Where I've Been...

Here:

I have a few hours of tagging ahead of me before I can ship a big fatty box to Cloverhill Yarn Shop for MDSW. No sigh of relief, however, as production mode shall remain in full swing until C takes my studio away...I will have zero fiber for nearly an entire month. I am building inventory like a crafter possessed. No sleep for me. Oddly enough, I don't even want the sleep. This deadline business has been fueling my creative fire rather than dampening it. I just can't get enough wool play.

There are other places I've been....mainly enjoying the quiet of the housemates (a family of five) having been away for two whole weeks. I had no idea how much I missed about having my own cozy home. We function much more smoothly as a family unit on our own...I need a village, not shared housing.

I've also been in packing mode in between things like eating and felting. We're aspiring to a much higher standard of pre-loading organization this time around, because we won't be able to unpack right away when we get there, maybe not for several weeks or months, and will undoubtedly need to find this or that in a box somewhere. I'm not at all anxious about this and that's a BIG FAT LIE.

Okay, I've gotta know...***BRIMFIELD LADIES***...what is UP?!?
which day? can it be on a weekday, like Friday? (I have a fiber fest on the 16th I really shouldn't flake on, but will if I have to)
I want to see you all and fight over buttons at least this once before I leeeeeeaaaaave.

It's official.

I'm going to miss this place.

I've been spending my days in a wistful haze, quietly drinking in sounds and smells, trying to take in as much of this amazing seasonal transition as I can...knowing the seasonal shifts in the redwoods will be the merest of subtleties compared to the utter bursting forth that is a New England Spring.

I'm going to miss this girl, too:

My Alice.
But she's a Vermont girl and has zero interest in long journeys and the salty sea. She likes bracken. And lots of it. And she probably won't miss me all that much. Or at all. But I'm okay with this.

Really, I'm okay with all of this. If only because I am very distracted with the fact that I have only two more weeks until Twist and less than that to ship out for Maryland Sheep and Wool.
I have been mad prepping:

Have not even begun work on the shiny new thing that I intend to have ready for both. Luckily, I can run remarkably well on very little sleep.

Since C has been back and housemates have still been away, there has been family time and even a few quiet moments in the day...I had forgotten what it was like. We are quite the efficient little unit when we have our own space and time to manage. I really enjoy not needing to schedule my laundry and showers.

C leaves soon...in a few weeks time. A solo drive. The whole storage idea became ridiculously expensive. So, the standard moving rig it is, and we'll just have to move everything around a lot when we work on things like the floors and such. The little guy and I are still planning on taking the train...just the two of us...a few weeks behind C so he can get some of the more major work done without having to worry about kid-safety, or un-safety as the case may be.

I'm going now to soak up the remaining bits of this glorious Spring day. And eat a popsicle.
xoxoxo

I love today...

*Woke up, feeling empowered...fed the horse and the sheep and goats and the chickens, even the nasty rooster who went out of his way to attack me yet again, pilled and fed the dogs and then the cats, built a fire, made an awesome multi-grain hot cereal, got us dressed and out the door for 8:30am school...

*Seems I should be left alone with a shitload to do more often.

*Took an amazing snowy, hilly, winding, windy walk to my friend's house where we had tea and knit on things.

*Came home to find that C had called...we are 100% go on this place...we will be in the heart of redwood forest...oh how I have missed those amazing trees...5 acres not 3...some prime veggie-growing conditions once the brush is cleared and terrain that is perfect for raising goaties again. So much work to be done to make it a safe place to live, though, that C is thinking about going out there a few weeks maybe a month ahead of the little guy and i so he can get started on creating a livable space before we get there. I intend to spend most of my time outside this summer, anyway, but it would be nice if there was, you know, a place to cook, a dry place to sleep and that kind of thing. The views are of pretty much the whole damn Bay all the way to Monterey. This is so worth the leap.

*With this slight change of plans (staying behind for a few weeks), I may not entirely miss strawberry season in Vermont.

*I have an amazing yarn on the bobbin I hope the little guy lets me finish. Time to get him.

*Whoooooooooooooo!

April 8, 2009

*C's out there right now...camping out at the place we're likely moving to in less than two months time. Want desperately to know what's going on, his thoughts, what it looks like feels like smells like...anything. No cell service so am in the dark. Boo x 10, I'm feeling anxious.

*This is my first night alone in this house. The housemates left (also for California coincidentally), and now I am in charge of my boy, a giant nipping draft horse, three crazy voyeuristic sheep (they are endlessly watching the windows of the house from the pasture), three goats (including one master escapee), two dogs that need to be pilled (one of which has taken to leaving diarrhea on the floor) and two awesome cats (who require very little from me). Oh, and about fifteen chickens and one asshole rooster who bruised my calf the other day.

*Am looking forward to when the roads are no longer the consistency of cake batter. Seems I will be neighborhood-bound for the next few days as even the all-wheel-drive Subaru is no match for the deep, gooey ruts from our driveway to the main road. Had to park it a mile and some away at the town center.

*At least for a couple of days the SNOW and frigid cold will harden up that cake batter I mentioned, making a more pleasant walk to the car if I desperately need it, but it's a long walk for a four-year-old. And snow? Come ON. There's even talk of accumulation.

*Will need to rent a car to make the 3 and a 1/2 hour drive to pick up C from the airport on Saturday. I'm out a wheel bearing and strut. See that part about cake batter.

*Wind is wild and whipping about. I'm surprisingly non-plussed by this whole situation. Just getting sleepy...finally.

This week...

*I made things.

*And ate things.

*And my baby turned FOUR.

( Birthday stuff and FooooooD )

The first question out of his mouth this morning was "How do rocket ships go up in the sky?"

Whoa. How did we get here.

I put the house in his birthday ring to represent the journey to our new home...he's getting really excited about it (as are we)...and much of his imaginary play is centered around going to California. He got a pail and beach tools from his Nonna and spent much of yesterday "digging" on the bed beach. "When will it be summer?"

If only there weren't totally overwhelming preparations to be made before we get to a California beach or I would be frolicking in imaginary sand right along with him. We were hoping for a POD for moving our stuff ('cause I'd really like to take the train across), but it seems that, even though they service 48 states, Vermont isn't one of them. Another option we are exploring is a freight car...this seems so ridiculous, but we are bringing building materials and insulation materials and a cookstove and and...much more than we would normally move...so things get BIG and heavy really quickly. Plus, we'll need storage when we get there because the place is not exactly move-in ready. Basically, we need to be able to put our stuff in a box, move the box, and then keep the stuff in the box for a while after we get it there. Must be a way...

Back to taking the train across...looks like we can stop in NYC, Kansas City (

insubordiknit : hang out for a day or two at the end of May, bake things and knit things?!??), Santa Fe and then San Francisco. However, Amtrak website is not helping me figure it all out. Will talk to a human on Monday. Same for the Pod People. There just must be a way...

Alright, now he just asked, "Can you drink blood?"
It's time to go have breakfast.