One thing I have learned on this tiny span of the journey, is that the more I do, the longer my To-Do List becomes. It never gets any shorter. Typical of the ever-expanding Universe.

There was indoor work, and outdoor work that must be done in and around the old house, and I wanted it done before the New York Ladies got here. I began to think of their arrival as a sort of unofficial debut, and I set many deadlines around the date of their arrival. 

Someone asked me if I was doing "all this work" just for the one photo shoot? No. That wasn't the deal. I was doing what needed to be done, and had simply set a little goal for having as much of it together as I possibly could, by the time they came. It was a great self-motivational tool.

 Having just passed the milestone "walked-around-in-the-house-in-my-socks!"; I upped my bar again. I was now ready to try for "Bright Cheerful. Optimistic." (Quite a step up from "not-too scary-looking" -  that had been my goal just a week or so earlier.)

I knew that I was not there yet, when the honeymooners first came to call. Having walked the downhill planks through to the back door and beyond, they could not seem to force themselves back inside again, through that dark doorway.  They clutched themselves, as if to protect the baby that wasn't there yet. 

This told me all that I needed to know -- and hence, the yard work also began.

One visitor told me that he almost had not come in, because he thought it looked like an antique shop.

Hey! I guess there are some things worse than being mistaken for an antique shop. At least he recognized that something was going on at that place.