I must say I have sorely missed not having my blog up and running this past week. I guess it is like the Chinese proverb quoted in “Under the Tuscan Sun” that says, “One who writes, lives life twice.” I certainly find that when I take the time to write a review of my day it helps me to appreciate the things that I got done, helps encourage me to do the things I put off, as well as makes me aware of the many blessings that graced my path that day.
Several of you have called this week, eager to hear how things are going. I have much appreciated your interest and support. I feel more energized to get things done when I think of this house project as just another episode on reality TV.
It’s hard to say what I did this week. I was certainly busy all day everyday, but with a house in the state that ours is in, you can really be busy all day everyday without getting anything substantial done.
(I’m going to try this open cupboard effect to see if it “opens the room” as it is reported to do. What do you think?)
Monday was a bit of a stressful day for me. We had moved everything over on Saturday- which was a blog entry of its own. Dear! Sunday we had tried not to work on the house and observe the sabbath and did a good job all day, until around 11:00 when we both started tearing the wallpaper down in the kitchen. So Monday morning I found myself surrounded by boxes, with no clear idea of where things were or where I could put them, and we don’t have nearly the shelf or drawer space now in our unfurnished home. So I decided to ignore the mess and went outside. I spent most of the afternoon weeding the corner of the flowerbeds across fromt he kitchen window where I had planned on planting our vegetable garden. The area was thick with one kind of plant that had to be shoveled out to properly remove the roots. I then dug more holes and immersed my tomato, pepper, and Basil plants in the dirt. They hadn’t enjoyed the move- waving wildly in the bed of Tom’s truck as we zipped down the highway. To make a long story short. We could only get a 10foot Uhaul, so we ended up stuffing that to the gills and then returning with Tom’s truck to Oberlin to cut down on the cost, and will have to return one maybe two times to get the stuff we left in the garage there. Anyway, the plants ended up in the open truck bed, and didn’t like it. My dear magnolia tree was stripped of all of its leaves 2/3 up. It looks ragged and uncared for, but I dug out a stump in the front yard and tenderly placed it in a large hole. I bought some miracle grow in hopes of reviving them all, and am happy to say that after a week of readjusting they are finally perking up and throwing out new blooms and leaves.
(Left: Vegetable garden, Right: I removed the shurbs that ran this side of the driveway and weeded)
(Green carpet be gone!)
Tuesday I decided that in order for me to be sane I needed to put my house in order. I got rid of all the boxes in living room and put away anything I could. I placed the boxes open in rows in their proper rooms so at least we could see what was in them. I put stuff in closets and hung all the frames on remaining hooks. By the end of the day, our house was clear from clutter and I felt much better. I swept all the floors- which is actually a quite pleasant task due to the beautiful wood floors. I also weeded our front walkway, which looks much more inviting now, and applied roundup to the weeds running the cracks of our driveway and sidewalk. It was a strange experience squirting the roundup, because I realized in all my years of gardening and out yard work, I had never applied roundup. It had always been my father’s job. I’ve expressed this before, but there is something very eye opening about owning a house and realizing all of those tasks that went unnoticed because they were performed by others. I think of my Mother everytime I walk out to water my plants, because she had always taken care of that part of the gardening.
(Front pathway weed-free)
Step 1 Step 2
Step 3
(Living room/Dining room area. Here are the plaster walls without the glue. We think they look gorgeous, but a visit from the Elders’ quorum with their accompanying shocked eyes at the state of our walls reminded us that we are not yet done.)
I should add that the first part of the week we also had a group of plumbers working on our water. They had finished reinstalling the copper on Saturday, only to discover that there were several leaks throughout the plumbing and three blown out faucets (one literally blew it’s metal cap!). After talking through the costs and the necessary repairs we contracted them to get the upstairs hall bathroom fully functioning, which would require them to cut into the walls and fix all the leaks. The rest, replacing valves, replacing faucets, and fixing drains- Tom volunteered to do.
I had been a little nervous about being home alone all day with a bunch of construction guys. You just never know who characters you might end up with. Fortunatly I loved our plumbers. They were the nicest of guys and would come up from time to time to tease me, or praise
my improvements on the house or garden. They were always more the willing to talk Tom through the plumbing he was repairing and to tell him what parts he would need and how they should be put together. They have a policy of always cleaning up when they leave, and actually left our basement cleaner than they found it. They did a beautiful job with the plumbing and we wish we could have afforded to have them do it all.
