Gratitude #83 - Sweet Biddies!
13 years ago
Monday, September 12, 2011
idaho
Miriam and I have been staying in our ancient travel trailer, in Idaho, for the last few days.
Along with 4 grandkids and daughter 2, we drove down afternoon Thursday. We got a lot of work done on Friday and the house is looking empty, which is good.
The beds in the house are full of family, so we go to the camper, where it is quiet and restful. I could turn on some heat - we have propane and electricity but it is not that cold. We don’t have water in the tanks. I am not sure I want to fill the system this late in the fall, and we only sleep here.
Next is to load the remaining furniture into the Cargo Trailer. Daughter and family will leave here today, leaving Miriam and I alone in our house for the first time in a long time.
My leather recliner, the lamp beside it and the TV will be the last to be packed away. I may well bring a lawn chair inside so we can both sit in comfort. There is enough “stuff” in the kitchen to function and we will be OK. How long will we stay camping here?
Not sure, but it will be most of this week at the least. There is no deadline. There is plenty of work to do. We may stay a while! Since the sale of the house fell through, there is no deadline.
While I do enjoy being with my family, I also enjoy being with Miriam, alone.
Miriam bought this trailer the year we were separated, she in Washington State with a job and I in Idaho, trying to make a job. A few years ago I gutted it, improved the insulation and built all new cabinets. It is comfortable.
Before winter it needs to be pulled back north.
Since we did not sell the house and have no idea of when that might happen, plans to build a studio or shop have been tabled. In Washington, this ancient trailer will be our “studio” and I’ll see if I can conjure a place to do some wood work, come spring.
Along with 4 grandkids and daughter 2, we drove down afternoon Thursday. We got a lot of work done on Friday and the house is looking empty, which is good.
The beds in the house are full of family, so we go to the camper, where it is quiet and restful. I could turn on some heat - we have propane and electricity but it is not that cold. We don’t have water in the tanks. I am not sure I want to fill the system this late in the fall, and we only sleep here.
Next is to load the remaining furniture into the Cargo Trailer. Daughter and family will leave here today, leaving Miriam and I alone in our house for the first time in a long time.
My leather recliner, the lamp beside it and the TV will be the last to be packed away. I may well bring a lawn chair inside so we can both sit in comfort. There is enough “stuff” in the kitchen to function and we will be OK. How long will we stay camping here?
Not sure, but it will be most of this week at the least. There is no deadline. There is plenty of work to do. We may stay a while! Since the sale of the house fell through, there is no deadline.
While I do enjoy being with my family, I also enjoy being with Miriam, alone.
Miriam bought this trailer the year we were separated, she in Washington State with a job and I in Idaho, trying to make a job. A few years ago I gutted it, improved the insulation and built all new cabinets. It is comfortable.
Before winter it needs to be pulled back north.
Since we did not sell the house and have no idea of when that might happen, plans to build a studio or shop have been tabled. In Washington, this ancient trailer will be our “studio” and I’ll see if I can conjure a place to do some wood work, come spring.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
dreams
Dreams are so flimsy.
It is amazing how little it takes to make a dream go bad.
Last night's political debate was interesting. One strategist advised to never base your plan on what the other guy may or may not do. They change their direction and you are in tall grass.
Selling property is like that, I guess. Your joy (a sale) is based on someone else's actions, which can be influenced by well meaning and not so well meaning friends and family.
Which makes it all sort of a house of cards.
But we are not kids any more (75 next time). To be really useful for the last of our years, a tad of money would be better sooner than later.
And, speaking of the Lord's leading. Up to this point everything was falling into place.
Rent the place? Past record on that one was 2 good renters and one extremely bad one.
Not much assurance there.
It is amazing how little it takes to make a dream go bad.
Last night's political debate was interesting. One strategist advised to never base your plan on what the other guy may or may not do. They change their direction and you are in tall grass.
