It took a village...

Cathy loaned me a hand truck which saved my back (for a while).

Several people helped by taking things that were too big to keep...Jessie and her daughters have the 30 gallon fish tank, Tim has the hide-a-bed couch.

Patti didn't even know me but volunteered to pack after church one day.

Pat took my shift as a volunteer at the BMCA studio so I could keep on packing.

Teresa came for coffee and ended up packing pottery, several weeks before the move, continuing weekly afterward to unpack.

Helen packed once, then loaded her car full and carried the boxes inside the new apartment.  She then packed again, and offered me a love seat (yet to be moved until I find two able bodied volunteers.)

Pam packed and packed and packed the kitchen things.  Just get one more little thing into this corner of this box!

The mascot of the move...a slug which came inside on the tarp, which never got dry enough to use!

Susan cleaned out and swept the shed area which would have been hard for me to breathe sweeping...and then she carried the trash around the house.

Several people offered the use of pickups, but the rain ruled out their usefulness.  Thank you Mary, especially, who even got the flu, but offered before she got sick.  I hope you're feeling well now.

Tim did much more than remove shelving...carrying things...getting soaked.

Molly packed pottery for me, then came back on one of the short hours when it wasn't pouring rain and carried all my clothes over to the apartment, as well as the boxes!

Chuck was so wet moving things he said the water had seeped inside his waterproof boots down the legs of his trousers so his socks were soaked.

Jim offered to help late in the day after a meeting he was scheduled to attend, and called to see if I still needed him, during the deluge from Joaquin, but after all but the very last boxes had been moved.

Charles and Chuck lugged the big old mattress and box spring out to the curb.

Tai, well you've probably read my prior post of great appreciation for a guy who traveled 800 miles to schlep his mom's old stuff a mile each way in pouring rain.  (In a vehicle of course!)

Gail offered me a bed frame and dresser which would fit in my new apartment...which were carried downstairs and then into the apartment by my dear special friends and relations!

For this old lady...I have a heart so full of gratitude.  And lots of unpacking to do!
If I forgot anyone, it's my poor brain, not that you didn't give me wonderful help!

Quote for today:

Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.   

Carl Jung

Moving in the rain!

There were a hide-a-bed couch, and huge dresser moved in constant drizzle or even harder rain.  Special people are dedicated to their friends enough to come through for this!
I can't name them here, because they really need a break and don't EVER want to do this again!  But hopefully they'll read this and know how much I appreciated them.  Especially "T"...oh, and the other "T"...and of course "C".

Joaquin (Hurricane) helped also, by continuing a deluge in Black Mountain which started the night of Sept. 24, a Thursday...and he didn't arrive until Saturday.  It's still raining or foggy as I write this Sun. Oct. 4 in the evening.

So everything I've moved got damp or wet, or was tucked into blankets to help keep it dry.  We didn't even bother with pickup trucks, which several people offered.  We fortunately had station wagon and van as dry transport...and we loaded them both up for several days, several trips each day.

So

wet maple trees as seen from my tiny pocket balcony.

Yep that's it.  Probably won't sit outside, because I have plants that I want to get sunshine...they are waiting to come to the apartment tomorrow (as I write this).  It will be nice to have sun shining in the big new windows in the apartment!

Yes this outhouse has a five-holer...though I am pretty sure none of them are functional.

The apartments where I just moved have been under rennovation for months now.  A few have been finished, and mine almost is.  At least the plumbing is complete!

Every mother's wish

The cottage is bare finally, and my dear youngest son drove hundreds of miles to help with some of my local special friends to move all my belongings.

Friends helped pack, pack and pack some more.

But I can't express the extent of my love and gratitude for Tai Rogers, who kept on working after his 8 hour drive to NC, for two days, then another 8 hours back to his home.  He man-handled hide-a-bed couches and huge dressers...and were there a hundred boxes and tuperware tubs?  Probably.

I had a sweet parting dinner with him, where we asked and answered personal questions of each other...that touching of the heart and soul which happens so infrequently.  Not that we want to do it every day on "messages" but when we can do a face-to-face interpersonal connection, it's just WOW!

We truthfully answered questions of each other. My sharing meant saying what had really happened at times when he was small(er).  His meant saying what he's currently working on to express himself.  This kind of closeness is something I've had with his half brothers also at times...but not enough lately.  The "busyness" of their lives seems to get in the way.  I'm not that good on phone calls either.

But the tears that came to my eyes happen infrequently...a blessing, just as the shared love this last weekend.  Thank you isn't enough.

Tea set sold

Before I move it to my new apartment, I've packed and shipped a tea set which recently sold. More about it can be seen HERE.

Just thought I'd post a picture here, and send out a big thank you to Anita who purchased it!

I will be emailing Anita as to when to expect it.  She's been very patient as I've had my hands full lately.

Thought for today:

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

Helen Keller

Sculpture packing

Another life change is coming round the bend this week.  I'll be changing my physical residence.  No longer will I have a studio space at home.  I'll be working at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts CLAY STUDIO entirely.

New apartment has lots of built-in shelves for pottery display!

After packing all the pots I've made in the last 8 years, (less those that sold of course!) I am really overstocked with various things...mainly my sculptures.  What on earth does someone who's more serious about their art in clay do with all the productions?  I guess they have more crates and tubs packed and maybe rent a storage facility.

Sculptural pieces waiting to be packed gently into bigger boxes

I've downsized several times in my life, so it's not that scary.  Perhaps the only ones worried are my garbage collection team who have to lug all those boxes and boards off.  This week it will be the old mattress and box springs.

Did you ever wonder where the mattresses go?  In the dump with everything else?  Wait wait, why don't they have all those beds put in a special area, and afford a soft place to sleep for the homeless?  Except when it rains, and except of course any bedbugs.  Well, one good idea that has already passed.

PS, I'm moving this week, so it may take longer than usual for your comments to be posted!

Thought for today:

Are the stars too distant, pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet, and from it learn the all.

Margaret Fuller