Attempts to thrive on neglect

 We had our first frost of the fall a few nights ago so all the outdoor plants had to come in.

They sat around the entryway until I finally had time to find their winter spots in the house.

I've got the stackable plant where the aloe plants are going nuts in my office.  I am making a note to break off the fronds and use the aloe more.  Papercut? I got you!

I saw a video where someone had a huge fern plant that they bring in every winter.  I love having fern plants hang on the front porch and in prior years, I try to keep them alive in my bathroom during the winter but they tend to die.  Probably because I forget to water them...  

But NOT this winter!!!  At least I hope not.

I've got a spider plant from Robb's funeral, in the bathroom too and that one seems to thrive on neglect.  I finally set it next to the window and pulled up the shades enough to get a little light, yet give me some privacy.  All the leaves are leaning under the shade now, like "help me...!" 

BUT it's finally looking alive, a lot less brown tips and even shooting off some little baby spider plants, which it's never done before!  

I filled a 5 gallon bucket in my bathtub and put in a few teaspoons of some granular plant food and gave it a stir.  Then shoved each of the ferns in and let it soak in all the way for a few minutes.  So hopefully if I do that once every week, (one week with plant food, the next week just water) that they make it to next spring!  

Crossing my fingers!

The other plants in my hall are either from Robb's funeral or some clippings of plants or trees that I want to grow outside if they live.

2nd attempt on growing a magnolia tree with clippings from Maddy's tree.

On the piano, I've got 3 peace lilies. I had to repot the top one last year.  It's from my mom's funeral 6 years ago and I was able to salvage the only teeny living bit.  it seems to be doing ok.  Hopefully it will grow back as good as the other two peace lilies from Robb's funeral 5 years ago.

I didn't get a pic of the banana tree but I have that near the entryway.  Not sure it'll get any sun there though.  Usually it's set near a window in the Livingroom but Aggie's Barbie house and toys are there right now.  We'll see.

I hear that the trick to keep all these things alive is to water them... 

Yeah, we'll see.

Demolish Du Jour and PARTIES!

 I may have mentioned this, don't recall.  Matthew accepted a job 2 hours away, and they've bought a house just over an hour away.  It's going to be so great for them!  They move this month.  The house is adorable and perfect for their needs.  They need to build another fence but they got experience at their house in Wisconsin so they know what they're doing.

ALSO...

A bridesmaid came by for her fitting and with just one adjustment besides the hem, hers is done. WHEW!  One almost down! 5 more dresses to go...

ALSO...

We had discovered that our patio room was pulling the deck away from the house so my brother came over a couple times and did some work on it but couldn't continue until the patio room was down.  It needed to come down!  So Matthew invited a couple high school friends, I invited my twin nieces and their handy husbands and my brother offered to help out, besides Ryan and the rest of us.  

On Saturday, I grilled out some lunch for everyone when they arrived and we got to it.  Within a few hours, that room was down.  There are piles of junk wood waiting to be burned, a stack of windows waiting for me to build a mini greenhouse out of,  piles of other remnants waiting to be taken to the dump and lots to sweep up.  

It looks more like it did when we bought the house 24 years ago. :)  And I got to hold some grand nephews and a grand niece.

We all got chances to swing sledgehammers and had a lot of fun mixed with hard work!  It was the perfect crew and I am so thankful for them all!  This wouldn't have happened nearly as quickly on my own.  and now the cleanup!

There are already plans for patio swings, hammocks and chickens!  The chickens will have to wait until next year.

ALSO THIS WEEKEND...

I have two nieces that just graduated.  One from high school and one from medical school and both of their parties were yesterday afternoon.  I had already rsvped for the medical school grad party before I knew about the high school one, so that's the one I went to.  It was in a Chicago suburb.  

Congratulations to both of my nieces!  Grace and Christi!

My brother, who was here for the tear down party, went with me on the 5 hour drive.  We made it a day trip and got to my sister's house by 1ish.  

Here we are with the new doctor!  My brother, me, Dr Christi, a sister and another sister (the mother of the grad).  We were only missing 4 sisters to have it all complete.

It was a great time!  But then I made my 30 minute rounds of hugging everyone, (Robb used to factor that into our schedule) and then Mark and I hit the road for Iowa again.  We got home around 10ish pm.  Whew!  It was a whirlwind trip.

