I will be sane, tomorrow!!

Yep...the studio is done!!! Of course, there are some minor things that still require attention (like moving all the boxes in and unpacking), but the main "work" is finished. Tomorrow I can quilt; tomorrow, I will be sane!!!

What do you think??

This photo is from the southeast corner by the window in the next picture:

This door leads into our house and will be replaced by a full light door, when  I can find one. They're hard to come by in this size, but I'm not giving up. Dennis thinks I'll have to settle for a half-light, but I don't think so!

This photo is from the opposite corner looking back toward the house. The half-light door looks into the teeny-tiny work space that Dennis has in the garage. His side is really cold; mine is insulated and warm and clean!!!

This is looking toward the door that will be the customer entrance to my studio. This door opens onto our back porch. Customers entering this way will have a lovely view of our pond and yard before they come in. I found a full light door for this spot; it will be in as soon as I paint it and will allow for tons more light.

And now for your test...can you find the Border Collie???

Dash just has to supervise everything!! <snicker>

Dory...sane again...<sigh>

Going, Going, GONE

CRAZY!!!

Upon arriving in Washington, I had one quilt that had to be finished and sent back immediately. The good thing about that: It made us focus on getting the boxes out of the garage and into the house. We set up my Millie in the garage and I got busy!

But since then...many options have been discussed and a decision finally made. My studio will be in our garage and will be 13 x 20.5 -- not a bad size at all. That is approximately 270 square feet of space that will be ALL MINE!!! We discussed putting up the yurt and even buying one of those Park Model RVs and having them leave out all the interior stuff, but finally decided on the garage. At first, Dennis was going to have his screen printing darkroom in one corner, but he kept remembering more and more stuff that needed to be in that darkroom and I kept seeing my studio getting smaller and smaller. Once I reminded him how important it was to keep his wife happy, he came to his senses and agreed that the space should be all mine! Smart man I married!!

Our friends have been great. We've been working on the studio almost every day, but its taking forever! Shelving and an inside dog kennel had to be torn out; a non-bearing wall had to be added, everything had to be insulated, sheetrock bought and hung, taping and texturing, painting, etc., etc.  We are at the sheetrock stage now and I have a ceiling. Its starting to look like a real room.

Unfortunately, since all this has happened, my longarm has been under wraps! She's protected by plastic and even if that weren't so, quilting in a garage with no heat really doesn't sound like much fun.

Wish me luck that within a week or two, I'll be in business and posting pictures of quilts once again!



Dory

Merry Christmas

I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas holiday with friends and family. And, if you're lucky, you'll also have a viewing of the best Christmas movie ever made!!

Merry Christmas!!

Dory

Cooking

Another thing I enjoy doing, especially when I find a new recipe or a cookbook with interesting recipes. I'm also discovering that the groceries in Sequim have lots of really fresh food; something that Quincy didn't have a lot of.

My new cookbook is "The Pioneer Woman Cooks," by Ree Drummond.  The cookbook itself is fun to read, as is her blog, which I also look at on occasion. My friend and neighbor here, Annie, just had knee surgery. I wanted to take her something for dinner, so I found the perfect recipe: Homemade Tomato Soup in my new cookbook. I did something I never do...I followed the recipe exactly. It was outstanding.

Tonight, I picked up some fresh shrimp (it actually came deveined and shelled!!) and made Penne a la Betsy. I added a bit to this one, but it was still quite good even before my addition of cayenne pepper.

A warning, however, this cookbook is not for anyone on a diet! I will be making more recipes out of  this book, but only if I continue to workout so that I can burn off the heavy cream and oodles of butter!!!

Dory

Slow Trip, eh??

For those of you that have been wondering if we were actually taking a slow boat to Sequim rather than a car, the answer is ... "NO." However, once we arrived, we faced many challenges. Being connected to the Internet was a huge one.  Finally though, as of yesterday, we have contact!!  I'm back in blogging business; I'm sure you're all relieved <snort>!!

But, for the good stuff:

My step-daughters were in Quincy the Friday before we headed out. They were great as we enlisted their husband/significant other to help load. In fact, on Sunday, Rachel and Mike even came by to help us finish loading. They are great kids (I use that term relatively as they are all in their 30s!).

We arrived on that Monday to a house decorated with Christmas lights and our friends waiting for us with dinner. It was lovely! The next day more friends arrived to help us unload. Since then we've been unpacking and trying to organize. The kitchen here is so big that I have too much room, I keep losing things!!

A few days after our arrival, we joined SARC (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center). Its incredible. They have TWO swimming pools (which would be even more fantastic if I swam), three rooms full of aerobic and weight equipment, a gym for large classes and a smaller classroom for other classes. Today is the second week of our new "get healthy" program.

Today another friend gave me a bike to use for when we ride the Discovery Trail. Equines are only allowed on portions, but bikes can do the whole thing. We're going to check it out by bike first, pony later.

The horses are doing great and we can see them from the house, which I love. We plan to start riding when we have our lives a bit more in order...hopefully not too long from now.

And today my longarm was set up in its temporary quarters...wait til I show you the new digs!! They'll be awesome!!

Thanks for hanging in there...pics of quilts coming soon.


Dory