Selling property is like that, I guess. Your joy (a sale) is based on someone else's actions, which can be influenced by well meaning and not so well meaning friends and family.
Which makes it all sort of a house of cards.
But we are not kids any more (75 next time). To be really useful for the last of our years, a tad of money would be better sooner than later.
And, speaking of the Lord's leading. Up to this point everything was falling into place.
Rent the place? Past record on that one was 2 good renters and one extremely bad one.
Not much assurance there.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
oh well
Todays big news!
The sale of the house went south, way south.
So we are back to where we were before we were there.
But, that is how life goes.
Tomorrow we go back to the house to clear and clean. We is a daughter and two very capable granddaughters. I may spend a good bit of the fall there, or back and forth from here to there.
Not what I had in mind, but I am often such a romantic!
The sale of the house went south, way south.
So we are back to where we were before we were there.
But, that is how life goes.
Tomorrow we go back to the house to clear and clean. We is a daughter and two very capable granddaughters. I may spend a good bit of the fall there, or back and forth from here to there.
Not what I had in mind, but I am often such a romantic!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
back home
We are back "home."
Miriam is beginning to think of our Washington home as HOME. That is good. When I told her that she would need to come back with Daughter 1, she had a fit that lasted until I changed my schedule so she could come back with me.
The house is emptying. I brought back a ton (quite literally) of books and stuff. The girls squirreled boxes of things away with them when they left Idaho for their homes. The inside of the house is down to furniture, mostly.
The furniture in our house was mostly hand made. That give each piece a priority when it comes to moving. We will leave a few built in pieces, but virtually everything that will move will be moved.
The plan is to go back to Idaho Thursday and load up much of that remaining furniture. It is bulkier, and the pickup and trailer will both be filled to capacity by it all.
I will take Miriam with me, since Daughter 1 and her family are committed to another event. Daughter 2 and her family (maybe just the two teen age girls - who are fabulous help) and maybe a guy or three too will go also.
I just brought construction equipment (not to be confused with cabinetmaking equipment - there is some cross over, but for the most part, though each works with wood, the tools and equipment are different) enough to build the studios and shop. I also brought a lot of garden hand tools.
Someone borrowed my little Mantis tiller, or it was stolen (hopefully the former), but I brought all my favorites including the scythe I bought with money my grandmother gave me for my birthday several decades ago.
Indeed we are moving "home."
Miriam is beginning to think of our Washington home as HOME. That is good. When I told her that she would need to come back with Daughter 1, she had a fit that lasted until I changed my schedule so she could come back with me.
The house is emptying. I brought back a ton (quite literally) of books and stuff. The girls squirreled boxes of things away with them when they left Idaho for their homes. The inside of the house is down to furniture, mostly.
The furniture in our house was mostly hand made. That give each piece a priority when it comes to moving. We will leave a few built in pieces, but virtually everything that will move will be moved.
The plan is to go back to Idaho Thursday and load up much of that remaining furniture. It is bulkier, and the pickup and trailer will both be filled to capacity by it all.
I will take Miriam with me, since Daughter 1 and her family are committed to another event. Daughter 2 and her family (maybe just the two teen age girls - who are fabulous help) and maybe a guy or three too will go also.
I just brought construction equipment (not to be confused with cabinetmaking equipment - there is some cross over, but for the most part, though each works with wood, the tools and equipment are different) enough to build the studios and shop. I also brought a lot of garden hand tools.
Someone borrowed my little Mantis tiller, or it was stolen (hopefully the former), but I brought all my favorites including the scythe I bought with money my grandmother gave me for my birthday several decades ago.
Indeed we are moving "home."
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Miriam at our house
I was nervous about Miriam coming to our Idaho house.
That sounds dumb. This was her home for as long as it has been mine. But with AD and her lack of cognitive skills, I was not sure it would work out well. As is often the case, she is better to the daughters than to me. To me she began about as soon as she walked in the door.
