on that topic alone, should I want to write one.
This study will not include the roles of women in the church. That is a study all by itself. Although the research does include information on this, I’m separating it into categories. The reality is my research is providing information to create a bible study for all of these topics. I suspect more will be revealed as I continue.
I’m really hoping this doesn’t turn into a book, rather than a bible study.
It was fun looking through the other bible. I saw lots of interesting and unusual entries. Some very colorful and creative, others simple and to the point. But my thoughts and feelings at that time are evident. Which I found very interesting. There are some entries which show struggles and challenges, others thankfulness and still others peace and acceptance. It’s like a visual picture of what was happening in my life at the time I did the art.
Before you think my only form of bible study is bible journaling, it is not. I have another (or several) bibles which I use for in depth study. These hold notes, questions I might have which I need to research, word studies, character studies, etc. There is often a notebook used as well, leaving the most important, and brief, details for the Bible itself. I also reference an in-depth analysis-within the notebooks-for more information on the passage or verse.
Many people take the Bible at face value. Whatever translation they use is what the Bible says. I do not. When I realized, with great shock and disappointment by the way, that what I was hearing preached on Sundays didn’t always take context into account, I had to find the truth for myself.
Once this thirst for the truth started, there was no quenching it. It became a passion. A mission. A vital purpose. May I humbly suggest, if you are a Bible believer, that you take the time to dig into the Word. Find out the truth for yourself. Because you need to know what you believe and why you believe it. If what you believe is based upon incorrect interpretation…Well, then what you believe isn’t actual truth.
It’s important to note, many evil things have been done using the Word of God as justification. Cherry-picking verses without context leads to really bad stuff. And, for myself, what is written about women and their role in both the home and church has been a source of deep depression in the past. It wasn’t until I began using Kay Arthur’s Inductive Study method that my spiritual life turned around and blossomed. My personal relationship with the Lord grew deep and intimate once I realized God didn’t actually hate women. (And while many won’t understand my relationship with the Lord, which is unlike most people’s I’m guessing, He and I are just fine. He gets me. He understands my process, listens as I vent, and loves me just the way I am. It’s great.) And I began to see what I’d been told in every church I’ve attended isn’t actually what the Bible says about women.
In fact I’m beginning to see a whole lot of the rules and regulations about women in ministry and her position within the church has been deliberately misrepresented. There can be no other explanation for the focus on just a few verses which can be interpreted in several different ways. It is upon these few verses that church doctrine is based. And since these few verses seem to put women under the authority of men and limit her areas where she can serve, it’s to the benefit of men. There is no benefit to this for women whatsoever.
It’s also apparent these instructions were for a specific purpose for the believers at the time. The context in these few passages is based upon the cultural norms the people were living with. That pagan beliefs were prevalent at the time of these writings indicates a recognition of what those beliefs were and how Christianity countered them. It is only though the lens of context these verses even make sense.
Back to my original purpose of the post: bible journaling revisited. If you are a bible journaler please date your pages. I try to do this with each of mine and it’s been a very interesting trip through the past reviewing one of the Bibles. Lots of different things strike me in those same passages I journaled. Different points from the same text. The Holy Spirit reveals new things all the time and I love that.
2nd Covid Shot and Other Ramblings
While I feel very strongly about getting the Covid vaccine, this second dose has kicked my butt! Combining this with my other health problems has equaled a viciously crappy day. My hope is tomorrow will be better.
My mother-in-law moved into her new place at the senior living center. She has a lovely studio apartment. She has her microwave and a small refrigerator, but the meals are all taken care of. Truly, it’s a charming place which doesn’t feel at all “nursing home”. They have other buildings which the resident will be moved to as their health needs increase. It’s a lovely place. I hope she’s very happy there.
Because Mom moved, she told all of us if we wanted anything to come and get it. Well, I did that this afternoon after my nap. I had wanted the pink Depression glass, which I got. Her kitchen is much better stocked than mine so I took some huge soup pots, utensils, and mixing bowls. I also took her recipe box, it’s filled with recipes she wrote out herself. Several of the things I took were for my kids. Each one will get two or three things from their grandmother.
