Home Sweet Camper

I told you I'd post some pictures of the camper

 we are living in while the house is being restored

from our fire.

It is technically(I have been informed)

a 5th wheel.

It belongs to my sis, Judy and her husband.

It is for sale.

They stay in it in FL in the winter

but have bought a house so it is up for grabs.

If you are in the market...I can hook you up

but only when I am out of it.

So take a peek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a pretty sweet deal.

It's right outside the house.

We are able to shower in the downstairs bath

so that cuts down on our "gray"water".

I do a little cooking and I am able to use our grill, of course.

You know the old adage

"if the camper's rocking..."

well, in our case it is because

it's a major thunderstorm and

we may be in the basement.

It has been raining practically daily

since we moved in.

The rain on the tin is soothing.

The wind, not as much.

So there's the tour.

Drop in

or like most days, blow in.

You can help do insurance logs.

I have coffee and satellite.

You know, the necessities.

 

 

 



Checking in

Hello friends,

I decided to jot out a quick blog

rather than respond to all my emails.

Your notes of encouragement and concern

after the fire have been wonderful.

Hearing I am missed in the blogging

 world...I'm not gonna lie...

feels kinda great.

We are still (gl)amping it up in the driveway.

Our restoration crew finished the house clean up yesterday.

The entire joint had to be emptied.

I purged for 4 days before they came.

I have dubbed this experience

The Great Purge of '13.

They loaded it all up in boxes and bags and took it to be cleaned.

Copious amounts of boxes.

 Then they left boxes of nor-restorable(s) and piles of non-restorable(s).

 

 

No baby/children's thing can be restored.

No florals.

And several antiques.

This is a fraction of them.

 

The stove and the dryer need replaced.

Then add in every food item in the cabinets,

the extra paper products ie. toilet paper, napkins, paper towels,

and Kleenex boxes.

I always had extra in storage.

Every bag of beans, pasta, grains.

Every spice tin.

Every cleaning product and every bath product.

Lotions, shampoos etc,.

We have 3 baths and each was stocked.

Every window blind has to be pitched.

Page after page logged for insurance.

All this from smoke damage.

Didn't look bad initially but it has been comprehensive.

 

 

 

 the electrical box was so close to the fire it had to be re-done

and it was re-located to the basement.

 

 

 the filthiness made me ill every time I went into the house

(that is where a rug laid on a white painted floor just outside our bedroom door)

 

So now, the contractors are here.

We opted to put some of our money into the project too.

We took the wall that was on fire out and opened those rooms up to each other.

 

My kitchen will be open to that laundry room.

 

 

The working part of the kitchen will be in there.

My former kitchen will just be for eating and gabbing.

My laundry has been relocated to outside my bedroom which was a nursery...

but I babysit at the girls' houses now, so I don't need a nursery.

They started drywalling yesterday.

And priming with paint in some rooms.

I am spending hours on the computer.

Thank goodness for internet.

I have been able to find replacement values on almost everything.

I still have a short list.

Blessedly, I have had helpers.

My friends and family have sorted and pitched with me.

A couple have shown up with Ipads and laptops and looked up values

beside me at my camper kitchen table

We will be out several weeks yet.

It takes a bit of time to paint every closet, ceiling, wall, and floors must be refinished.

The restoration team is now starting on our contents.

They said we are a big job.

I asked if I am an organized hoarder?

They assured me I am not.

They actually have all said they love my house.

I always feel the need to say well its filthy now. LOL

I blame Toots for my OCD to clean.

I will check in soon with pix of our sweet camper.

It has been a very busy time.

We have had so much rain.

10 inches the first week which made the basement flood.

I was half expecting to break out in boils and have locusts swarm.

Stuart hasn't farmed a lick.

It's good.

He has sanded the floors himself.

They are reading for stain.

He has sorted out and cleaned old tin from my dad's barn

for my kitchen ceiling.

I know God sent that rain because Stu needed to be around here in the evenings.

Our twins died 29 years ago today.

That year it rained and rained until

we were home from the hospital stay and buried them.

We didn't farm until the middle of May

God provided then and he will now.

Today would also have been my dad's birthday.

I choose to spend the day counting my blessings.

I have a wonderful family and many friends who make me feel cherished.

Life is good here in the camper.