"What have you don't to MY house?" "Why don't we live here, I like MY house." etc. There are just a few questions, but they are asked again and again. In bed last night, she would not stop. She kept repeating the same lament.
In a lot of ways she is right and she really does have a good reason for being sad about it all. All of us are, to some degree, What I see as the beginning of a new adventure, she, in her foggy AD mind, sees as calamity. I remind her that her mother died 17 years younger than we are now, that her father was an invalid by the time he was our age and that he came to live with us when he was in his late 60's. I reminded her that neither my mother, father or step father lived as old as we are now. We are older than we sometimes think.
-----
Last evening the 4 of us who are here were looking around(daughters 1 and 3 drove in yesterday - today daughter 4 arrives by plane, and daughter 2 will arrive by car). We spent some time looking through a pile of Miriam's watercolor paintings. They were exquisite.
We decided that there is enough there, of superb quality to mount a true retrospective show. There is a gallery at the small University in our new town and we know the people in charge of the gallery. We are going to see if we can have an art show.
This collection of her paintings reminds us of what a wonderfully skilled artist she was. This week I was interviewed for an article in our church newsletter. When i was asked if I had any regrets, I said that I so wished I could have gotten her into a good art school when she was 20 or 21, rather than at 46 or 47.
Today we will photograph all of the paintings, so we have a digital record to share. Then we will carefully pack them into cases waiting for that art show.
That sounds dumb. This was her home for as long as it has been mine. But with AD and her lack of cognitive skills, I was not sure it would work out well. As is often the case, she is better to the daughters than to me. To me she began about as soon as she walked in the door.
"What have you don't to MY house?" "Why don't we live here, I like MY house." etc. There are just a few questions, but they are asked again and again. In bed last night, she would not stop. She kept repeating the same lament.
In a lot of ways she is right and she really does have a good reason for being sad about it all. All of us are, to some degree, What I see as the beginning of a new adventure, she, in her foggy AD mind, sees as calamity. I remind her that her mother died 17 years younger than we are now, that her father was an invalid by the time he was our age and that he came to live with us when he was in his late 60's. I reminded her that neither my mother, father or step father lived as old as we are now. We are older than we sometimes think.
-----
Last evening the 4 of us who are here were looking around(daughters 1 and 3 drove in yesterday - today daughter 4 arrives by plane, and daughter 2 will arrive by car). We spent some time looking through a pile of Miriam's watercolor paintings. They were exquisite.
We decided that there is enough there, of superb quality to mount a true retrospective show. There is a gallery at the small University in our new town and we know the people in charge of the gallery. We are going to see if we can have an art show.
This collection of her paintings reminds us of what a wonderfully skilled artist she was. This week I was interviewed for an article in our church newsletter. When i was asked if I had any regrets, I said that I so wished I could have gotten her into a good art school when she was 20 or 21, rather than at 46 or 47.
Today we will photograph all of the paintings, so we have a digital record to share. Then we will carefully pack them into cases waiting for that art show.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I have very fond memories in and around this house. Our kids were near teens or teens when we moved here. My mom wanted me to build this house so I could have a place for my girls. Later it was grandkids.
Happily, Miriam and I have spent countless hours reading to our kids and grand kids. We don't regret a moment of that time.
This is a particularly poignant photograph. Miriam, long before AD, reading to Emily, who is now 17.
I will miss the house, but the memories are mine to keep.
Wednesday
Today daughters begin to arrive.
Arline (#1) will arrive from Washington State with Miriam, and later Dea (#3) will arrive from California. I spent yesterday going through stuff in Miriam's office. Left her a box of things that she can pour over and through for a long time. There are letters from her mother, uncles and aunts, her sisters and so on. Many of those people are not with us any longer.
This morning I am going to set a bathroom vanity cabinet for a friend. That is what friends do! They have been friends for a LONG time and have helped here more than once. That should not take too long.
Then it is back to loading boxes, making trash and wondering what to do next.