Yesterday, after my Covid shot, Laurie and I stopped by an estate sale. I found some really great stuff there. Nothing was priced, so you just made an offer on what you wanted. We found a box which held what I thought was a stack of vintage ladies hankies. I bought the box for 10 bucks.
As it turns out, that box held far more vintage hankies than expected. Far more. There were 137 vintage linen and cotton ladies hankies. Laurie had wondered if perhaps the family had owned a store at one point in their lives and this was extra stock. This seems a reasonable thought as many of the hankies had price tags on them: 43 cents. So you can tell they were very vintage.
After washing them, I spent over an hour ironing them all. Three didn’t make it though the delicate wash cycle in my machine. These were purchased for art journals, so I can still use them. Just in different ways than I planned.
There was a large mat cutter, which the husband had used to mat his photographs. I bought that, along with a ATG tape gun. Both will be huge helps in matting my paintings. There was a bunch of other stuff too. I nearly bought a samurai sword, but realized we’d just have to pack it up anyway. But it would have looked spectacular with my dragons.
A week or so ago, Laurie and I went to Michaels. I bought a rolling three tiered cart with additional storage hanging from each tier. There is also a peg board and a small metal divided box which hangs on that too. This has been an outstanding purchase.
One side of hanging pieces are intended to hold wrapping paper. So the top and center are rectangular metal bars attached to the side of the cart. Since that’s not what I needed, I altered Velveta cheese boxes. I cut one shorter and made the end from the side piece. Then I covered both with black and white contact paper. (I added glue to the boxes before I wrapped them.) They fit perfectly in the open space in the center. These are held in place with binder clips onto the bar. I’ve filled them with additional glue sticks, tape, ink pads and blenders, and other odds and ends. The top bar holds my blow dryer and heat tool. The lowest part, which has a bottom, holds my mediums and liquid glues.
While I’m not finished with the painting I’m doing of the house, it is coming along. Some dry brushing and details and up it goes. I can’t remember a painting which has taken me longer.
Seriously.
It’s freakin nuts.
Closet Workroom
As I’ve mentioned, I’m taking apart my workroom. After talking it over with Laurie, we decided I needed to be able to create art. Without a workroom, I decided to use one of our, now empty, closets to store both the temperature sensitive stuff and some arting essentials. This provides me with easy access to my supplies, takes up little space and is easy to pack up and move later.
I thought about all the types of art I make and which are most important to me. They are art journaling, acrylic painting, watercolor painting, Bible journaling and adult coloring. The coloring is primarily for times I’m feeling unwell. It also travels easily for something to do in the car.
I have two large plastic tool boxes which I began with. One is filled with general art materials and the second one with Bible Journaling specific stuff. Then I filled an overnight type bag with my adult coloring books, pencils, small sketch books, erasers and sharpeners. These are stored on the top shelf of the closet. One 12×12” plastic paper tote is filled with my most used stamps, stencils, ink pads and blending tools. My watercolor paper and art journals are also stored in baskets on this shelf. This left my three rolling carts, which I’d emptied earlier.
Two are filled with essential tools. Scissors, rulers, brushes, mediums, heat tool, glue gun, glues, punches, premade tags, envelopes, laces and trims. The second has my acrylic craft and metallic paints on the bottom shelf while the top holds a drying rack with my paper trimmer, score board, cutting mat, music pages, vintage books and coffee dyed papers. The middle rack is currently empty. The third cart is also empty right now.
My scrap paper and full sized printed papers are in the accordion and regular plastic file folder boxes. These are stored on top of the three totes of temperature sensitive paints and mediums. As is my large metal basket which holds Ziplock bags filled with projects. I have a lap board I work on in the evenings which slides in next to the totes easily.
