Well, I had hopes of being caught up and returning to regular posting, but it’s not to be . . . at least not in the immediate future.
Apparently I have ‘too much stuff’ (‘too much’ still being undefined) and so, in the interest of harmony with the condo board (such harmony as is possible, anyway), I am moving pretty much all my remaining things to the storage. As I am not officially a tenant, I can easily be evicted and the board chair has already suggested that for both Mum and myself. We like the landlords, who support us, but are pretty powerless against the board, and we don’t want to cause them further trouble.
The ceiling will be fixed, like it or not, and we can put Mum’s things out on the balcony for the duration (packed up again, of course). The issue of breathing dust remains, but our choices are leave for a few days (and go where, exactly?) or stay and deal with it. Grumpy-making, all of it, but I’ll get over it. Doesn’t do to stay grumpy for too long . . .
![IMG_6870[1]](https://arandomharvest.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/img_68701.jpg)
What Mrs. Crafty has been up to: a filet crochet curtain for one of her windows.
So I have been in a not-positive mood for a few hours, but have simmered down a bit now. Thinking has helped, as I think about how some people would like the world to be Disneyised, all sanitary and no visible sign of the inner workings or anything at all messy or even faintly upsetting. In other words, not ‘real’. Give me messy reality any day; that I can cope with . . . And when it comes to ‘reality’, I can cope, even if I whinge a lot at first. I’m a bolshie survivor, first and foremost, with a taste for the subversive. “You can lock me up, but you can’t change my thinking” sort of thing . . .
The dyeing I’d planned to do this summer (needs steaming, which I was going to do out on the balcony) is postponed indefinitely, along with the hand-printed embellishments. By the time I’m done with the moving and the renovations are complete, it will be too cold again. So I’ve put a notice in the Etsy store so people don’t wonder what has happened to me.
So I will be here when possible, but can’t promise anything much. Things have to go into boxes, then plastic bags and then one of my two friends with cars will take a load to the storage as I get stuff ready. Can’t do much when with my Aunty, so next six days at home will be busy.
I was looking at my original storage unit when I went through some of the yarn for Mr. and Mrs. Crafty and noticed that the paint on my favourite old cupboard has begun to bell out and split away from the wood; The paint is very old, maybe back to the ’40s or so; several layers of it, dark red, a lighter green, then an egg-yolk yellow on top. And it seems to me there was some white involved at one time, too. 😉 Anyway, I think I am going to give that and my other cupboard to the Crafties. Likely more things too. I can take photos; they are easy to store and will hold the sentiments for me.
The Crafties have just purchased ten acres about an hour north of the city, out where there are low rolling hills and some, but not too much, forest. They will be building, fencing and preparing a garden over the next four or five years, then selling the city cottage and moving permanently. They will have room for the things I am unable to keep and their tastes are much like mine, so my stuff will have a good home.
I will go out for a look at the new place, maybe next time I’m ‘off’ and upstairs, packing and moving notwithstanding. I do need a wee break every once in a while. And I can crochet on the way up and back, too. 🙂 There will be photos . . . 🙂
Me, a few years from now . . .
I was over at the Crafties’ most of yesterday; we moved a bunch of older, aluminium-framed windows that had been discarded at their son’s new home. Mr. Crafty will use his router to make new wooden frames for the glass and the windows will eventually be part of the greenhouse on the new place. There is also a swampy section that they plan to dig out so they will have a pond of sorts. I haven’t seen it yet, of course, but it sounds lovely and they are very excited at the thought of being out of the city and away from close neighbours.
Last post I forgot to include pictures of the Crafty’s newest ‘child’ (well, I forgot to take any pictures, so it wasn’t exactly possible . . .). For those of you who are dog-lovers, here’s a couple:
![IMG_6876[1]](https://arandomharvest.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/img_68761.jpg)
![IMG_6884[1]](https://arandomharvest.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/img_68841.jpg)
A lovely profile, no? He’s a four year old Boxer; still very puppyish and fast-moving; I have several quite blurred photos of him, thanks to my camera taking a bit of a second to actually snap the photo after I click the button . . . But this was pretty good. You can see the latest row of the number three afghan on my knee in the foreground. That row and the next are now complete and a sky-blue pair of rows is coming up. The gorgeous flooring was laid down by the Crafties, too. They do nice work.
Well, posting will be done as time permits, likewise commenting and comment responding. Just don’t want you all to think I’ve lost heart and interest . . . I can read your posts on my iPhone, so should be able to keep up with that, at least.
See you soon, my friends. Love, Light and Blessings to each of you. ~ Linne
p.s. I’ve been planning a fun event for a while; one day soon, I hope.
Anticipation 301 commences now . . . 🙂
Just couldn’t resist . . . for the bolshoi bolshies among us . . . ❤
A Random Harvest 
Your message that said don’t read…made me read it! Loved it. Idealistic rebel.