The new owner of the house, a good friend, says to leave what we don't want to take and he will consider it a treasure hunt! We won't leave it a mess, but we will leave him a good bit of "treasure."
By tomorrow night all 4 of our daughters will be here for a few last days. They grew up in this house. It is the only house I ever owned. We have wonderful memories, all of us. It is a time to put things together and to remember and maybe even shed a tear now and then.
Then it will be over and we will move on to the next part of our crooked lives!
Arline (#1) will arrive from Washington State with Miriam, and later Dea (#3) will arrive from California. I spent yesterday going through stuff in Miriam's office. Left her a box of things that she can pour over and through for a long time. There are letters from her mother, uncles and aunts, her sisters and so on. Many of those people are not with us any longer.
This morning I am going to set a bathroom vanity cabinet for a friend. That is what friends do! They have been friends for a LONG time and have helped here more than once. That should not take too long.
Then it is back to loading boxes, making trash and wondering what to do next.
The new owner of the house, a good friend, says to leave what we don't want to take and he will consider it a treasure hunt! We won't leave it a mess, but we will leave him a good bit of "treasure."
By tomorrow night all 4 of our daughters will be here for a few last days. They grew up in this house. It is the only house I ever owned. We have wonderful memories, all of us. It is a time to put things together and to remember and maybe even shed a tear now and then.
Then it will be over and we will move on to the next part of our crooked lives!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I went for a little walk the other day.
The dam that created the reservoir where we were camped was at the end of a 5 mile hike. So i did it. By the time I got back it was getting pretty hot, which worried some of my friends. I had water, I was OK.
I wanted to see if I could still walk/hike that far and I can!
back
I am in Idaho in our house. The camp trip was good and my batteries are charged.
Last night Jim, the new owner, stopped by. He and I are on the same page about so many things. He will be good to the place and it to him.
Today I am packing Miriam's office/studio. It is the space where she worked for half a dozen years before AD. It will go better if I can get it cleared out before Miriam arrives tomorrow.
Now if I could just sleep well. Some one said that good sleep is the sign of a clear conscience. By that rubric I am in deep trouble.
The powers have decided to run a piece about us in the church news letter. Our finger prints are all over the church: Stained glass; sign out front; cabinets; book cases, wood work etc. etc. I resisted the article, but finally agreed. My friends know we are leaving. Other wise I wanted little comment.
Before this week Miriam and all of our daughters will be here. Partially they are here to divide some of the art and craft items that we cannot take with us. They are also here to pay respect to the house where they grew up. They will meet Jim and Veronica and I know they will be at ease about the house.
My guess is that cracker box house have less attachment. It is these weird, wild nutty places that seem to tug the most. The house was pure 70s when built, but since then I have picked up motifs and ideas for the inside from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century.
Jim says he will continue with my dream.
Last night Jim, the new owner, stopped by. He and I are on the same page about so many things. He will be good to the place and it to him.
Today I am packing Miriam's office/studio. It is the space where she worked for half a dozen years before AD. It will go better if I can get it cleared out before Miriam arrives tomorrow.
Now if I could just sleep well. Some one said that good sleep is the sign of a clear conscience. By that rubric I am in deep trouble.
The powers have decided to run a piece about us in the church news letter. Our finger prints are all over the church: Stained glass; sign out front; cabinets; book cases, wood work etc. etc. I resisted the article, but finally agreed. My friends know we are leaving. Other wise I wanted little comment.
Before this week Miriam and all of our daughters will be here. Partially they are here to divide some of the art and craft items that we cannot take with us. They are also here to pay respect to the house where they grew up. They will meet Jim and Veronica and I know they will be at ease about the house.
My guess is that cracker box house have less attachment. It is these weird, wild nutty places that seem to tug the most. The house was pure 70s when built, but since then I have picked up motifs and ideas for the inside from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century.
Jim says he will continue with my dream.
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