Tom has been so excited about all the projects available for him. He wakes up early and stay up late- saltering pipes, installing faucets, and purusing the lanes of home depot. I don’t usually join him in the real early hours, but like to stay up and work with him when he gets home from work. This week’s project has been mainly plumbing. We were both very excited when he fixed the valves and pipes in the Masterbathroom. At first we thought he would just have to replace the valves, but when he went to take one off the entire pipe came out of the wall. So he had to cut a bit chunck of the drywall out of the closet behind and install a piece of copper with a tee joint. Equipped with a book on plumbing and a mound of enthusiasm he tackled the problem and in the end came out successful. His saltering job looks beautiful, (we’ve considered installing glass rather than drywall to show off his work!!) and the faucet, toilet and shower now all work without a single drip from the pipes!
(I’ll add here that our shower is amazing! It has 5 showerheads. One main one, and four down below. Tom’s report after his first shower was, “I think that was one of the best shower experiences I have ever had.” It’s like a water massage! Man our house is high class!)
Thursday I spent the day shopping. We needed several things like a dish drying tray, a utensil tray, primer, a hose, that sort of stuff. I was pretty exhausted physically and my hands were sore and swollen from all the scrubbing the day before, so I decided to take the day off. I enjoyed picking up a few decorative things from Goodwill- two dainty green mugs, a yellow watering can, and a neat pot. I splurged and bought an electric sander at Home depot, and I picked out a red dish drying tray at Walmart. I bought some brass hooks with brass balls at the end for the hall bathroom shower curtain, along with a red container for the kitchen. All in all I enjoyed being out and about, talking with real people, and exploring the options for home decor.
Friday I finished up scrubbing the walls in the dining room. I spent the rest of the day driving down to Kent and spending the afternoon and Evening with Erin Durham, Barb Huff, and Erin’s mom Gretchen. Erin was participating in the Kent/Blossom music festival all summer and Tom and I had really wanted to go hear her play. Tom ended up needing to shadow a doctor that day so I went alone. She played in a Brahms Clarinet quartet with her chamber group, which made me think of Adalee and her clarinet. (Adee you have to hear this piece it’s gorgeous, someday you’ll have to play it!) We then spent an hour chatting with Barb before we headed off for a picnic and concert by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra at the outdoor Blossom Ampitheater. It is a gorgeous venue with fabulous acoustics. The symphony was exquisite and usual, and the open air atmosphere only added to the effect. They played a Schubert piece, then played a Messiaen piece about the Ressurection. They played Dvorak symphony no. 9 “From the New World” and finished with a Strauss waltz. It was a lovely concert and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so great to see Erin and her Mom, and I realized around the end of the evening that i had been talking almost constantly- which is a sure sign that I have been too cooped up lately. I apologized about my ramblings explaining that I had been working alone most of the week. They both smiled, laughed and assured me that they were enjoying my (certainly over dramatized) conversation.
Saturday the neighborhood west of ours was having a huge combined garage sale. There were reportedly 50 garage sales. I arose early, eager to not miss out on any gems. Our loot: a lawnmower for $45, an Iron for $8, a kitchenette table for $15, a grill for free, four white outdoor chairs for $10, and the best a Bissell vacumn for $5! Tom asked if it had any problems and she sort of shrugged and said there were a few things wrong with it, but she wasn’t sure what. As we drove home Tom said that he had seen, he thought, the same vacumn and Cosco for 170 dollars. As soon as we arrived home we turned it on and found it puffing dust and hardly picking up anything. Tom proceeded to take it apart and within two minutes had identified the problem the tube running from the suction to the bagless tray was completely clogged with stuff. He emptied that out, cleaned all the filters, and washed it up and now it looks brand new, and works like a charm. It has all the attached hoses, a 4 filter system, is bagless, and we’re thrilled!
We attended the Temple yesterday evening, which was wonderful. I hadn’t been in far too long, and felt renewed and uplifted. The temple is such a beautiful and peaceful place, and I feel so blessed to be able to take advantage of its rich blessings. Every time I leave the temple I feel my priorities are back in line, that I am more excited about serving and living virtously, and I always feel a greater love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I feel a greater kinship with my fellow brothers and sisters of this world, those alive and those passed on, and this kinship helps me want to share the goodness of the gosple. I am so grateful for Temples, and I am so grateful that Tom and I can go together. It strengthens our marriage and unites our desires.