First Saturday NOT Driving to or From Texas In...

It felt good to sleep in a bit this morning--though Dan, our carpenter, showed up right on time at 9:00 to work on the house here in Atlanta. Today is the first Saturday since January 23 that I have been in Atlanta--not away from home, not driving. Wow. I almost don't know what to do with myself--though, of course, the right answer is probably to pack something, clean something, get rid of something, or paint something. But I am not going to be "right" today. I am going to put two kiln loads in because I am backed up on orders right now, and then I'm going to shift gears and work on my websites and newsletters. In the sun. On the deck.

Dan the carpenter is here because we want to sell out house here quickly when we are ready to put it on the market--which won't be till we're out in June. We also wish to get as much as we can for it as the house in Texas has sucked up more resources than we originally planned when we bought it. After 13 years of living in the Atlanta house there is a lot we need to do to make it shine again. The landscaping has gone to hell as I have spent every summer for the past five years in Montana and have not spent any time on the yard here. The interior of the house is a kaleidoscope with rooms in every color from deep purple, forest green, turquoise, tangerine, lime green, and raspberry to deep terracotta red. The wood floors have been mistreated by dogs, furniture, and ruthless cleaning people using inappropriate products on them. In short, the house has been well-lived in and well-loved. Now it needs to sparkle and strut again.

So over the next six weeks the yard will be cleaned up with new sod, the overgrown shrubbery will be trimmed back and/or moved, the bamboo, wisteria and kiwi will be tamed, and the raised vegetable and herb gardens. will be reclaimed and replanted. Today Dan is taking down the framework and screening on the front porch, opening up the front of the house again and making it more welcoming. He is also going to repair/replace all the wood trim and railings on the porch, the playhouse in the back and the shed that need it. We decided last minute today NOT to take down the big pergola over the driveway in the back even though it blocks the view of the backyard from the livingroom. The decision makes me happy as the pergola is a riot of wisteria blossom right now and the sweet yellow flowers of the kiwi vine twined in with the wisteria will bloom in another week.

After the basic repairs are done, the house, porch, deck, fence, little house and shed are being pressure-washed. After they're clean, the decks, porch, and front fence
will be restained, and all the trim on the porch, playhouse and the shed will be repainted. For the inside, I (with the help of my ever-valiant friend Becky) am repainting all the ceilings white, painting all the interior walls greige, and hiring a painter to paint all the interior trim white. In mid-May while Jessie is on her 8th-grade class trip and I am back in Texas for the week with the dogs, the floors are being sanded, restained and refinished. We are going to go with a dark stain on the main floor this time to update the house and set off the newer hickory floors upstairs. Much as I love the house in Austin, it's going to be tough to leave this house when all the work is done. It's going to be GORGEOUS!

The Griffith family, however, are not the only ones moving: Siyeh Glass and Studio are both moving to Austin in a month and a half, and I need to do some serious divestiture before that happens. Divestiture means a big-assed garage sale. A week-long, combination flea market and fundraising-auction kind of garage sale. I think I'll even have raffles. I have everything from finished work to sheet glass and kilns that I do not wish to pack and move. The last truckload out went Saturday April 2 and comprised entirely studio materials, furniture and tools. The truck was comprehensively packed, and, yet, looking at the studio now I don't feel like I made a dent in it. But if I can sell most of the sheet glass, I'll be in good shape. To make that happen I need to get the word out, and now we're back to the website and newsletters. Wish I still had a sky chair here to lounge in while I work today. Maybe I'll have to work from Steinbeck's, or the Imperial... Yeah, that sounds good.

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Post-writing/pre-posting note: I never made it to the studio today, nor did I work on my website. But the pond is MUCH cleaner, and I am in the process of copying all my photos, videos (of the home variety), and music to one drive from which I will back them up to the cloud. Tonight: Papa John's pizza, and Paranorman with the J.