New Inspirations
What an enlightening visit we had with the folks from the fence company yesterday. I definitely find myself falling into a trap of treading too lightly when it comes to undoing what is already in place. I tend to focus on what I can add, and shy away from tearing down what currently exists, especially when it comes to trees.
We were given great encouragement to consider removing some of the scrubby trees that have grown in areas set aside for natural drainage. The growth of underbrush in these areas progressively slowed the drainage enough that it has widened out, ultimately taking more area than is needed. If we remove all the growth and put in a narrow array of stone to direct the drainage, we can end up with more useable space and a cleaner look.
What is even more inspiring is, the idea of pulling out the old internal fencing that remains from previous use, which completely opens up possibilities for ways we can redesign a layout that better serves our purposes.
We are pleased with the variety of options for fencing from which we get to choose. We should be able to design something that will be within our budget, serve our needs for containment and safety, and also enhance the appearance of our property. It may not all happen as quickly as we wish it could, but doing it slowly will grant us time to evolve the design in our minds as each stage of progress unfolds. We fully expect to envision more possibilities, once the existing brush and old fence are removed.
It feels a bit unnatural for me to get excited about cutting down natural growth or tearing out a fence that is still in okay condition. It is a great exercise in enabling new creativity. I am inspired! After the visit from the fencing company, I got out in the overgrown pasture land on the diesel tractor and did some mowing with the brush hog.
Logging some time in the tractor seat was a nice way to feel immediate progress from the new inspirations.
Getting Readier
It’s December again! We all know what that means. Winter is coming!
Winter will be the reward for all the folks who fear the world will come to some spectacular end on December 21 this year. They will wake up on December 22 and the world will still be on, and it will be winter. Well, at least for those in the northern hemisphere. For those on the southern half of the planet, happy coming of summer to you.
I always find it difficult to reconcile the thought that people are experiencing the season of summer when we are in the depths of cold and dark.
We are going to celebrate the new month today by getting our very first quote on the job of installing new fencing and creating an arena. I don’t know if it is too late in the season to actually get fence installed, but this is one of the things we really would like to have in place before we bring horses to the property.
Cyndie contacted a local company and a representative is supposed to come out some time this morning. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to afford fencing that is robust, low maintenance, good looking, and has a long life expectancy. We want to have enough money left over to install an all season, on-demand watering system for the horses. Add to that, a hay shed, and we will be getting dang close to horse-ready.
You might have thought the cats were going to be a source of tales to be told here, but they’ll have nothing on the horses. Unless they finally catch a mouse. If they turn out to be good hunters, I’ll make sure to get them a fair share of “air-time.” When horses arrive, it will be hard for me not to post and write about the most essential of reasons we are here.
Knowing Better
I do know better, but that doesn’t guarantee success. It is a struggle to resist the dreary weight of “shoulds” and myriad other potential hazards that lurk in the mind of a person with propensities like mine. (See Dysthymia.)
Luckily, knowing better is a very important early step toward optimal health. One of the best things that ever happened for me was having my affliction identified, and then being taught skills for responding to it.
With our new home and property, there are so many things we want to address, it is a challenge to make any sense of it. I feel a bit like I’m in a losing game of “Whac-a-Mole” (a game which, ironically, is based on a situation we are literally needing to deal with here).
I find myself able to chip away at one project until it gets dark, or I run out of time, or I arrive at a problem without immediate solution. Then a new day brings new demands and the previous project lands on the back burner. Who knows when I will get back to that one. Something new will pop up tomorrow!
Now, the Christmas season is near, and a whole new set of make-work projects show up. It troubles me to see the energy that could be put toward our “to-do” list, now going toward decorating this place like it is some sort of holiday show room. Look at that: I’ve become a Scrooge.
I know better than to focus on the dreary perspective. Most people would think the house looks beautiful, and it makes Cyndie so very happy.
Plus, it gives the cats something new to wreck! Oops. See, there I go again. Darn that doom and gloom.
I actually heard a holiday song on the radio yesterday during my drive home that sounded great and made me happy. The reason it sounded great was because it was fresh. I had not heard this song for almost a year. Unfortunately, it is not even December yet. By the time I hear this song again for the 3rd or 4th time, I will be sick of it.
We think the holidays are so fun, it is logical to extend the season as much as possible. Of course, the marketers are all in for that idea, and do everything they can to elongate the duration of a gift-shopping season. In so doing, we have created our own monster. It wasn’t good enough to leave the Christmas season the way it was in years past. It has been stretched into something annoying. You’d think it was a political campaign. What a shame it is that we allow our favorite holiday songs to become annoyances.
They used to be special, because they were heard rarely, for a precious occasion. Over-playing songs diminishes the pleasure of them.
You’d think we would know better.
Don’t Blink
If time passes in the blink of an eye, can I slow time down by blinking less?
I am trying, little by little, to deal with the miscellaneous stuff that has traveled with us to our new place. We were well aware of the ideal of jettisoning unneeded items before the move, so we wouldn’t be paying to transport things we don’t need. Our ability to live up to that ideal fell a bit short. As moving day closed in, I found myself just bagging things and then boxing the bags up, to be dealt with after we arrived.
