You should see the house now

I am more than pleased actually, I am thrilled with the way the house is shaping up.

On Monday, Chris and I got a lot done. He finished hanging pictures, hung the three heavy mirrors, and installed curtain rods in the apartment. I cleaned the refrigerator in the apartment and started going through bins to see what I want to keep and what I want to give to the Peace Committee's Attic Treasures Sale. It feels so good to purge more stuff, though I know I won't finish before I go to Maryland next week. There's always next year's sale.

Tomorrow and Friday, we are going to start painting the basement. The walls will be yellow (officially Sherwin Williams' Compatible Cream) and the floor will be brick red. There are not many colors to choose from when it comes to concrete floors. The cinder blocks on the outside walls will be white, they won't be seen, but they need to be water proofed again. They look like it has been years since it was last done.

We also are going to paint the bi-fold doors of the storage cabinets chalk board black and we are going to paint a rug on the basement floor. Those were Chris' ideas and why not? It'll be such fun.

I hope my friends and family will come to visit soon.

Production Potter

I am going to be selling my pots at a local craft fair the first weekend of December, so I have increased production of my little soap dishes and now I have zillions to glaze. We will be firing a kiln load in two weeks in the gas kiln. I am hoping to get some pieces in. Fortunately, my little pots fit nicely between bigger pots and under the rims of bowls. That's one secret of getting pots into a firing, make them small and they take up space that would otherwise be wasted.

I also am working on some vases that combine handbuilt bodies and thrown tops. Once I get the method down, I want to work on making pitchers using the same basic technique.

I am thoroughly enjoying being in the pottery co-op--the other potters there are so helpful and so not threatened. It is heartening and amazing.

Ah, Vanity

On Sunday, my friend Judith and I looked at pictures of David and Virginia's wedding celebration here in July. My goodness, why didn't somebody tell me I looked like the side of a very big barn in that blue dress? Lord, love a duck, I was bloated.

Oh well, what can I really say? That is how I looked, so be it.

One good thing, though, I am taking better care of my health now and have lost 10 or 11 pounds. So, maybe David and Virginia would like to have another wedding celebration and I will look better. Wouldn't that be something? As if I was all that important, ah, Vanity!

Well, anyway, everyone had a great time at the wedding and that is all that matters.

God Sleeps in Rwanda

My advisor Joseph Seberenzi spoke last night at school about his autobiography titled God Sleeps in Rwanda. He is such a peaceful person it is difficult to believe how much he and his family suffered in the Rwandan genocide.

Joseph said that God travels all over the world, but comes home at night to sleep in Rwanda and that is why he called his book that, with the subtitle of "A Journey of Transformation."

He told us a story of a teacher who asked his students if they could tell the difference between night and day. One student said day was when you could see two animals in the distance and could tell that one was a goat and one was a dog. No, that's not it. Another student said day was when you could see two people in the distance and could tell that one was a man and one was a woman. No, that's not it. The teacher said day was when you can see two people and know that one was your brother and one was your sister. Then night was over.

Joseph also talked about the three pilars of his life. One was peace, one was spirituality, and one was physical health and emotional well being. After all he and his family have experienced, he knows that peace and reconciliation are the most important things to live and work for. He is a Christian, but believes that whatever a person's faith, the human race is all one family. And he takes care of his health because if his body is not healthy, he won't be able to do his life's work and he will not be peaceful.

Joseph is such an inspiration. I look forward to reading his book.

It's snowing! It's snowing!

But it won't stick, darn it. But it is the first snow of the winter. Yay!

And the painter is almost done in the apartment, he just has another half hour to do some finishing touches, he says. And the contractor still has one or two things to finish up today.

So, a friend came by yesterday to help haul furniture back into the apartment. I still have a ways to go as far as making order in my home, but this is a great step in the right direction. Already I am so relieved.

On a more personal front, I am to remain on the anti-candida diet and regimen for another month, just to make sure we have gotten every last one of those yeastie beasties. I've lost 10 or 11 pounds and feel great. And not eating sugar has made the inflamation in the muscles around my knees disappear. What more can I ask for?

After the next month is up, I will first go off all anti-candida meds (I'm now on something called Alli-Cin, which is a garlic cinnamon combination. The cinnamon also helps curb any sugar cravings I get.) and then I'll start reintroducing good sugars (fruit) into my diet. The doctor says I'll be surprised by how sweet an apple will taste now that my taste buds are not numbed by all the sugar in my diet. Imagine that.

Well, I best go, I've still got a lot to do, plus homework.

And, now for the good news ...

I must apologize for the delay in posting, I have been having computer challenges. My local geek won't be able to fix what the problems are until early next week, so I am slogging along as best I can. I seem to have installed some software that I shouldn't have, but how was I to know? I am no computer person and don't plan on changing any time soon.

