Swing of Things

The work is almost done on the addition project. We are two closet doors and a little paint touch-up away from our promised month-long cessation.

For over a year and a half we have planned, shopped, or worked on our large home project and finally Phase One is about done. Though we've been living in it for a couple of months still the burden of incompletion drains.

Tom promised us waaaay back at the onset that we'd take one month off between Phase One and Phase Two.

We're just about there.

It's like waking up from a long agitating dream. Or like breaking the surface of the ocean after tumbling around beneath crashing waves, short of air. GASP!! "Ahh, I'm alive!"

Colors. Sounds. Smells. Air!

We see faces again, faces of friends we have the energy to invite over for barbecues, desserts, and chumminess.

We went to church for the first time in ages. Refreshing to see familiar faces, to sing hymns together, to pray, listen, be inspired, and to lazily chat. No time pressure.

The girls are playing more, practicing their instruments, reading, swinging, and going for bike rides and long walks to the river. And I go with them a lot of the time.

I'm going to savor every single moment of our month-long respite when it arrives, and then I'll roll up my sleeves and cheerfully work all over again in Phase Two.

It'll be worth it.

But for now, hello!

I took these photos on the fly just now without tidying anything up. I'd promised some snaps of our handiwork and here's a small sampling. Hope you enjoy them!


One of two hand-painted sconces in our hall.


The skylight casts rays into our new bathroom.


Cassie and Caroline's room. The girls decorated their room themselves, choosing the colors, curtains, and furniture. They have blank spaces on their walls, awaiting life's experiences and discoveries to present them with the perfect hangings.


A large walk-in closet lies behind those doors. A spacious, well-let room of joy for two girls!


Two of the closet doors are done. Tom sanded and stained them perfectly. He's currently working on the last two for the closet to the left of this, not in the photo.


The master bedroom from another angle. Notice to the right of the door a framed print. Cassie had it made for me by a friend who took a Japanese calligraphy class. It says Thank you, Mother. A special Mother's day gift, for sure.


The tiled hall and bathroom floors are heated which is nice. When it was cold in early spring the heat from the heated tile kept the entire addition over 60 degrees. Amazing. It feels deliciously cool in the summer and cozily warm in the winter.

We're so spoiled!