So this morning before Mark left, he cut up more pieces of the junk pile so it would fit in my van for the dump, then he finished his trip home of another 3 hours on the road.

My knee is bothering me again and I need a nap...

and if I'm lucky, another weekend.

Catching up again...

 Sigh...  It's been a while.  Lots has happened.  Let me list them.

1) The twins FINALLY went home the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  Three and a half months of toddlers in the house!  Even though it's been 3 weeks since, I still have fingerprint smudges on my living room windows and babyproofing all over the house unless Leon gets sick of it and yanks them off.

Left to right: Nova, her dad, Luke, Ryan.

2) Matthew moved to town a month ago and now 98% of their stuff is here.  He's learning the ropes of a new library and figuring out how to balance work, the apartment and dogs.  Maddy moves here Christmas day!  I've been walking the dogs during the weekdays in the afternoons and checking out books from HIS library instead of ours.

3) Now that the twins were gone, I was able to get into my sewing room and while it still has the decor from when Maddy and Meri shared it 15 years ago, my sewing stuff and fabrics are all around me.  I feel like I'm home.  With Christmas music on the boombox, I can make this work!  I started work on the wedding dress sampler and then panicked because Christmas is already the weekend after this. YIKES!  So I put the bride on hold until after January 1st.  Which is fine because she's moving on 12/30 anyway...  I'm sure she's busy.

Here is what I've done so far.  I need to redo the bodice so it's more low cut tho.

Here's what we're shooting for on the skirt.

4) I started a Widow sisterhood group on FB for my part of Iowa and have 12 members so far!  4 of us met at a local hospice grief support group and are a tight knit group now.  No one else was able to get together for our Christmas brunch so just the 4 of us met.  It was a wonderful time.  No one understands certain things like another widow.  These are my tribe.

5) I hosted my side of the family Thanksgiving at a local hall and we had 72 people.  Robb usually did the turkeys, but my cousin Scott stepped up and offered to be "THE" turkey guy from now on.  

It was a wonderful day, but at the same time exhausting emotionally and physically.  Meri and I had a sobbing fest in a back corner of the kitchen during the talent show, where my sisters just joined into a big group hug and cried along with us.  One aunt gave me permission to remarry someday. 

Um...no thank you...

And then I got up early the next day and put together Robb's breakfast casseroles for the traditional "breakfast after Thanksgiving" meal for those relatives who hadn't left town yet.

My aunts car conked out and she has one of my cars until hers get fixed.  I'm told it's today but am not sure.  Hers needed a new engine and she had to get back to Omaha with her husband and daughter.

6) Between me and my awesome sister-in-law, we hosted Robb's side of the family at a different local hall.  That day was exhausting as well but a lot of fun too.  As I helped Cathy unload her car with her family, I noticed a full frozen solid turkey in one of her boxes.  Um Cathy???  Is THIS the turkey we're serving in 2 hours?...  Thankfully it wasn't.  She organized some turkey bowling on the yard of the hall with actual bowling pins and this frozen turkey for the ball.  The kids had a blast although I never saw any of it. DARN!  and NO ONE got pictures of the event...

7) My garage got organized a bit

8) My garage got filled up more with plans for more stuff stored.  Maybe that's my winter project to filter out stuff to give away.  We'll see.  I still have item #3 and 5 bridesmaid dresses to hammer out before June.  So the garage might go by the wayside until then.

It always does...

9) Meri and I are still working out most mornings but today when she got home from it, she called in tears.  She'd just cut her thumb open and there was blood everywhere.  So she drove over to me and I bandaged her up.  Then I called First Nurse to find out what she should do while she ran back home to turn off the bathtub she'd left running.  I'm so glad she lives in the same small town!  She was convinced that she'd need stitches, but after getting her all cleaned up and bandaged and after the call with First Nurse, she might just check with Urgent care later this morning and see about getting a tetanus booster shot.

We're not working out tomorrow but she IS coming over for a rebandaging session and probably breakfast. 

10) The funeral home that handled Robb's send off invited me to an open house today and I had to RSVP.  They have an ornament for us to commemorate Robb!  Not sure if it has his name on it or not but it will be a bittersweet addition to our Christmas tree.  

