If the shoe doesn't fit...

... then go to your wedding barefoot.

So be it!

It's been a rough week.

This past weekend Honeybunch and I set up shop at a hoopdance festival/gathering to vend his lovely LED creations for the first time.

It was a delightful time.  In addition to some hoopdance workshops, a few good sales and some newly made friends, I got kissed by a llama, and I even got to ride a horse.  I haven't ridden a horse since girlscout camp as a child... and I have to say, it felt totally natural and right.  I got her going at a pretty good trot and it felt amazing.  I've always been fascinated by the relationship between horse and rider... maybe this Spring we'll finally get around to taking some riding lessons.

Unfortunately, I came down with a nasty cold halfway through the weekend... and being in the mountains, that meant being sick out in 40 degree weather with only bonfires to warm up by.  Smoke and cold makes for an unhappy sick Gelfling.  Then I passed a kidney stone and have been fighting a urinary tract infection ever since.  Ugh.

Today I had off from work, and had all kinds of exciting little details to wrap up for the wedding.  I was supposed to pick up my dyed shoes, do the final fitting for my dress, and do a trial run with the hairdresser.  All three of these did not go as expected.  I got to the store that had my shoes and found they didn't open until 11:00.  I couldn't hang around and wait because I had an appointment with my seamstress, so I left, still not knowing if my shoes are the right color or not.  My dress still doesn't fit.  She says she'll be able to let it out in the ribs a bit more, and should have it done by Wednesday.  She's a very talented woman, and I have faith... but not a whole lot of time.  The wedding is two weeks from tomorrow. 

So off I went, dress-less and shoe-less, to my hair appointment.  That was a total disaster.  The woman clearly had no idea how to do fingerwaves at all, and her attempt at a crown french braid looked like I'd done it myself without a mirror.  Le sigh.  So, it's two weeks away, and my dress doesn't fit, my shoes might be a completely dreadful color, and I have no clue what to do with my hair.  I didn't cry, because I'm NOT going to be one of those brides who breaks down and sobs while obsessing over the little details... but it was close there for a minute or two.

This was the first time that I've gotten the least bit stressed about the wedding.  I'm mostly over it now, and just putting my faith in the fact that it will all come together in the end.  Tomorrow I will try another salon, though they don't know how to do fingerwaves, I'm hoping they'll help me come up with some other style that I'll like and feel comfortable wearing.

The good news is that all of the wine and beer has been procured, and we will be serving:  Four Quarters Bed of Roses mead, Zeller Schwarze Katz Mosel, Yellowtail Shiraz, an assortment of Victory Brewing Company beer, and Magic Hat #9.  This morning we went to the courthouse and did the paperwork for our marriage license, and that should be mailed to us on Monday.  So, there will be a legal marriage, and there will be good wine and beer to drink, and the rest of the details will fall into place as they please.

I'm just hoping that it doesn't keep raining right on through the wedding.

After careful consideration...

... and lots of advice from friends and family, we have decided to go with the Woodstock Fireview woodstove.  This photo of the model we are getting is from Woodstock's website... isn't it pretty?

It is supposed to ship next week, and will hopefully be here by September 29th, which is when we are having the chimney installed.  Thanks to an amazing and generous wedding gift from my father, we're going to be warm this winter.  I'd always wanted a soapstone woodstove, but had always figured we wouldn't be able to afford them.  Honeybunch's parents gave us a heads up that Woodstock was having a sale, and we jumped on it. 

Last night, I'm faily certain that lightning struck the lightning rod mounted on our roof.  I was on my laptop in the bedroom when I heard a high pitched "pop", like the sound of a vaccuum being broken... I glanced up just in time to see the bedroom window fill with white light, then jumped up and screamed as I heard the loudest CRACK I've ever heard.

I ran upstairs to make sure Honeybunch was okay... he'd been soldering, and when it happened it startled him so badly, he threw the soldering iron into the air!  We ran outside, smelled woodsmoke... and started searching with the flashlight for smoke.  The smell passed and we didn't find any evidence of fire... but our internet modem was fried.  The internet cable runs out through the wall of the office and down the side of the house, very close to the cable that extends from the lightning rod into the ground.  Freaky.  It could have been SO much worse.

