Cozy Home

My friends who can't come visit are asking for more photos of the house.  You can see that the previous owner liked avacado green.  I was originally going to repaint, since I am a beige kinda gal.  But, since my new Mantra is "Change Is Good", I am going to go with the colors on the walls a bit and see how my interior design skills can make it my own.  One shot is looking across from the bedrooms to the breakfast nook and wood stove side of house.  The other shows you the front foyer and on the right is a bit of the open concept kitchen.  That large painting proped against the wall, was my last copy that I did from the original at the National Gallery of Art in DC.  I am now a three hour drive from DC......don't imagine I will get back to copying there anytime soon.

Paintin Or Unpacking

 

Got the itch to paint, so I ignored all those boxes of unpacked clutter and turned on my I Pod, shut the door to the temporary studio and two hours later, I have the entire painting blocked in and am ready to dig into the details.  There is a good deal of barn clutter to be painted.  The goal here is for me to paint it, so you don't notice it until after you have enjoyed the tractor.   I am probably going to do a good deal of glazing to this painting, I am thinking it still needs to be knocked down a few more values inside the shed.  May put some sunlight and shadows dancing across the grass in the foreground also. 

Future Studio

Soon to be emptied out and french doors across the front, this is my future studio.  On the right is three steps leading up to a door into the laundry area with a nice washtub and along that wall is a sturdy shelf type area which will make a great model stand...you can just make out one of the white shelf posts.  The ceilings are somewhere between 15 and 18 feet tall.....I should measure that shortly.  On the left in the back, is a door into the backyard, but you can't see it in this photo.  The concrete floor is painted, but with my bad back, I need some other type of softer impact flooring.  I hope to move into this space in Sept or October.

Racoon Raiders

I have always lived in rural areas, see the deer daily, a bear once in a while and also a fair amount of turkeys, racoons and opposums.  But, I have never had a problem with any wildlife until now.  We are loosing lots of sleep these days, because of Racoons raiding our feeders....seed and hummingbird syrup feeders.  OK, I can handle that, they have to eat also.  But, our cats are absolutely unwilling to share their new home and so fights ensue and things are knocked over and cats are shreiking.  I ran to the door this morning at 2 am to flash a light and was just in time to hear a racoon giggle at me as he ran off.  NO KIDDING, he made a giggling sound as he ran off.  The cats were not impressed!!!!!  But I am!!!!

Front and Back Yards

You can see in the photos that I am totally surrounded by oak trees.  There are two small stone retaining walls up in the back yard as you walk up the mountainside into the woods.  I can't see another  house in the area......just like Daniel Boone, I am now on the frontier. 

My New Home

This house does not photograph well.....or maybe I am just not a good photographer.  Anyway, this is my cute new home....it is much bigger than it looks.  It extends pretty far out the backside and behind the garage area.  It is incredibly quiet here. 

Back Porch ....No Work Getting Done Here!

With a back porch like this one, is it any wonder that I am not getting much work done?

Temporary Studio

This is the temporary studio....desk and computer on one side and the easel, taboret and chair with two of my many cupboards along the other wall.   I am in the doorway and there is a large closet with double doors to my left.  The lack of lighting and darkly painted walls are a real problem..... Not very big, but it is only temporary. 

I Found My Brushes!!!!!!!

I finally found the box containing my paintbrushes while I was setting up the temporary studio.  Oh How Wonderful to feel them in my hand again.  I managed to get an hour before fixing dinner and I have made some progress on the little green tractor painting.  The oils really make it hard to get a decent photograph.....all that shine in the upper part of the tractor shed makes it impossible to see the details. 

Setting up Studio Today

Setting up my temporary studio today....it is much smaller than what I had in Fauquier.  But, its only temporary.  I will be moving into a two car garage attached to the house.  It is already sheet rocked and painted white and has a painted concrete floor.  The ceiling is 15 or 18 feet high.  What a bonus!  Along one side is a raised built in shelf area, about two and a half feet off the ground and large enough to become a model stand.   We will put in a more comfortable flooring and french doors to replace the roll up garage door, this fall.  We just have too much other stuff to get done first.   Until then, I can make do in the spare bedroom, with the computer and desk.  I have had less space and comfort in the past, this won't be too much of a hardship.

Move is Over, Now to Unpack

I am now into my new home....the awful move is over.  It took us 6 trips in a pretty large moving truck that we rented.  We totally underestimated what it would take to move us and we did it ourselves from Monday until Thursday and then we had 7 family members help us with the final trips on Saturday and Sunday.  We did not realize just how much stuff we had accumulated over the course of our 29 years of marriage.  When we moved to the house we just left, 17 years ago, it only took us two days and two trips.  Gosh, does this mean we are affluent enough to have so much stuff.   Correction - Crap!  I intend to start letting go of some of this STUFF and start living as though I am in a monistary.   Less is More!