Buggery bollocks! When a board rules over the owners individual desires there are ALWAYS problems :(. I guess you just have to toe the line (grumbling all the way) and Kymmies suggestion holds merit…
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I’m thinking that with all that crafty stuff you have you could fashion a voodoo doll or two and “stick” it to the Board. Tee Hee 😉
Just a short comment today. 🙂
Australian history has just as much in it as Canadian by the sounds of it. I think most of the “new worlds” have something “unsavoury” in their story sadly (look up stolen generation). As you say though, forwards it must be as we can’t go back.
I am sorry you and your Mum need to go through all that with the board etc. I know you’re staying there for Aunty’s sake and I commend you for the sacrifices you are making for her comfort. Her days will be much easier because of you. 🙂
Take heart and enjoy the sunshine of the day. Find joy in the little things and lots of those little things will outweigh the big less joyful things.
Hugs my friend.
Sorry about your troubles with the board, but you are handling it quite well. I wish you didn’t have to give so many of your things away, but at least the Crafties will appreciate them. I’d like to go live with the Crafties, based on what you’ve told us about them. Ten acres and self-sufficiency sounds right up my alley! xo
Thanks, Stacy. I usually resist stuff like this, then when I have to accept it, just get on with the job. It takes me too long, though, to move from resistance to acceptance. I hope someday I begin at acceptance . . .
I’m having a hard time deciding what to keep. If I hadn’t mislaid my Life Plan book (you know, the one each baby arrives with), I’d know what I’d have use for in the future. I’ve given things away in the past to please people, then regretted it later. A set of books that a friend didn’t understand me keeping, for instance (“surely you’ve read these and won’t read them again”). I wasn’t brave enough to admit that I re-read all my favourites every few years . . . and maybe she was right . . . but I missed them so much, and a few years later bought replacement copies . . . but I’d still rather have my old books . . .
These days, treasuring things is seen as dysfunctional (keeps us out of the ‘buy, discard, buy’ flow), so it’s only here that I really talk about it, and then not much. 😉
I doubt the Crafties are going to be self-sufficient; would be nice, though. But I can’t see myself living here in Alberta for the rest of my life; I’d miss water too much. And a lot of other things. I’d like to live near people who shared many of my interests, but I don’t think I’m a good candidate for a community. But who knows what the future holds? If BC falls into the ocean (a fair likelihood), I’d be torn between moving to the east coast and just plain emigrating . . . meantime, I need to get through this . . . 😉
I really need a StarGate . . . then I could pop by and visit all you lot, have a cuppa and a long chat, then back home to hibernate and recuperate . . . 😉
Ugh, alot of work for you 😦 But, nice that your friends have bought 10 acres because I imagine you will enjoy any time spent there. And cute Boxer! Good luck with all your shifting Linne.
Yes, Wendy, and the heat isn’t helping. The good part, though – there’s not nearly as much as I thought, so I’ve made some progress. Tomorrow we’re promised rain, so it may cool off a bit. In a out 10 days, I hope to have most of my stuff out and some of Mum’s into the hall storage closet (in-suite).
I may get out to help the Crafties, but it’s over an hour up and back. I hope there is cell service there; I don’t like to be unreachable just now. They go for two or three days already and stay in a wee travel trailer on the property. They’ve been clearing the area for the driveway and house. This is a long-time dream for them and it’s so nice to see them all excited.
Oh what has happened? I hope you and your mum are ok Linne? If you lived closer you could come bunk down with me and hubby as we have a spare room 🙂 or two. Love your blog and wish you all the best. Like you I don’t post all that regularly due to work and renovations. I always look out for your blog and others I regularly read and follow. Your all so inspiring to me. Xoxoxoxox
Oh, we’re going to be ok, thanks, Cathy. Our ceilings have cracks in a few places and brown spots. The roof was patched instead of repaired over a long period of time, so there have been many leaks. We don’t care about appearances; our convenience is more the issue for us. But the board insists that all the ceilings be scraped, re-surfaced, then painted, and soon. And when here viewing the damage, the condo chair saw the boxes and folding bags that contain my projects and supplies, as well as all Mum’s supplies, and decided we have ‘too much stuff’. We could fight them, of course, but Mum is over 90 and really, we don’t want to spend out rime that way. Besides which, we could be legally evicted for resisting. So I’ve folded my cards and will comply (but not in my heart, darnit!)
Love your offer, Cathy, but if you saw what we have, you’d know that really we need a large dry hay barn for a working studio as well as a couple of cute little cottages to live in. The knitting and crochet can happen there, by the fire . . .
Hope your renovations are going well; I know how it is; too much to say and too little time in which to say it . . .
