WHERE DID I LEAVE OFF?

If you are imagining that we are settling into our new home . . . NOT! In fact, PhannyCat, Mack, and I are beginning our eighth week of dining room living.

When last I blogged we were getting ready for the house inspection which was on Nov. 8. The things we already knew about were noted, and the inspector said there had been some termite damage in the past which had been treated (termite inspector said the same and no current infestation), but the house inspector suggested we have a foundation expert check out the foundation. My realtor called the man who specializes in pier & beam, and he came that afternoon. Cutting to the result of his investigation: nine piers need to be shored up (they are okay but have some loose bricks) and six beams need to be replaced. He said some boards had been added to try to cover up the termite damage. My realtor and I both went bug-eyed when he said that the repair would cost $12,000. I told her to notify the mortgage company to hold off on the appraisal until we got this ironed out.

The seller came home just before we left, and when asked if he was aware of a problem with the the foundation he said yes and that some work had been done under there, but "they didn't do a very good job." Then when quizzed about the termite problem he said that yes they had that treated and had a termite contract. NOTE: All of this was denied on the disclosures about the property. Add that to no pets, no liens . . . . (Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that my realtor accidentally let the dog out the front door when we came back with the foundation expert, but I managed to coax him to me, picked him up, and took him back inside. Friendliest, fluffiest little dog you'd ever want to meet.)

We, of course, requested that the seller make the necessary foundation repairs. Eventually he offered $5,000 toward the repair, less than half the cost. We responded with a request for the full amount. Guess what? It had to go back to the District Attorney's office. Well, the long and short of it is that his response did not come back until last Tuesday, four days after our contract expired. Oh, and he approved the $12,000 repair at seller's expense. The seller's realtor requested that we extend the previous contract because if we wrote a new one it would have to go to the D.A. again. AAARRRGGGH! (Although I must say I'm liking this D.A. though we've never met.) I chose Dec. 9 as the closing date, and, can you believe it, the seller wanted a little more time because he hadn't found an apt. yet. We gave them one more week, Dec. 16. Will this house become ours? Will we occupy it? Who knows? One thing is for sure: we won't have cookies and milk out for Santa there.

While all this saga was unfolding we did continue to look at other properties. One not quite as large which had a pool and was in a good location was very appealing to Chillax primarily because it was all on one level and would require less work/expense to fix up; however, the list price was approx. $60,000 more than the contract house, and the possibility of getting it down to our range was highly questionable.

Jaz and I looked at another house the realtor had found which was a foreclosure, and it had probably the worst layout I have ever seen. Additionally, the area described as a breezeway was actually a dark narrow cave, and the front door barely cleared the bottom step of the stairway. And, oh yes, the former owners had done as much trashing of the place as possible including ripping out all the carpet and the wall oven.

Cathy, our realtor, also showed us one that I found. It was in the same area as the previous one and on a cul-de-sac. It had plenty of space, a decent yard, and a good layout, I think. I say, "I think" because we entered the house in the strangest way, and the whole expedition was quite an adventure. (Cathy says she's going to write a book about us.) This seller's agent called Cathy the night before we went there to warn her the man was crazy and sometimes didn't let people in to see the house. (She told us this as we were trying unsuccessfully to open the front door.)

We finally found a door into the garage which was jam-packed with junk and after cautiously stepping over and around stuff we managed to enter through the laundry area. Cathy kept calling out, "Mr. Smythe we're here to look at the house. We have an appointment." No response. I kept thinking I heard noises from upstairs as we wandered through the downstairs area. The kitchen was cluttered and dirty beyond belief, and the ceiling was missing from the dining room---can't imagine where it went. Sure enough, the Lord of the Manor came meandering down the stairs talking on his cell phone. Cathy was talking very fast to explain our presence, but he replied that we should go all over, open any doors, etc. and walked out of the house and to the street talking to his friend the whole time. It was a little daunting to say the least. In one of the bedrooms upstairs every horizontal surface was covered with stacks of camouflage clothes, bedding, whatever---all that camouflage. And on top of one stack a plate with dried food goop and crumbs. No telling how long it had been there. Very erie! We learned later that the man's wife had left with another man last Feb., later filed for divorce claiming he was crazy (and we wouldn't quibble with her there), but I don't think we care to get into another of these broken marriage situations.

So much for the house drama.

THANKSGIVING

Our female associate priest preached a really good Thanksgiving sermon which I still continue to think about and consider it one which should be repeated during Advent, i.e., looking beyond the gifts to the relationship that could evolve. That synopsis certainly doesn't nearly convey the thought of the sermon, but maybe you had to be there. Then I came home, and the whole family went over to St. James where they had a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner with the church providing the turkeys. It was really good, and we all came home completely sated. No need for me to eat anymore that day.

