Had a bit of a meltdown yesterday.... but I should have know it was coming. It has been quite a week with surgeries, travel, disruption, chaos, added to the normally hectic routine of work, work and more work, trying to maintain a home, dogs, horses, life. I am by nature a person requiring periods of quiet alone time in order to rejuvenate and when that isn't available to me I can feel the tension and frustration building. I think I must be a freak of nature.
But I melted down, recovered, soaked in the hot tub, and somehow I'm up again this morning with another day of the same looming. I'll face it and get through it and even find those moments of joy that always seem to appear. But I know that it is still a life out of balance and there has to be a way to change that. It feels like turning the Titanic - as if my life has taken on its own momentum and it takes all the strength I have to get the rudder to turn even a tiny bit.
We found these over the weekend - Mason jars that we'll use for flowers at the wedding. We bought seven of them and I've put them outside for the summer to see if the sun might start to tint the glass just a little. It doesn't matter if it does or not, I really like the jar just as it is, with the star, but it'd be an added bonus to have the glass begin to turn.
They came with old (I think) tin lids - although they might be reproductions. The lids are in great shape and have plastic inside so either these have all been in storage somewhere for a long time or they are a remake. There were about 15 of them in a box marked $5 each - we asked how much for seven and got them for $20. I'm pretty pleased with that. One little thing to mark off the wedding supply list!
The weather finally warmed up this weekend and I planted the cherry tree JC brought home - it is a beautiful tree and although we won't see fruit this summer we can hope for next year. I don't know that we'll see any fruit this year thanks to the snow and the freezing winds in April. It was good to get this in the ground.
This is the new rocker that needed only a little spiffing up - no major overhaul - to adorn our living room. I did put a coat of tung oil on it and buffed it up to a rich glow. What a find - and just to remind you of the sow's ear I was working with before:
I've managed to get most of the blue paint off and will repaint or stain this and take it up to the resort for use on the deck we'll build someday in front of the cabin. It is sturdy and comfortable and will have a good life looking out towards the lake.
My final (well, not really but the last one I have photos of) project of the weekend was this metal storage thingie I picked up in another effort to organize my art room. I painted it pink and it will house stamps that currently live stacked in boxes. I read recently that organizing an art space is a challenge and yet a worthy effort - as getting stuff off the flat surfaces, easy to find and reach, put into some sort of order - can only help when the time comes to create. I have to admit that sometimes I walk down there, look around, and walk back out thinking "I just don't have time to deal with all this right now".
And this - this is what Mr. post hernia surgery did:
Just kidding. I had to threaten him with calling his surgeon to get him here, finally, on Sunday afternoon after he'd done way too much all weekend. We suffer from the same disease, the same Protestant work ethic and guilt complex that keeps us from being able to just lounge around at home. I was happy to see this happening - the dogs lounging on the grass, Mr. Recovery taking it easy for an hour, the hammock finally getting used.
This is a glorious week - temperatures in the 70s, no wind the last couple of days, plenty of sun. I'm going to wring what I can from it and welcome May.