God is good all the time.

Be well my sweet friends.

Thanks for showing me such love

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House fire

Life is busy here.

We had a house fire a week ago.

We are all fine.

It was a leaking gas line...

could have been awful...

but it wasn't.

We are fine.

The dogs are fine.

We had major smoke damage.

The entire house has to be emptied.

Every surface has to be cleaned and repainted.

All our stuff has to go out to be professionally restored.

We are living in a sweet 5th wheel camper of my sister, Judy's.

Reta moved in with Maggie's bunch

and Stella is in hog heaven at Annie's.

There's highchair food dropping action and they are pumped over that.

We are not sure how long we will be out but no matter
because we are sitting by our drive.
I can work in my flowers and sit on my porches.
Stu can work in his barn.
We had 10 inches of rain so he's not farming, yet.
God has a plan.
It is all good.
The day of the fire it was so windy.
They sent 9 trucks.
I called some friends who started the prayer chains...
I posted a prayer request on Instagram.
By the time the trucks showed up the wind had laid.
That's God for ya!
I am logging things that cannot be cleaned...
food, baby items, toys, health and beauty products.
It is time consuming but I can see what I had.
It was just smoke.
We could have lost it all.
And even if we would have,
there is so much more trouble in the world.
Stu said "we have each other...
we could live in the barn as long as we have each other."
He is right.
Every thing that matters to me is fine.
There is beauty in the ashes.
And fresh paint!
But please pray friends...
The restoration company has a lot of work to do.
The contractor does too.

 

 



Otherwise engaged

 

 

I write lots of blogs in my mind, in the middle of the night.

I wake and my mind starts whirling.

I think they are hilarious.

I amuse myself and then I drift back to sleep.

In the morning light I debate sitting down at my laptop

and hammering it out.

And then I get a cup of Joe and hit my veg spot 'til I can face the day.

I just can't care.



I have more fun things to do.

Blame this bunch.

 

 

Although, may I suggest before trying to take a picture

with 6 peas who are 7 years old and under...

Have a drink.

or 6.

Made me wish I was a drinker.

Also, consider that with 30 mph wind gales

you may appear to house owls in your hair.

We took hundreds of shots.

Okay, maybe tens of pix.

Most were hilarious.

Stuart kept talking.

I couldn't decide glasses/no glasses.

On the other side of this frame

were 8 adults yelling "cheese" and flapping their arms.

We are nothing if not a team.

 

 

 

 

Hilarious.

I mean seriously, who picked out his old man pants...

 

 

and why do I not live in elbow-length gloves...

 

But, there were some redeeming ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice he and I are not in any of those.

 

So, I don't blog much.

I mean really...

can you blame me?

They are just so ding-dang much fun.

 

 

*note to self...you need some new binoculars.

16 candles and then some.

Today my mom, Toots is 89.

 

I am blessed.

I have a great mom.

She raised me in a home filled with love.

She taught me many things.

She taught me to respect your husband

and put your relationship first.

She was married to my dad for 71 years

and demonstrated that over and over.

She schooled me in the art of housekeeping,

the creativity in decorating,

and the practice of homemade meals.

She makes the best potato salad and coconut cream pie.

Sadly not as much now that she lives in assisted living.

I am hoping my sister, Judy takes over again.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Except Judy, I hope.

One of my favorite things about her is her fun-loving spirit.

 

She loves to have a good time.

She went crazy every year for Halloween.

There was a contest for best costumes at the school

and she was always vying for us to win.

She square danced and she yodeled.

I can't say I always appreciated the yodeling

but now I see she was finding her joy

and it made her a happy camper.

She moved furniture every week.

You never knew where your bed would be.

Once she told Dad I'll race you to bed.

He took off before she warned him she had re-arranged the room.

He dove for the bed.

and found the floor because the bed was moved.

 

 





(Her kitchen band. She is on the far right)

 

She also taught me to love God.

I remember many times walking into the living room

to see her in a chair with her bible in her lap.

She has one of those great bibles that is falling apart from use.

I think it is one of the reasons I collect discarded bibles.

I love that they have been read so much

 they are dog-eared and tattered.

When Stuart and I had our twins

and were in those dark days

waiting for them to go home with the Lord,

I had a doctor ask me where I got my faith.

