Well Hello, 2016

I love the philosophical side of starting a new year. Blank slate, new list of things to tackle, the holidays usually give me a little breather from my normal schedule to get a few things that have gotten out of hand (uh, dishes and laundry) back under control. A new year full of new possibilities.

For example, the possibility that three days into the new year I’ll drop my phone (which has been sans-case since it got covered in honey during honey-harvest) and the screen will shatter to the point that the phone no longer works. And then the car won’t start, and even though I have all kinds of AAA and roadside assistance (which, let’s be honest, I never use) I couldn’t use it even if I wanted to with a broken phone.

Sometimes I feel like the Universe is looking me dead in the eye and daring me to be a fucking whiner.

But hey, hey, 2016… listen up.  I’m the girl who folds little origami cranes out of all the difficult shit I do, and then hangs them over my desk just so I don’t forget that sometimes I’m a badass. 

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Yeah. You aren’t going to get me down with a broken phone and broken car.

I mean, okay, my method of “fixing” the car mostly consisted of idle threats and then whispered prayers with my forehead pressed against the steering wheel while I continually turned the key in the ignition… but it worked.

And then it turned out one of my coworkers randomly had a replacement screen for an iPhone in her car that she didn’t need (of course she did), so I took 30 minutes and fixed my phone myself.

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I win.

Or, well, I was winning, until I dropped my work computer and broke that screen as well, which, as it turns out, I can’t fix myself.

(Apparently you can’t win ’em all.)

Still, you may notice that while I reset my annual list around the New Year, technically it doesn’t start until spring…

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On the farm it feels like a new year starts in spring, and so January and February are basically… purgatory. I mean the holidays are over, it’s officially cold and dark out with no cheery Christmas lights to make you feel better about the fact that it’s cold and dark out. February is fast approaching, and anyone who has ever suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder knows that shit gets real in February.

In my heart of hearts I’m just waiting until it’s warm enough out to build a greenhouse in the garden. But, until then, I decided to get some “straggler” projects done in the house. You know, things I’ve been saying I’m going to do for, uh, at least a year.

For example…

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Those are some prints from coco de Paris that I bought (along with some frames from Hobby Lobby) a year ago. They’ve been sitting on a table in my entryway ever since. That is, until last week when I decided to finally check this project off my list. Oh, and also slice my hand open with a chisel…

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I’m just going to start a hashtag right now for all of the shit I can already tell is going to happen this year. #because2016

But the slightly bloody hand was totally worth it, because look at how fun these are…

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Slowly but surely my house is starting to look like a house and not a construction zone. In at least one of the rooms, I guess.

 

One thing I’m bound-and-effing-determined to have done before 2017 (and really, before March would be awesome) is the upstairs bathroom. In fact, I got home Saturday evening and decided I was going to get the damn tile board down before I went to bed…

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Ah. Which, instead, two hours later, had resulted in me demoing the floor yet again…

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#because2016

Guys. 150 year old house. Dealing with leveling that floor is going to take a whole lot of patience I don’t possess, so… we’ll come back to that.

In the meantime I’ve got two more weekends to finish up any lingering projects, and then the film crew will be back and we’ll be making some more videos of stuff around the farm. First up will be building some locker-style storage in the mudroom.

I can’t wait to have cameras on me while I try to build some shit on the fly, because if the last week is any indication it will be… challenging. But it’s all good 2016. I like a challenge.

17 Responses

  1. My house isn’t 150 years old BUT at the time it was built it was meant to only be a summer cottage, so I completely get the frustration of floors that aren’t level.

    As to navigating your site, I don’t want to sound stalkerish but I’ve managed to navigate through from start to finish without any problem.

    1. Bless you Kit! You are tackling the house I wish I had. I am still working on my modular to look older, say 70 years older, AND live in it also.
      I move from space to space just to work on projects. Keep up the good work! Virgie

  2. Shoes. Shoes are needed with floor demo especially if wine is involved and when things have gotten broken and bloody around you in the past few days.

    The prints and origami are really nice.

  3. Love reading you Kit!
    1. U R fun
    2. U R real n quite humorous at times 😉
    3. UR hug-able mini-butts are the kewlest ever
    4. informative & inspirational
    “Sometimes I feel like the Universe is looking me dead in the eye and daring me to be a fucking whiner.” yea I get that too when my 6 mo. old Goldendoodle ( mostly doodle) puppy either has a junior moment or decides to teach me some patience LOL. Breeder said he was to be medium sized / full grown ( 40# ) he’s 6 mos. old now and 52-1/2# >>>I couldn’t pick him up at the breeders in southern Mo. cause I was in western So. Dak. at a family reunion…so lessons are to be learned regardless of age LOL
    constant growth – fine wine takes time
    Cheers!
    demo responsibly

  4. Shoes, darling. SHOES!! a cut hand is one thing…missing toes insure you cannot balance on a ladder, and we cannot have that.

    This time of the year is crap! And, it absolutely gets real in February. I am sketching out plans for redoing my backyard to get me through. Oh, and raising kids.

  5. Love your work Kit and I totally understand the state of purgatory you mentioned about January, February and for me even half of March. Since I stay very busy from mid March right through November once the holidays are over I just go nuts from boredom. Got to find some seasonal hobbies. Maybe I should try origami. Anyway thanks for a nice read.

  6. Great prints! I hesitate … then decide to ask anyway … so I’ve never used a chisel to hang pictures. Aside from almost slicing an artery, what was the chisel for?

    1. Probably to push in the glazing points… or to assist the unforgiving square glass fit into the not-so-square frame.

  7. “I mean, okay, my method of “fixing” the car mostly consisted of idle threats and then whispered prayers with my forehead pressed against the steering wheel while I continually turned the key in the ignition… but it worked.”

    This exactly what I do!

  8. Thanks for the updates. I really appreciate the new navigation bar. I’ve been reading your blog from the beginning for the past few weeks (just got to the part where you bought this place), and it has made it a lot quicker to navigate!

    I know you’re going to have a great 2016. Can’t wait to see how things come along on the farm this year!

  9. How about an X to get rid of that bottom bar? Things that use up an inch of screen real estate, agh.

    1. Sorry! I’m not a developer so I can’t change the properties of the bar… it’s a plugin. This is the best I can do for now.

  10. 2016 is going to be rough! New year’s day my water heater took out 62% of the floors in my home. Once the contractor puts back safe sub floors I will bloody well start laying the coverings myself because I am tired of waiting.

    I love reading your “adventures” it reminds me that I too am strong enough to grab a hammer and get it done. Thank you!

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