Where have I been for the past month?  Romantic, would be the target for the big project I have been working on; Perforations would be the result of this much hand-sewing in so short a time.   Since May 7th, along with the pieces for Eide, I have been armpit deep in the  project for Deeanne Gist the romance novelist.  The past 50 pictures on my Flickr page are all the progression of this project.  This picture is number 50.  It is Deeanne’s wig with some samples of the rest of the dress and trimming showing how all the colors look together.  The small square is the moire of the dress with a single motif from the hem trimming.  The small blue flowers are part of the garland I made for the wig, and the silk rose and peek of lily of the valley trim the back of that garland.  A whole lot going on in a small lovely space.

Does this mean I did nothing else for the past month?  Pretty much.  I did make food for a couple of potlucks.  I taught Mark Leinhart some helpful bits on how to run Excalibur at the Colorado show.  I brainstormed with Rhonni on her new project, Rhonni Rocks.  Oh! right, and I had my final weekend at Georgia Fair, packed all my product, and sent it off to wait for my arrival at Bristol.  I have also since packed my own stuff, loaded up the kitties and drove back to Ohio.  Since May 26th, I did all of those things with my dear John.  He flew out to perform at GARF for Memorial Day weekend,and stayed to help me pack.  It was his birthday on the 26th, but I think I got the best present.  What a delight to have a partner that not only took care of his own stuff, but was also actively interested in helping me with mine.  He took care of a bunch of menial stuff for me while I was trying to finish up the sewing order, helped me pack my product, and humped all the heavy boxes for me.  It totally ROCKED!  I am so lucky.

Also on this trip we had our engagement pictures taken by our friend Tegan Elliot.  I will have more soon, but here is my favorite, so far.

~cheers!

Kitties in readiness.  They just know that if they are patient enough, or the gods are with    them,  one of the birds will materialize in their house and they can dispatch it in devastatingly   feathery haste.  …or the squirrel, the chipmunk, rat, bug, leaf, etc..
Being bound by the walls of my houses they feast on the sights they can get from the windows.  Sometimes, when they are especially excited, this is to the detriment of anything laying on the surfaces they want to be on.  I often come downstairs to papers on the floor, spools of thread that have fallen and rolled, or the occasional box of pins that has now flung itself, with help of course, all over the floor.  There are times when the pin in my toe is how this one gets noticed. -sigh- I love them.

There was a lot accomplished this week.  I finished pieces for my friend Eide.  Her new pumpkin colored skirt and creamy partlet are on their way to her.

I couldn’t  believe how long her skirt took me, but it is worth all the effort and perforating .

The potluck was Mediterranean, and as always it was amazing.  I am pretty sure I dreamed of Bobby’s Moroccan meatballs .  This next week is South O’ the Border.  Not sure what I am doing yet, but it will be another yummy Friday.  Which of course leads to to more foodie goodness, and the food porn reference!  Riki Robinson invited Rhonni and I to go with him to a dinner that was being thrown for the Tortuga Twins by a fan on Monday.  She, Jacquelyn, is an aspiring chef, and wanted to do a Twins inspired meal.  All I really have to say is, WOW!!!  Everything was utterly amazing.  It was coursed, and she had themed each course for one of the boys.  The other delights prepared also had cute names, like “Audience of Screaming Fans”. This was a cocktail made with jalapeno-infused vodka.  OMG! It was soo good.  I am afraid I may have gushed praise everywhere, but I couldn’t help it.

We spent a couple of Fridays dressing up Victorian style, and having fun.  The first was a friend’s benefit for the Foster Children in Fulton County.  It was a murder-mystery party, and we had a great time.  Rhonni, I, Riki, and Teagan all had a blast, ate some food(sparingly), were completely surprised by the outcome, and it was all for a good cause.

The next Friday there was a little SteamPunk convention(Anachrocon) going on just north of the airport, so we dressed up again, and went to see what was what.  I, Rhonni, Riki, and Mark, all got dressed and accessorized with Steamie goodness thanks to Excalibur.  Rhonni had a great dress made by Pendragon, and we all carried various business cards to see if we could entice some of them to come out to the Renaissance fair.  It was certainly better than I had feared, but not nearly as good as I would have hoped for.  It was only its second year, I think, so perhaps it will grow into something larger.  We still had a good time, but we were only there for 3 hours or so.  Then back home, change, and chat with Bobby after the Asian potluck.

