hello. it feels like me.

man oh man, being sick is the pits. and I feel as if I've been ill for months. in reality it has been weeks with a few days interspersed where I felt a bit normal, got all cheeky and went gangbusters only to find myself relapsing into an even worse state than before.

this past week I've felt a bit more myself each day. I still have a nagging cough but it is diminishing (just coughed as I wrote that..heh). week before, I'd get up and make it halfway through the day...only to feel tired or dizzy and take to my bed again for the afternoon.

Jean-Yves and I have worked on the atelier this past week. now that the tenants have gotten their arsehole-selves out, and it has warmed up a bit ... I began the process earlier by moving all of the items in my house's old kitchen and sunroom areas to their new home in my other building. this accomplishes 2 things ... the old kitchen is now empty and swept and I can begin working on renovating that room. next will be the sunroom. Secondly, it organizes all of the boutique and furniture refinishing items into the 'atelier'. I have a second building attached to my house and accessible from the boutique. This is now a workshop / atelier and storeroom. It is a very large space with lots of potential.

So, once I got everything moved over there ... (this is that gangbuster thing I was mentioning) ... this week JY and I plotted out the arrangement. There was an ancient worktable/bench, same as the one I restored for the boutique. We moved that to create a workspace for him. He also has space to store his tools and various work items ... as well as the "coccinelle" (his beloved VW beetle).

He moved all of the furniture pieces into one area, stacked them neatly as they await their restoration treatment. He set up a table where we put all of the jewelry items for the shop. He also set up a shelf and storage area for my paints. Lastly, a spot next to the boutique door housing sacks, wrapping paper and display items.

Wednesday, on my weekly furniture scavenger hunt, I found a big old wood table (in addition to loads of project pieces) which will be delivered next Weds and will be set-up in the middle of the room for my painting projects. Oh, and we have temporary electricity for lighting ... permanent to come.

This will also house our new water closet in anticipation of our Salon du Thé activities. JY will be starting on that soon.

I'll have to snap some photos for flickr.com ... when I do, I'll give you a heads-up.

It is SO cool to have this space now set up adjacent to the boutique. It means I can be working and keep my eye on the shop and serve clients when they arrive. Last year, I had to be in the garden and it was really impossible to know if someone had entered or not.

In addition to all of this, mon monsieur installed new shower fixtures for me in the bath and repaired the water leak. This week he'll be retiling a bit and (fingers crossed) may even get the electricity sorted for me there before I electrocute myself in the bath. How lucky am I?

I have a little surprise, but for now it is a secret. I'm busting at the seams to tell all but for now it must wait ....

tootles!