To go from a workroom to a closet is quite a feat. I am astonished I’ve been able to downsize to such a significant extent. Since the three totes of paints and mediums are not being used, just stored, I don’t count them as part of my downsize. They take up the room of the three rolling carts, so were they in a different location I’d have reduced my entire workroom into the front hall closet.
Painting of the House/Home Staging
Scott built two substrates from plywood for my paintings. One was used for the prior paint pour which will hang in the living room above the couch. The second was to be used in the mud room, hanging above the boot box. It’s this second one I’ve started working on.
This one is of our home’s exterior. I am using a combination of both watercolors and acrylics. I’ve finished the under painting and will begin the details tomorrow. Again, it’s important to decorate a home for sale in an inoffensive way, yet with a bit of personality too. Quite a challenge when you think about it.
This painting, while unique as a decorative item, won’t offend because those looking at the house will be looking at the house. If they don’t care for the exterior, they won’t bother investigating further.
Here are some very easy and frugal ideas to get your place ready to put on the market:
- Pack up and remove all personal photos, religious or political items, and items specific to a particular style or taste.
- Clean the home very well. Both the interior and exterior. Remove any unsightly stuff from the yard, trim the trees and shrubs, make the windows sparkle. This includes your furniture, window coverings and carpets.
- Now evaluate what you have to work with. If you have a beautiful view, showcase that. If you have a unique feature like a fireplace, ornate woodwork, or gorgeous hardwood floors-make sure these features are in great shape.
- *This one costs some money* If you have several different paint colors within the house, it might be worth it to paint your walls. Always prime the walls after you’ve prepped them for painting. If you’re drastically changing colors, say from a dark purple to a neutral beige, use two coats of primer. At least. It may need three. Red and yellow are the two hardest colors to cover, in my experience. It pays to apply the second coat of primer. Trust me on this one.
- Next apply two coats of your paint color. Revere Pewter is the color recommended by realtors for resale.
- Since you’re painting and need to move furniture anyway-remove all excess. Unless you need eight dining room chairs, remove the leaf and take the number down to four. Makes the dining area look more spacious. Take out extra side tables, coffee tables, lamps, chairs, ottomans and any other thing not essential to your daily life. Less is more when staging your house.
- Pitch all scraggly or dying plants both in and outside of the home.
- Clear out closets and cupboards of all but the daily essentials. You don’t need your 40 place settings of Christmas dishes in your cupboards when showing your home. Takes up space and every buyer wants to feel the home has spacious storage. Go through your closets and get rid of any old, worn out, out of style/not your style clothing. Wipe out cupboards and drawers so they’re clean and tidy.
- Pack up and store holiday items, large but seldom used items, sentimental things like your kids artwork and every Mother’s Day card you’ve ever received. Personal photos obviously need to be packed away. Buyers want to envision the home with their stuff in it, not your family living in it.
- Remove pet stuff. They don’t need to see your 5 cat pans or the dogs chew toys. Some people will pass on a house just because they can’t stand the thought of pets having lived in it.
- If you have dated light fixtures, take them down and spray paint them a different color. Say white, antique bronze, hammered silver, black. Wash all glass pieces so they sparkle and shine. Keep fixtures all the same color, even if they’re different styles. Provides continuity. Do the same with the cabinet hardware throughout the house. If you can’t afford to replace them, spray paint works wonders. Replace burned out lightbulbs.
- If you have old fashioned curtains, remove them and put up sheers or nothing at all.
- Remove excess books. Your book shelves will look better with space on them and a few books. Wrap all your books in kraft paper. They will all look neat and tidy without being overwhelming. Occasional neutral Knick-knacks on the shelves will give the book case personality without distracting from the spaciousness you’re trying to create. Perhaps a carved wooden box, a simple glass vase, or a couple spray painted candlesticks.
- Make sure the entrance is inviting by cutting back over grown stuff, a new rug in front of the door, perhaps a fresh paint color on the door. Sweep the steps and porch.
- Remove everything from your countertop. If you have stuff on it, it tells buyers you don’t have enough storage. Remove all stuff from the front of the refrigerator. Remember: sleek, uncluttered and clean are your goals here.