I answered "my mom".

She led by example.

It's one of the reasons I sing hymns as lullabies to my grands.

Start a chorus of He Lives or Trust and Obey

and you will see little Cliff's eyes grow heavy.

Then again, maybe he just gives it up to sleep so I don't start yodeling.

You  have heard the saying

Mirror, mirror on the wall

I am my mother after all.

Or the one...

I open my mouth and my mother comes out.

It's true.

My mom is famous in our family for her "Tootisms".

She has her own lingo.

She calls Dollar General, the General Dollar store.

She takes Tidelenol and has been known to plant clitoris(clematis) in her garden.

She told me last week she would like to get a coral cardinal for Spring.

She is jonesing for a coral cardigan for those of you who don't speak Toots. 

Truthfully, it runs in the family.

Remember the time I told the waiter I wasn't sure

whether I was to pay my bill at the table or the counter because

I didn't know the roll call.

Then realized oh my gosh... Er, protocal.

My sister Linda cannot talk about Dancing with the Stars

and not mention Chrisitie Allen.

Translation...Kirstie Alley.

Today, she and I are taking Mom to lunch,

shopping and to a movie.

We are taking Linda's husband, David along

as our translator.

If you see us out and about

give a shout out to Toots.

She is my favorite.

 

Her children arise and call her blessed...

Proverbs 31:28

 

 

 

 

 

 

We interrupt this program...

 

 No fear.

I am among the living.

I have been down with the crud of lungs and such.

It is my 3rd go-round.

I have not been to the doctor.

I am self medicating.

My man is down.

I am man medicating too.

Most of the family in fact has been in the throes of fever

or hacking coughs.

I hang with my 4 friends Mucinex, Dayquil, Nyquil, and Vicks.

However not all has been lost, I have noticed a few things
while spending my free time in a horizontal position.

 

1.  My couch has a permanent imprint of me.

 

2. I am not smarter than a fifth grader.

 

3. I know the Hallmark,TBS, and Lifetime sitcom schedule by heart.

 

4. I love Julia Louis Dreyfus. In. Everything.

 

5. I have unplanned my garden.  With all the televison to watch, ain't nobody got time for that.

 

6. I have eaten my weight in cuties and bananas.

 

7. Coffee tastes bad and that makes me sad.

 

8. You can babysit from the couch.
 

9. Yesterday,  I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out where Doug and Carrie Heffernen live. "Chicago?" I wondered because it was cold and there was snow in the background. Yeah, five minutes until I realized the show is called The King of Queens. I think most 5th graders know where Queens is located.

10. I tried to change my blog header. It is not right but I can't care. Annie is too busy to fix it and I don't know any 5th graders.  I have had one decent picture without sunglasses in the last year. It is my profile for everything. I am already growing sick of it. My 3 year old granddaughter took it.  Maybe she can fix the header.

   

 



Things that go bump in the night

 

 

Last night I woke in the middle of the night.

Well, it was actually 11:30 but I am old

and it felt like the middle of the night.

I needed to empty my bladder and I was hot.

I walked the seven steps to the bathroom

and started to unbutton my flannel pj shirt.

I was going to slip on a tank top.

On the way back to bed, I decided I wasn't hot

 and I would stay in the flannel shirt.

Just about that time,

I ran smack dab into Stuart, who had gotten up to use the bathroom.

I screamed in my usual vocal range of a 6th grade boy.

He very loudly yelled "Janie" and grabbed my forearms

which were in front of me buttoning up my shirt.

Then we hugged really hard

and kissed each other. ha

He said " I almost cold-cocked you!"

I said "you squeezed my arms so hard, I may have bruises."

I asked "why did you yell my name...

were you trying to warn me of an intruder?"

He said he didn't even know he yelled it.

Ridic.

And oh so scary.

In our defense:

1. we have one of those foam mattresses

where you cannot feel the other person move.

2. there is a night light in the bathroom.

3. he claims he patted my side of the bed before he got up and  I was there.

4. My body feels like a king-size bed pilow. Damn.

5. we don't limit our liquid intake before bed.

 

Today I put a night light in our bedroom

and I flexed a few muscles.

I won't be mistaken for a king-sized pillow again.

I am going for at the very least a standard size.

Oh, and I am serving salt for dinner.