11) I couldn't find the star that Meri made in kindergarten this year, so after some digging around and an idea from a FB widow group that I belong to, I put Robb's bagpipe cap on top.  It's a little crooked but that's ok.

12) 3 of the toilets that were original with the house all started leaking in the tanks this fall.  A friend replaced the guts of one a month ago and then I called a plumber for the 2nd.  The very day after the 2nd was fixed, I heard the 3rd start refilling every few minutes.  SERIOUSLY?  Those little flaps in the toilets only last for 28 years and have an actual expiration date.  The 4th toilet in our house was replaced at Robb's request a few years after we moved here so I give it 3 more years before it does the same thing.  Checking into a yearly service plan with a plumbing company because cripes.

13) I have been a canning fool lately.  Also found out that Leon doesn't like any of the stuff I'm canning.  Well, he might the chili but he only eats that at Halloween.  I've got canned goods tucked in every nook and cranny of this house.  Jen asks about black beans or stew every now and then so SOMEONE appreciates it!  And I'm finding it pretty handy too.

14) One of Robb's close friends from college died exactly 9 months after Robb did.  He never married, no kids.  My sister and her husband were good friends of his in the Chicago area and they attended the funeral with me.  Us and two other college friends were the youngest people there.  I'm so glad we went!  It would be such a heartbreak to bury one of your own children.  He had been living in Wisconsin and was buried in Iowa so a lot of his friends from Wisconsin weren't able to make it.  We almost didn't hear about it until it was too late.

Dave was a good Christian man.  I know Robb is showing him all the cool places in heaven. :)

15) We're expecting another Derecho wind storm today.  The small generators that can jump start a car OR charge your phone are plugged in.  I got them for Robb last Christmas.  If we lose power again, I think we can plug the fridge and deep freezer into it.  Or at least charge our phones.

16) With the twins gone, the REALLY busy-ness of my life calmed down a bit.  I guess God decided that I had needed a break from my grief.  It worked.  But please don't send any more babies to me right now!!!  I am missing Robb a lot and will the rest of my life.  Having to make all the decisions and payments on things is really tough. Not being able to see him or get him quick on the phone to tell him about all the things is even tougher.  And when I see a picture of him, I remember how his hair felt under my fingers.  That's when it really gets me.  He doesn't live here anymore.

Heaven gained a beautiful soul.

I attended a Grief Share Surviving the Holidays with my widow core friends and it was very helpful.  One of the tips was make a list of all that you want to get done for the holidays and if you decided that something isn't going to get done, mark it off.  If things don't get done, they don't get done. 

And that's ok.

My house is the darkest on the block.  The only lights you see from the road is the leg lamp in the front window.  and that's ok.

Tempered Housing

Robb, Meri and I went and looked at another house last night.  It was built in 1930 or so and might be the ticket for her.  She's still waiting to see how much she's pre-approved for before she can proceed.  

The thing that she likes the best about it is that it has an attached efficiency apartment and she already has someone who wants to rent it from her, sight unseen.  It just needs the kitchen installed.  So she's checking out where to get the items inexpensively to outfit a quick efficiency kitchen.  

With this potential renter, she doesn't mind giving them a key to her part of the house so they can use her kitchen until it's completed.  

The basement has a secret space that was the old basement stairs all sealed up from the outside.  It's mostly boarded up on the inside but I can totally see her making it into a canned goods area just for fun. I remember when she was young that she would go around our house playing Nancy Drew and knocking on all the walls to see if she could find our secret passageway.  She found our furnace air duct.  Smart girl!!  

So, this house has an honest to goodness secret passageway!!!!  Well, cut off steps but it is one.

Don't know what will happen, so we're sitting in suspense waiting.

In the meanwhile, Leon is getting bored with summer and short tempered.  

I can't wait for school to restart. 

actually a pic of the last day of school.  You can tell how much I've neglected the yard this spring...

 I'm thinking of re-initiating ye ol' summer time daily nap for him...  or me...

Rawr!!!

I did a little sewing last night while Leon watched the rest of Where The Wild Things Are.  

Two of the six items given to me to either secure buttons, hem or patch are done.  Woohoo!!!  A third of the way done!!!

I'll pick another one or two off tonight.

Looking forward to Adventureland tomorrow with the bagpipe band.  If I get bored, I'll find a nice corner with a plug in and shop online and find garage lights...  