- Open all curtains and let the light in. Buyers want a light and airy feeling home, not a dark cramped cave.
Well those are some quick and easy-not to mention cheap-ways to prepare your home for selling. If you lack funds for updating stuff, do what you can. Clean and odor free is a good place to start. Then light and airy-get rid of curtains that block the light. De-cluttering let’s you pack up some of your stuff, donate what you don’t want to move and dramatically helps when selling a home. The more spacious the house looks the better.
Altered Art Practice
With my broken printer (fussy cuts) and my emptied workroom, I’ve been limited with arting options. I’ve turned to adult coloring. I finished the Secret Garden coloring book and began a second one today. The Secret Garden book took about two days and my recently reviewed Art-N-Fly colored pencils, here, are getting used up quickly.
While coloring is a fine way to create art, I’ve always used it to try new color combinations out before using them in an art project. I also use the finished pages in art journaling. Which makes it more of a pre-art project for me.
That I’ve already finished an entire coloring book seems a ominous start to my newly, albeit temporarily, altered art practice. If I’m running through one book in two days, I’m going to be buying coloring books every other week. Not to mention colored pencils. (And this was completed while watching TV with Scott. It’s not like I spent all day coloring or anything…)
Another limited supply art form is bible journaling. If bible journaling isn’t your particular cup of tea, you can do the same thing using meaningful poems, music, or a book which has touched your heart. These can be individual pages which you later combine into an art journal or binder.
Sketching is another option for those with limited space or supplies. You need paper, a pencil, eraser and pencil sharpener. This is also great practice for determining tonal values. So if you’re in the same boat I am, there are still arting options you can pursue. Use whatever you have and create anyway. Some of my best stuff was made with recycled materials and my kids crayons and paints. Good grief, I’ve painted with coffee and koolaid.
So, never give up on your art. No matter your limitations. You owe it to yourself.
Down to the Electronics
The workroom is nearly empty. There is the TV and computer to be removed, some smaller electric tools need to be packed carefully. Then it’s time to take out the bookcases, take down the work table, and remove the wall of cubbies. There are several boxes waiting to go to the storage unit.
As I packed, I emptied storage boxes. Lots of them.
Which leads me to the next issue; do I pack boxes filled with plastic containers? Most of the stuff taking up space is multi drawer units I used beneath and beside my work table. I have one iris cart with five or six 12×12” totes which hold my coffee dyed papers. Then I have 5 or 6 more of those paper totes outside the workroom. These are filled with the remainder of my stamps, tissue paper, stencils, file folders and painted papers. And they don’t fit into my totes, so they’ll have to go into a cardboard box.
After finding a huge cardboard box, I filled it with my excess small storage totes and containers. I remain at a loss as to what to do with my plastic drawer units. I’m thinking of keeping them for use in our future travel trailer or fifth wheel. To store my extremely limited art supplies. At least they’re light weight and hold quite a bit.
The large cabinet left today. Off to my mother-in-laws new place. I’ve carried everything I packed upstairs, so the totes are ready to go when Scott gets a chance. There’s still a small pile of stuff on the living room floor which needs to be packed, but otherwise nearly everything is out of my workspace and the space outside of it. If Scott can take down my wall of cubbies and my work desk, we’ll be left with bookcases which are easily moved.
Erin’s doll house, the pool table and the hope chest are the remaining large items. We have the drop leaf table too, which can either go to Erin’s house or be burned. The desk Scott built in shop class will be removed as will the enamel topped table from my grandma. But once the house is sold, most of the furniture will be donated. No need to transport it across the country or store it. It’s all old and needs replacing anyway.
I want to sand off the painting I did on top of the cedar chest. It’s my “life verses”, Isaiah 61: 1-3, but I’ve never been pleased with it. The cedar chest was a gift to my mother from my dad. I ordered a new lock and key for it as mom lost hers. It’s filled with the remainder of my fabric. And let me tell you-that’s a huge downsize! Laurie took what I didn’t want and is astonished by the yardage. For a non-sewer I had quite the stash.