BEGINNER'S LUCK

Last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, I participated in the intergenerational class to make an Advent Wreath following the main service at St. Mark's. St. Mark's does this every year, but I had never attended. As anyone in my family will tell you I am really poor at these crafty things, but I didn't let that hold me back. There were numerous heaps of greens, a florist's wreath, four candles, and a blue ribbon scattered on the tables in the parish hall. I found a spot for myself, read the directions which were furnished and began to work. A woman who was walking about with shears to snip some of the branches for the wreath makers was complimentary, but when she came back near the end of the event she remarked, "Oh, I really like yours. You know why? Because it really looks like a wreath." I wanted to say, "Wasn't that the assignment?" But I merely thanked her. I was probably smirking because I saw some of the departing "wreaths" which looked more like green salads gone awry. Here's my creation.

Don't let the shadows confuse you; there really are only four candles.

This past Wednesday morning I awoke with a sore throat and a very stuffy head, and I've had a low grade fever. Mack must really be confused as he and I have been taking long walks since we moved over here, but I've not been up to it. Today is the first day I've felt I might live after all, and I think I'm fever free. It is also raining which is truly good news, and it is supposed to continue all day and tonight. Yippee!!! So the walks may or may not resume today.

So, that's our news for now. Stay tuned for the next surprising episode.

HOW'S THE HOME SELLING GOING?

In two words, NOT WELL! In nine weeks "on the market" the house has had five bookings for showings, but only four actually showed up. Two viewers felt my house needed too much "updating", one kept it in his top two and might come back, one liked it but wanted her son to take a look. Haven't had any re-showings for either of them. And I'm not sure what these individuals mean by updating. Are they talking about replacing the carpet, replacing wall paper with paint, or gutting the kitchen and bathroom? It's funny that when Jaz & I look at a house we look at it and evaluate how we would change it; we don't go in expecting everything to be the way we'd want it. Get a grip, Shoppers!

Of course, one has to factor in that we are experiencing, according to the weather guy, "excessive heat" with temps over 100 degrees for 34 days, one day behind Dallas. And then, of course, we have the Washington congressional debacle which can't make rational decisions and throws our economy as well as the rest of the world's into chaos. Everyone seems to be afraid to make a move of any sort. I am not afraid. Buy my house, and I'll go buy another.

I'm trying to keep the yard mostly green, though there are a few brown patches. So far we have not had a ban on lawn watering, but I expect that very soon. If the house were not for sale, I'd let it go now to conserve water and to keep the bill down. But, I'm a seller now, and I have to do what I can to sell the house. My realtor feels that the heat and the economy are deterrents as I do.

The realtor's company emphasizes keeping a welcoming, pretty plants entrance. Well, I did that but they've been burnt, so I planted new things last weekend.

The blue blooms are plumeria, but they seem to be burning out now. Boohoo! The white are lantana. I've cut back the begonia because they're being killed by the heat; hopefully, they'll come back.

Something that has weathered this terrible weather is a plant whose name tag has disappeared and it continues to grow and produces little red blooms though they don't show right now, but I really love it. It's such a soldier of a plant.

Mack is an added attraction. He wasn't asked to pose here. You can see he's not pleased with the weather either.

AFTER DAILY HOUSEKEEPING: How am I amusing myself once the house is showable? Well, I'm entertaining birds---numerous sparrows, a pair of blue jays, a pair of cardinals, a pair of doves, and on occasion house finches. I discovered that the finches eat seeds but also love nectar, and the hummingbird feeder that I usually have out in the summer was their greater attraction. Those little dickens could suck that pint sized feeder dry in three days. Therefore, I've left it dry for about three weeks. Unfortunately, I've seen hummingbirds on at least three occasions looking for a meal find a totally dry feeder. So sorry, hummingbirds. But it's refilled now. In fact, I have an aviary cafeteria. And those sparrows apparently know me and watch for me to refill the feeder and appear within a minute morning and evening once I fill the feeder. They also appreciate the water in the bird bath and additional pan of water I put out for them.

Occasionally there is an "Ooops" I don't really want to see. For instance, the blue jay which killed a lizard in a very brutal fashion and proceeded to eat it. At least he ate it; didn't just kill it for sport. It did spoil my lunch time appetite.

I'm reading a terrific book: THE VICAR OF CHRIST by Walter F. Murphy. This book was published in 1979, but I find it extremely contemporary because many of the problems it discusses are still with us. It also softens my take on the Catholic church because I find it is as ham-strung as our government is, just different perspectives. I highly recommend it. In fact, you do need to read it. It is a novel, and the premise that an American Korean war hero becomes Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and eventually Pope makes it clear that it is fiction, but it doesn't negate the relevance of the content.

