Not dead, just still unpacking

It's not been a bad move this go around. Having a clue about the process and rolling with what the current situation presents are exceptionally helpful skills.
But...we have a lot of stuff, though less by the day. It takes time to unpack everything. Things have gone missing or are no longer in the condition they were when we started. Things that have to be re-placed for the unpacking to be finished. Our gorgeous four poster bed frame languishes in the garage as it did not fit up the staircase in the new house. Needless to say, there have been a few hurdles.
We did get a new place reasonably fast. A definite positive when you have four people crammed into an economy flat (one actual bed, kitchenette, fold out couch, bathroom in the space of a smaller hotel room).
The weeding out of unused stuff continues, since the new place is smaller than the last and I refuse to let things take over the house. Convincing two teenagers that this purge is worthwhile is a task unto itself.
I've had a rather glorious distraction from boring daily activities though, the plotting and planning of entertaining baby items. A distraction kindly provided by my darling sister who will be making me an Auntie this summer! Why yes, I am absolutely ecstatic! How could you tell?

They aren't Resolutions.

They are Deadlines.
There's cleaning house top to bottom, getting everyone ready for the trip and clearing out the rest of the clutter. All have to be done in the next two weeks before the movers get here.
Then there is a get together with friends at the beginning of May that I refuse to rock the frumpy housewife look for. There's the minimum of three outfits that need to be made for the shindig, as well as putting in some effort so my behind does said outfits justice. Luckily, I already have the patterns and fabric, so the sewing can commence as soon as everything is actually unpacked. Making the clothing the easy part of the equation for once.
It really didn't seem like much at first, now the sensation is more akin to trying to jump hurdles while tied to a chair. (While I've never tried it, I imagine it would be a wee bit complicated).
There's a lone bottle of champagne left over from New Year that I think will be used to toast the (hopefully) semi-organized chaos that will be the next 4 months!

So how are things for you?

A joyous holiday season to you, whatever you may be celebrating! I am behind, as usual, on just about everything. At least I have good reason this go around!

Halloween arrived....

...then everything went wahooni shaped. Now I am trying to clear out four people's five years worth of accumulated stuff in about a month and a half. While all the insanity is for very good reasons, it's still a bit difficult to deal with as short notice makes everyone run around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

Finally getting things rearranged

Lately, I've been getting out more. While this is a good thing, it brought up an issue I have not had for quite some time, worrying about what to wear.
My typical attire is decidedly frump-tastic, old, and really downright boring. Fantastic for a day of dishes and futzing in the garden, not so great for when Darling Husband announces, "Oh, by the way we are going out." (It's festival season around here, frequently involving food and drink.)
The latest pronouncement of this statement sent me into a bit of a tizzy. I went digging through the back of my closet looking for something appropriate, as this was a more adult evening outing. I found things I could wear, just barely. I may have panicked just a touch. In my head, it doesn't matter if the item in question has not been worn in almost 17 years, it should fit. Right? (Yes, I have clothing that old in my closet. Yes, I probably need new clothes.)
Faced with what I deemed, "the attack of the squidgy", and a deadline eleven days hence, I set to work. I have not yet been brave enough to try some of the offending clothing back on, even though things have started to rearrange themselves more to my liking.
While what I look like in my clothes is decidedly a dip in the shallow end of the thought pool, it is at least a minor, temporary distraction from the current events that cause me, (and tons of other people), no end of worry.

The boots that ate September

Darling daughter turned sixteen last month. The festivities started three weeks before her actual birthday with the purchase of these boots. It became a blur after that. The rest of the month was devoted to finding the other things on her birthday list and the things she wanted to do.

The first week of October was eaten by a knit top I insisted on having done for a festival the second weekend of the month.

And now, now is time for damage control on the semi-neglected housework, putting up the Halloween decorations that usually go up the day after Daughter's birthday, and getting back to the gift knitting (there's still 6 items left on the short list, no they are not all small items). The goal is to have all the house related stuff fully accomplished in the next 3 days so I can devote more time to the gift knitting. I may be being overly optimistic.

What is that smell?

That is the question the poor little lizard would be asking if I had found him anywhere near my house this afternoon.
Unwilling to be daunted by the lack of a washing machine, this is week three without as we are waiting on a part, I decided to felt the hat I knit by hand. Can't be that difficult right?
It really is a simple procedure, the problem really is the smell. My whole house smells like wet wool. Decidedly unpleasant.
I decided to block a lace shawlette I finished ages ago since the worst it could do was smell exactly like the rest of the house.
I find myself inordinately pleased that the next quick projects I am working on are shopping bags, made out of cotton.
The lizard stopped to pose for me while we were in the mountains a couple of weeks ago, unable to go hiking as planned with the trails closed due to extreme fire hazard, so we had a picnic just outside the barriers instead. :-)

Not Exactly Better Homes and Gardens

So the work on the house continues. Things continue to fall to the purge of extra stuff. There is space to vacuum properly in both teenagers' rooms. The house is painted back to a totally neutral palette, eggshell and cream only.
Despite the more conventional look, it's still not quite Better Homes and Gardens around here. Various octopi, dragons and cartoon figurines are a bit too much of the decor for that. Maybe Better Hearths and Homes? At least something a bit more, eclectic?
I'm also still trying to work my way through my to do piles of knitting, embroidery and sewing. The going on them is a bit slow courtesy of everything else, which will hopefully improve now that some of the more pressing things are out of the way.

Still growing!

We've actually also had a few tomatoes and some fresh herbs from the garden too. It's difficult to not be unbelievably pleased. There should also be watermelons in the not too distant future.

Plant Happiness

When I woke up this morning and looked out my bedroom window, I couldn't help but smile at the pretty star shape the summer squash had grown to. Then there was the bright red against green of my first tomatoes of the season. There are also three types of cucumber, basil, strawberries, and watermelon in the backyard beds. Plus a handful of chile plants in pots that are just starting to produce.
I admit, the real reason I am pleased is that nothing has managed to kill off this set of plants before they started to produce. With this being the second go, now I just have to hope they will get through their growing season before the cold weather arrives again.

Stuff

Too many things have accumulated in my house over the last four years or so. Yesterday, lists were made. Instead of delaying, I started clearing out my extraneous kitchen items immediately. I really do not need dishes for sixteen(partially un-matched) with only four people in the house. It just ends up meaning more dishes to wash.
One friend volunteered to take any yarn I might be willing to part with, mentioning that you could probably cram quite a bit of yarn into a flat rate postal box. After this morning, two decent sized boxes full and not being done yet, I'm thinking it might end up cheaper to ship it in bulk.
There's the sewing machine I replaced over a year ago, that never recovered from whatever my children had managed to do to it many years before.
Clothes that haven't seen the light of day in years.
Boxes that got re-packed and thrown in a truck before I had a chance to go through them during the last move, currently taking up space in my horribly disorganized garage.
Frequently used, but now disintegrating bedding and towels taking up space in my linen closet.
Time for it all to go.
While not the first household purge I've done, it is the first time Husband has been fully with me on it instead of asking " Umm, why?" It's also the first time it has not felt like a chore, which is quite novel and rather enjoyable. I am loving the idea of just making space. Not making space for anything in particular, just space for it's own sake. I might just bliss out on breathing room.