A Witch's View - Doors, Floors and Sores - OH MY

This week has been really busy for Eli.  My last day at work was Friday and was our goal day to leave for our trip to NM.  Due to our issues with our helper and the amount of work to do it appears we are still probably about 4-7 days out depending on weather and pain levels.

This week Hubby got the doors in and we kicked out some flooring on Saturday. Here are a few pictures of what he was able to accomplish.  He is amazing.

Here's the new door he installed in the kitchen.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

This is a before picture of the floor in the old craft room.   Bedroom number 2.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 This is the after of the craft room (bedroom #2) with the new floor install.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

This is hubby laying the flooring in my old office (Bedroom #3)

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 This is the finished look at bedroom #3

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

We also finished laying the flooring in the kitchen but I'll save those photos for next time!

Witchy Wednesday - And It Continues to Thin

This week for my Witchy post, I wanted to share a couple of pictures that I have taken around the house.  Since we started the rehab the spirits have been restless.

Saturday I was doing some yard clean up and I had encounters with several spirits. Usually when rehab begins or when you start work on a house the spirits let you know. Miss Rose is no exception.  She lived in the house for years, surviving 2 husbands. I have seen them walk around the yard before. We are also directly in line to the march on Goldsboro during the Civil War so needless to say we have a lot of activity.  This week with the veil thinning, the activity has been over the top.

Here are a few photos of my area this week.  What do you think?

This is our hallway. The master bedroom is to the right of the hall at the end.  We had to hang a "portal" mirror there to stop the mischief that was happening when we first moved into the house. Since I removed the portal the activity has been really strong. What do you think?

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

This is a shot of the lot looking towards the road.  The last owner of the property had her husband die in the middle of the night. While we have been parked here, we have had our dogs just randomly start barking for no reason. I have sat outside and I can feel him walking here.  I'm getting my apples ready.  I won't take his space, but I do want him to be at peace.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

How is your Samhain coming along?  What's your month looking like?  Feel free to share your photos!

A Witch's View - Rehab Continues

So this week a lot of progress was made on the house. Hubby has been painting, sweeping, framing and so much more.  We are both so looking forward to my upcoming vacation.  We're actually taking a full on trip away from the house that doesn't include working in any shape or form.  If we stay on schedule my PTO begins in one week and we'll be hitting the open road for a a wonderful trip out west.

We both love the southwest so our plan is to pack up the RV and spend some time in New Mexico. We have always wanted to go and now is a wonderful time as the weather begins to get colder here on the east coast, for us to kick off our grand adventure.  

Back back to the house.  After our recovery from our hired painter, we have been able to clean up the walls enough to get the paint on and the molding complete.  Hubby has been a trooper getting through all this.   I have a few items left to sell and I'll be setting those out today as well as finishing up my yard work.

Here's a few photos of the work he finished this week.  Remember we're still in construction mode so there is still a bunch of cleaning to do. 

This coming week we're finishing up the painting, starting on the flooring and then we'll be working on the outside of the house.

This is the hallway. Cleaned off the kitchen trim finally that our "painter" applied to all the door jams and the wainscoting in the hall.  It was a tough job but hubby finally cleaned up this guys mess.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Hubby playing a little photo bomb in the master bedroom.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 This was my office. We have finished the painting (we, Maggie and Eli) and next we just need to install the flooring.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 This is the master bedroom.  Hubby finished the trim work and next we'll be pulling out the carpet to lay down the flooring.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

 We had to take down the bathroom light fixture and repair the wall and then apply paint.  Our "painter" decided to put the kitchen trim paint in the bathroom.  That will be fixed.  I'm not really sure why he did that.  But that's why we're doing it ourselves now.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

These are the finished cabinets with "moose mouse"  colored cabinets and new handles. I thought they were really pretty.  We are leaving the fridge and stove as is.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

It has been an interesting and fun project. I'm working full time, and not able to focus on BaubleSmith or this project fully.  Hubby has been carrying the load and getting the job done.  It is pretty amazing. Tune in next week for flooring!!  

Witchy Wednesday - Thinning of the Veil

Usually by this time I have the ancestor altar in full switch.  Candles, updated photos, flowers. Usually I have my photos taken and submitted to altar projects and I'm completely set for Samhain. This year is proving to be an exception. With the remodel of the house and our plans to move things have taken a turn for the "Huh?". (laughing) I may even start experimenting with vlogging.  I have been working with the video a bit more and I think I may look to test that out as we start making more progress for our move.

Over the last two weeks we have slowly sold off the majority of what we own. We are living full time in the RV now and getting set in our routine. My ancestor altar is only inches away from me every day now, instead of being across the room in my office. I have no pictures or flowers. Just a box of incense and a cat from time to time. Meanwhile, I think I have been more in touch with spirits over this time period than any other time in my life. With all the construction in the house it is a buzz with activity. Yesterday a closet door swung open while I was talking to Eli.

