getting things doneI got quite a bit done over the weekend, with a ton of help from Jovino, who also built a railing for the elevated storage loft in the shop, creating more space for storage as well as making it much, much safer to be up there. He also made the ladder we use to access the space a lot more secure. Yay, Jovino!
While he worked in the shop, I removed all the area rugs covering the cement floor in my room and mopped. Jovino and I removed the futon which had been in there but belongs to the housemates, and laid down the carpet I received from freecycle (it is cream colored wool, and very pleasant on the bare feet.) Jovino trimmed it to fit around the various support posts etc, and the curved wall, and it turned out to fill just over half of the floor. I have it in the end with my bed, and my big mirror where I practice dance. I have always sorta laughed at white/light carpets, but I have to admit that it does look very nice, and adds light to the otherwise rather dark space.
We moved my exceedingly heavy (but oh so plush!) queen sized bed into place, and once it was all made up with my pretty pink sheets and covered with pillows, the room really started to feel like home.
I placed the best two of the area rugs back into the room, in the other end, and found that they pretty much fit perfectly. I set up some drawers, and Jovino installed a bar in the closet for hanging storage. Turns out we need to move the light up, so it's not menacing the clothes, but that should be pretty simple (I could probably even do it myself.)
I hung some stuff up on a garment rack that came from another freecycler - it was from the estate of a woman who'd died suddenly, and a friend set up an "open house" afternoon for people to come and take stuff. I got a bookshelf from her as well, and part of a bed frame which Jovino is going to make into an art project (hopefully it'll become part of my cutting table!) I thought of her as I was hanging my bellydance skirts on her garment rack, as she had been a bellydancer too, and I felt grateful to have inherited these useful things. Thank you, Rachel. I felt sad too, because seeing a few photos of her (still up in her loft) it was apparent that we had quite a bit in common and I felt that had we met, we would have likely gotten along well and quite possibly become friends. She even had tattoos and a pink streak in her hair.
Another bittersweet side to the day was, of course, that it was mothers' day, and I sure do miss my mommy. As I have been doing a bit of decorating in my room, I have been getting out rugs I inherited from her, and Jovino hung one of my grandmother's artworks up in the perfect spot in the room - it's a print of dancing people, and I can see it over my shoulder in my practice mirror. I also have a shirt she made, with beautiful embroidery, and I want to figure out a way to display it too. So their energy will be near me, and I will enjoy having these beautiful things around. I also want to display some favorite photos, once I have more of an idea of where I will have wall space.
I've made a curtain for one of the windows from two sarongs, and embellished it with a beautiful beaded hipscarf that I rarely wear. The other two windows (including the 8 foot wide one that looks into the shop) still have sheets over them - but I am looking forward to coming up with beautiful coverings for them as well. I also wrapped some fabric around a beam which separates the bed and mirror end of the room from the storage end, defining the space and adding a lush feeling, evocative of a luxurious tent. More like this is on the way - I plan to drape at least part of the ceiling, and I totally want to see how many of my beautiful tribal textiles I can display in there too.
Jovino says he wants to hire me to decorate his room next, and I replied that as long as he wants it done in my favorite "bellydance palace" style, I would be glad to. ;)
Last night,we watched a few Simpsons episodes (it being Sunday, the traditional time for the show.) Afterwards, Jovino spun off my CDs for a while as I puttered around working on unpacking and decorating, and it was a lovely way to spend the evening. (I don't think I've mentioned yet that here, my CDs will be stored *next to the DJ rig* instead of in another room! Yeah!)
And now I sit here at my desk, marvelling at how hot it is outside, and gathering energy for another run to the old place. At least when I get back I can drink a cold sierra and curl up for a quick nap in my lovely (and several degrees cooer than the rest of the house!) new room. :)
There are certainly some stressors in my life right now, but overall things are good. We even got some sewing done over the weekend.
