Changes are coming, I hope this year.  I can’t see them all clearly yet, but I’m moving forward, hopeful that things will fall into place, and new opportunities will be found.

The end of 2015 was approaching, and I had been making plans for the coming year,… the Northwoods Art Tour again, Artistree Gallery, and Art Gypsies.  I had just joined The Textile and Fiber Arts List, and my Shuttle Works Studio shop on Big Cartel had just opened.

And then the phone rang,… it was my Dad calling to tell me he had fallen and fractured his left arm radius and middle finger.  This was his second health issue in the past year.

The night before I drove down, the decisions began,… the first one, to finally put my northwoods rustic log home up for sale in the spring and move back to southern WI to be closer to my father.  I have spent these  past 24 years enjoying silence, the sound of wind in the trees, sights and sounds of the wildlife.  I am so thankful for the life I’ve had here.

I drove down and stayed two weeks to help out, do laundry, cook, and clean, went home for Christmas, then back down for another two weeks until he was pronounced nearly healed.

Thankfully, his arm is now healed and he is bowling again and looking forward to spring and golfing and gardening.  Dad also made the decision while I was visiting, that after I have moved back, he will sell his home and move in with me, a suggestion I’d made quite awhile back.

When my mother passed away four years ago, Dad, who will be 89 this year, was a little worried about what would happen to him.  I assured him I would take care of him.  He likes his independence, likes to come and go as he pleases, and pursue his interests – golfing, bowling, and gardening, so he continued living on his own as he wanted.      The two of us in one home will allow him to continue this.

The decision to move was quickly followed by others.  With no idea when my home will sell, when I’ll be moving, I couldn’t stay on the Northwoods Art Tour.  They print 50,000 brochures which are distributed all over WI and northern IL, and I could not, in good conscience, be listed on there with even a slim possibility of not being here for the summer and/or fall tours.

Given the amount of work to be done on the house, preparing to move, packing and so on, time for weaving will be limited, which meant leaving Artistree Gallery at the end of March 2016, and not being part of the Art Gypsies art show/sale this year.  Cutting ties with groups of people I have been part of for 16 years or so has not been easy.  I’m feeling rather adrift right now, leaving this life behind, and as yet, nothing to be part of at my future home.  I am looking at possibilities for 2017.  For now, my online shop will be the outlet for my work, and I’ll be adding scarves to it in a few weeks.

So, we are busy now, doing some work on the house, and I’m busy starting to clear out 40 years of stuff and clutter, determined to not take all of this with me.  Of course, I will be taking the looms, spinning wheels, yarns, fibers, books, fabric, and so on.   Don’t ask how many bins and drawers.  Let’s just say the movers won’t be happy!  Studio contents, a lot of books, and a few pieces of furniture I want to keep will be on the moving van, not a lot else.

I’ve finally begun the huge task of sorting through drawers, closets, bins, boxes, almost a lifetime of belongings.  Wondering how much I can let go of without experiencing a huge amount of guilt.

I’m keeping an eye on homes for sale, looking for one with plenty of “elbow room” for the two of us, and room for my weaving studio, not to easy to find.  Realtors show me homes with a small family room, “you could put your loom in here,…” they really have no clue!  Now, I have photos of my looms on my tablet so they can see them and understand the size of looms and space I’m talking about.

Time to move on and create a new life, move into a new future.