I replaced a light behind our garage yesterday and it didn't work once I turned the power back on.  Yikes!  Maybe it's the switch, I thought.

Took another look this morning and found that I'd put the light bulb in wrong...  It's one of those long skinny bulbs that you have to push in on one side and line it up on the other.  It wasn't lined up right.  Well, NOW the dog can see where to go at night!!

What a relief!  For him anyway.

I'm determined to fix all broken lights around this house.  Now that I got this one fixed this week also by replacing the switch.

I am human.  Here me roar!  

AAYYY Macarena!

It's been a rush of a weekend.  I was on hyperdrive all weekend and by Sunday, Matthew had to remind me that even GOD rested on the 7th day of creation.  Yeah, but did he only have three days to move those guys from their apartment to their new house?...?  And was he afraid of leaving something there when he went home?  And then the sermon on Sunday was about resting on the Sabbath so Matthew was justified...

Here's what we did.

Drove into their town and saw these awesome airplanes!  Apparently they are still flown, but mainly just for the annual air show.  SO cool...  

We got to their new home on Thursday night, where Maddy was hanging photos and they were putting some things away.  We got the grand tour!  We love it!  They're going to be so happy there.

Maddy was making fried riced cauliflower for supper.  Delish!!!  Kind of like a low carb version of fried rice.  I'll be making some of that this week myself...

The bathroom off the living room had sheer curtains.  And the blinds on the other side of the bathroom made you feel self conscious when you were on the toilet.  Either the folks upstairs next door could see you or anyone walking down the driveway...  Or anyone in the living room.  

So that was going to be our first project after several loads from the apartment.  

That evening, Matthew and Robb installed a 2nd window air conditioner in the living room.  We had brought along a full size mattress and that was our bedroom that night.

On Friday, Matthew had to work until 1pm, so Maddy, Robb and I got a load or two from the apartment, a stop at Walmart for lunch supplies and then we unloaded at the apartment.  A friend loaned them a lawn mower and we all took turns mowing the shaggy yard.  Then those two had a wedding to attend a couple hours away so Robb and I had the whole afternoon and evening to ourselves.  We did another mini-van load from the apartment and then purchased a hose and weed&feed for their yard.  

We also went out for supper to a hotdog joint downtown that looked kitschy.  If we ever move there, Robb and the hotdog guy are going to be best friends.  Then around the corner there was an old movie theater that was showing a free movie  from 1941.  Unfortunately, some of the other patrons thought it was like Mystery Science Theater 3000 or the Rocky Horror picture show and mocked the movie during it.  sigh... really? Maybe they're not that way during some of the more current movies they show.  And if we get the chance to go again, I will.  The popcorn was really good!

In the basement of their house, Maddy told us about some sketch areas of it.  Apparently they have a root cellar!  Or whatever that's called.  

There were antique bottles with a mysterious yellow liquid in them...  After some investigation, I discovered that it was in fact, NOT urine or anything toxic.  But actually wine.  Probably dandelion or rhubarb, but had been down there for many years.  Yeah, don't drink that..  

On Saturday, we did another load of moving things in the morning, then Robb and Matthew rented a UHaul for the big move that afternoon.  They had some help coming.  

We had lunch at a great little burger joint where the waitresses served you while on roller skates.  

A nosy bird kept stealing fries from the garbage...  

Then Maddy and I went to JoAnns and got some fabric for the many curtains that they needed.  We ended up getting white muslin, several yards.  I lined the current bathroom french door curtains and Maddy made Matthew guess what dance she was doing on one side and he couldn't tell.  

FYI, It was the macarena.

We hung some curtains from their apartment in the bathroom at the window too so now they can potty in peace.

I also made a valance and lower curtains with lace for the kitchen window.  Same issue as the restroom.  Upper and lower windows of the neighbors looked right in.  No privacy in there either!  There is still one other window in the kitchen that needs something, but Maddy will hang an older curtain in there until I make something to match the ones above the sink.  

My project this week is to make curtains to cover two large window sets in the living room and two single window sets in both the living room and the den. As well as the one big one in the kitchen.  

Oh and one for the front door.  Lots of glass in that place!

Have muslin, will sew.

On Saturday night, everything had been moved to the house except for one load that will fit in their cars once they empty a few boxes to haul the stuff down the steps.  Odds and ends really.

