The past year has been a really challenging one for me and my blog has all but ended, however, I hope to reconstruct it into a place where women  can see that they can do just about anything if they set their mind to it.

Background why it is changing from art to home renovation is because it's all I can do at the moment to keep moving forward with my life.  My partner of 23 years passed away in 2009 and didn't leave me with much in terms of financial security.   That comes from my belief that the Universe takes care of us if we just ask and I have been asking, believe me. 

Most everyone knows that the hurricane Irene came in August of 2011 and of course as luck would have it I lost every part of my downstairs apartment.  ( I own a two family and live upstairs.)  So not only did I lose my space, I lost a great tenant and the income from the rental of that apartment.  Another financial blow.

Of course the Universe wasn't finished with me yet as in May of this year in the middle of trying to fix things up I had a medical emergency and major surgery which left me with a colostomy and unable to do the work necessary.  Plus, of course I was absent from my paying position as an aide on a school bus for special needs kids. My job ended as the school year was over in June and so they terminated my position.  My doctors will not allow me to go back due to physical requirements I can not meet at this time.  Loss of my income from the work doesn't help either.  On the plus side, and there always is one, is that I do get Social Security income.  Just enough to get by without too many perks.

And so it is that my main focus besides keeping my health since the surgery is to get the apartment ready to move into.  I will move in it myself and then rent out the upper apartment and get back to some having more income.

Since art is on the back burner I decided to show pictures of my progress .  First I will post some pictures of the flood that took so much from our village and residents.  Then hopefully you can see the progress I've made.

I have to add that in the beginning I had family and friends helping out, but as time goes on, people get tired and slip away to work on their own projects.  Perfectly understandable, but leaving the "rest" up to me which is also ok.  Hard, but ok.

Some of the earlier pictures here.