Going Nowhere Fast!

Have you ever felt like you're going a hundred miles an hour, but standing still at the same time because it looks like nothing is getting done?  You're sure you've been working hard because your exhausted at the end of the day?  Well that's been me since we came back from our mini vacation. 

I won't bore you with most of the details, because really its been mostly everyday "stuff" just hitting the fan all at the same time.  Stuff like the washing machine electrocuting itself with a load of jeans sitting in the rinse cycle and needing to run a grocery shopping marathon.  (I forgot to warm up first and pulled a cramp half-way through!)

However, all the "stuff" pales in comparison to the decision to move my studio from the converted garage space to our walkout basement, currently used as an office.  The basement is completely finished with a bathroom, separate storage and laundry rooms, and a walkout onto a small, walled patio.  All good, right?  The move will also get my artwork away from the dirtier aspects of cleaning and refurbishing some of our more "distressed" vintage finds.

The part that's got me a little consumed, okay obsessed, is the need to redecorate.  I'm talking replacing carpet that still looks dirty even after you clean it, and walls that haven't been painted in several years, editing furniture to make room for more important furniture.  You get the picture?

So I've been running around choosing paint and fabric for new drapes, ordering carpet and trying to figure out where everything is going to fit, etc., etc., etc.  This would all probably be really fun if I didn't need to have it done, like yesterday.  Actually, choosing the fabric for the drapes was really fun and I LOVE it.

Tomorrow we're off to an auction, so a break in the redecorating frenzy.  Hopefully I'll have lots of treasures to show you.  In the meantime...vacation!

This is the view of Tawas Bay from our room,

beyond the pier is Lake Huron and beyond that is Canada.

 

The morning we checked out, so did the sun...

but not for long.

This is the Ausable River Valley, land that I love.

More than 100 miles long, the Ausable

 stretches half-way across Michigan's northern, lower peninsula.

This is one of six dam ponds, big lakes actually.  At one time the river

provided all the electricity for the northern region of the state. 

The dams are all still in operation.

A little drift wood at Loud Dam. 

This tree root is actually about 4 feet in diameter.

A narrow little bend in the river, but so charming.

This place is the overlook at Iargo Springs,

a truly magical place, and I don't use that word lightly.

Iargo Springs deserves a post all its own,

so come back tomorrow for a trip into fairyland