But the good news about that is that my friendly geek now knows what the problems are and he can fix them. Thank goodness.

And there is other good news as well. The painter is almost finished in the apartment! He has a couple of more days and then I can move stuff back and unclutter the rest of my house. What a relief that will be. The restorations have taken seven and a half months! My poor house was in dire need of tender loving care and now it and I are happy.

Ooops, it got away

Lily just came in from a hunting expedition, but whatever it was got away.

I love the way cats move when they are hunting, sort in stop action.

She spotted her prey (a nice fat chipmunk) going under the deck, went to take a closer look, and waited. The next thing I knew, she was scampering across the deck. After the chipmunk? I think so. But whatever it was got away, so she came in.

That's enough exercise for today, thank you very much. Time for a nap.

Busy, busy, busy

Oh, my goodness, yes.

The renovations to the apartment are almost finished, just a few more things to do and the walls to be painted and then, whoosh! It will be done. So the worker guys will be out of here in a week and I can put furniture back and artwork on the walls and the plants can go back on the window sill.

School is very challenging, intense, but I am enjoying it. And I am making lots of new friends from all over the world.

I will be in a craft fair in early December so I am making pots like crazy now so they can be fired before the fair and I will have something to sell.

I'm doing some freelance editing, volunteering, working out regularly, and I have been learning to knit, starting with a very simple hat pattern. I'm making the first hat for me, but I am going to try to make some others for holiday gifts.

Early morning

Here I am again, it's early morning, the sun is shining and there is a slight bite to the air, nothing uncomfortable, just a little bit cooler than last month. The leaves are starting to turn, Fall is here. And I love it!

Lily just came in from her morning romp around the yard. She is settled on my lap now, thwapping me with her tail. I guess I am supposed to give her some lovin', but she's going to have to wait a bit.

In a few minutes, I going to leave to spend the morning volunteering at the Brattleboro Community Justice Center and then I'll head over to the studio to finish up some soap dishes, bowls, and mugs. I switched to handbuilding recently. Throwing on the wheel became tedious, so I began making some three-legged soap dishes and bowls. I also am trying some mugs and larger bowls, to see what I can do. It feels good to stretch my creative mind.

Loving life and laughing loud

What can I say? I am enjoying myself. Retirement is great, I'm so busy with school, working out, making pots, and working occasionally at editing. And then, of course, depending on the season, there are things to do in the yard.

Winter is for clearing snow and hauling wood; mud season is for getting through it; spring is for clearing up winter's leavings, stacking wood for next year's heat, and preparing the flower beds for their new growth; summer is for mowing the lawn and weeding; and fall is for raking leaves.

Yeasty Beasties and Other Fun Stuff

Back in July, I had oral surgery and was given a powerful antibiotic that, I was told, would probably give me a yeast infection. Okay, I've had them before, they're uncomfortable but treatable. But, how was I to know that the yeast infection the periodontist was talking about was in my digestive system and not the other usual place that women get them?

The antibiotic worked, there was no infection as a result of the surgery. However, in August, I began to feel queazy in my gut and to have other uncomfortable experiences with my digestive system. I won't go into details, you'll just have to imagine the outcome (pun intended).

So, I went to a naturopathic doctor and she ran some tests that came back showing I had 2 kinds of nonpathenogenic yeasts and 2 kinds of slightly pathenogenic bacteria encamped in my digestive tract. Yummy. They were having a lovely time, I was not.

How do you get rid of these guys? The protocol is to "starve 'em, kill 'em, and replace 'em." I have been taking acidophilous (to replace the yeasties and bad bacteria with good bacteria) and some anti-candida (yeast) meds for almost 3 weeks now and I have been on a strict diet (no sugar, no fruit (it has sugar), no vinegar and other foods that have been fermented in their making, no cashews and peanuts because they mold, no foods that have yeast in them, but I can have lots of lovely vegetables, whole grains, and nuts, other than peanuts and cashews). I have lost 7 pounds and I like this diet, except for the no fruit and no vinegar part. It is very healthful, very good for you.

Another bonus to not eating foods with sugar, including sorbet, rice milk, and butter, is the aches and pains in the muscles around my knees have disappeared. That means, the sugar was causing inflamation in my joint muscles there and the inflamation is gone. Wow!

That is a great reason not to eat sugar.

Butter has sugar in it, but ghee does not and ghee is the golden liquid that happens when you melt butter. The white particles are sugar. You can make ghee yourself or you can buy it at the natural health food store.

I'll just have to give up sorbet, but I have found dry roasted almonds and pistachio nuts help when I have a sugar craving, so I can find ways around needing sorbet. And, instead of drinking rice milk, which has sugar in it, I drink organic soy milk.

Who knew what I was eating had so much sugar in it? Now I know and I can and will do better.