My third diversion is needlepoint. My last needlepoint endeavor was when I lived in Terrell and had my house for sale there; when 9/11 occurred I stopped work on it as I couldn't focus anymore. Then when I moved the project was lost; to this day I can't figure out what happened to that Siamese cat I was working on. This new needlepoint project is one I bought at an estate sale for $6.00, and I think the original price was probably about $30. Anyway, it is very colorful but I really need bright light to see where the various colors go so I work on it in the living room with the shades up during the afternoon when it is very, very hot outside. I may not be doing a very good job, but it is fun. And when I move this time I'm going to make sure that needlepoint doesn't get lost. I don't really see it hanging in a prominent place in my new home; maybe in the closet. But it will still be a source of pride for "hanging in there."

FRUSTRATIONS/JOKES: I don't even know where to start on this one. Let's take this arbitrary beginning.

Who runs this country? The Congress of the U.S. or Wall Street? My reluctant answer is the latter. We didn't vote them into this capacity; however, they have taken over, they want no oversight, and they have none.

Why is Congress no longer functioning? Republicans, and/or Tea Party members of Congress, have so set their goal on defeating the President/Democrats that they are willing to sacrifice the entire country, all of us, and the global economy to win their point. What an empty victory that will be! To think one can cut spending without raising revenue is so stupid. My experience has been that I couldn't cut expenditures for food and housing for my family; I had to take a second job---and I did.

Every member of Congress who left leaving the FAA hanging with no finance should turn over his/her salary for this month of vacation to filling the national coffers, and if that causes them a shortfall then they should take a second job. Maybe they can handle the second job; they're not doing well with their elected positions.

Rick Perry is considering running for President. Dear God in heaven, he's worse than W. Surely our country has not dumbed down to a level of seriously considering him as the leader of this country. He's done sufficient damage to Texas; would anyone really want to give him the entire nation upon which to wreak havoc? I have more respect for the GOP than to think this could happen. Don't let me down, GOP.

Maybe I've covered everything, but probably not. I'll wake up about 3:00 a.m. and think, "I forgot to mention ..." But I need to bring this to a close and go to bed. I seem to wake up much earlier with this hot drought and propelled to do whatever I have to do early on then "cool it" from 11:00 a.m. on. Of course, by then it is already 100 degrees. I thought today was cooler (106 degrees)and it was; Jazz says I'm adapting. Probably right. Take care, Everybody.

CRAZY CRAVINGS!

As you know the on-going project for a few months has been to get the house ready to sell. WELL, during the time when I was painting outside I began to have strange food cravings. I think it is related to doing repetitive tasks that are relatively mindless; therefore the mind tends to drift toward, "What's for dinner tonight?" There is no rhyme nor reason for these cravings; they just came with undeniable force.

The first one was for Stove Top dressing. Obviously, this is of no culinary significance, but that's really what I wanted, and I wanted it really, really badly. I gave in and picked up a package, and eased my pain.

The next craving that came was for vanilla ice cream (Blue Bell, of course) with cooled left-over morning coffee poured over it. Those little icy crystals are such a treat for the tongue. However, one has to really spread those portions out over a lengthy period of time, or one makes oneself sick to the tummy. I speak from experience.

The next craving that came was for cantaloupe; no doubt that was driven by May's warming weather and their appearance in the grocery stores. But I know that they appear much earlier than when they are actually in season, so I gritted my teeth and avoided them. One point for me!

Once the house was finally on the market (June 2) I was ready to celebrate. The downside is that once one gets everything "Ready", one doesn't want to mess anything up, and that includes cooking anything that might make odors in the house or mess up the range. So, what was I craving then? My fabulous sauteed liver and onions, of course! (If you haven't tried mine, don't knock it. Mine are wonderful.) Well, after a week, I said, "To heck with it." Bought the liver and cooked up this yumola treat.

Next I gave in to the lingering craving for cantaloupe. The one I bought is o.k.; the flavor is almost there, and the texture has a little farther to go as well. It was not a waste of money, but I'm glad I waited.

What is the latest craving? I gave in to it today, and for supper I had a BLT sandwich. Of course, that meant frying bacon and tonight or tomorrow morning I will have to clean the stove top because the photographer to do the virtual tour for the on-line ad for the house will be here at 10:00 a.m. Maybe I'm beginning to take this high exposure in stride. Or maybe it's dementia. Either way, I'm covered.

IT'S ALL SHOW BIZ!

It's so hard to decide on a title for this post because it will cover so much time, so many events, and a lot of work. My apologies for not keeping up with the blog; I have been critical of others for their lack of sustaining; now I'm guilty as well. So be it. MAYBE I won't cast stones in the future---but don't count on it.