Part of me knows I could just throw much of it away. Certainly not all of it. There is a fair amount of electronics that need to be delivered to a facility that handles such refuse.
There are also items that are perfectly good. I have new, blank DVD discs. I don’t have any working DVD recorders. It seems a shame to trash stuff that is perfectly good. I have listed some items to craig’s list, because I thought they had value, but that has turned out to be an exercise in futility. It’s a shame. There is this great way to announce you have something worth keeping out of the trash, but it still boils down to there being someone in your vicinity who actually looks for the item on the day you list it, and will actually follow through and come pick it up.
The few times I have received replies of interest, the promises to come pick things up have proved false. It has really dampened my level of wanting to bother with going through the effort of creating listings, and managing any subsequent queries another time.
I found our 1.5 million candle power flood light that has been separated from its battery charger for years. I don’t even know if the batteries will take a charge, but I’d sure like to try. Now I look back on all those times I have spotted orphaned transformers among our things, and I wonder why I couldn’t have put them somewhere logical. I can’t find one that matches the specs I need, and I’ve looked high and low, including places like harddrives that are currently plugged in and being used. Close, but not quite there.
Knowing we had piles of these transformers at one time, makes it really hard to go out and buy what I’m now looking for, especially when all I want to do is test and see if the batteries work.
Maybe, if time didn’t pass so fast, I wouldn’t have collected all this junk in the first place. Fast or slow, I need to get these piles disposed of, so I can focus on more productive projects awaiting attention around here. And every time I blink, another line seems to get added to that ‘to-do’ list.
List Management
I feel like we are lucky, …and not so lucky. All of us are. Of course we are. It’s the balance of life.
The whirlwind of activity associated with hosting friends and family over the holiday weekend, many of them seeing our new place for the first time, has me in something of a “showing” hangover. I find myself contemplating all we have accomplished, and all that is yet to be done, which lies before us. There is a feeling of being richly blessed (lucky), and now socked with some big responsibilities (unlucky).
It is the part of me that wants to have everything tended to immediately that creates a feeling of pressure about addressing all the responsibilities. If I frame the new responsibilities as obviously transpiring over a span of time, it’s not nearly as daunting. We’ll get to it all, eventually.
My moments of weakness come when I see things that one day concern us greatly, then fade out of mind before we ever get around to tending to them. We start down a project path as far as is immediately convenient, but too often lose sight of it a day later, at which time something else easily seems to grab our attention away from our previous focus.
One of my projects for today will be to get our printer set up and running. We created a “to-do” list on Cyndie’s computer last week, but haven’t had it available for easy reference, and each of us has made individual changes to each of the copies on our own computers. I need to teach her how to use Google Documents, so we can both be updating one master list.
I want to be able to check things off the list as they get completed, as well as see the once-important ones continue to receive visibility, so items won’t linger unfinished.
As our littlest kitty approached me for attention the other day, I got the impression the cats’ behavior serves as an example of how life is. Pequenita strolled up to me for attention, weaving between my legs. As I reached to give her some petting, she kept walking to just out of my reach.
My “to-do” list will always be taking that one more step, out of reach of my ability to accomplish to my heart’s desire.
Glorious Beauty
In the afterglow of a wonderful Thanksgiving day, highlighted by visiting family and friends, we are feeling a renewed sense of wonder for this place that has become our home. A home that we now share with two newly adopted cats. I am immediately reminded of our cats by the sound of one of them getting a drink of water, as I write. Unfortunately, Mozyr is dipping his nose into my cup of water on the end table to my right, to get that drink.
Hey, at least he’s showing confidence to be out from under our bed.
Actually, both cats have been doing really well with all the clamor and confusion from our hosting of a number of guests who have been infiltrating their space, just days after they have had the chance to learn this is their new home.
We are in this together, the cats and us, getting used to this ‘new home’ thing.
This beautiful paradise is our home?! Yes, indeed, kitties, it is.
Some of our first-time visitors of the last couple of days have inquired about which space we tend to spend the most time, and it occurred to me that we haven’t had enough time yet to give all the spaces a fair test. We love all of the different rooms. For just the two of us, we certainly have more rooms than we need. We didn’t really succeed in downsizing from our previous home.
We like sitting in the sunroom in the early light of morning, and at the kitchen counter of the center island whenever there is food-related activity going on. Climbing the wooden spiral staircase to our loft always gives a thrill, and the space up there is so appealing, it is hard to come back down. Since we started using the living room fireplace, where we have some new furniture, the thrill of sitting there and basking in the views through double doors on either side, as well as the glow of the fire, itself, is a big attraction. We logged a bit of extra time in the bedroom, hanging out with the cats when they first arrived, and that room has won increasing favor in our hearts.
They are all great spaces.
It has been a blessing to already have had the opportunity to enjoy hosting overnight guests on multiple occasions. This place deserves to be filled with the extra energy that additional people bring when they visit, and more so when they can stay a while.
I think that is a nice way to put this space to good use.
The icing on our cake is, after guests head home, we get to remain. And the space grows quiet, wrapping around us, and cradling us in all its amazing, glorious beauty.
Then, one of the cats slides around a corner at break-neck speed, claws trying to find purchase in the ceramic tiled floor, reacting to something that neither Cyndie nor I can see, or hear.
