Garagio is now wired for my kiln, but there's only one problem...

A whole lotta stuff has to be moved inside the house before I can even plug it in!

But it’s one step closer to making pottery.  In my last post, or even one before that, I mentioned that I wanted to get my hands muddy again.  Needless to say, clay is the last thing on my mind right now because I’m feeling a bit swamped with school obligations, being a mom and also remodel/cleaning/painting activities around the new house. I keep telling myself that there’s no rush but I seriously think that it could be Christmas before the house and I start looking and feeling normal!

The kitchen is getting there

As you can see from the photos, however, there is still a little bit of work to be accomplished such as finishing vent hood above the range and painting (lots of painting).  It is functional though which makes me so happy because  it’s tiring to eat restaurant meals and/or like we’re camping every single day of the week – not to mention being hell on one’s waistline.

The backyard is another story...

The electrical lines were buried and in the progress of excavation and filling, the backyard has gone to pot.  The good news is that I’ll have till next spring to really worry about doing anything out here since fall & winter are approaching.  Hopefully by then, I’ll have added to my landscape knowledge base and can design a welcoming space with a small veggie garden.  By now, the people who moved into our old home are enjoying vine ripened tomatoes and all the fresh basil they can possibly consume.  It’s all good though, right?

School is going well and I am sufficiently challenged – unfortunately, my new issues of Pottery Making Illustrated & Ceramics Monthly are taking a back seat while I wade through Site Engineering for Landscape Architects.  I know I’m in the right place right now, but man oh man, my brain cells are aching from exercising them again.  Thank goodness it’s a holiday weekend and I get an extra day to rest my brain.  No physical respite for me though – we picked up a 5 gallon bucket of paint.  

Have a good week everyone – I’m getting better at managing my time and will try to make the blog rounds in the next few days to see all the fabulous things everyone has been doing while I’ve been in the weeds.

~Cynthia

Fresh cut poppy in a Kate Wasson salt fired planter/vase I purchased at the Potters Guild Spring show.

Despite taking a lot of luxurious naps this weekend, I feel like I’m still recovering from the past month’s activities that started with the Colorado Potters Guild show the first weekend in May and ended with my daughter’s graduation from 5th grade last Friday – and now it’s June already!

5th grade graduation

So, what’s new? My husband has finally talked me into moving into a sorely neglected home that we have been renting out for the past 11 years.  He’s been working on getting me on board for the past couple of months now….  We’re going to meet with our contractor (who remodeled our current house) on Friday to go over a few musts and wishes.  The house has been neglected the past few years – the yard is overgrown, the kitchen is dated, there is only 1 bath room that leaks, and I could go on and on.

I tried being the voice of fiscal reason, copping an attitude, appealing to his love of the neighborhood, stamping my feet, among other things but I finally grew tired of counter arguing the issue and he won.  Unlike the house we currently live in, we will not be remodeling it top to bottom because of budget issues.  Our budget is roughly $60,000 which given today’s prices won’t get us far.  So, we’re going to tackle some unglamorous but necessary and mostly invisible renovations such as *new and updated plumbing, *new and updated electrical (we cannot currently use a microwave and a toaster at the same time without blowing a fuse – let alone a kiln or two) as well as some more visible changes such as replacing windows, old appliances, changing out the old pink Formica counter tops, landscaping, painting and possibly some tile work in the bath.

Some work we will do ourselves such as landscaping, painting and cosmetic changes – but the big stuff like windows, plumbing and electric will go to the pros.

Why move? I had originally told my husband that I was done moving when we fixed our current house up, but when faced with the hard realities of the current real estate market and incurring capital gains taxes if we sell our rental (we’re tired of being land lords) it just makes fiscal sense.  You see, if we live in our rental for 2 years, we can sell it without paying capital gains.  We are going to rent out our current house for at least a year (this is something I don’t relish – my lovingly tended landscape going to pot) and more.  But, there are 5 houses for sale on our block alone  right now – that’s not conducive to selling.  We will re-evaluate in a year’s time whether to sell or hang onto it.  To tell you the truth, the house and location are great, the yard and square footage a little too small.  Our rental is much bigger and has a larger yard, but is not in as desirable a neighborhood as our current home.

My conditions: On the one hand, I’m going to be sad to leave our home and start over.  On the other hand, I relish the creative challenge of bringing a little more sparkle to the old house on a tight budget.  I’ll be too busy to cry and moving into the old rental will makes both a puzzle and dare at the same time.  I am also insisting on doing this greener than we have remodeled houses in the past.  We are going to repaint the kitchen cabinets instead of replacing, recycle furniture, replace the windows and appliances with energy star rated products, add insulation where necessary, use low VOC paints, I am looking for eco-friendly kitchen counter options, am going to turn our front yard into an “Edible Estate” – and am also looking into keeping some chickens in the back yard.

Chickens

The past 2 items made my husband just a little nervous, but his desire to avoid paying capital gains is over riding his fear of an urban farmstead.  I also want to revisit selling our current house next summer, something he doesn’t necessarily want to do.  He envisions us moving back here in 2 years – but seriously, I’ll be in my last year of grad school by then and I might not want to move back, and my emotional investment in the remodeled house might be too high by then.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to crafting our new home and think it might just make a nice little side blog – what do you think?

Cynthia