Sycamore Tree House

I guess I have a little excuse for not blogging much recently...as we have just moved 1500 miles from central FL to central Wisconsin...in the middle of January!  

We love our apartment...it's airy and bright and roomy.  2 bedroom and 2 bath and a "great room" which encompasses a living room/study & dining area and kitchen.  All freshly carpeted and painted.  The master bath has a built in laundry.  Wow.  So convenient.  

We have given the apartment a name and a theme even though we have been here in residence for only 16 days.  It's name is Sycamore Tree House.  On the 4th floor we feel we are "sitting" in the middle of a great old American Sycamore just outside.  

I think you can sort of see the "bird" theme (in the nighttime photo).  some of the birds are stained glass and some are those darling "stickies" that go on walls, windows or wherever.  These look like they have been watercolored which was just what I wanted.   Although it appears that Greg is sitting there day and night...really that is not the case.  No daytime TV for us unless it's sports or now and then a movie.  

The daytime photo was taken before I put the birds up.  

 The weather since arriving has been stunning for us.  So cold!!! We left central Fl on January 19th in 75 degrees and arrived in St. Charles, Illinois 3 days later and it was 5 degrees.  Yikes.  We had clear roads and sunshine almost all of the drive and are so lucky as for the following weeks ice storms began to slam into the midwest and really frightening road conditions arrived!  We missed all that!  But for all of our life here the temperatures have been almost all below zero!  Wind chill is -27 here on Valentines Day night!!  

I have just this past 3 days started to unpack my studio which has been really not accessible to me since Christmas.  It was so good to see my things again!!!

From over 70+ boxes I am down to two.  That's pretty darn good in my book. Now not everything that was IN them has found it's proper place of course.  But that will come.  Poor Greg does nothing but cut down boxes and haul them away!  

My friends on the south end of D floor (about 10 apartments) each got a little Zentangle book mark today. That was about all I could manage at this point.  

We are excited to see that NEXT weekend we will be in the 30s.  And then some of the huge piles of snow should start to melt.  We have a heated underground garage for the car...that is very nice too.   It's all relative of course.  When I mention 34 to friend in Florida they cringe with the idea of the cold that means.  They are in the 80s again down there.  We already remember the agony of waiting for spring in Wisconsin.  ESPECIALLY this year!!!  

Hoping to get back into some art soon...we have some furniture shopping to do, need to get our WI driver's licenses. get a new primary doctor, and then do our taxes.  

The best way to describe an independent living apartment complex like Oakwood Village is that is like living on a cruise ship.  We are pretty self sufficient right here..."on board".  But we are also anxious to find out more about Madison and learn to get around here.  It's a pretty interesting town.  So that remains now for better weather.

I'll keep in touch as we more acclimated.  And see where my art journey here leads me.  I am already booked to do a gallery show here at Oakwood next fall!  

Keep touch everyone.