One year ago today... Earth Day ... A New Begining

One year ago today, I choked down my tears as the bulldozer 

made its way up my drive-way turning my dreams into my reality.

  A dream I held onto for over 40 years...was now coming true.

                                       I had the best contractor ever, Hank,                                      

along with all of his workers.  They were all interested

 and kind and built me the  most  adorable house 

and got me OUT of the trailer within 6 months.

Now that we are settling in, let me show you around.

I planted a wildflower lawn in the front yard.

These sweet little blue flowers along with 

little daisies are starting to make their appearance.

My garden, small but delightful.  Raspberries,

strawberries, potatoes, onions and lettuce are already producing.

Along with my Lilac tree that bloomed big time this year.

We view the morning sunrise from the front porch and

the evening sunset from the back porch.

      

 

        Time to exchange these hand-me-down
and worn chairs into cheerful useful chairs.

                         
 Kitchen flower box...primroses and nasturtiums

 My son's cottage is taking shape and giving him much pleasure..

comfort and peace.

He is now finding some time to work on his own projects,

like his 1930 Model A.  She will be up 

and running for the summer.

 I  finally moved all of my household belongings out

his garage/shop and into my new house...giving him the room

to create and work on his restoration projects.

He and his sidekick, Lily the diabetic cat, are always

working somewhere on the property. 

I admire his tenacity (and his brothers) in spite of

their disabilities they both continue to live their lives

to the fullest.  Walking is getting increasingly difficult.

Lastly, this is a picture of my friend, Ali and me.  As I wrote

in my last blog's history...she is the lady I met during jury duty

and is giving me piles of beautiful cloth to sew Little Dresses for

little girls in Africa and around the world.

The first 12 dresses mailed out last week and I am thrilled to know they are on there way to little girls everywhere.

***

A few weeks ago, I found myself very distraught and could not stop crying.  Laying on my bed I wondered what was going on with me.  I had a new beautiful home and property and 

kids and grand-kids and cats and sewing... what was my problem ?  

 With a little help from my friends I think I have it figured out.    

When I left Colorado five years ago, I knew moving back home after 27 years would be a bit tricky.

Coming back to what I left behind took me all of the past five years to come to terms with.

I believe I have made some deliberate moves to free me from my past...I guess I just never realized

I was carrying so much baggage.  

I put the tears away and prioritized what I want to do. 

 After my deliberate moves,

I awoke happy and free and ready to rock !

My priorities, other than my home, garden and family, are sewing these sweet little dresses for little girls, tutoring 6-8th grade math at the middle school and making home visits to the elderly here on the Key Peninsula.  These activities give me joy and energy and a reason.  I would like to sew

1,000 little dresses (like Lillian, my mentor) by the time I reach 100 years old.

The world is shaky but by giving back, I am finding peace and an enormous sense of relief

in my letting go.

  

For everything there is a season ...

dusk ... from my bedroom window

My son, with his beloved tractor,

 preparing the ground for his new living quarters.

After looking at different shed type structures for a very long

time, we found the perfect fit for his needs.  We decided on

the  12' X 16'  Kit ... a sweet, little, pine studio cabin. 

We went with a metal roof (considering all the rain we have)...

and it has a couple of windows and a french window front door.  

He loves it and the aromatic fragrance from the pine wood.

Meticulously sealing and staining his new digs.

 in the cold and fog and with a lamp..

the sealing and staining is completed.

Said good-bye to his wee trailer...sold it

for $100.

I watched the whole thing go up from my bedroom

window where I have my sewing machine setup.

.  I was sewing 'little dresses.'

~~~~~~

This is where we will begin my ongoing history...

or maybe, where I will end my ongoing history, as we

have arrived to the current day in my life.

My beautiful house is complete, I absolutely love it. 

 Now, my son has his own little burrow. 

 A solid floor, my dad's queen size bed...

 of which has not had for the last 7 years. 

 He sleeps well.

We are planted and now we can grow.

~~~~~~

Awhile back, on face book, someone posted a picture of 

a 99 year old woman, named Lillian,  

 sewing little dresses. She wanted to sew her 1,000th

dress by the time she turned 100.

  Of course, I tapped twice on the picture

to read her story.  I feel in love with her and 

the idea of sewing little dresses.  I love to sew and

hadn't picked up a stitch since the trailer days.