Heartbreak and Hope
As odd as this may sound, the packing up of my work space has really been a heartbreaking experience for me. There is a sense of loss as I go through the process. Part of it is “packing up” the memories Laurie and I made when we worked together to create the space. Which required several different configurations and adjustments. Laurie was infinitely patient during the whole thing.
I’ll also miss the times we’ve spent together there.
Which brings up all the years we’ve been the best of friends. Memories of both the joys and tragedies we’ve experienced in our lives and shared together. Countless hours working together in theatre. Hours and hours spent searching for just the right prop or piece of furniture, perfect fabrics for costumes…And eventually our shared passion creating couture garments and accessories for high end collectible fashion dolls. While not a successful venture financially, we developed an even deeper respect for each other’s unique talents.
Even though the day hasn’t been as productive as yesterday with Laurie’s help, I did manage to pack up one of the bookcases. I cleared out the drawers and storage in my work table. There’s still some stuff on top of it. The two 5 drawer storage carts beneath the work table have been emptied too.
Other than the significant amount of large canvases and paper pads beneath my grandma’s enamel topped table, the work room is pretty much empty. Maybe one or two totes will be enough to empty it completely. Which means we can take down the furniture and the bookcases. A couple larger things can be brought over to Erin’s place. And once the antique sewing machine and hope chest are out, we’re getting down to next to nothing left to pack up in that room.
Seeing that much progress in a short time has given me renewed hope we will actually finish this house. There’s light at the end of the tunnel anyway.
Let’s just pray it’s not another train…
One More Down
I finished one of the three bedrooms left to do. I think I may be packing up the remainder of my workroom tomorrow.
Scott and I had a fairly significant miscommunication this winter. He was waiting for me to paint the bedroom with the wood trim down, while I was waiting for him to put the trim back up. There is an order to painting a room which I follow to the letter. Scott thought the trim would be easier to paint down, which technically it would be. But then you need to put them up, fill nail holes, prime nail hole filler and paint. It’s much easier to do all that while the trim is up, fill and sand the holes, prime everything and then paint.
This meant we were both waiting on the other, neither of us wanting to “push” as we’ve both put in a lot of work. A break wasn’t unwelcome.
The second miscommunication was about my workroom. I thought we were going to set up a small work area for me, using the two book cases and my work table. Scott thought I was packing up everything and putting it into the storage unit. So yesterday my dear friend Laurie helped me get started packing up what I have left in my space.
And, man, did we pack! Lots of boxes and two or three totes. We cleared out my stuff from Scott’s office, which was surprisingly substantial. Then packed up several smaller totes of the keep-myself-busy-on-lousy-days projects I did this winter. I gathered all my books which I use as pages in my journals, my boxes of bulk building projects, trims and lace, fabrics, fussy cuts, and emptied one of my rolling carts. I have two more carts and my actual work desk.
There are some obvious concerns; mainly the temperature consistency for my paints, mediums and adhesives. Because they can easily be destroyed by variations in temperature, I need to keep them in a place that doesn’t have fluctuations. This means the storage unit is out, Laurie’s studio is out, Erin’s house is out, my parents house is out…My concern is I’m going to end up losing thousands in these things. (Not that I paid thousands-everything is bought at greatly reduced prices.)
The windows came in some very heavy duty cardboard boxes which will be perfect for holding my canvases, palettes, cutting mats, finished paintings, and mat board. I need to find out how to package my large acrylic painting I did for Christmas the year my brother passed away. It was a gift for my parents, but they don’t want it. So I’m keeping it and will hang it above the sleeper sofa in the loft of our new barn house.
Some of the furniture could be painted. Scott painted our new dining room chairs. I’m going to paint the dresser and vanity-which were my grandma’s-white to match the day bed which goes in Erin’s old room. It’s going to look very nice with the quilt made by my grandma