We were pooped.  

After church on Sunday, Robb and I hit the road for home.  Those guys were going to go to another wedding a few hours away, but decided they'd better skip it as they were too exhausted to drive another six hours that day.  Probably just as well.  They had a lot of things to put away and find homes for.

Whew!  It's good to sit down!

Drying out pencils

I fold laundry right out of the dryer.  I loathe heaping it onto the dining room table or a couch for reasons that I won't get into here.  But certain people have done that for me, thus determining what my immediate next task needs to be instead of what I had planned to do.  

Ok - I guess I did get into it a little...

But anyway, back to the dryer.  Leon "helps" me at times, handing me one piece at a time, sometimes too quickly, sometimes I have to reach around him to grab SOMETHING to fold.  

I asked him if there was anything else and he said, "Nope, but there is a pencil stuck."  WHA?

And he was right.  There was a wooden pencil stuck in the venting holes in the back of the dryer.  I had to almost climb in to wrestle with it and finally I got it but the thing broke in half and the other half went somewhere down into the vent.  oops...

Who had a pencil in their clothes??!!!! And how did I miss it????!

I put the next wet batch in and turned it on and all was well.  So OKAY!

I posted this photo for no other reason than because I won't show you a photo of my laundry room.

I think it's a dinosaur.

The next morning, I moved the batches ahead and when I turned on the dryer, it started making a raucous sound, like fingernails on a blackboard, only worse and louder.  I turned it off quick!

For the next 2 hours, I pondered on the problem as I worked at my desk.  I wasn't quite sure where that perfect tool to take off the back of the dryer is.  I've done it before...  

So by my morning break, I got to thinking that a pencil wears down... right??  

How much raucous-ness could the people in the house handle??

Turns out Leon's ears are sensitive.  WHO KNEW?!  He has no clue how sensitive mine are when he screams through the house...  Even though I tell him.  His voice doesn't bother himself at all!

He stood in the hall with his hands on his ears screaming to shut it off as I turned on the dryer and listened to the scratching screech for all of 15 seconds, when suddenly the screeching stopped.

WOOHOO!!  The dryer is FIXED!!!

Killin' It Over Here

Homemade way to get rid of ants in the house.  And WOW it works!  I haven't seen one single ant in the last two days...

Mix 1 Tablespoon Borax, 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar.  Put it in tiny bowls or just on little piles behind things where you've seen the ants.  

Done.

Apparently they take the mixture back to their little tiny families and then they all die of bloating gas.

It's a disgusting miracle really.

What's your favorite homemade pest control?  

Outside of just locking the door and taking away their keys...

I'm getting fixed!

I'm getting a new water softener today!!!  WOOHOO!!!!  The guy is working on it right now.

THEN he's going to fix my dripping shower that leaks into the dining room when we use it so I haven't used it in a while.  Thank goodness for bath tubs, but I'm beginning to hate the tub...

AND a leaky faucet in the bathroom!

After this, I'm hoping the dishwasher and laundry will work better and my hair will feel better...

Crossing my fingers! ;)

Tut Tut. Looks like a drip.

Our water bill sky-rocketed over the past year or so.  As has our gasoline bill, but I know exactly where that's going...  

The water bill is more elusive.  

I know that we have more people in the house in the past year and a half, but criminY!  

Someone mentioned once that a drippy faucet can add a lot to a phone bill, both in water usage and sewage.  

 So...  I've got a plumber guy coming by today to fix the kitchen faucet.  I can't believe how people think the faucet is off, when there is a subtle but steady drip drip drip. 

To turn it off properly, you have to turn it on hot for a sec, then pull the knob straight forward.  But I guess it takes a rocket scientist to remember that and rather than putting up a sign showing you how... 

And I love how people leave subtle hints that there might be an issue here, when they set a mug directly under it and I come in later and find it full...  I KNOWWW it's dripping!!!! I just haven't felt like calling someone on it yet...

But after doing the bills last week, decided I'd better.   We are just NOT handy that way ourselves...  Give me a computer and my husband can tell you what's wrong with it and fix it or give me a sewing machine that's got some funky wrongly knotted stitches and I can tell you how to fix it.  But with plumbing or anything else mechanical, forget it!

Drip... drip... drip...

Now I'm thirsty!