The sewing space.

K     I need a place to sew, to create, to dream more than I need a living room, cable tv, a significant man in my life and since 8/2004 I have been working to create a great sewing space in this old house.  That dream, my needs and a lot of money and hard work have gone into turning all that 'lost' space below the roof rafters and above the ceiling joices into not just more living space but my sewing studio.

    That first winter here was cold, but I kept replacing the plastic over the never installed north attic vent opening and my tax refund that spring put 3 windows into that space, 2 in the north end and the 3rd in the south. So, in the early spring of 2005 my attic expansion began and today the sewing desk became a reality and the sewing machines are ready to get back to doing what they do well.  A lot of small stuff yet to be done, a lot of fabric and other things yet to be put away but I finally have my studio.

     And I have a lot of tools yet to pick up and the remainder of that attic area to get finished, next is the south retreat, my current sleeping area, I will sleep in the servant's bed, tucked under the east eaves of my attic sewing studio while the south end is a work area.

     Between the 2 ends is the rather small but framed and wiring partially done future bathroom, current storage area, it might be several years before that little space is a real bathroom but the space is started.  And in the meantime, Ben and sometimes Jake will help me get the south retreat done and the timbers settled and level for the small work shop building I spent this year's federal tax refund on.  My house will feel bigger with the tools living in their own building and my radial arm saw will be easier to use out in a little wood shop than it is in my living room.

  Plans for a life beyond working in a meat packing plant, plans for me to be able to like my life, have things I enjoy doing every day, days to look forward to and places set up for me to create and build what matters to me, and it fix and repair an occasional antique, a place for the much loved bike and scooter to hide from winter weather and hopefully, down the road, a place for solar cells on a south roof to produce renewable energy and make my carbon footprint a bit smaller.

  Time for bed and another week of earning my living, paying my share of taxes and bills and being just another grain of sand in this big planet I live on.