First, I need to mention that our orchid society voted to host the national organization's spring show for 2011. I voted against this as did several others---we who are the worker bees. However, the vote carried by two votes. This occurred about 1 1/2 yrs. ago; the AOS (American Orchid Society whom we were hosting) recommends that a society start 3 - 4 yrs. in advance to raise the necessary money, make plans, etc. Did our society heed this advice? Of course not. Therefore, we have worked our buns off to bring all this about including monthly meetings of the "show committee" which I will testify were not all that much fun and were always at the time one would normally be eating supper. I left on several occasions because I had done my part and was too hungry to sit there any longer listening to the same thing we'd heard for four months running and the re-hashing of the same arguments over rather inconsequential "stuff."

We did bring it all together, and the show was a huge success according to all those who came from out of town. Here's a picture of our society members filling "goodie bags" for the registrants.

What was in the bags? Three strands of Mardi gras beads, decks of cards from the casinos as well as a pair of dice, little Tabasco bottles, a little vacuum bag of coffee from Community Coffee, a 2 oz. jar of Pepper Jelly made by one of our members, a little orchid plant ready for planting, and the usual note pads, pens, emery boards, etc. It was a nice collection of stuff. We did this loading about 2 1/2 weeks before the show. The bags are nice for "green shopping"; I've already used mine.

Dagromm, my Texas son, gave me two nights at the Hilton, the hotel adjacent to the Convention Center where the show was. I think being able to just go there, bathe, and fall down kept me going through the early part of the show. It was wonderful, because I really was too tired to drive the four miles home, much less get up early enough to make it back downtown for the next morning's early activities. Mack stayed with Chill and Jaz through the whole thing, and I'm grateful for that.

There was drama behind the scenes resulting in losing more members, adding to those we lost by deciding to host the show to begin with. So, was it worth it? I'm still undecided, but my inclination is to say "No." We'll see how it all plays out; however, I am not taking on any more responsibilities. Period.

On the Wednesday after the show the Interfaith Pharmacy where I volunteer moved from its tiny location to a much, much larger facility. We really needed to move, and I'm very thankful that it worked out. However, spending five hours cleaning the old place and organizing a portion of the new space put me right back to where I was at the end of the AOS show. . . needing to sleep for about two days straight.

In addition to this I decided about eight months ago that it was time to downsize and have less responsibility for home and yard. My plan was to sell the house and move to an apt. so that I wouldn't be responsible for plumbing, A/C, yard, whatever. I just can't do all of it anymore, and it is too costly. Then Chillax & Jaz suggested that I take the money from the sale of my house and use it as a down payment on something where we could all live, along with Oyster, of course. Initially, they would take up the payments on the new place, and when we balanced, I would kick in a portion. Well, that suited me just fine because as I age I'm occasionally frightened of being undiscovered in an emergency situation. My big stipulation is that we have separate living quarters and that I have my own kitchen; we have different hours, food choices, etc.

So, the big cleaning up, de-cluttering, sprucing began. Right now I have to say that my closets are the best portion of my house. Sorry, Goo, but the revered Pilgrimage shoes, went the way of the trash a couple of months ago, but I did take a memorial picture.

This was probably more traumatic for me than for you. C'est la vie.

The realtor whom I have decided to use for the sale of the house gave me pointers on getting ready to go "on the market." One of those was certain loan appraisers don't want to see any peeling paint. Well, my storage area behind the carport definitely had some peeling paint, and after power washing it (one of my orchid society buddies did that) it looked even worse.

Grim, isn't it?

So, in addition to the big show preparations, I was faced with de-cluttering and painting. Well, I have wound up painting about 85-90% of the carport and storage area as well as about half of all the window frames (outside). The deterioration is due to weather and sun. You don't really realize you're living in a dump until you want to sell it. Then the realtor gently slides the reality glasses on your nose.

Here's the storage wall now.

Jaz has been helping me take things to the storage unit I rented three months ago to hold things I'm either keeping or selling depending on where we wind up. She has also helped with grooming the yard, and I'm counting on her for the "final cleaning." That means the cleaning before the realtor comes to take pictures to go on the web. Selling a house has become very scary. It used to be that people knew how many bedrooms, bathrooms, sq. footage was available, and then they could come look and decide if this was the place for them. Now, they can look on-line and if they aren't really smitten they won't even come look. This was not the way I wanted to make my entertainment debut.

I'm doing the best I can, and I'll let you know the website if you want to see the house at its best. But you have to ask. Sorry, but I don't want you burdened with more than you want.

Take care, everyone, and understand that I have been thinking about you. I've just been swamped and still am. Keep your fingers crossed for me and the house sale.

TODAY . . .

Remember my last post? Well, today was ditto only more lightening, louder thunder, and more rain.









All those streaks that look like Spanish Moss are the sheets of rain that were coming down. Couldn't step outside the front door because the rain was coming at me.

When I first saw this man coming down toward my house he was in the street, but I guess it got to be too much, and he was obviously going to be knocked over by the wake of cars, vans, trucks. When he finally reached my photographing point he had adapted his route to his advantage. I keep wondering what was so important that he took on this travel in the midst of the storm---maybe his job. Makes one wonder. . . .






