catch up!

 lots and lots and lots of things have happened lately. i have failed to keep you updated i am afraid. i apologize for my non existent blog presence! i am pleased to say that i am back in the studio making pots like crazy. i am super motivated and inspired right now!
we love animals so so soooo much and in honor and memoriam of our beloved ophelia louise, we are now trained and will soon start volunteering our time and hearts at brotherwolf animal shelter. zoey, our most senior dog, has been pretty down since our four legged family has grown smaller.  she is on a new medicine and is in k-laser treatment twice a week to help with her arthritis. she seems to be feeling a lot better, most days. her spirit is dramatically improved (most importantly!). we are really happy to be around the house and be able to focus energy on her needs right now!
we have wrapped up all the loose ends with the contractor who has been helping us with this project. we are on our own! yay! the bad news is : nick has thrown his back out. but he continues to plug along with the work.
at last update, we were tearing apart the laundry room. after tearing it down to the studs, rebuilding the floor, preparing it for tile, insulating, installing new siding outside, and probably a few more things i have forgotten we made a change of plans. we are going to widen the doorway, from the kitchen into the laundry, close off the existing  backdoor, make a new one, and move the washer and dryer (whenever we get one!) into what WAS going to be the guest bedroom. the "former" guest bedroom will now serve as laundry room, office, arts and crafts space and even a small closet into the former master bedroom. nick has done a fabulous job of re supporting the floor in the new laundry room! and he has torn down the former closet in that room. the former dining room will now become the master suite (since it has an attached bathroom already).....and it will have a fireplace in it!!!! sweet!!! the former laundry room will hold the refrigerator and a pantry (of sorts). we will make a backdoor directly into the fenced back yard, complete with a glass door and we will someday, we build ourselves a small deck out there!
wow. that's a lot of work!
our new found freedom of self employed working on the house has allowed us to make decisions that we are excited about! decisions such as a) only having to pay for materials and b) not inviting strangers into our house which therefore means we can take our time. now we can think more long term about how we want the house to end up, instead of just trying to get done. we are relatively used to living in a dirty disastrous renovation. we are getting used to the laundry mat ( lucky for us they just opened a laundromat/bar/coffee shop down the street. which also happens to be right close to one of our regular restaurants, homegrown). i have learned the crockpot is my best friend. i have learned the dogs will be okay. and somehow we are learning that things go wrong, and its okay...

thanks for reading,
and we are wishing you well!

ps i will post pictures soon!