Moved!

It happened – finally! I had  to postpone it one week because the new place was not ready. 

In the meantime, both laptops succumbed to virus attacks. My car decided to break down the week before the D-Day. The money saved for this year's vacation were spent repairing it. Then, I had an accident with the courtesy car from the garage.

Last Friday, I spent five hours loading and unloading boxes, but now me, my office assistant and all our possessions are in the same place.

We are facing new challenges. The cat went into hiding for two days and refused to eat. The noise level is more than what he is used to, so he sleeps under the bed. The noise is sometimes too much even for me. Life in the city comes with a whole set of challanges I forgot all about. When the tenant upstairs used the hairdresser, I could swear she was in my bathroom. Every time she goes up and down the stairs it seems that the building is about to collapse. 

On the other hand, after work I run to Atwater market, did some shopping at the organic butcher and took the bus back. A run to the Old Port would take me a little more than one hour. I can get anywhere I need to go on foot or by metro. I wanted to enjoy summer in the city, the cafes, restaurants, festivals. But so far, not much of a summer. We had few nice days here and there, but nothing to write home about.

I have been utterly exhauseted this past week, I overslept, I did not exercise enough. The worst part is that I don't feel rested. Au contraire ...

I am in no rush to unpack.I have some paints handy and I want to get back to painting asap. I want to finish the classes I signed up for over at Julie's. I tend to get sidetracked and leave things unfinished and that would be a pity ...

Moving woes

As D-Day approaches, the packing efforts intensify. I am dealing with contractors on both fronts. At the condo where I am now, repairs will be done next week. At the place where I am moving, everything has been torn apart and put back together, with the usual surprises that one expects in an old building (such as water pipes installed outside the wall instead of inside them). Each surprise resulted in an emergency call to the plumber or the electrician or both.


I am up to my ears in boxes and bags. Unbalievable. Where is all this stuff coming from, I wonder. I don't buy stuff often. I don't even  have a toaster. Or a microwave. The TV is going away tomorrow - given away on freecycle. I purge once a year. I gave away three big garbage bags of stuff. Still... I am moving from a place with three big closets, a laundry room and an indoor locker to a place with one closet! Seriously ...

More purging will be needed at the destination, I am afraid. I have two huge contractor strength garbage bags full with art supplies, plus five boxes. I kid you not. I think I need to sit down and reevaluate this whole art business. I found old oil canvasses I painted years back - I will have to decide what to do with them as I will not have enough place for everything. Arghhhh ...

Bodies in urban spaces

After spending the morning kayaking on Lachine Canal, I attended this free event. The strangest thing I saw in a while. The show started at the Planetarium and continued all over downtown, ending in Place des Arts. Few hundred people invaded the streets, to the chagrin of many a driver, following the performers who run from place to place and "glued" themselves to empty spaces on building and streets. Here are the pics I took:

On the moving front, I am about half way with the packing... and there will be "victims". Stuff collected for various projects, paintings that I don't like, some that I like but that are bad anyway, assemblage pieces...will sadly have to go. Amazing how much junk there is around, and I purge at least once a year. I don't buy a lot of things, gizmos are against my religion. I don't even own a toaster... and still. I already brought bags of clothes to the Salvation Army and I suspect some more purging will happen at the destination.

Train doodles

An attempt to use travel time effectively resulted in a plot for a fairytale and a doodle ....I have not found the time to sit down and write the story, but I finished coloring the doodle. Moleskine notebook, pen and colored pencil.