The pluses were I didn't have to water the outside orchids and the temp dropped to 80. So, I guess it was a good day.

OUR LUCKY #---30%

Our area is in a draught, and we are about 12" below the average rainfall, so we really look forward to "bad weather."
For years I've said when the weather channel predicts anywhere from 70% to 90% chance of rain for us, or my neighborhood in particular, I might as well drag the hose out and go ahead and water. Call me pessimistic! Or at least, a disbeliever!

However, when I got up this morning the sky was overcast, and I became somewhat hopeful. Turned on the weather channel just in time for the local forecast, and in spite of the clouds the word was "a slight chance of thunder storms." YES! I did the things I needed to do in the greenhouse so I wouldn't get wet going out to do them later. Sure enough---a little after noon it turned really dark, and thunder came rolling toward us. Time to gather Mack in!



Mind you, I didn't start taking pictures until about 45 minutes later. The lightening and thunder were still present but less frequent and farther away, and the rain had lightened up considerably but was still steady. As you can see the street was still fairly full of water.

Then I became interested in the styles of driving people display when streets are not only wet but partially flooded. There are those who whiz on as if these were optimum conditions. Keep in mind the posted speed limit along this stretch is 15 mph because there is a significant curve just beyond the area seen from my kitchen window.








Then there were those who drove sedately, straddling the island down the middle when nothing was coming to force them over to their side of the street.








So much for my societal observations. The rain continued for almost three hours, and during that time I made a quick run to the grocery store for peanut butter and a green vegetable. Now it's 5:45 p.m., and I just checked the weather channel again. The temperature is only 79, about 15 degrees cooler than this time of day for the past couple of weeks. And, oh yes, 40% chance of rain tonight. Hmmm! Maybe . . . .

DISCLAIMER; When I previewed this post the text and positions of the pictures was not the way I arranged them. If it's all screwed up, I apologize. But I trust you to sort it all out and understand what goes where. Take care, ya'll.

NO GOOD DEED GOES . . .

UNPUNISHED! Or so says my friend, MaryKat.

We haven't had any rain for a week or so. Therefore, on Sunday afternoon when I finally registered that there was water along the curb, street side, across the side street of my house I called the appropriate city functionaries to notify them of this. This was apparently news to them, but the woman who answered the phone finally got all the info down. I had done my good deed for the betterment of mankind.

On Monday evening just after the sun went down a truck with one city employee showed up to investigate. I knew of this because my loyal watchdog, Mack, began barking and wouldn't stop until I checked it out. The workman was out there maybe a half hour. That was it for Monday.

During our days of really intense cold when the night temps were in the teens and the daytime highs below freezing I had saved a couple of pitchers of water in case something happened to the water pipes. However, they weren't necessary. So I began to use that water to refill pet water bowls and for plants and had only about a cupful left.

This evening, Tuesday, as I began to cook supper I flipped up the water handle to wash the lettuce and discovered there was no water. Next I went to the front door, opened it, and went out. The fire hydrant was opened and water was gushing out in the easement area in front of my house. Two huge trucks were out there with orange cones and flashing lights. The sun had already sunk over the horizon. (I also noticed a bill in the yard which the post person had dropped. This was from the dentist. I was only there yesterday for Pete's sake.) Any way, I was without water for about two hours.

The men were still working at about nine o'clock, an hour after water was restored. By then the temp was well on its way to the predicted 26 degrees for tonight. On the news it was said that there are still about sixty water main breaks in the city, and I know those guys are working hard and doing their best for us. So! Let's hear it for our civil servants and do something nice for them. I certainly appreciate their work.

A FEW OLD SAYINGS COME TO MIND . . . .

In every life a little rain must fall.

It never rains but it pours.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Etc., etc., etc.

When I last blogged I mentioned that severe weather was on the way. Well, the forecast was not wrong. We began having showers a little before noon yesterday, and the sky was very ominous all day. A little before two the storms began, and I switched to the local ABC affiliate to see what was happening. The local weather guy began tracking what was happening locally, and bless his heart, he was on until about 10:30 p.m. I wasn’t with him the whole time, but I’ll explain that.

The storm spawned a tornado which touched down in the south part of “our fair city”, curved toward the airport, went back up, then headed downtown. There the force of the winds were strong enough to topple the steeple of one of our landmark beauties, First United Methodist Church. (Sorry, I don’t have a before picture, but the church is at the end of a street which inclines upward so that it has the sky as a background---very dramatic, very beautiful.) Unfortunately, a car had stopped for the red traffic light in front of the church.




The man in the car crushed by the church steeple was not killed, nor critically injured. He has a broken sternum, wrist, a few other injuries, and will have to wear a body cast for a few weeks, He was unconscious only a brief time, and was aware of the effort to get him out of the car which took almost an hour. Everyone thinks that is a miracle, and I do too. Look at that car!

