Catching Up

Lots happening last month and this month. I used to periodically do a post like this for my Mom, but now I have my dear sister in law in Virginia who reads this blog often and has asked for an update, (especially on the studio remodel - above photo) so here goes.

Very busy on the scholarship front. The deadline to send me the applications (this is for a State of California level scholarship) was February 1. I was amazed at how many women (because these scholarships are only for women going to college) waited until the last moment to mail the applications. The postal delivery woman had to bring the last batch in a carrier box because there were so many. Considering that applications can be sent as early as September, it was interesting to see that the almost all of them arrived during the last five days.

For me the process included opening over 80 envelopes, collating parts of the application as needed, lots of stapling, checking a whole bunch of things to make sure that the applications were valid and complete, preparing them for the committee members, logging them on the spreadsheet, making sure that there was a digital copy sent to the email address reserved for the Ethel O. Gardner Scholarship Committee's use, then mailing the prepared paper applications to the committee and filing mine for review and scoring. This doesn't even take into account all of the emails that flew in during the couple of weeks with questions. I actually was happy to see those because I had been wondering if we were going to have any applicants, but questions usually mean interest! We will meet for the selection process in a few weeks, so I have to get busy scoring them and logging the comments and scores.

On the project front, my studio remodel has been going really well the last few weeks. There have been lots of changes to the old place during the last four months or so. The French doors that were old when we got them second hand years ago were replaced with a window plus new exterior wall, and part of the wall closer to the parking area was opened up for a new outside door. The steps were moved over to the new exterior door and one half of the French doors became the new interior door between the storage area and the studio area. You can see the new window, old French door with multiple panes, and (through it) the new outer door in the photo below where Sweetie is using the nail gun on the ceiling with the help of Anne Marie (second photo down).

We insulated the ceiling with Kate's help and

put up shiplap ceiling boards, insulated the wall between the studio and storage and put up a plywood wall. Sweetie installed new LED lights and created and installed lots of new trim and I did lots of painting of walls and trim. Last weekend, since we finally had a couple of days without rain, we moved everything out and made a template for the flooring.

On Sunday our sweet neighbors Glenn and Anne Marie helped us move the flooring to the back deck, place the template, cut it, move it to the studio, and install it.

I painted the baseboards and Sweetie installed them and some threshold to hold the 'floating' Tarkett fiberfloor in place. It's a nice sandy color and looks like stone. Should be easy to mop up when the painting gets colorful.

Sweetie put together a great workbench with drawers and mounted the old shelves from the old kitchen pantry above it.

He made some narrow shelves by the door to the storage. I put an array of acrylic paints...48 colors!...on them so far. Still figuring out where things should go, so changes can happen.

I'm starting to move my art supplies back in and putting a few things on the corkboard, but that will likely change, too. The drafting table still has its covering that protected it during the construction, but it will be gone soon.

I now have the most magnificent place to draw, paint and do crafts. I have an idea for a three part piece for our daughter's new place, based on a photograph she took at Manhattan Beach which I'll paint in acrylics on three panels.

Oh, yes, I've been reading a lot, too. Rainy weather often gets me reading and it has been very rainy. My new favorite series is by Martin Walker and the series is about Bruno, Chief of Police in a small town in the Dordogne in France. Well crafted mysteries, great characters, and good cooking.

No recipe this time, but I know that some of my regular readers have been wanting to know how we have been spending our time.

Last, but not least, Sunday we pruned the walnut tree by the back deck. The branches were getting too close to the house and this is a good time of year to prune. The rain held off all morning so we got quite a bit done. Here is the pile of limbs and branches, ready to be put into a trailer to get recycled. As you can see, Pi keeps an eye on us and is never far away. Hope you have been pleasantly busy, too.