The Home Stretch.

I always thought this was such an optimistic expression. No matter what activity or undertaking, whether a 10K walk, a 19-month renovation or a many-hundred hour Oriental rug, it is a thrill to be able to utter those three words.

This weekend seemed to be filled with "home stretches". As you can see from the picture of the rug, I have only a few inches left of border background, and a couple of motifs that I hooked around. But after that, just a few rows of outlining, then whipping and creating fringe and this wonderful work of art is completed.

I am thrilled with the results. And I am pretty sure that my daughter will cherish this rug for years to come. If not, I will just have to take it back. (You can do that with your offspring.) And, as per my previous blog entry, it has actually inspired me to do another Oriental, despite my initial misgivings.

The other occasion to use those three words this weekend was at the cottage.
Yes indeedy - we did our walk through with the contractor on Sunday and we said them out loud. Just a few little tweaks with the electrician, a couple of drywall pops and we are finished.

Here again, we are thrilled with the results. And I’m positive we will cherish our new space for years to come, once my husband recovers from his severe case of renovation fatigue. For me, renovating is like childbirth. It is excruciatingly painful while you are in the throes of it, but the prize at the end is so wonderful that the memory of all that pain is gone very quickly. And you gradually do forget and then turn around and go through the whole thing all over again.(Who was it who said that if our husbands were the ones doing the delivery, there would be a lot more single children. Agreed.)

So, I’m very happy to be on the home stretch on both of these time intensive, emotional journeys. It's interesting that they have coincided somewhat. Not sure why that happens, but it seems to.

And we all know what comes immediately after the home stretch?

You guessed it. "What next???"