Since then I have been sewing like a mad thing, trying to get as much as possible finished during this show.  One reason is of course, because I want to be able to spend as much of Bristol on my Wedding dresses as possible.  The second reason is I’m poor! -smile-  Have a truck to fix (STILL), a wedding to put on, a life to have.  My time is happily filled with stitching in its many varieties. By hand, machine, and in all kinds of light, I have plenty to work on.  No boredom here.  In fact, I am not going to be accepting any new commissions until I get caught up.  I have people waiting on me, and now they get to wait longer with the insertion of a surprise wedding.  *grin*  They love me, but still…  I am such a damn perfectionist, that it would kill me to not do a good job, and so they wait…more or less patiently.

My final picture is of a lovely sunset we had just last week, after a couple of days of rain.  The sun popped out just enough to blaze the sky in orange and hot pink.  Gorgeous as always, and keeps the tradition of Georgia skies in my posts while here.

Love you one and all, Cheers!

Here it is again, Spring in Georgia.  That means that the wisteria and dogwood are blooming.  Obviously it was a very wet winter because Spring happened fast and everything is HUGE!  This is just one stand of wisteria on the way to the wal-mart, and I was amazed at how thick and lush it was.  Just beautiful in the early morning sunlight.

Here have a couple more shots of the same stand of trees.

On the show note, Jason got the booth cleaned out, and I have a pile of boxes to start on.  I am off to make another cup of tea, and get a knife, because it will soon to be like Christmas around here!

~cheers!

A banner for John

Today’s stuff has been computer artwork.  Lots and lots of it.  This is too be a new vinyl sign.  I have also been busily doing artwork for the new CDs or updating artwork for old CDs.

Oooo, goody!  I actually like doing the artwork, it is just very time consuming.  It is nice to fix things, or just freshen the previous artwork.  John has recently changed his business from John of New, to John of Peniel.  If you want to know why, go and check out his website, John of Peniel.

Here is a CD set that is new, and I am especially pleased with how it turned out.

These are for John’s Healing Earth Meditation CD.  It is a pretty cool thing.  Again, if you are interested, there is a whole page about the mission behind it. Check it out!

That has been that project over the past couple of weeks.

Of course, the other projects are sewing.  Yet still more couching on Dianna’s overskirt.  I have also been been searching out beads, and clusters, and findings… for the forepart.  It is a really pretty fabric, but the pattern is big.  Finding the right combination of beads and things that looks elegant, and not too Mardi Gras, has been a fun challenge.

I also just sold some dresses, that I had been thinking of culling.  My friend Lisa is the new owner of my blue day outfit, and the 1906 Dinner dress.

Thanks Lisa!  I did am doing a few updates to them, that I just never got around to for myself.  Amusing that I care more for the customer, than myself.  *grin*  I made the armholes larger in the Dinner dress, and I will be making the waistband on the overskirt of the daydress bigger.  Imagine!  It has only been irritatingly too small since I made it!  Lucky, Lisa.

I saved this, and completely forgot to finish.  I have since Finished Lisa’s corset and bustle.

Now to finish the other fixes, updates, and little tweeks.  I hope to ship this before I leave this weekend for GA.

John and I took a drive one Sunday to the cute little town of Oberlin, OH.  He teaches Stage Combat there in the fall.  It is filled with great buildings, so even though I was getting sick we had a great time taking pictures.

I loved this building towers.  The whole campus is stone Victorian buildings. Just lovely.  I had to take several version before I got one that worked.  The lighting was a little weird.

I loved this building.  It had quotes around the eave and oval enameled badges in the eave between the quotes.  The entire ceiling was several different motifs like peacocks.

There was an open house that Sunday.  A great big black Victorian.  Of course we toured it!  My pictures are not the best, but it really was lovely.  So many interesting details and it still had most of its charm intact.  If you are interested the pictures of that are here.

I have been continuing to push through the sewing I need to get done before I leave.  Being sick has NOT made this any easier.  I hope to be feeling better soon, since I will be driving to GA on Sunday.  This weekend though we have a big event for John, and Kynan’s Spring break is this week.  I will prevail!

More soon from GA.

~Cheers

As you can see, it was an absolutely gorgeous day on our flight out from Cleveland towards California for the Annual Visite.  This was the first leg of the trip which had us changing planes at O’hare.  This is Chicago from my window on the plane.  We were then on our way to Portland, OR for the first of our two John stops.

