O8.30.25 …walk with me.
Returning to the web…
I believe a “turning point” visited North today. The drywall sanding is close to its end. The dust particles permeate everything.
Above is not a face plate… it is the dust surrounding a face plate after I picked it up from the counter.
Tomorrow the prime begins. I am playing with wall color here…3 different colors…dark colors. Hidden Gem has my interests peaked. Also, the color Mink. Dark tones, if chosen correctly can create a solitude of peace in a space, like nothing other.
Candle magic. It exists in the most challenging situations if you believe…
my candle magic tonight.
O8.22…tonight’s candle magic
Our candle magic found gratitude tonight. Gratitude to one another… talking/recognizing how we have worked so hard to respect each other…listening / learning as we discussed our differences creating North.
We have finally found the same page. As I return on Monday to hug Bob, Aunt Irena, and her tribe, Frank, and Uncle Peter… I will obviously giggle. My imagination and creativity has been a godsend.
70…walk with me
I must take a pause from all that I have been sharing. I moved into another decade today. This is profound. It is not like going from 30 to 40… 40 to 50 or even 50 to 60. It is profound…standing taller than any other decade because I now am who I worked my life to become.
I see how few decisions that I made along this journey had so much impact in creating who I am.
The decision to go to college. The friends I gravitated to when I was there. The men that interested me … the man I chose to marry. Once married, our mutual decision not to have children.
I find my life has been built around these critical decisions.
Seventy is bringing all of my past into view tonight. It is a good night. I am not disappointed because I continue to love my me.
…tonight’s candle magic
…the beauty of candle magic is that I never know how it will enter my evening. I only know that when it joins me, and with those with me, it changes the direction of conversation into words that we are actually learning about one another… not talking at each other.
This is Kip’s and my candle magic tonight.
… Candle magic
…tonight’s candle magic bringing tremendous peace to me. May your magic, whatever it may be, do the same… happy Saturday evening.
Walk with me… Henry the oops
Henry came into our lives very unexpectedly.
North, my Frank Lloyd Wright love affair… a tree house that brings the outside… in.
Then… there is Henry… the oops.
As I developed North, I neglected the reality of aging, and living on a second floor.
I assumed two small dumbwaiters would accommodate our living bounty (Costco/wine/dog food). I never considered the need for accommodating us.
It was our county building inspector who condemned one of our two stairways and flagged changes necessary in the other that initiated a difficult conversation between Kip and I. With our advancing age in the front view mirror… How do we get up into our treehouse if for physical reasons the stairs are not an option. This conversation caused a significant pause in our project.
Henry (the elevator) was conceived on Mother’s Day 2025.
Three weeks ago, the life of Henry began. It started with his anchor into the earth. In the area of the condemned stairway on the main floor, a 62″x73″ opening was cut into the concrete slab floor. Shovels were used to dig a 26″ pit . Five gallon buckets were used to remove the debris. It is not a common practice to incorporate an elevator into existing construction. We were fortunate that our current space could accommodate the required specifications.
Supporting rebar… preparing for concrete
the pour … 8″ deep with 8″ side walls.
Two (2), two-story rails were constructed to secure the hydraulic lifting system. Each column included glue laminated beams screwed and glued together to 2×6 wood inserts, to support a moving weight requirement of 3 ton.
The shaft, that houses Henry followed. The goal in this build is twofold: the rails perfectly aligned with no movement as the hydrolytic unit moves vertically 40′ per minute between floors, and a perfectly symmetrical two story shaft that never impedes the vertical operation of Henry getting us safely home.
… to be continued
“finishing North”
"walk with Me"... 