It kept raining throughout the afternoon. Jaz had asked me to pick up Oyster at her after school program because she, Jaz, had a five o’clock dental appointment. (That’s a whole ‘nother story.) A woman from the program walked her out under an umbrella in the downpour. I almost lost it when she gasped just after we drove away, and she said she'd left her webkind in the bldg. Of course, she shouldn't have had it there in the first place. So, I drove around the block and got out with umbrella to take her back in to get it. A couple of hrs. later we wouldn't have been able to get out of that neighborhood due to flooding. I stayed at their (Chill & Jaz's) house until Jaz came in from the dentist's, and I arrived home just as another of the major storms started, about 6:45 p.m. Of course, it was raining the whole time I was driving around with lightening and thunder, but the streets weren't flooded yet. However, by 7:15 Stratford, the street beside my house and where my driveway is, was flooded and stayed that way about three hrs. until it finally went down to curb level. When I arrived home, had closed the gate, but was back under the carport gathering my stuff, there were two separate lightening flashes followed by deafening thunder, the kind that vibrates your bones, really scared the bejeebers out of me, and I began to wonder if I could make the run over to the house without getting struck by lightening. Obviously, I did, quaking all the way.

Anyway the rest of the evening was spent checking the weather news which included several more "rotation" warnings but no more tornadoes. There were apparently three in the afternoon: the one which hit our city, one in the city across the river, and one which hit a small town which is a few miles east of there. There a tree fell onto a house cutting it in half. Thousands are/were without power across the area, and many won't have it back until sometime Saturday. So far it's been o.k. at my house with only a couple of flickers. This is rare as our neighborhood is usually one of the first to go.

This morning as the light finally came I discovered that a Ford Explorer (?) had gotten stuck in my back neighbor’s yard. A police car sat behind it this morning for about an hour until the wrecker came to tow it away. I knew a number of foolish people kept driving down the street beside my house last night. What part of don't drive into flooded streets is so hard to understand?







There was one fatality---a 20 yr. old drove into a tree, and two other cars also hit the tree at different times. However, the accident report was not very clear, so I'm not sure what happened there. That was in NW part of the city in the vicinity of one of the lakes. All the schools were closed today and a number of streets as well. It's been a genuine mess. I'm feeling very lucky.

Here you can see how far up into the yard the flood water came shown by the leaf line.




This evening my weather guy said our neighborhood had 7.15 inches of rain. Added to the 15 inches we've already received this month we've more than set a new record for October here. I sincerely hope we don't beat the Nov. record this year.

But, guess what! When I checked the area that was flooded I found some gifts. I’m thinking there will be a pecan pie in my holiday menu this year. YUM...my favorite.




Sometimes life gives you NUTS.

WEEKENDS ARE KILLING ME!

Well, things have been a bit hectic to say the least. The last weekend in Sept. our orchid society hosted a regional orchid show. It was somewhat smaller than our usual shows, but it didn't mean less work for those of us who do . . . the work. It was not well attended by the public, so that was a disappointment; we had fewer vendors, but that was a mixed blessing. If we'd had our usual number they would have been disappointed because of the light turnout; as it was those there did a decent business but did not sell out as they pretty much did two years ago. Asi es la vida. I think we had a lovely display which you'll see below. No trophy for me this time, but I did win a blue ribbon which is right in the center of the display. My work this time was not to set up the display but to prepare the plant labels (the green ones on the little sticks) the night before set-up. On set-up day I was in charge of plant registration meaning I received the little billets which each society or individual submitted for each plant or exhibit. My committee then had to organize these in folders for the judges to use the next day when they judged plants and exhibits. I had the process in hand, and my terrific committee polished it off in record time. It was a long, hard weekend because there was also maintenance of the hospitality room, schmoozing of visitors, takedown of everything, and those of us who worked it spent at least the following Mon. and Tues. recuperating. Here's our display.









The next weekend Jazz and I finally had our often postponed yard sale. The first tentative scheduling was in April, I think. It's hard to remember anymore. We ran into other events, bad weather forecasts, and personal illness/malaise. Then we ruled out mid-summer as just too hot and found the same problems haunting us in the fall. Persevering though we finally placed the ad and launched our endeavor; unfortunately when I arrived to start setting things out the first day of the sale Jazz came to the door looking like death on a stick with a migraine headache. She mustered in though, and we went through with the sale. Although we planned to start the sale at noon she'd had a doorbell ringer at 7:00 a.m. Go figure. We didn't make as much as we did on previous sales, but we did gain some space, and we managed to unload two items we really wanted to get rid of---a mower for her, and an edger for me. Just like the beginning of the sale the purchaser of these two items came after we "officially" closed the sale and were putting things away. However, he had cash and came close enough to our prices, and we couldn't say no. Would you?

