A room of ones own stuff

Yesterday I took great delight in nestling into my studio, just that feeling of making it me.

There is still stuff everywhere, OMG which really does my head in, I just want it organized in a flash. (mind you I'm perfectly ok with my studio full of stuff) The fact that our home had been washed over with stuff from the move didn't help either. So a big throw out is on its way, like living on a boat, one thing comes in, one thing goes out. Or whatever you keep is only known to be beautiful or useful
( depending upon ones definition of useful, that can be a broad evaluation).

At the moment it looks like a sea of misplaced thoughts, well not quite, you can see it has some direction but I'm just trying to be in the moment and one step in front of each other.

Mindfullness.

The elms in the avenue are just perfect at the moment and I have used them as floral arrangements through our home.

My Remedy for chaos: Just a jug of flowers in our home gives me a spring in my step.

Bill's built the mezzanine level for storage of all the artworks and now is onto the darkroom and that will be built by next week, which will enable us to get all the wedding stationery samples ready for photography and develop the new website. Meanwhile we are sorting out new invoicing do it all finance systems, anyone out there have an idea, apparently Myob is a good option. We have always done it manually before but we are ready now for some sophistication.

Fine tuning for the wedding stationery launch, which I am so itching to launch...itching itching itching with excitement and a few nerves.

Our Gordon Platen press is together, it made my heart ache to see it all in pieces on the floor, so that's been a relief and back on track feeling. All the presses are put back together.

Big bonus is that Bill's toe is now a beautiful pink colour and the doctors are happy how the operation went, so all is well there.

We had Open house day today, a lot of the heritage homes open their doors every year here in Hill End  and ours included.

We have conserved her rather than restore her. Our home didn't need a personality change just propping up again and a bouquet of flowers, re instating the garden, she was happy being a grand old lady.

It was the thought of cleaning up that was daunting with our move, but the spare back room has more stuff crammed into it and our home came up like a dream, some window dressing came in handy.

The vacuum cleaner went into overdrive and three goes of emptying it into the paddock next to us, Tango's dog hair forming its own carpet. I'm really not into cleaning at all it takes me away from my creativity, but when it's done, I feel really centered and calm.

 I decided to cruise today, no high performance tours, just chill and chatted to a few people, most were just directed through.

It's always really rewarding to do this, just reminds you how far you have come, I can tell you we have come a long way. Our home was a romantic ruin and the visitors encouragement makes it all worthwhile.

We are getting there, it's all very close.

Oh! do not attack me with your watch.
A watch is either to fast or slow.
I cannot be dictated by a watch
Jane Austen

Genevieve X
hillendpress.com.au

You begin with a laugh but end up just wanting to be cosmos blowing in the wind

We have started to move into our studio all the printmaking equipment.

The presses are cumbersome, large and very heavy, one walks around pondering how this is going to turn out, goes without saying, anxieties levels are high. One to just get them out of the door of our old studio to the new location about one kilometer down the road, all going in a box trailor.

Bill decided to dismantle the Gordon platen press, its top heavy and sitting on an insecure floor made of timber, this has to be well thought about, the navigation of this one out the door, it's our baby and our business. I can't bare this stage, wish I could wave a magic wand and it was all assembled in its new environment.

But it's not the case.

So here we go, 6 friends and a heave ho, only for me to catch my hand between the press and the door, doctors and bandage, I'm ok but just very sore, and lucky not more damage to my hand was done.

The platen all in pieces arrives at our new space happy and settled.

No 2, the etching press.

Six friends again lifting it off the stand it was on, fine, shunting it out the door takes many angles and enquires, but it's through, now onto the trailor, one big heave ho and its shunted onto Bill's foot causing incredible pain.

Bill keeps going with the move only to find the next day that he has shattered the big toe bones and the wound is open.

Two days later, our new studio lies dormant, we ended up going to Hospital for two days, Bill having his big toe operated on, all the bones are shattered and there is a gaping wound down the side of his toe.

An open fracture.

We both look at this as a forced rest, we have being going flat chat on the buildings works for six months now and even though its been an exciting process its has been demanding on us juggling everything else that goes on in our daily lives as well.

So I get stuck into my reading, finishing off books that have been piled high beside the bed and Bill dreams his on an island with a blue cap on.

It worked, we feel relaxed by just changing our thinking. Mindfullness. 

We return home with Bill now wearing a boot that would be very fashionable in Japan and vowing never again to move the presses.

At the moment it could be nice being cosmos blowing in the wind.

hillendpress.com.au