All decked out for fall!

As much as I love summer, fall has a charm all its own!

We love our big basket of mums!

A combination of Lisa Boyer's Postcards from Hawaii and Kari Nichols' Charming Fractions.

This is what I see out the kitchen window over the sink.

                                          We're enjoying our gas fireplace on cool days. 

                                         Ceramic jack-o-lantern was a wedding gift in 1980.  Still charming!

Settling in

This brings back memories of the hundreds of hours Larry and I spent cutting my parents' grass when they lived out in Auburn.

Larry is enjoying being back on a lawnmower after a very dry summer.  We are thankful we've finally had some rain.

This is a quotation from the book "Swallows and Amazons", which was first published in 1930.  I always liked the father's response to his children's request for permission to go camping on a nearby island.

Now that we're pretty well moved in, I've had some time to sew.  I am not good with blinds, and was happy to find fabric for 50 cents per yard on the clearance rack to make curtains and a tablecloth.  (A quilted tablecloth!)

I haven't been brave enough to remove the blinds yet - that's next.

(Almost) all moved in!

We are getting a lot of exercise running up and down the stairs as we move our things in and decided where to put them.  And then look again because we can't remember where the hundreds of things we relocated ended up.

I have a sewing room!   In it's former life this was the formal dining room, but since we don't do formal dining, a sewing room seemed like a splendid use for it.

Remember when Blogger used to have you put the last picture you wanted to display in your post, first?  It was very confusing, but in my ignorance I thought it still worked that way.  It's been a while since I have posted any photos.  I could start over, but you'll get the idea and I don't have much time.

The truck came on Wednesday, August 1 to remove the largest items.  We moved the smaller ones ourselves.

A well deserved rest after a busy week of moving.

Sun Porch

I love the big open kitchen.

As you can imagine, our cat LOVES his catwalk.

I obviously have a lot of relearning to do if I want to use Blogger.  I did want to show you our new home, but don't have time to rearrange the photos in the order I intended them to be.  Truck first, front door next,  then stairway,living room, kitchen, porch, finally, resting after a busy day.

Time to go do something.  We still have a lot of things to bring from the storage unit(s).  Take care, and enjoy the rest of the summer. (or winter if you live down under).

In which

the archaeological dig continues and it becomes abundantly clear that I have not spent nearly enough time dusting.  You have dust bunnies?  I have dust dragons.

The more time I spend packing, the less inclined I am to save things.  Yesterday we read each wedding card and then dropped it in the recycling.  When we come to the baby cards we will do the same thing.

We have two storage units that are nearly full.  When it comes time to unpack I will wonder why I thought some of those things were worth saving, and the purge will continue.

Often when cleaning in the last 32 years I would tell myself I had to put away, throw away, or give away at least 10 items every day until. . .

well that was the problem.  Until I got tired of it.  Which happened all too soon.  I used to tell myself that if we were moving there was no way I would save such-and-such.  But we weren't moving, so I did save whatever-it-was.

Now we are moving, and I think of my friend Lisa.  She moved from Kauai to Northern California.  She certainly couldn't fill up two storage units with things to haul across the ocean.  Every time I feel overwhelmed I think of Lisa.  Moving five miles down the road with no actual deadline is NOTHING compared to traveling halfway around the world with no turning back. It would be somewhat freeing to know for sure that I just had to get rid of EVERYTHING.  Less is more is sounding better and better.

We signed and signed and then signed some more yesterday, so the deed is done.  We will have a new address soon.  

New Hobby

I've been thinking about birds lately.  In particular, migratory birds and the way they relocate twice a year, sometimes hundreds of miles, and never have to pack a bag, much less a household full of furniture, dishes, and all those other things we can't get along without.  

Our plan to combine households with Larry's mother is becoming a realty.  We plan to move in about six weeks, and oh my!  It is daunting to look around at our 32 years of accumulation and decide if we REALLY need to keep all those things.   The kindergarten papers (and first grade, second grade, etc) are adorable, but do we need them?  The toys and games we've been saving in case we have grandchildren someday.  

The clothes that were in style 30 years ago, and the hundreds and hundreds of books we may want to read again.  Someday.

Of course we all know that we can't get along without the guitars - I don't even know how many there are.  Same with fabric and yarn.

The piano we've had for 30 years that no one plays.   The trombone in the attic, along with the bowling ball and golf clubs no one has used in years.

I'll be spending the next six weeks sorting, packing, cleaning, and making lots of small decisions.   I hope you have a great summer!

A Cautionary Tale

I was just visiting The Yarn Harlot's blog post about procrastinating.  People commented to sympathize and encourage, and at least two people suggested she start the laundry and then go for a bike ride.  

Red Flag!

PLEASE do not ever start your washer, dryer, dishwasher, or other appliance and then leave the house.  One day I just ran across the street for five minutes to deliver dinner to a neighbor, and came home to a house full of smoke.  Our dryer malfunctioned, and if I'd been another five minutes the dryer would have been in flames. 

I know people who haven't been as fortunate, and lost their homes (at least temporarily) to a fire started by an untended appliance.   Yes, it is tempting to just let the laundry do itself while  you run some errands,  but I promise you it is not a good idea. 

Mother's Day

                                                       Visiting Mom


Mama sits in her chair with her eyes far away
Resting there, waiting there day after day.
The stranger comes in and says, "Hi, Mom it's me."
The voice sounds familiar, but who can it be?


A day of talking and reading and let's go outside,
See the birds and the trees and the great big blue sky.
With the wheelchair it's easy to tour the grounds.
The flowers are lovely, they grow in great mounds.


Mama remembers the hymns of her youth
her soft voice is sharing the safe words of truth
Her once brilliant mind is reduced now to wisps
of things she once knew; we sigh as she slips


Into the tired old woman who wants to go home.
She doesn't remember the way to her room,
doesn't know that she lives here in 184.
With her very own lighthouse attached to the door.


Goodbye, Mom, we'll see you the next time we come,
Again bringing chocolate that makes you say, "Yum!"
This disease that is cruel has one kindness left
It lets you remember the food you like best!