House projects, writing projects, and a cold

newly painted west side
Originally uploaded by run lily.

That's my excuse, though in reverse order. I did sit down to write something in this dear little space a few days ago, but all I could get down was "I'm sick. Peter is sick." So I got up and made some tea and went for a stroll in the garden. We're both doing better now.

The lovely painters are getting further and further on with the house. It's going slowly but well, and everyone has noticed more traffic on the street as our neighbors come by to see the progress. Our backyard neighbors called over the other night to say how much they loved the colors, and a few couples from down the street have stopped me on the sidewalk with compliments. Tom (who made my pantry closet last winter and created space in this little kitchen for someone who cooks) jokingly calls my sand-and-sea color scheme "orange with yellow trim," but I can tell that he's very proud of it so far.

Today's big news, aside from getting a first coat on the west side of the house, was that final proofs of an article I wrote a few months ago arrived. They look good. The article (tourism and gender in Morocco, with an emphasis on tourist sector henna artisans) will appear in volume of a scholarly encyclopedia that's due out in July. My writing projects for the next two months: revise second article (social organization of henna workers, due mid-June), write film review (ageing and work), and finish the henna ethnography article. Plus all the other stuff that will need to be done so that I can come back at the end of August and teach the following week. Piece of cake!