On giving things away…

When I was teaching in Ft Wayne, I complimented one of my students on her lovely blue earrings. She said her daughter sold jewelry and often gave her pieces and would I like to have them. Well, yes, I did indeed like them enough to want them and I offered to buy them but she said no… and at the end of class she gave them to me! I love them and really appreciated Joan’s generosity.

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FYI: These are made by Silpada and if you are interested, you can click here to contact Joan’s daughter, Amy.

The thing is that it’s especially nice to be generous, and it’s also nice to accept generosity. I try to do both well. In this case, I will remember Joan every time I wear these earrings, which will be often!

 

Inside and upstairs at the Woods…

I did remember to take a before picture of a window sill to give you an idea of what some of the walls looked like before being painted. I do so love what a fresh coat of paint adds to a space!

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There is an upstairs loft in this house…

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Next year I’m going to paint the floor up here, and will probably give the wall that is currently painted a fresh coat of paint. We are going to ignore the sloped ceilings. It’s a cabin-like space, after all!

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Rather than putting mattresses in the house, Steve is putting plywood into twin bed frames. He’s going to purchase inexpensive inflatable mattresses that folks who spend the night can use with bedding or sleeping bags. It’s seems cleaner to us to do it that way, less dusty. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Here’s the view from over the railings. The living area looks happy. I had the chairs feet-up on the dining table and it’s not totally tidy, but you get the idea. I can tell already that I will want to clean the tops of the ceiling fan blades. I wonder how I can reach them…

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The screened-in porch is just outside that big front door.

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And, lastly, here’s one of the downstairs bedrooms, with one bed platform, a table, and reclaimed lamp… All we need are some more bed platforms and the Woods will be good to go!

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Best baby announcement, ever…

First, let me clearly state that no one that I know of in my family is pregnant or otherwise expecting a new arrival. But our friends, Karen and Hunt, are indeed expecting a brand new grandbaby. They made a youtube video with the other set of expectant grandparents that is just too good not to share. Enjoy!

Summer project—2014…

If you have read my blog long, you know that Steve and I usually work on some sort of big ‘house’ project during the summer. Since we just had our house remodeled last year, we don’t have a project to do at our house. We helped Chris with his bathroom remodel in the spring and early summer. Now what?

We decided to work on the McCarley Woods. Howard and Marian McCarley donated a wonderful property to Austin College a few years ago. It is primarily used by faculty and students in the biology department.

The cabin on the property is solid but needs a bit of spiffing up. Steve and I decided that this would be a great project but first we needed a place to put the tools that are occupying one of the bedrooms. Se we decided to build a shed!

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Steve designed an 8′ x 8′, pier and beam structure. Last weekend he put in the foundation and built the framework for the front and back wall. Tuesday morning (after Pilates) I showed up to do my part which is to be both foreman and gopher.

I helped him raise the end walls and secure them in place. Then the framing for the side walls went up. After that, we added the 2′ tall extension that he had prepared to the top of the front wall. The roof will slope from front to back.

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Christopher joined us after lunch and I, for one, was very happy. The siding is Hardie paneling and it is heavy! Drilling holes and driving screws through it was hard on their hands… I have a feeling I could not have done it at all.

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Once the back and two sides were paneled, Steve and I hoisted and slid 4′ x 8′ sheets of chip board up to Chris, who nailed them to the rafters. Next we sent up metal roofing sheets. All of that sounds a lot easier than it was :-).

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It was a long day and we called it quits at 6:00. Wednesday it rained. Luckily I had found time to put a coat of water seal on the plywood floor while the guys were doing other things so it didn’t peel apart.

This morning Steve went out early (because I went to Pilates again) and started getting Hardie panels cut and installed on the front wall.

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I helped him get the remaining, small wall panels up. Next we worked on enclosing the roof rafters to keep the critters out. And we wanted to trim out the corners of the shed before we broke for lunch. At some point it started to drizzle, and then rain.

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We were wet and muddy when we called it quits at 12:30. Steve is going to build the doors later and maybe we can hang them Saturday. We’ll paint the shed in a couple of weeks, when I am back after teaching in Indiana next week.

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It is solid and functional. Once painted it might even be cute!

Taking a ride on the way-back machine…

You know those emails that you sometimes get? The ones with lots of photos that have been forwarded so many times that you have no idea who actually wrote the first email? Every now and then I get a really good one. This was the subject line: a dose of nostalgia. Thank you, Nancy for sending it :-).

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I made these, by the dozens! Gotta say that they were lousy potholders but they kept me busy. My mom surely loved that part. Below are my grandmothers good highball glasses. Looks like she wasn’t the only one who had them.

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I wonder what happened to my diary? It looked just like this.

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I think Mom’s table and chairs were pink. Or red.

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I hated this vacuum, with a passion. But my mother loved it.

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My first mascara… I don’t miss it one little bit. For those too young to know, you wet the brush and swished it on the dark cake of mascara and then applied to your lashes. What a mess it was!

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I miss the feel of this phone in my hand, and the sound of the dial. The noise was good in both directions. Dial enough and it could make your finger hurt.

Now that I think of it, I miss the experience of talking on an old phone. Talking on the phone was more special then than it is now. We didn’t just call for any little thing—and we for sure didn’t call long distance often. I don’t miss that part—I love being able to call anywhere in the country as if I am calling across town.

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I have Mom’s watch that is similar to this one. I wish it could be made to work.

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I wish I could find these diaper pins now, for Bear who wears cloth diapers now.

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Remember this nasty glue? It dried brown and didn’t work. What’s to love?

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I was a tomboy and played cowboys and Indians with the neighborhood boys when I was 6 or 7. We all had metal cap guns that these strings of caps fit in. I remember the smell of the burning powder and paper! I suspect that is a toy that cannot be found these days.

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Hose, that came in a box, and required a garter belt. I am so thankful that hose are out of fashion.

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Remember the roller rink?

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I still have my bronzed baby shoes! and several leather baby shoes that didn’t quite make it to the bronzer. I don’t know why I love them, but I do.

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How could something be both gross and good at the same time? I actually preferred the cherry Luden’s cough drops, which are still around.

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Oh, if only the penmanship the nuns tried to teach me had stuck. I type much better than I write by hand.

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Anodized aluminum glasses are pretty but they sweat too much and, as I recall, they have a subtle metallic taste. Even so, they are just too pretty! If I had any, I’d use them.

I tried googling ‘a dose of nostalgia’ and did not find the source for these images but there were some interesting pages. If you want to, use ‘the google‘ and see what you find!

John Flynn is riding again…

John Flynn has been getting in shape in between shows and snow storms and is ready to ride in Bike MS. Mile by mile and dollar by dollar, Bike MS is changing lives. That’s why he registered for Bike MS and why he’s asking you to support his fundraising efforts with a tax-deductible donation.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to creating a world free of MS, but they can’t do it without our help. It’s faster and easier than ever to support this cause. Simply click here to visit John’s page and make a donation.

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Your donation supports cutting-edge research and programs and services for everyone impacted by MS. Ending MS means no one will receive an MS diagnosis again. Every dollar helps.  Every person makes a difference. And, because John goes above and beyond in all things, he has made this quilt that one of his lucky supporters will win!

Please support him by making a donation! He promises to keep his supporters posted on his progress. Click here to go to John’s Bike MS page to make a donation.