In Portland we stayed with John’s friends, Jim and Amy van Hook. They have an adorable house in the Sellwood area of Portland.  I had not been back to Portland since Joseph and I had lived here, but three winters here helped a lot in the getting around department.

The venue John was speaking at was at a house outside of Portland in a lovely little town called Lake Oswego.  Lots of green and trees, and flowers.  Did I mention that the weather was PERFECT!  Sunny and 50′s almost the entire time we were there.  The hosts of the event are members of A.R.E. , and this was one of their monthly meetings. John spoke eloquently on how to live your life, instead of letting it live you.  The next day and a half was devoted to individual counciling sessions.  We met some really wonderful people, and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Monday morning saw us headed back into Lake Oswego for an early lunch with Nick Bunick.  He was the subject of the book The Messengers.  He and John have maintained a relationship since John’s tour promoting the book, he was the subject of, John of Old, John of New.

This was the beginning of our playday that I had scheduled.  Lunch was great, and meeting Nick was fun for me.  Now it was time for Cannon Beach.  This is one of my favorite places on Earth!  I love mountains and ocean, and this is both. I will only post a couple of shots, but the rest of them are here.

We had an awesome time.  Lovely dinner overlooking the ocean, arty shopping with cool woven treasure scored, and sunset at my favorite beach with my favorite guy.  We filled the day with joy, and got it all back in spades. *smile*

Weather blew in while we were at the beach, and Tuesday morning was raining as we got ready for out flight to Sacramento.  Our stay with the van Hook’s was great.  I had never really known Jim well from his days at GARF, but I found their show fun, and this visit with him and his family was filled with laughter, good food, and great conversations.  Thanks!

Our flight to Sacramento was uneventful, though small, and after a slightly frustrating time with the rental car place, we were on our way to nearly a week with Ken and Gail.  I got a call form Gail saying that they were up tp their eyeballs trying to get an order shipped, so if we wanted to amuse ourselves a couple of hours, that would be ‘Great!’  Well in that case… *ring-ring*  “Hello, Kyrana? “  The Gaffer and the Muse were still in town, so John and I spent a lovely afternoon with them.  Lunch at a Thai place, much conversation, petting of various animals, more conversation, tour of renovations, great coffee and tea, and finally hugs to go!  They are currently having a vacation in New Orleans and other points south and east of CA.

Now, on to the Ranch.  I love spending time here.  Mostly because I get to see Gail for extended periods, which only happens this time of year, but also because we have some really great business talks.  The ‘What are we doing this year’ kind of talks.  Also sprinkled in there was wine tasting, of course, and some really spectacular food.  I do really love to eat.  This trip also introduced John to Gail, which was entertaining all in itself.  She took her role as my surrogate mom very seriously and did a thorough job of grilling John, to make certain he is worthy. *GRIN*  She said he passed.  I am sure my mom was laughing, too.

The next weekend we were headed in to San Jose for the second and final of John Speaking engagements. The was to also be held at the host’s home.  Sheila and Arnold Estep are truly lovely people, and made us feel very welcome.  We also finally got to meet John’s friend Alora in person.  She is utterly adorable.  We had so much fun.  Alora had arranged this venue for John, and then invited us to stay with her.

Sunday morning before we were scheduled to be back at the Estep’s house for the counciling sessions, we tooka drive to San Fransisco.  Ostensibly this was for fabric shopping, but I had misread the website, and they were closed.  I was NOT happy.  We turned the morning around though, and wandered on foot through the shopping district on Market Str. right downtown.

We enjoyed tea and coffee at Peets, lunch in a tiny Thai place, a one room textile museum, and each other’s company as we strolled through the sun and watched the people also enjoying their Sunday morning.

The sessions went well back in San Jose, and we were all treated to dinner at BJ’s by our hosts.  There was decent beer and much laughter that night.

We left at noon the next day to come home.  It had been eleven days with no Kynan or kitties, and we were ready to get back.  It was a successful trip, and we may even duplicate it next year.  Our flights back were easy, and we seem to have landed in Spring.  Spring comes early to the west coast, so we had spent the entire trip seeing blooming trees and bulbs, but OH is still snowbound. Since our landing though, the days have been bright and warm (40′s).  The icicles are finally melting, and the birds are riotous.  Come on, Spring!

I am currently couching gold threads, and setting rhinestones on the O’connor wedding pieces.  On to work, and preparation for the new festival year.  I am looking forward to successful sales, and lots or glorious clothing made.  There is a wedding to pay for after all! *GRIN*

Love to all, cheers!