This past week was three back-to-back 12-hour shifts, and I busted my butt every second of it.  Last night a young man came in by ambulance after overdosing on heroin.  His fiancee's 4 year old son was with him.  The fiancee, instead of rushing to be with her young child (who was also being checked out in our ER because he was lethargic), was doting on her useless junkie boyfriend.  Her children left the ER in the custody of protective services, and she didn't seem at all upset... to the contrary, she appeared to be relieved.   Sometimes I honestly feel like everyone should need to obtain a license before having children. 

Chimney and stoves...

Well, I put down the first half of the money it's going to take to install the chimney.  Now questions arise as to whether we will actually need to go ahead and buy the new stove... the Vermont Castings stove Honeybunch's parents are lending us is an older model that requires an 8" flue, and the industry standard is now 6".  The estimate we received was all for 6" stovepipe and chimney.  For 8" pipe, it'll be another $800.  It's seems to make more sense to stick with the 6" flue and go ahead and buy a new stove now.  I'd rather put $800 into a stove than into a larger chimney that might make our future stove less efficient in its operation down the line. 

We're considering the Napoleon 1450 Independence model http://www.lehmans.com/store/Stoves___Heat_Stoves___Napoleon___Napoleon_Independence_1450_Pedestal_Wood_Heat_Stove__medium____17121450?Args=
It's reasonably priced, efficient, and is supposed to be able to heat our whole 1500 square foot house.  If anyone has any experience with Napoleon stoves, I'd love to hear about it.

Last weekend, Honeybunch and I decided to tackle the job of rehabilitating the greenhouse.  When we moved in, it was very clear that the greenhouse had not been used for its intended purpose for a very, very long time.  The previous owners had installed this weird fish pond in place of a raised bed, a hideous monstrosity of black plastic pond liner and wood paneling.  It was mostly brick, with only two actual dirt beds.  These beds were filled with dock, grass, and mint.  Several of the glass panes were shattered.

So, we pulled all of the weeds, replaced the broken panes, replaced broken bricks, pulled out the fish pond and turned it into a raised bed, killed a wasp's nest, removed some of the bricks to extend another bed, and filled them all up with yummy rich black compost.  I then planted our winter salad and asian greens, swept up the mess, and sat back to admire our hard work.

 The bed on the right still needs to have its soil broken up and mixed with compost, but it's an improvement over the bricks that used to lay there for no good reason!! 

And Shelab must have had babies, because we found two mini-Shelabs in and around the greenhouse!

We also captured one of the many groundhogs that have made our property their home.  We'd been planning to wait until Spring to embark on the catch and release project, but having one invade my basement (and refuse to leave for several hours) was the last straw.  His gluttony betrayed him... he couldn't resist the eggplant we placed in the trap.  We drove about ten miles west of here and released him into the woods.  Now if we can catch the rest of his kin, hopefully we'll be groundhog-free by the time next year's veggie garden must be planted!

This morning while drinking my coffee on the porch, a lovely little grey and green hummingbird came buzzing up to the window, not more than two feet from me, and circled the windchimes making adorable little "beep"-ing noises.  I've decided that we must now get a hummingbird feeder.

We've been getting rain for days and days... flash flooding is happening all around us, and I find myself once again feeling very grateful for the fact that our house is built upon a hill.  Half an inch of water in the basement is nothing compared to the damage that many of our neighbors have endured.  Our pond overflowed its banks, washing much flotsam onto the lawn and rearranging the ducks' favorite sitting logs.  The chicken yard is a muddy mess.  But life goes on, and the clothesline stands empty and unused.  I'm just hoping that it's all over by the time October 8th rolls around... this sort of weather is lousy for an outdoor wedding!

TNCC

Today I completed my trauma nursing certification, and now have yet another little card to carry in my wallet with my BLS, ACLS, PALS, and RN licenses.

And now, I am going to take a nap, and REALLY enjoy it!