About Cooking and Moving.....

Most people who know me also have come to realize that I hate to cook--I've never liked it and I'm not good at it, with a few notable exceptions:  I make a killer lasagna, a mean chili (compliments of Penzey' spices: http://www.penzeys.com/), and really good pasta salads.  So, after a long weekend of dutifully packing and sorting and planning, tonight I decided to make myself some Pasta Alfredo.  I defrosted some turkey bacon in the microwave, located the frozen peas in the freezer, pulled the box of pasta and Newman's Own Alfredo sauce (hey, I didn't say I did things from scratch!) off the shelf, and prepared to cook away when I discovered, much to my dismay, that I had packed all the pots and pans.  It's really hard to make pasta without a pot to boil it in.  I also didn't have a colander to drain it or another pan to heat the Alfredo sauce in.

Plan B:  opened a can of fat-free, low-sodium refried beans, chopped up some onion, added the diced turkey bacon, thawed some organic tortillas, and I had instant burritos!  I also had on hand shredded cheese, chopped lettuce, and sour cream which are mandatory for burritos. What's that old saying about making lemonade when life hands you lemons?

I did remember to keep out the can opener and hot pads, which I put safely away among the things I'm taking in the car, just in case I have to repeat this scenario in NM before my stuff arrives.  Now if I could just figure out how to get Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream to NM.  Will it be possible to find ice cream better than B&J??

The adventure continues......

Packing, Packing, Packing - or How Did I Ever Get This Much Stuff?

It feels like I've been packing for months!  Well, come to think of it, I have.  When I decluttered the house to put it on the market, I packed stuff in boxes labeled "NM" and "tag sale," so a lot (one of those stand-alone storage units full) was done already.  But now I'm packing for the movers, who are due in just under two weeks.  I thought I was down to the bare bones, but I keep finding more and more STUFF! 

The moving/tag sale will be next Saturday, and that will clear out most of the furniture and things I packed away last winter.  As much as I'm not enjoying all of this turmoil, I will admit that getting rid of everything but just the essentials has been very good for me--I feel "lighter" in many ways and it's making the transition to my new life that much more exciting.

The New Owners

The young couple who are buying my house are just plain amazing, full of energy and love.  It is a wonderful feeling to pass my home on to people who will create their own memories and appreciate the property in their own way.  Here they are after having stacked two cords of firewood in a record-breaking four hours!  It was wonderful to be able to supervise for a change instead of stacking.  (My contribution was buying a tarp cover and sweeping up the debris from the driveway.) 

Andy & Wendy

Where I'll Be Living in NM

Many of you have asked for pictures of my new home in New Mexico.  Well, here you go, compliments of my new landlord, Bob.

The view to the west, over the Rio Grande Valley.  No, that's not a typo on the pic--it was taken May 2nd!

View down the driveway, to the South.

View to the South, from the livingroom.

Oh!  You wanted pictures of the apartment itself!?  Sorry--these killer views are what sold me on the place (and it's beautiful, by the way).



What I'll Miss

There are many things I will miss about New England--it will be especially hard to leave behind my good friends and community.  I'll also miss, in no particular order, summer fireflies, living within two hours of the ocean, the stream that runs across the back of my property, a wonderful 12-grain bread from a local bakery, watching winter blizzards roar through, the warmth of a blazing fire in the woodstove, the amazing diversity of artists in the Pioneer Valley, and, of course, the glorious fall foliage.

Springtime in MA, with the bulbs just beginning to show.

I'll also miss my cozy little house with all of its good memories--the gardens which (for this non-gardener)  were a never-ending, ongoing work-in-progress, the diversity of wildlife (bobcats, coyotes, deer, and a wide variety of birds), sitting on the deck and watching the sunset or waving at the folks in a hot air balloon floating over at tree-top height, skiing out the back door to one of the trails, skating on the pond next door--many, many fond memories.

A portion of the front flower beds, summer of 2010.


 

A view off the deck in early spring, showing Plum Brook at the rear of the property.

 

New Beginnings

My spiritual journey home to the West began in 2004 with the death of my husband, Dan.  We had been together 36 years at the time of his death; needless to say, his death rocked the foundation of my life.  We had moved in 1973 from Colorado to New England, an area he loved but one in which I never felt quite at home--I missed the West's brilliant blue skies and distant views, the dramatically beautiful sunsets and glorious sunrises, the ways of Westerners, and other intangibles that I could never quite articulate but which I felt in every fiber of my soul.

Dan's death provided me with the time and space to grow in ways I couldn't imagine--sometimes that growth was exhilarating, often it was incredibly painful, but always, in the end, it was very much worth the effort.  I learned to trust my judgment, to follow my heart, and to understand that the universe is perpetually conspiring to help me. 

Over the next several weeks, I will be packing my belongings--mostly art and the contents of my studio--in preparation for the move to my new (temporary) home in Arroyo Hondo, NM.  I plan to rent for about a year while I look around beautiful northern New Mexico for my permanent home--a place where I will be able to get lost in incredible vistas from every window, raise a few horses and dogs, create my art, and generally live out the rest of my life in tranquility.  I hope you will join me on "My Journey Home," the subject of this blog.