Saturday, March 6, 2010

Flow

I am really drawn toward creating more of a sense of order in the flow of what we do here. When the Semi arrived with our 17,000 pounds of stuff in May 2007 and we embarked on a huge life style change in a new location, our sense of order got piled out on the west lawn. The whole works resembled a jumbled pile of "Pick Up Sticks" from my Childhood. Some was recognizable. A lot was not. Three years later, some sense of order is slowly beginning to emerge.

For 1 thing, our little House was not built as a "Farm House". It is a small House and its "smallness" suits our fancy fine. That also presents the challenge of creating multiple functions in a small space. We have no Mud Porch just off that back and into the yards. While we have a lot of good light for growing things, we need shelves to grow them on. Use of "vertical" increases our usable space. These days, that means we can grow more plants. And these days, that is important.

So, this year, Richard is building more shelves. He is also headed out to Auctions in the area with his eyes open for good usable Utility Shelves or Materials to build them for the Garage and Basement. That's where he is today. Creating functional storage will surely be an ongoing process. It will be fun to see what things look like in a few more years.

If you would have dropped by on Friday, you would have found him constructing a set of shelves for the Family Room. First, he bought Cedar 1x6"s for the shelves. Then he was out cutting Willow. At some kind of unique intersection between my design, the Cedar, the Willow and his Creativity, he was beginning to visualize how things would come together. Fairly quickly, he had identified the Willow for Posts.

While Melanie and I were doing our own Chores in the House, Melanie and I kept hearing wonderful sounds of the Saw making its way through Boards and Torque Screws tying things together. It reminds me of the sounds of Woodpeckers creating Homes down in the Woods. We are all busy these days.

Richard is really quick at these things. In no time at all, he had a beautiful set of Shelves, which passed his inspection. At which point, he and Melanie carried the Shelves into the House.
It took a little doin' but we pulled the piles from away from the Window and did some cleaning. Then we put the Shelves in place. The top 3 Shelves will hold plants. (Max thought they should hold him.) I am planning to give away most of the Shamrocks which are in the picture. They are so beautiful and they are eager to be home with Friends and Family. They were originally from Mary Morken, our Former Neighbor up North.

Soon they will be replaced by Geraniums which I will be starting from the Plants hanging upside and bare root down in the basement. The bottom 3 Shelves hold some of our Shoes. Now, it is surely nice to store those vertically and not horizontally.

We forgot 1 thing. Fresh Cut Cedar smells. We took the shelves back outside to "offgass" before they find their way back into that house. We are eager for the Shelves to return.

1 comment:

Sue said...

What a great looking shelf! It's wonderful that you are able to create such useful and beautiful items. Much better than store bought!