Just a standard run of the mill tuesday morning in mid August. The weather is looking a little nicer today after three or four cool rain days, with higher than normal winds. Not that I kept the mosquitoes away any, the higher winds that is. Those pesky buggers are still very much present, and a nuisance. Itchy bumps are plaguing us daily, thanks to our blood thirsty mini friends in the sky. I think we need to invest in a super high powered propane fueled mosquito trap that could cover a full 1km radius. If it could also kill black flies, horse flies, and deer flies, Wasps, Hornets, and anything else undesirable, I’d be thrilled.
So yeah – Tuesday. Still very early in the week, but not a Monday. Not many more of these to go before school starts back up. I didn’t count down the weeks this year, like I was doing last year. The deaths and subsequent funerals of last summer put me in a different frame of mind this year. I mean, I still need to know what day it is, and how many weeks have gone by, but I’m not joyfully playing with the kids going back to school. I will miss having them around. I will miss having lunch with my wife. I will miss having someone to talk to throughout the say. It will take some getting used to it being just me and the new dog at home, all day, every weekday. It is going to be an adjustment for all of us, dog included.
I have a long list of projects I’d love to tackle come September. Dog training, table refinishing, fair sculpture project, finish priming & painting my resin model kit, completing my Ninja Turtle bust, finishing all of my children’s book illustrations and posting it here, along side my two other free books. Power washing the windows, and back deck. Purging all closets, and tidying up every single bedroom, my wife’s included. Purging ratty old shoes/boots that don’t fit anymore. Donating clothes we don’t need. Sorting coats (soring/summer/fall/winter/rain/sport) etc… you name it. Thin those down so that we have room in our hall closet for quests. Should we ever entertain any. Throwing away old broken toys, and McDonald’s junk items. I’m sure come fall we will see more new hand me downs from neighbours, so I best get on it sooner, rather than later. I’m not manic about the purging. I know that I could go far harder in the paint than I do, but I know deep down that I’m not a minimalist, even if that would drastically declutter our home, and make it feel larger than it is. I’m far too fond of making custom furniture to eliminate THAT much stuff. Can’t declutter everyone else but leave all my shit lying around. I’m far harsher about my own spaces, than I ever would be about my kids stuff. I may just tackle my book shelves again to reduce my footprint there. If I wouldn’t reread the books I keep just for the joy of it, I probably shouldn’t keep them. Or, he says, OR I need to pack them on the shelves three deep, two high and just condense it all down to open up shelf space for all the new rocks, gems, and pottery bits my kids accumulated this summer.
I did an early purge this summer by bringing a whole bunch of our clothes up to the cottage to leave here. That way we could go up without having to pack too heavy. Space is limited as it is, but now with the dog we really have to be strategic about what gets packed up for those trips. He’ll have his own bag of food, treats, chew toys, combs, brushes, and nail clippers. Which makes it very apparent that I need to buy a laptop because my massive desk top box takes up too much space in the car. Plus my desktop computer is 10 years old, and Adobe & Microsoft products have accelerated beyond what I can update my computer operating system to. Not that I want to throw down nearly $3K for a newer machine, but that forward march of all the apps I subscribe to for work doesn’t show any signs of stopping, or slowing down. I’ll have to budget for it instead of the bandsaw or any new major tools for the wood shop. Unless I can pick up a new client, or draw out a higher marketing spend from my current roster. I will have to raise my prices in the new year, so that might cause a stir among some of the smaller clients I have. Times are tough out there.
Ciao Bella.
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 