Crystal Day

I have seen God in Sheba's solid stool! It's over. 

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Yesterday was “anti-procrastination” day. I decided to do a zillion little things I’d been putting off forever such as cleaning out the fireplace, scraping the moss off the deck, replacing light bulbs, sewing a zipper — even vacuuming in the loft. I was motivated because Crystal and her crew (Peter and 3 fabulous kids) arrive today to spend the weekend.

I baked a cake (above); it’s three layers and has ground nuts in between the layers as well as icing. And re-did a lot of the work I did for the Arts Council because someone went into the file and screwed it up.

Late in the afternoon my sewing machine came. I can hardly wait to play with it.

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I’ve blogged a lot about problems here: The well/cistern issues, power failures, garbage sorting/disposal and diarrhea. You must wonder why I’m so happy here.

For one thing, it’s the extraordinary quiet.

I lived in a cacophony of sound in Vancouver. I was close to a hospital so there were sirens coming and going constantly and right across from me was a bus stop that served two bus lines. Buses are my nemesis; they are very noisy. And there were the constant vulgar screamers, car horns, and right below my window there were ten car-share cars that were always screaming their alarms because users did not know how to access or egress properly.

Here I hear absolutely nothing. The only sounds I hear are ones I make — or the pets, ravens, wind or the neighbour’s chickens in the morning. Once every two days or so, I will hear someone’s car drive by and the phone never rings.

As well as silence, living on an island gives me an overwhelming sense of “freedom.”

The psychological effect of needing an airplane or a ferry to connect with the rest of the world is remarkable. All the ugly things reported in the news — Trump, racism, Fentanyl, crowds, guns, traffic, etc. — it all feels so far, far away. I feel free of it all.

And then there’s my home.

The minute I saw the photos of this place online, I committed. I might have been wiser to wait to see what other properties became available. I wish I could see the ocean. But I didn’t.

Instead, I have Pinecone Park. What is cozier than a log cabin? And from the get go, I knew the billiard building would become my very first studio. But I did not envisage building a huge long fence and that the fence would become a giant canvas for my imagination inspiring me to work with large wet and often dirty material. That’s why I fell for my shed. It’s a second studio —one wet, the other dry.

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I’m not certain, but I think the new Arts Club artistic director starts on Monday. She has a month to work with Bill, the outgoing AD who leaves at the end of the month. It may mean I hear something about The Defiant Dress. If I don’t I plan to write to ask if I’m still in the pipeline in April.

A week today I go to get my ladies and restoration can begin in my beautiful new space. I can hardly wait to see (and post a photo of) my ladies in their new home.

But today is all about Crystal and her family coming. I’m pretty excited. We met in 1994 after both of us were dumped by our partners. We both moved into a new artist live/work studio and became inseparable.

Cole, her son, is now 21. I was there when he was born. Then came twins, just before the father of them all left the family. Georgia and James are fourteen. Peter is Crystal’s new man. I suspect they are coming here and to Vancouver Island to scope out life and real estate prices over here. They are planning to get a place together.

But tonight, we party.