earth
volcano erupts
molten rock lunges skyward
gravity defied
water
water unresolved
hovers between sea and sky
foggy dilemma
air
swirled by fickle winds
tinged by sun’s pastel palette
confections aloft
fire
forests breathing fire
evening sky set ablaze as
sun and smoke conspire
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Elemental
millstone laid to rest
industry ground to a halt
please do not send flours
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Textures
I was talking with my eldest daughter the other day (okay, maybe it was more like complaining) about how much I’ve been spending on all my DIY home improvement projects; projects which include reviving the hardwood floors that I discovered under my grungy living room carpet, ripping up the ugly linoleum from my bathroom floor and laying down vinyl tile, making a bathroom sink back splash out of art glass squares, constructing a stained glass privacy panel for the bathroom window, remodeling the kitchen (still in progress), and redoing my dining room to… well, to make it look like a dining room and not a staging area for all my other projects.
dining room
And those are just the indoor projects.
My daughter asked me if spending all that money brings me happiness. ‘Cuz, you know – that whole thing about how money can’t buy you happiness. I didn’t have to ponder that question long at all before giving a resounding “Yes!”
I never had much occasion to practice any handyperson skills up until the past couple of years, so every home improvement project I take on involves a learning process of new skills and knowledge about the workings of “this old house.” (Does that phrase sound familiar? I could probably start my own DIY TV program).
living room floor
The projects have varying levels of success. Some turn out well, some have to be completely redone. Some results are “interesting” and “unique” to say the least, so I just pass those off to my eclectic artistic license and try to imply that that’s where I meant to go with the project – I just didn’t know it until I got there.
Regardless of how I rate the outcomes, I can honestly say the process itself is almost entirely fun and satisfying. I love the challenge, the chance to research and learn new things, the hands-on real world application of what I learn, and the gratification of a daily tangible result.
kitchen
So despite my complaints about the cost of my myriad DIY projects, it is indeed money well spent. It buys a more comfortable, appealing home atmosphere. It buys an “experience” in addition to paying for material goods. And – you might well say – it buys me happiness.
bathroom sink glass back splash
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Satisfaction
base metals to glass
transmuted in fiery maw
alchemist’s magic
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Collage
early morning walk
shadowed by fleeting shadows
come noon they’ll be gone
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Transient
It’s challenging when you have a one-track mind trying to switch between several trains of thought whilst going full steam. (Yes, I railroaded that sentence to be engineered for maximum punnage.)
With the improved weather, I’ve begun working on some landscaping projects in my back yard. I go outside and putter around during the cool mornings. Then when it gets too warm for yard work, I come indoors and putter around with my DIY home impairment projects.
In the back of my mind, though, perched between “do the dishes” and “give the pets their monthly flea prevention treatments,” is the niggling thought that I should write a post for this blog.
Should. Want to. Wish I could. Would if only… Will once I get the dishes done and the pets treated. Definitely will when I can stop and focus.
Ay, therein lies the rub (as Hamlet is misquoted to have said): focus.
Speaking of which (Hamlet being the “which” in this instance), it’s past my bedtime and so I must go “[t]o sleep perchance to dream.” Maybe I will be better able to focus in the morning and then I can finish this post about —
um… what was I writing about? Trains? Putters? Shakespeare?
Oh, well. It’ll come to me. Right now I think I’d better conduct my caboose off to bed.
The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Focus
It’s not an order, necessarily,
nor a mere suggestion.
It’s something in between.
Maybe an insistent affirmation that
you can do this, so…
do it!
So when the coach gives the order to go,
I go, knowing that yes, I can do this,
and knowing that – in short order –
I’ll be able to do even more.
That’s just the order of things in life.
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Order
One might think discovering a bunch of tree limbs on your car would be rather disconcerting; fortunately not the case here.
The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Reflecting
Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: letters S or T (T for trees)
What Rhymes with Stanza? 