WHERE OH WHERE IS THE SUN?

Did you ever get a really great idea, one that excited you so much, it was difficult to wait for its manifestation?? And then...as it was developing and coming to completion you had inklings of regret??? Well, my inklings are inkling away at me and wake me in the night.

It looks good, right!

Honestly, I do love the way it looks, and once it is painted the same as the cabin itself, it will look really nice. BUT...and there is a big but...as of right now, the basement leaks when it rains and it seems to be raining all the time these days. (Are we in Oregon?) We knew there was going to be a problem to overcome when I wanted the basement to extend to the edge of the deck, problem being, how to seal the deck (create some kind of ceiling) so that it was solid and dry. After many considerations...one being to lay cement on the deck floor, which I vetoed, my builder laid roofing rubber on the deck over plywood. Sealed tightly he thought. Well, standing in the basement there are small leaks along the seam where the cabin meets the deck. To say I am sick is like saying a tornado is a wind. Rudy, my builder, says he will solve this problem, and I am sure that he will, but in the mean time, I who envision tragedy at every turn (I think it is my Sicilian heritage) can't help but see this cabin as the biggest, most expensive mistake I have ever made.

On top of it all, as the rain has not ceased for very long, there is nothing but MUD everywhere around my cabin...everywhere inside my cabin as well. I AM SO SICK OF MUD and I must say, that simply adds to my 'black state of mind'. My workshop is strewn with dried mud, mud prints, filthy rugs, and general chaos. Needless to say, it is clearly not a pleasure to work out here right now.
I know the sun will shine??

On another more joyful note. Iris stayed overnight with us on Saturday. She is fun to have around what with all the pretending we must play! At one point she was my mother Sarah, her doll was my sister Jackie, I was Joanne, and she was pregnant with my sister Barbara, who she said was to be born in 16 weeks. She put Jackie in the doll stroller, took me by the hand and said, "Come on Joanne, we are going to the park." And so we did, and had a good time, I must say.


On Sunday we packed a picnic and went to Wild Cat Mountain State Park. She played on the playground equipment, we ate our lunch and then this lovely creature came crawling by. I extended my finger hoping it would 'walk' up, but it rejected me and went straight to Grandpa Freddie. Iris studied this with great interest and curiosity.

The bright spot in my otherwise rain-filled week.

Another bright spot, though if the sun were shining it would be even brighter, is the golden straw that spans the spaces between garden plants. I always think of the Fairy Tale Rapunzel and how she spun the straw into gold, and I have no doubt that it really could happen. Not only do I love the straw for its smell and look, but it also allows me to work in the garden no matter how wet it is, these pathways are always assessable.

This is the garlic I planted last fall, and it truly looks beautiful. I wish now I had planted more, as I know this won't be enough to get me through the year.

So, here I sit in the cabin as rain continues to fall, no fall is hardly the correct word for this deluge. It is dark, dreary, and downright miserable, and I vow I will NOT check out the basement today!!!