This weekend was supposed to be the downtime weekend. I went on my usual round of estate sales on Friday morning and bought a couple of 45's---you know, for that turntable record player I bought last month. I thought they might be of interest to my grandchildren when they come to visit. One is "Does the Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" Now where can you hear that anymore? Interestingly, it has the same song on both sides of the record. Does that tell you what a hit it was? Or did this guy only have one song in his repertoire? (Probably.) The other one was "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. I had this previously, but it was on eight-track (remember that?), and the eight-tracks are long gone as well as the means to play them. Anyway, I loved that song and its infectious good cheer. When I went upstairs to the bedroom that had been made from part of the attic I saw a most unusual very sturdy double bed with a cedar lined drawer built into the footboard and a matching desk/chest of drawers. Both pieces were quite unique. Oh, well.

Well, I went back this afternoon when prices had dropped to 50% off to try to get the 45 record I didn't buy yesterday---"I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy and to see if they had either of the record racks they had yesterday. I didn't really have any way to take care of/store the 45's I bought yesterday. DUH! Unfortunately, Helen was gone (Damn!). However, when I went upstairs to look for the record racks I saw yesterday one was still there. YEA! And it fits in my alleged entertainment center. But guess what! The unique bed and desk/chest were still there too. But not anymore; they are now in my carport.

Are you ready for the miraculous part of this story? Transport of these purchases is always up to the purchaser. Of course, my first instinct was to go to Chillax (he with the truck) to see if he might be able to go to the house on Sun. when the buyout people came to haul away whatever was left. The operators of the estate sale didn't know when they were coming yet, so that was "iffy." I left his store with the understanding we would try to work that out. Thirty minutes later he called and said he was going to put a sign out and close the store, and he and his friend Mark would go pick up the furniture, so I should call the Magnolia Estate Sale people and let them know he was coming. You can bet I did. I met them there with quilts, etc. to act as furniture buffers. (Wish I had time to tell how we almost killed a woman with a bed spring.) You in the family know that this is probably a once in a lifetime event . . . that Chill would close the store to fetch estate sale purchases. MUST HAVE BEEN A REALLY SLOW DAY! But I am eternally grateful for his benevolence, and neither of us has to go to bed wondering how we're going to negotiate all this tomorrow. I haven't mentioned that tomorrow afternoon we have the orchid society picnic/auction, have I? If it weren't for the business meeting where we really have to do some serious business I would blow that off. I don't need more orchids. On the other hand, the guest bed has been a source of concern for a long time. It was originally (?) my parents' bed, then my Aunt Janie's, then mine. And for the past 16 yrs. the guest bed. It is very wobbly. The new/old bed is not, and it will match another piece of furniture in the room. WooHoo!

No doubt, you see where this is leading. Now I have two pieces of furniture for the next yard sale. Maybe we can put "antiques" in the ad. And I have major work ahead of me to clear out the old and bring in the new. It looks like the circle is unbroken.

WEEKEND: NOT AS PLANNED

On Friday and Saturday Jazz and I were finally going to have the big yard sale we have tentatively planned since April. For a variety of reasons we kept postponing it until summer was here, and it was just way too hot. 100+ degree days just don't lend themselves to that much work AND trying to be pleasant to potential shoppers. On Thursday morning it began to rain, and the weather forecast at noon predicted the same through Sunday. So after a hurried consultation early that afternoon we decided not to place an ad in the newspaper and start setting up that evening. As luck would have it not a drop fell after 7:00 p.m. on Thurs., but what the hey, we were now free to cruise the estate sales the next day.

Background for next part: For over seven years now I have been unable to play these.



Can you tell that these are phonograph records from the past? They have had a long and hard life, and I have refused to put them in any other yard sales because I was convinced that I would one day listen to them again. [Side Note: When Dagromm, (remember him?) was away at his liberal arts college he signed up for a course called American Culture. That surprised me since he was an American, and I thought he'd be well versed in that. When I asked him about it he replied, "In that class we watch all those videos you MADE us watch and listen to all those records you were always playing." I never asked if he regretted enrolling in that class.] Alas every time I found a suitable working phonograph it was a vintage console that was way too big to fit into my house. But . . . my luck changed when I went to the first estate sale I would have missed if we'd followed our original plan. Here's my great find.



O.K. I still haven't found just the right spot for it, but it won't have to be such a big spot. The wooden part I'm currently using to hold the phonograph is my old cassette tape holder. Right! I haven't let go of those either, and the only place I've had to play those was in my car---usually on long trips, and there haven't been many of those lately. But this wonderful little Magnavox has a working record player (33 & 45 rpm.), working radio (AM & FM), and working dual cassette player which can be used for high speed dubbing. This wonderful little treasure was only $28.00. My next goal is to find additional needles for the phono; the current one is o.k., but you never know . . . .

