Day 90

Just under the wire with only two days to go. My office is cleaned and painted and organized and I am ready and eager to get back to work.

(It has five walls, hence the weird angles.)

Day 83

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The biggest part of the downstairs remodel is finally done… at least, enough to move on to Marcus’s room. Over the last few weeks, I’ve patched and primed the walls of the main room, painted the ceiling and walls, and torn up the carpet and padding. Yesterday I helped Matthew install the last fidgety bits of the bamboo flooring that we’ve had acclimating downstairs for the last five years.

This was my main goal for my sabbatical — getting the sewing/crafting/printing/whatever stuff out of my office and the living room and into the downstairs. I am no longer the Keeper of the Laminator, and the basement is gradually turning into a combined makerspace and reading area for adults and kids alike.

The next phase of my plan is moving Marcus out of his room, giving it the same treatment, and then running baseboards and trim for the entire downstairs area at the same time. At present, we’re at a good holding place for moving “making stuff” into one place in the house.

Day 74

I was in the garage transferring my germinated rambutan seeds into pots when I heard a low buzzing noise occasionally broken by shrill beeps. A hummingbird had flown in and since Mother Nature doesn’t really understand the concept of ceilings, it was caught inside because its instincts told it to go up to safety.

Marcus helped me catch it with a flowerpot and a dustpan and then I picked off the bits of cobweb that had tangled on its wings and claws. Next up was a quick drink of sugar water, since it had been trapped for a bit. Mlem! We released it outside and it took off for the trees, no worse for the wear.

Today was also the little girls’ last day of their week of summer day camp. They agreed that it was awesome but also that they need a break from it.

Day 65

Clockwise from the top left: chocolate cheesecake brownies (a very successful experiment), cream cheese poundcake sea shells with strawberry-raspberry compote, Mom’s chocolate peanut butter cups, gluten-free cornbread (plain and cheddar jalapeƱo), gluten-free peach crisp, blueberry pie, and cherry pie.