Returning from a week in TX for all the assorted Bert-ishness, has been hard on my motivation.  It was an amazing experience with people I knew, love, or just met.  I am glad I was able to go.  I am even more glad that John could join me for part of it.  Staying with Kyle and MB, made the entire trip worth it, as well.  But, now I am back, and I should really be working.

I can only clean and organize so much, so instead I have been researching wedding stuff.  That is interesting.  Makes the experience more real, when you get into the nitty-gritty of what you want things to look like, say, and so forth.  Also, I have been figuring out how to pattern not only my wedding stuff, but another wedding order that needs completing this year.  The air is filled with swatches and decisions.

On comes Valentines Day.  I am not a supporter of the retail Hallmark bogus nature that this holiday has become.  I have issues with holidays based on retail obligations.  But… as I know MB has pointed out in the past, Valentines Day can really just be an excuse to make a big deal over your sweethearts.  John, who is much more a romantic than I, had plans.  I did too, but mine weren’t fit for the public.

We went on a date to one of the local wineries.  Ferrante It was adorable, and the wine was definitely tolerable.  I look forward to going again.  It is a very cute building.  I only got one pic of it though ’cause I was hungry!

On our way there, John took by a covered bridge over a very pretty stream, that is just down the hill from the winery.

We would drive through these when I lived in NJ and PA all the time.  It is even cooler when you can get a picture of an Amish buggy coming out of one.  There are more covered bridge pictures here.

After having a long and leisurely meal with much wine tasting, finely settling on glasses of their Vidal and Cab Franc, we chatted merrily, and listened to the live music, just enjoying ourselves.

We took the scenic country route home, and hit the highway just as the sun burst out of the clouds, for the first time in days, and gave us a fantastic sunset.

We are now in high gear for our West Coast trip which involves a speaking gig for John in Portland, and the annual visit to Ken and Gail in Placerville.  I love the Portland area, and it looks like the weather will good.  I am so looking forward to showing John some of my favorite stuff!

Upon returning, it will be March.  The sewing must begin in earnest!  I have a bunch of hand deco sewing to do for my other wedding client.  Then on to corsets and undies galore, as well as finishing waylaid Dickens bits.  Sew, sew, sew…

But now, on to laundry.  Must have clean clothes to pack!

cheers

We decided to suspend the house search.  We just felt too desperate.  That is a stupid place to be when trying to make those kind of decisions.  So, now, we wait.  The Summer will be a better time, financially, and it just makes more sense.  So no house for now.

Then, last Wednesday, 1.27.2010, my friend and ex Bert decided to end his life.  There has been an enormous outpouring of emotion from a great many people.  It is hard on many.  Hard to understand, hard to imagine the loss, hard on the family who didn’t know him, but are supportive in our grief,… it is just hard.  It will pass, but in this moment there is sadness.  John and I are planning to go to TX for the Memorial, if they ever figure out where and when.  I am thankful for the support structure I have around me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to support others in their process.

I am so grateful for all the love I have and have had in my life. Thank you!

I wrote a long note on FaceBook about Bert, and I will post it here as well, should any one be interested.  I apologize that it is so long.

” “Things I hate”, by Bertolt Pfeiffer Volume 1, page 1, item 1…The French” “

If anyone spent any real time around Bert, you would hear all about these volumes. They were all in his head of course, but the volumes (of which there were many), would contain stupid little things that would be aggravating him RIGHT NOW!

” “Things I hate”, by Bertolt Pfeiffer Volume 32, page 56, item 4568…people on cell phones while driving.” “

He would also sing the craziest little non-rhyming ditties, usually about how everyone should hate the French, and why. I never asked why the French, assuming it was something historical, and in his German blood. Now, I can’t ask him. -sigh-

Having spent a year and a half as his girlfriend and roommate, I heard many varieties of this volume or that, this song or that. He almost always woke up in a good mood, singing. He loved to be social, once you got him there. He loved to be the center of attention, and would go to extraordinary methods to procure it at times. He was a gifted artisan. He was one of those truly irritating people that would touch something, figure it out, improve it, and make it possibly more beautiful than it was ever intended for it to be. Just because he could. He was kind and at times generous to a fault. He would loan his last buck to a friend, and then run out of gas, now he would have to walk to help. He was one of the funniest men alive, and he could make the people around him, funnier. He was just brilliant. A shining star, that I will treasure my time with, in my heart and soul.

