Hello, Lovely Miss V. Yes, there has been some breathing room of late, and I have been trying to take as much advantage of it as I can. Thank you so much for checking in on me. I won't say that I don't still struggle, but in between the less frequent struggle-type days, I have a lot of good time.
SH (so happy to see you again, by the way!) I've still been thinking about MR's thought about weaving a basket deep enough and I guess it's still not getting through to me as well as I'd like. Like I said, I think that it is the enemy part of the story. That said, maybe it all comes back to the part where My own thoughts may well be my worst enemy. I need to go back and look at it from that perspective. Maybe that's what you were getting at.
I had a wonderful talk with my close out of state friend yesterday. We had a lot of catching up to do., as we haven't talked since July, and it as just so good to speak with her again. She has given me invaluable support throughout this whole process, and she has a lot of really valuable insight that I do appreciate hearing. She makes me recognize a lot of things in what has been happening. In fact, she was the person who recommended that I see a grief counselor, and that was the single best thing I've done for myself this past year.
I've continued to work on my Taj Ma(chicken)Hal project, and it's been slowly coming along, with strong emphasis on the "slowly" part. My motivation has been lacking of late, but I keep plugging away at it. Slow progress is still progress, by any definition. I have 2 walls standing, a third almost ready to go up,and the fourth is all cut and laid out. One of the more time-consuming aspects of this whole project has been covering the whole outside of the frame with 1/2" hardware cloth. Slow, slow, slow! That, and the fact that I'm over-building it...
I want this building to last a long time, be one that I can add onto eventually, and one that I could potentially convert from a roofed 10x12 chicken run with open walls to a completely enclosed building, should I ever choose to do so. For instance, I could convert it into a small goat barn, a milking parlor, a tool shed, or even a greenhouse. The sky's kind of the limit if it's built well enough the first time. Anyway, I am the tortoise in this race. I will get there... eventually. : ) winter is approaching rapidly, though!
I've done most of the work on my own, but I take help where and when I can. My father helped me when I went on the trip to buy and transport all the lumber, both my parents helped me raise the first wall after I framed it and L-friend and I got the hardware cloth attached. L-friend has helped me with the hardware cloth on the second wall, too, and is on board to do that for the other walls,, and h-friend has offered to help me next week with whatever needs to be done. Yeah!
Today, a distant neighbor who owns a little antique shop stopped by out of the blue while I was out working and brought me a Christmas gift!!! It was two vintage (maybe1920's, by the looks of them?) handmade pipe cleaner ornaments. I can't say enough how much it means to me to be cared about by so many people in my little community. I love that people feel comfortable enough to drop by spontaneously (strangely, STBXWH really didn't like it).
I have always believed that putting down roots matters, and I just want to let my roots grow deeper and deeper here. STBXWH dissed my house and the people in this community as being beneath him, but he could neither see nor feel the arms that were open and ready to welcome us both here. I feel them and this is my home. Every day I am grateful for my little farm and my land and the people around me.