We have so much more work on the house to do and with me working full time, I'm not sure that I'll have the ability to do much more than seeing my altar and thinking of them. Sometimes you have more, sometimes less.

What are you doing to honor the dead this year?

I'm already having so much contact I'm really looking forward for any messages this year. I plan to sit and actively listen over the next two weeks to see what is coming.  I am having more vivid dreams which leads me to believe there's someone out there wanting to chat. Hopefully I'll have a visit.

Looking forward to what life has in store for me. Changes they are a coming.

A Witch's View - Still Working...

I'll just sell my house, I said....

Yeah well just stop that crazy shit right now, ok!  I had no idea how much went into selling a house. But I did do it before.  I did walk into my living-room and start setting stuff out on the street for a yard sale. I packed everything I owned into a little car and headed west. It was freeing. It was terrifying. It was exactly what I needed.

This week we worked with someone we hired from a local group to come out and do some work around the house.  We had yard work, clean up work and some more detailed inside work.  Painting, pulling carpets, that sort of thing.  We learned very quickly that not everyone has the same work ethic we have. My back is killing me but at least we are were I had hoped the yard would be when we added our hired help.  I ended up having to call someone else to finish the mowing and Eli spent the entire day cleaning up to a point where we could start painting again.

Here are a few photos of what we came home to.

So in all fairness we did tell him we were replacing the floors but seriously??  

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Some of this I'm confused about.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Eli decided to just go a head and paint the cabinets in there. 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

 More of the paint splatters on the floor.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Random starts and stops through out the house.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

 Ummmmm

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

 This wall Eli had finished and then the trim was applied.  ??? 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Needless to say we decided to cut our losses and just figure out another solution.  I'll be taking some pictures of the front of the house tomorrow and getting more of the yard under control while Eli finishes the cabinets and gets them ready for me to put on the hardware.  I'll hang the doors while he gets back to painting.  We still have one room that hasn't been started at all.  The laundry room needs to be started and then carpets torn out.  We still have an elliptical, a laser printer, a washer and dryer and a bunch of odds and ends left to sell. 

It is going to be a long week!  

Witchy Wednesday - Sirens

I have always loved the myths related to sirens and mermaids.  There are so many great ones out there. Recently I came across this new show related to them.  Check out this trailer.

What do you think??  Personally I can't wait for it to start.  It is slated for 2018, trust me I'll be tuning in.

Have you had a chance to head over and check out the Samhain's Sirens October project?  Lots of fun going on over there.

I love this yearly project created by Kallan from Wildy Witch.  Remember to head over to the Siren's Facebook Page to stay up to date on all the fun.  It is a tough job.  Each year she puts together this amazing project, overcoming failed entries, lost emails and even direct sabotage. In the end, she always gets it done.  So get on over there, leave a comment. Show them some love! <3

Working, working, working - A Witch's View

Good Morning!  Happy Sunday.  Today is going to be a quick one.  I have so much going on right now it is unbelievable. Eli and I are getting the house ready to be sold.  You would think that it would be a quick endeavor but no. Our realtor who first offered to help us get the house on the market, told us to repaint the walls, tear out the front fence and replace the floors contacted us last night saying that she couldn't list the property at all.

So now here we sit, walls spackled, fence pulled up and no one to sell the house.  My hopes of getting up to MD this year are slowly dwindling away. There is so much work to do here just to get her ready to sell that it maybe quite a while before we can get moving.

That being said, I choose not to focus on the negative. We're going to get this done. We are going to get the house ready and we're going to move.  It just may not be in the direction or time frame that I was hoping for.  It will however, all work out.  I still have some big items for sale (including the house, lol) and hope to get those taken care of over the next few weeks.

Here are a few pics of what we did yesterday.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Next, we paint!

Samhain's Sirens: Sirens Celebration: Day 5

Have you been following the Siren's Call?  Head over and check it out....





Samhain's Sirens: Sirens Celebration: Day 5: It's Friday, and we know how much you love the weekend. Today, we offer our first Forget-Me-Not Tribute to someone who has contributed m...

Samhain's Sirens - Witchy Wednesday

Can I just says - SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Happy October!  It is that time of year that makes me sing and dance.

Google Images

As you may have heard I've teamed up with an amazing bunch of people for the month of October.  You'll find some amazing recipes, blogs, crafts and yes even giveaways over at the Samhain Siren's blog.  I highly recommend heading over there and checking it out! 

Keep a sharp eye out.  I'll be joining those extremely talented folks with a couple giveaway's of my own from BaubleSmith. 

A Witch's View - Fine Art America

Earlier this year I made the leap to put my photography out on a public site.  I had several requests to put my photography in coffee table books and digital frames so that they could enjoy my work.

I decided to post a few of my photos here and you can head over and check them out in my shop on FAA.

Knobs by Renee Sosanna Olson

Down to Earth by Renee Sosanna Olson

Sleepy Creek by Renee Sosanna Olson

Overgrown By Renee Sosanna Olson