Autumn Update
As the cooler air settles in to our neighborhood, and my first trimester energy suck is declining a bit, I’m feeling inspired to write here again. Even with COVID-19, our family had a wonderful summer together. We spent many days per week feeling the sand between our toes and cooling off in the Atlantic — but also keeping those shark warnings in mind…
Jake’s carpentry business has been busy as ever, and so our house renovations have slowed a bit. With the weather a bit cooler, but not cold enough for snow to fly, we’ve been having fun with changing up the exterior.
We had many dark farmhouse images on the internet for inspiration as we turned our light-gray New Englander into the dark coastal farmhouse we’ve been imagining. It really pairs well with the autumn season as I’ve discovered. It’s strange, i’ve always fancied myself a summer gal — but this year I’ve been yearning for fall and winter feels. I’m sure I’ll be cursing myself and wishing for hot and sunny days as soon as we lose sight of those 70 degree temps. Sigh…
With a new baby on the way, extra bathrooms has been our minds as the next priority. Jake is currently working on making the laundry room a half bathroom, which, eventually, will bring plumbing upstairs to our new upstairs bathroom. This is very exciting to me, as a pregnant woman venturing to begin potty training. At the moment, our only bathroom is a tiny, cold bathroom off the kitchen. Nobody said live-in flipping would be glamorous. However, it has been truly inspiring to see the before and after results so far.
We’re turning our first floor laundry room into a half bath with much more laundry organization! It took Jake a lot of work to level the floors which had significantly shifted with time and sloped in multiple directions. We also will have to sheetrock over the unnecessary door opening that used to lead to the kitchen.
We ordered some hard wood flooring to try and match our dining/living room floors. Excited how they’ll look! Also SO excited for the cabinets Jake plans to build into the walls and the folding/ironing counter to the left of the machines.
I’m currently sitting and writing from my newly relocated desk into the open concept living/dining room that Jake created a year and a half ago. I’ve relocated this heavy desk three or four times to find the perfect spot for productivity, and it turns out, I think I found the perfect spot—and that makes me excited. Any writer friends out there know what I mean? The perfect writing environment is crucial.
Anywho, I’ve got a journal of exciting ideas of what to blog about over the next couple months! Since the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Amaud Arbery, I felt an obligation to do research on BIPOC history and current racism, broadly, in our country, but also how and where it exists in our state of Maine. This, mixed with my first trimester exhaustion and nausea, has attributed to my pause in posting regularly. It turns out, this history is vast and incredibly multi-faceted. It’s also, not exactly beach-reading, which is why I am welcoming the back-to-school energy that fall can bring.
I’ve invested some time into my online secondhand store as well, if you’re interested in shopping my online store through Poshmark, and if you’re local let me know! I’d be happy to deliver.
Other things I have in store is a list of mine and Zeke’s favorite Maine children’s books, rolls and rolls of film I have gone through during my summer excursions, books reviews of Maine authors and elsewhere, and more to come with our Maine home renovations. That is our update! I hope my readers are all staying safe and settling into the autumn season with as much grace as possible as we brace ourselves for what else is to come in the next few months.
xo, the rockweed writer
