Sunday, December 12, 2021

Women who renovate / "... I'm taking my time for a number of things that weren't important yesterday ..."


Above is a small farm in Norway that Ellen bought.  She is in the process of renovating the old house on that farm and is documenting her progress via a blog.  Ellen is the daughter of my friend, Linda, who was one of my first friends when I moved to Bellingham in 1974.  Linda died peacefully in late December last year.


Some of you may know Bev, originally from Ontario, who also has blogged about the old house pictured above which she bought in Nova Scotia in 2010, while living in Arizona, without ever having seen that house in person.  For a number of years, she spent the winters in Arizona and worked on the house during the remaining months.  She is still working on the house and lives there throughout the year and blogs occasionally.  Bev was one of my first blog friends.  I was drawn to read about the life she and her husband lived in Ontario and fascinated by the story of their life together and her engaging photos of what to me was an unlikely subject -- insects!

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I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go
I'm filling the cracks that ran though the door
and kept my mind from wandering
where it will go

And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong
I'm right where I belong
I'm right where I belong
See the people standing there
who disagree and never win
and wonder why they don't get in my door

I'm painting my room in a colorful way,
and when my mind is wandering
there I will go

And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong
I'm right where I belong
I'm right where I belong
Silly people run around
they worry me and never ask me
why they don't get past my door

I'm taking my time for a number of things
that weren't important yesterday
and I still go

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go
where it will go
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go

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As the end of 2021 approaches, I'm looking at some of the holes in my life, some of which don't need fixing.  Sometimes it is good for rain to get in.  Sometimes the holes do need fixing.  This calls for discernment (-:

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A few days ago, while talking with a friend on the phone, I looked up to see a Great Blue Heron flying in the direction of my porch.  The heron flew within 10 feet of my porch and then circled off to the left and across Scudder Pond and landed in one of the cherry trees that are on the far side of the trail that leads to Whatcom Falls Park.

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My friend with his grandson:


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My first blog post was on December 8, 2006.  So many changes since then.  So many changes still to come!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the "women who renovate" idea, the actual work, hands-on of rebuilding refurbishing old houses. Makes me think of how sometimes have to renovate ourselves, work to strengthen our old bones, or our sometimes broken spirits. We work, we renovate. We are our life's work.
The description of the Great Blue Heron flying that close is so beautiful.
Happy 15th anniversary in blog land. I can never remember how our virtual paths crossed, but am always grateful that they did.

Pixie said...

I can't imagine renovating a whole house by myself. Those women are made of sterner stuff than I am:)

ellen abbott said...

I think it would be fun to renovate a house given enough time and money. I like to make things and I guess fixing a house falls in that category.

beth coyote said...

I've renovated three houses and I'm done...but I still have the itch. Oh dear.