I’m glad you like it here; I like yours, too. The Mutual Admiration Society is alive and well! 🙂
I have a few I follow regularly; well, I read; I don’t always have time to comment as I wish. Narfie’s blog is a good example; I could easily leave comments longer than her posts every week. Lucky for her, I don’t often have that much time. 🙂
You and the others inspire me, too! It’s why I call here the Virtual Village; we are the friends and neighbours we like most, even though scattered all around the globe. Makes me feel so good . . . ❤ ❤ ❤ to you, too, Cathy. See you soon. ~ Linne
As a dormant ( there are such things believe it or not!) quilter I feel your pain with having bags of fabric secreted away in nooks and crannies. Now it’s just me and Jason here, there’s space for a lot. I wish you luck and love with the powers that be where you live. One of those grit the teeth and do what you can moments. How rude though in telling you you have too much stuff!
Oh, I’m a dormant many things, Cathy; I know exactly what you mean! I have stuff for nearly every art and craft known to woman and most of it in storage. You wouldn’t think so to see this place, though! You’re right about the grit your teeth and get dug in bit. No point in resisting; the consequences are not what I’d want, at all. And yes, I think it is rude of them. If I had rotting newspapers, I could see it (unless I was saving them for the garden paths or something LOL). But I will have to just ‘jump’ and trust that the net will appear when needed. Thanks for the support. Everyone is so good and it does make a difference.
Mum’s last house had three bedrooms up and two down, plus a dining room where she had her looms set up (four, I think, at that time) plus a huge family room that would have been perfect for us for all our crafting. But a pool table was stored in the family room, a brother moved in with his stuff and you know how it goes . . . one thing leads to another and you end up down a path you hadn’t intended to travel. I had much of my stuff in the garage, too. Then we each moved into a condo here and it was hard to figure out what to let go of. I ended up using one bedroom for storage, then moved a lot into a storage unit. Lucky for me, that was right before the big flood when a pipe broke a few stories above me. All my art paper, yarn, fabrics and more would have been ruined. At least they are somewhat safe where they are now. But the boxes are getting very dusty . . . It’s been a long and complicated journey, as I’ve adapted to each new thing along the way. One day I will have to go through two units that are in BC and dispose of all that, too.
Seems like making plans, then adapting to others isn’t the best thing for a crafter. Time for something new, I think. 🙂
Bah to the Board and Yay for you and the Crafties and your mum and aunty and may it work out! I love the Crafty dog’s profile, very distinguished. And the Canadian poster cracked me up…Americans, at least us boomers of a certain age, do think of Canada still as the draft-dodger’s sanctuary. But the truth of course is that it is ALL about hockey… 🙂 Love and aloha, Christi
Thanks, Christi! Bah and Humbug, too!
I have somewhat mixed feelings about the draft dodgers since I found out that land we were thinking about purchasing (don’t ask ‘with what?’; we were truly penniless, living on squirrel and nettles at the time, but full of hope and dreams) sold for twice what it was worth at the time, thanks to a couple of dodgers having family money to burn . . .
Still, many of us weren’t in favour of the Vietnam War and we did our bolshie best to stand up to it. When I was “Good Morning, Vietnam” I cried at the laughing young men going off in truckloads to be slaughtered . . . and I still do . . .
And it’s all about the hockey to SOME, I know, but not all . . . I love this country, or what it was, anyhow, but I am having a hard time with how it was founded and the long-reaching consequences of our collective trampling of the original peoples here. But there are no easy answets now; we can’t go back, so we must find a good way to go forward . . .
Well, that’s more serious than your comment, isn’t it? I seem to be in a heavy thinking mood today.
Love and aloha back to you, always, Christi. I look forward to visiting the Future Province of Hawai’i (unless we just give it back . . .) 🙂
Oh, Linne, I totally sympathize with the tragedy of Vietnam and the plight of the trampled native people. Before we lived in Olalla, we lived on the Suquamish Indian Reservation, and the native Hawaiian movement for sovereignty here is quite active. No easy answers, that’s the truth. Going forward, yes, and I look forward to hosting you when you come. 🙂
Would love to come see you, Christi, and you are so lucky I won’t be able to bring my ‘stuff’ 🙂 You’d need a larger acreage, I think.
History is hard, isn’t it? I remember learning about the Greeks and Romans and thinking them all so heroic (not Attila or Genghis Khan, though since I read ‘The Horse Boy’ I have begun to re-think that, too. 🙂 Later I began to think about all the trampled groups that perished in the name of ‘civilization’ and how we will never know what they might have contributed to this world . . . and more recent history is even harder for me to read; it’s very close to me, still. The final ‘battle’ (massacre, really) happened only a half century before I was born and the last residential school closed after I graduated from high school. I know a couple of women who were in those schools and one of my best friends here has a mother who was in one and it has affected all her family so badly. It’s all very sad. I try to remember the cosmic view, but often get lost in the mundane details . . .
Would love to hear about your experiences on the reservation sometime. And my sympathies lie with the native Hawai’ians; also the Scots this year as they, too, are fighting for sovereignty. Although whatever leaders they have next may be as bad as what they replace . . . what we need is a new system, not just new cogs in the same old wheels . . .