Unfortunately that kind of brilliance comes with a price tag. He was scattered, forgetful, unintentionally thoughtless, and would have bursts of depression or frenetic needs to clean, organize, or build. He would walk right into a pile of huge Hispanic guys and tell them to shut the f*k up when they kept him up at night. He would not sleep for days in a row, just because he could not calm his mind down. He would get so frustrated with some of the simplest things in his school work. It was very difficult to see him like this, and harder to be unable to help. He did NOT want the help, either. He would ofttimes be belligerent about not wanting sympathy or support that HE felt he did not deserve. When he got it in his head that he was too stupid to do something, it was nearly impossible to convince him otherwise. -sigh- Oh, Bert, I was always so proud of you.

Knowing he struggled with ADD, I have often described him having a sense of time and space like an old-time radio dial. Within those two lines he was tuned in, and maybe 5 minutes on either side, but beyond that…
He would tell me stories of how he would be driving along, and decide to just pull over and stop, take a different road, or drive up into a rest stop…for no particular reason. Then while he did, or went wherever he was told miraculous stuff would happen. He took a different route one time, and felt like stopping on the side of the road. Just then a driver in front of him spun around twice, and toppled of the road rolling over several times before coming to a stop. Bert rushed to the other vehicle and the man who was held upside down by his seatbelt was not breathing, and dead. Bert unbelted him, and caught the man as he fell. This most have shocked his system enough, because he came back to life coughing, and Bert stayed until the ambulance came. The other that I can think of, was just last winter, when he was going to go skiing, DAMMIT! He drove all the way up into OK. About 50 miles north of OKCity, he felt he must turn around, things were bad. So he did. He got all the way back into the rocky part on I35 where the ‘Scenic Overlooks’ are and pulled into one of them. There was a woman there whose car had just died. She had waited about 20 minutes, and a truck with 2 kids in it had driven in looked at her and left, and she was afraid, but when Bert drove up she just knew she was safe, and got out of her car and came to him. Of course he helped her. I think he drove her back to Norman,OK and her brother’s house. I think her name was Kristy. He was completely weirded out by the experience, and slept for 14 hours when he got home. Being a tool of the Universe was taxing.

Bert was a right place, right time kind of guy. I think his ADD kept his mind in such a blur that it was possible for the Universe to manipulate him when necessary. He helped many people. He used to be a paramedic, but too many people that he couldn’t help, made him quit.

I always knew my time ‘with’ Bert would be short. I felt he and I were together for a reason, to help each other. He was a lesson in tolerance for me, and I think a lesson in acceptance for him. Bert needed to learn what it was like to be accepted just for who he was, no need to change, and that this was a good thing. I needed to learn how to tolerate him, and his episodic weirdnesses, thus learning to tolerate others more.

We talked sometimes of getting him treated for the ADD. He had several friends that were being treated, and they would offer insights. He hated taking medication though, and would get upset if he did not like the way it made him feel. Even when in excessive pain he would rather tough it out. Plus, it is hard to remember to even take vitamins, when you can’t focus enough to put the milk in the fridge and not in the sink, cupboard, or bathroom. It was hard to talk to him about such personal issues. He did not want to talk about it. If you ignore it it will get better. Not true.

After we split up in June, he told me he was finally being treated, and that it gave him the ability to see other people’s perspectives, and understand their feelings. I thought and told him that that was great! Being open to except love into his life would bring someone in to it for that express purpose. Just a little more time! Dammit, Bert!

Now I related all that to come to the point that he told me in Sept. that he was being treated, and discovered later for bipolar disorder. I understand this, many of the woman in my family suffer from the same malady. It isn’t something to hide or be ashamed of. It is okay to go get penicillin for pneumonia. It is okay. But, like pneumonia, just because you feel better does NOT mean you should stop taking your medicine. Especially when you are dealing with the brain. It controls EVERYTHING! My Aunt got her meds tweeked a little, like a millegram, and she was weird and off balance for a week, until everything smoothed back out. These medications are designed to work best when there is a consistent level of them in your system. I do not know what he was taking, but I do know, that if got it into his head that he didn’t like how it felt, or he was fine now, or just stopped taking it, that it would screw with his entire reality.