I thought about  Lillian all of the time.....

Some weeks later, just before Thanksgiving,

I got my jury duty notice.  I live some distance from

the courthouse, but up early, over the bridge, park the 

car and was ready to start a new adventure.  

I made a new friend, Ali.  She sat next to me

in a crowded room, all of us waiting for further instructions.

We started chatting, and, at some point I was telling

her the story about Lillian and the little dresses.  I told her

I wanted to do the same thing...I was soon to be 67 

and I would like to sew 1,000 little dresses before I

reach 100 years old. I had researched the website where

Lillian ships her dresses. they are distributed around 

the world to orphanages, villages and homeless children from 

everywhere.  They say "they never run out of kids."

So while I am telling this story to Ali, I noticed her eyes welling

up with tears.  She told me her story.  She used to quilt and

sew all of the time, but her eyes were not as good now and

she didn't really quilt or sew anymore and she had been

looking for someone or something or someplace to

donate give her cupboards full of material to.

It was me.

  I loved how the picture of Lillian

moved and inspired me .. I loved how the cloth was to come

to me ... it seemed so clear, that two souls

Ali and Me, were about to set out into the world of sewing

little dresses and little shirts and pants for little boys.

She will supply the material and I will sew the dresses.

I stumbled into a wonderful situation and made a new friend.

Now.

 The last time I wrote, I mentioned even though it is all good

 I get lost.  When the world is out of focus and I become out of focus,

I go to Ali's beautiful assortment of cloth, pick a design and

go sew a little dress.   While I sew, I see a little girl, somewhere,

 wearing this little dress.  Dresses are important to little girls,

if you feel pretty you feel happy.

This is dress number 1.  

I hadn't really sewn anything like this for quite awhile so

I did a practice dress for  my step-granddaughter.

Now we are having fun.

These are the next 6 dresses...sizes 1 to 7.

                                              
                             This  picture is posted on the " Little Dresses to Africa " website...
                                  I'm happy to have such a positive outlet to express my feelings.
                                    Part of the Labor of Love I had hoped that would come from the
                                                               Building of My House.

A Labor of Love.

I am having so much fun, I think I had better continue

my blog while euphoria is in full bloom.

It has been awhile, so let me recap the building of my house.

History continued ...

I last left off a long time ago.  November.  I just looked at 

Google and the stats show 50,751 hits on my blog !!

Face book has close to 3,000 views.

Wow !!!   My motivation.  

 I need to continue because I have more

to share.   

Back to November......finally, after two months,

of torture, my loan came through.

 Paid off my contractor, my card debt and all debt...except the new

one, my mortgage.  It is good to have room to breathe...

in a new clean fresh house and without financial pressure.

There will always be some financial pressure but at least that

pressure I am enduring in my beautiful house on this wonderful

piece of property.  

The house was finished....and all of a sudden,

 I was On....

Out of the trailer,

and moving into a real live house.

I  moved all of my belongings out of my son's garage and the

shed into the new house.   Not that easy.  I have accumulated so

much stuff, it took forever and still is....going through everything.

Memories galore !!!  Pictures galore !! My dad's stuff, my mom's stuff

my stuff....all into a 880 sq. foot house.  It has been such fun unpacking

treasures from long ago and then placing them around my new home.

I feel like a little girl at times...found my paper dolls, dolls, 

ton's of coloring books and my sewing basket and all kinds of projects.

I have started a couple of these projects but there is still much to do

around the house and garden.  

When I started this blog last April it was the beginning of an adventure

I had been waiting to take for over 40 years and more intently the last 5.

When I look around outside, through my upstairs window, 

 I am grateful and pleased for what I have accomplished.  It took

a very long time to get back home and build my house.   My House.

It is beautiful and I awake each morning happy and thankful.

A friend of mind told me how to bless my future house before I started

 to build.

I walked the foundation and blessed each corner and meditated on

what I wanted to come from this house.  I wanted my house to be

A Labor of Love and Labors of Love to be created from within.

***

Even though it is all good, there are days I get lost.

And when these days show up, I have a plan.  It seems to work.

And, I can't wait to share it with you next time.

Also, my son is just finishing up with his new sleeping cottage

and it is adorable.