Friday night I was zipping through various tasks while singing along with The Kingston Trio, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Imagine me grinning like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou when he said, "It was fine, just fine." Tonight it may be Ella Fitzgerald.

At the second estate sale I found one of those Little Playmate by igloo, a small cold storage carrier just right for a lunch or two or three cold sodas, which I thought was $1.00. When I got it into a better light it turned out to be $4.00, and my Scot's blood came to the fore, and I left it there. However, as I pulled into my driveway I noted a neon green poster on the power pole at the end of the block. Couldn't read it from that distance, but there was no need. Sure enough a garage sale on the next street. I feel I must support my neighbors so I drove on around the corner. Look what I found.




Price: 50 cents Can you believe that?

Since Jazz and I hadn't had our own sale I wasn't exhausted on Sunday as anticipated so I treated myself to a movie which I loved, and it was a great bargain too. If you haven't seen it yet, do go.

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

A few months ago I related and depicted the trials and tribulations of redoing my kitchen floor. At that time one of my daughters, Plug, asked if I had before and after shots of my “bordello bathroom.” This piqued Heather’s curiosity (she is unrelated, but a blogger buddy), and she wanted to see my “bordello bathroom.” Goo, my other daughter, chimed in that she supported my choices for decorating. So, this became a challenge to try to recreate for you how the bathroom evolved.

I don’t have before shots of the bathroom, but I do have a picture of one scrap of the wallpaper which was there.




Picture it: This wallpaper combined with this shower curtain



(Chill had this in his bathroom (the non-functioning one) until he and Jaz moved in Jan. which was when I took the picture.)

combined with this tile on the walls





and this tile on the floor.



The cabinet under the lavatory was a pine wood finish with really worn brass hardware. The white formica top is still there.

My bathroom is very small, and the whole room felt very claustrophobic.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the original light fixture, but it was a two branched antiqued bronze thing with fluted glass bells over the bulbs. (Couldn’t sell it in 5 yard sales and finally gave it to Good Will.)

If I’d had the money to gut the bathroom and start over, I might have. But I didn’t, and I didn’t have another bathroom to use in the meantime. So . . . I decided to go with what I had and “play it as it lays.” Here is the result.



The wallpaper pattern is Fishnet. (Remember you can see enlarged pictures by clicking on them.)




The border pattern is called Bootylicious, but I think of it as Jacqueline, Honore, Helene, Genevieve, and Marilyn.
















Many thanks again to Goo who made the window curtain and helped me with the wallpapering while in pain. I still love my bathroom. Now, I ask you. Is this a “bordello bathroom” or a whimsical bathroom with a great sense of humor and a tiny touch of class?

SPRING AS I REMEMBER IT!

At Christmas last, if you recall, I was whining about my kitchen floor which had suffered damage the previous summer when the dishwasher leaked under the floor causing ripples, lumps, and other unsightly rises in the vinyl floor covering. They don't show in the picture to the left, but I promise you they were there in numerous places, and each flooring estimator who came to give me a number stopped outside the door to the kitchen, and you could just see the $$$ rolling in his eyes, just like those gizmos on slot machines. What had happened was that the water leaked and collected on the slab foundation; the floor, however, was on screeds and raised above the slab. Consequently the floor warped, and the screeds were rotting. Got that?

After three estimates from flooring places I finally decided on one, and work got under way.

All the appliances were removed from the kitchen and placed in my dining area---an extension of the living room, and the fridge and freezer were plugged in there. Still usable if I could squeeze my chunky body in between them. I did have the foresight to have them put the microwave in the LR so I could use it. As you can see it was a little tight.


To make a long story a little shorter the kitchen remained below the level of all the rest of the house for five weeks. This was not the fault of the flooring people, but because I obstinately held out for the concrete drying out, and the screeds replaced without putting down a sealant on the concrete which would add an additional cost. It did occur to me after two weeks of microwaved frozen dinners that I have a gas grill outside with a side burner, and I really could cook decent meals. (Double duh!) Five weeks of this:


Once I bit the bullet and again came into reality work resumed, and the new screeds were put down. That night after the screeds were installed we had a horrific thunderstorm which produced over 6" of rain and knocked down half of my red maple that I planted three years ago. The loss of half the tree was sad enough, but everything was so wet outside the workmen couldn't put in the floor the next day because there wasn't a dry place to use their power tools. So, on we went for another day.


It was finally accomplished; they moved all the appliances back, and cleaned up mightily. The company also followed my design for the floor, and I have no complaints against them or their service or workmanship. How often can you say that about a company these days? They were exceedingly patient with me.

So how did it turn out? Take a look and let me know what you think.



Oh, Yes! Many thanks to Chillax and Jaz for allowing me to do laundry at their house in the long haul. Everyone appreciated that.