The Universe's Quirky Sense of Humor

Ever since I moved to Boise I have been very pleased with how things have been working out. Sure, it has been stressful on a lot of levels to go through all the challenges of moving, especially since my husband can't come to join me for another few weeks. Although he makes the trip down here to spend time with me nearly every weekend, there have been a lot of decisions to muddle through and tasks to take care of that I've had to navigate on my own.

I have had my moments of homesickness and loneliness to be sure. It has also been a bit disorienting to more or less "camp out" in a nearly empty house. I just brought a few basics with me. I have a bed to sleep on and we bought a couch and love seat to go in the family room. But other than that, the whole house is bare. I have just enough dishes, towels and such to get by in a pinch, but none of the extras or personal things I'm so used to being surrounded with. So that has been odd.

My sweet husband brings down loads of boxes every time he comes to visit on the weekends. This last trip down he brought the dining room table and chairs- YIPPEE! I was so glad to get them here. (He'll make do with a card table for the last few weeks he is in Oregon finishing up his work there.) Week by week my gathering of things continues. It has been interesting for me to find what things I miss and what things I probably don't even need to keep afterall. Some of it I may just sell, give away to friends or donate when it comes time for our major move with all our stuff in the middle of July.

So, as I said, there have been a few bumps and some awkwardness and challenges to cope with throughout this move. But overall, it really DOES feel like a fit.

I have been especially pleased with the house we moved into and I really like our neighborhood. There have been several things that have felt almost uncanny with how well this place exactly meets our needs. I'm not much of one for believing in things being "meant to be". I generally reject the whole notion of predetermined fate, preferring the idea that we create our own realities, making the best of whatever circumstances may come along. I believe in owning my own choices.

In fact, in the sociology class I teach I emphasize this a lot in they final lecture with the Sailboat Analogy which I have told over and over for many years. I posted this back in August 2007 for the 300th post of this blog....(Click HERE to revisit.) That little story represents the guiding principle of my beliefs, capsulizing the idea of both personal responsibility and acceptance of things beyond our control.

So imagine my surprise when I found that very concept recorded on the wall of the room that will be my office here.

Tonight my painter friends were over visiting and discussing some projects I may have them help me with next. These are the folks that did such a great job of painting our whole house before I moved in. Sherri said to me "did you find the place where there are words on the wall?" I looked at her blankly, having no clue what she was talking about. She said "There are words on the wall in your office. We noticed it when we were painting."

Keep in mind the third bedroom designated as my office is still mostly empty, with one wall being stacked with packed boxes waiting for my desk, bookshelf and file cabinet to arrive. Because of this I really have not spent much time in there.... Still, I have been in there enough you would think I would have seen something like a pattern of words on the wall. I looked at each room very carefully when the painting was all done and was very impressed by how smooth and clean it all looked. I never saw any words.

So I went into the office and I looked particularly closely to see if I could find what they were referring to. Even then, I still didn't see it until it was pointed out to me. Sure enough, right there on the wall where all the boxes are sitting there are words just about at my eye level. Apparently at some point a former resident of this house had put laser cut vinyl lettering up as decoration. However, when they decided to change the look of the room, rather than remove the words, they just painted over them. It's hardly noticeable. But if you know right where to look, you can VERY FAINTLY see them. In big block letters it says:

"We cannot control the wind"

then, underneath that in italic script it reads:

"But we can adjust our sails."

Go figure. Yeah, I belong in this house. No doubt about it.

Belladonna's garden Continued

I'm getting more familar with the the plants in my garden. Here are a few more of the things that I have growing right now:


Alyssum: Basket of Gold



Malva / Zebra Mallow

Maltese Cross

Salvia


Rock Cress


Lamium


Liatris / Gayfeather / Blazing Star (Can't wait for this one to bloom - it'a a real butterfly magnet!)

And of course there are still more than a few mystery plants. Anyone have any clue what THESE are???


Mystery Plant #1


Mystery Plant # 2


Mystery Plant # 3

And of course there are lots more... I love my little corner of eden right here on the edge of Boise. It's going to be a lot of work keeping up with the weeds, the bugs and just general clean up that a yard like this requires. But the term "work" is relative when it comes to gardening. To me, it's dirty therapy and a very welcome diversion after a long day under flourescent lights staring at computer screens. I get out here to watch the squirrels romp, the birds chase, the butterflies dip and turn and I know I am HOME.

Color me Happy!

As excited as I am about our new house in Boise, I was NOT excited about the color scheme. We planned to paint just about every room in the place, but lacked the time and energy to tackle it. So after careful consideration, we decided to throw money at it. While we were off visiting in Utah, we had some very nice people come paint the whole house. I am VERY pleased with how it turned out.

Guest room BEFORE:


Guest room AFTER:



Master Bedroom BEFORE:


Master Bedroom AFTER:



These are the colors I used throughout the house. The top neutral color is called "oyster" and the lower green color is called "Lemon grass". MOST of the rooms are all oyster. There is one contrasting wall in lemon grass in the living room and on the wall that connects family room and dining room.


In addition to changing colors, I had them remove the cupboard that was over the counter between the kitchen and dining room. That cupboard will get hung in the garage so I still have the storage space, but now my kitchen looks far more open and inviting:



I still need to get a matching piece of wood for the end piece where the old cupboard used to connect, but that won't be hard. I like it SO much better.

It's amazing how much the change in color has changed my feelings about the whole house. I used to think we bought a so-so house that had an amazing yard. Now I feel like we have a lovely house that I look forward to turning into a home.

I CAN'T WAIT!