He was potentially, not really able to even help himself at that point. Bert was the most ‘Present Moment’ guy I ever met. When it came to a moment that was so utterly dark, and he had lost all the tools his body could produce to protect him from the dark, he ended that moment. Leaving a gaping wound in all us of that loved him.

I can tell you that he would be thoroughly embarrassed by all the attention and well wishes he is currently receiving. I say, “Too damn bad!” I hope with all my heart that he is somewhere saying, “Holy Shit, look at that!” and that all our love spirits him on to the next lifetime where there will be no fear or doubt to hide from, and no reason to constantly prove himself worthy or better. We love you Bertolt Edward Pfeiffer!
I love you and I miss you, too.

And so it begins.  I have most of my stuff that I need to start these winter projects.  These are photos of the beadwork that Dianna and I will be doing on her upcoming wedding gown.  This pattern will be around the hem of her overskirt and on her bodice.  The rest of the over skirt will have sequins and crystals in the centers of the designs.  Dianna is going to do the beading, and I will do the couching of the gold cord, and crystal setting.

Michael and Dianna are previous customers of mine.  I did them a set of green and gold fleur de lys outfits for their visiting and participation in fairs all over the country.

They are getting married on Labor Day weekend in Wisconsin at Rose’s castle.  Should be awesome.  I am starting on this early so we can get all the beadwork finished.  Then there will be fitting at GA.  This will be a fun outfit to make, all in creams and white, with the scarlet accent.  Check out its progress at Waisted Efforts.

Housing update…

We went and toured those two houses Balch and Amelia.  I put up links to their pictures on my last posting.

Balch:

Balch is a nice brick four-square with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths.  It has a partially finished basement, which we considered making as an apartment for my Aunt.  We found some black mold in it.  I do not think there is much, just a symptom of its being empty for 6 months with no temperature or Humidity control.  It has a great finished attic space and a community center at the end of the road.  The neighborhood looked okay, but it is on the other side of a major street, and so would be awhile before Kynan could visit on his own.  No trees, and close neighbors.  You can see by the pics though that there are some fun details.

Amelia:

I am completely in love with this house!  It was built in 1919 as a douplex.  I believe it has 4 beds and 2 baths per side.  The lot has a pile of trees, and is on the corner, so feels spacious.  It is brick on the bottom and wood above.  John and I like it so much we have already started drawings for what we want to do to it!  It has two separate entrances, but no porches.  We want to build a unifying porch between them.  We are going to build it in a Craftsman style.

Our thought is to add more of the decorative brackets to the eaves to unify our design a little more.  Painting the wood dark brown, the trim a loden green, the lower porch warm stone, and capped in limestone.  Very exciting!  Now on to owning the house!

I would tell you more of the inside, but it was crammed with the owners stuff.  I mean floor to ceiling, paths through the stuff to get to some, not all rooms, kind of crammed!  They used to own an antique store which now lives in the house, and I think they were horders as well.  Some of the stuff could stay, if the price was right.

There was so much crap though that I do not have an accurate impression of where all the rooms go.  We really like the one kitchen we could get into, and the bedrooms and attic spaces are fabulous! We will OWN this house.  No to convince the current owners of this. *smile*

I think I failed to mention that it is just one block further from Kynan than Storer.  This means that he could walk to us anytime.  There is plenty of room for my Aunt to have her own space, and friends, too.

Love you all, and expect to come have a stay over!

These are the two houses we are looking at today.  Both are large and inexpensive for what they are, and both have finished attic spaces for me to sew in.  Neither of these is as close to Kynan as we would like, but may actually cost less than the Storer house.  These can be lived in.. now.

See we want a larger house because we are going to move my Aunt in.  She will have her own space eventually, but until we can build that there needs to be space for her.

The Storer house is great because it is a block from Kynan. Unfortunately it needs a mountain of work.  The garage needs to be torn down, so our thought there is to rebuild it with my Aunt’s Apt. on top.  The real issue currently is that it is condemed as uninhabitable until certain things are completed.  We are uncertain what those “things” are yet, but either way it may cost too much initially for us to make it a viable option.

So, today we look at similarly priced houses that are not as broken.  We are not giving up hope on the Storer house, just exploring our options.

On another note, the last of the storage garage stuff is going out today, the apartment is reclaimed from our mountains of crap, and I am going to be sorting fabric today in the balmy 25 degree day to set up my sewing space.  Look for more updates soon to Waisted Efforts as well, as I get to work.

I’ll let you know what we find out.

Cheers