Friday we started work on the sewing room.
That flash flood from last September did damage that we are just now addressing.
There was mold that we tended to and after treating it, applying Kiltz and a lot of cleaning - we were ready to put the room back together.
I found some treasures that had fallen behind things......
like this autographed photo of Monty and Dually......
Amber loved horses when she was a little girl - and still does.
Monty Roberts was known as the Horse Whisperer.
The four shelves bookcase that held all our cookbooks was so damaged that Louis Dean had to cut it off and make it a three shelf bookcase.
I found this treasure on one of the shelves.
It wasn't lost because I knew it was there.
It was a gift from Deanie 47 years ago on my 23rd birthday.
I have used many of the recipes and will forever keep this cookbook in my collection.
While I may not live to be 123 - I am going to work on it!!
Amber's first cat was named Calico......I painted this in 1990 and it had fallen behind the bookcase.
The entire room was a total mess!
I took the curtains, shades and blinds down and washed everything.
Things were all piled up int the closet area and we even carried stuff out to the gazebo.
This is the way it looked Friday night when we went to bed.
Saturday morning we started in again.
Slowly but surely, I was able to reclaim order out of the chaos.
By the way, the kitchen is on the other side of the window looking area where the Pfaltzgraff pottery is on the shelves. To the left of that back lamp on the bookshelf is the dining room.
The French doors (where I was standing to take this pic) open out to the gazebo.
I am not a true stitcher like my friend, Arlene, but I have done some work that I just can't throw out.
I really need to take these apart and wash them but for now I cleaned them up the best I could - and hung them on the wall.
I remember the hours I spent on each of these.....
especially this one! It's not a good picture but I do love this scene.
I hung this right above the desk and I can see it now as I write.
I have so many memories in each and every room.
I love this sewing room and it is now more user friendly than it was.
My crafts, fabrics, sewing machine, so many books and cookbooks, all organized and where I can put my hands on what I need when I need it!
Saturday evening Louis Dean built us a campfire and we sat in the gazebo looking into the sewing room and admiring our work.
One project we can call done!
With the exception of the ceiling repair from the water leak last fall.
All in good time..... that's in the closet area and not noticeable .....much......
This morning we were up and ready to go to church!
It's March Madness at Fellowship!
I am not a basketball fan and do not know a thing about the game but I know lots of people love the Mavericks!
It was so much fun to see these two on the stage doing what they do!
Going to church is always an adventure with a scriptural sermon that applies to real life every single Sunday!
After church Louis Dean and I made a trip to Home Depot to buy house paint.
I paint the house like they paint the Golden Gate Bridge......
once you finish - it's time to start over again.
That's why I paint it the same color.
We do not hire it done - we are old school and do it ourselves.
That's why it takes so long.
We took a tea break in the gazebo and Louis Dean spied the first gecko of the year.
We have lots of geckos but the contest is to see the very first one in the gazebo!
Every time we get a new gazebo - it takes the geckos a long time to come on in.
After the spring storms pass, we will put up all new rain curtains, screens and cover.
Hopefully they will still feel welcome.
It's amazing how we can entertain ourselves simply watching a gecko stalk, catch and eat its prey!
One thing leads to another and we set about getting the wall (it's the side of the house where the kitchen is) ready to start painting in the morning.
That meant cutting down the greenery that had overgrown and was spreading its branches over the deck. That deck is another project for this year. Louis Dean is great at putting in decks. Good thing!
I can hear Louis Dean in there drawing his bath water so I will wrap this up.
The May flies do not realize it is still March and they are fluttering all around me as I sit here at the desk in the sewing room. I best shut the French doors! They are harmless but a bit annoying when there are so many.
As I was leaving church, I got a phone call from Nita. She visits Lillian on Sunday afternoons and Lillian wanted to talk to me to give me an update.
It seems that Lillian's daughter, Ann, was holding on to life until she could see her mother because an hour after Lillian left the hospital on Thursday, Ann passed away. The funeral will be on Tuesday.
I told Lillian we would be there on Thursday to visit and bring in lunch.
She has lost her son and now her oldest daughter.
Lillian is broken hearted because her two daughters and their families were - and still are - estranged.
What comfort they could be to each other is apparently not possible and it puts Lillian in an impossible situation.
Tonight I am praying for Lillian and her surviving daughter and the grandchildren of both daughters.
And I am also rejoicing and thanking God for my siblings.......
I love that we love and appreciate each other.
15 comments:
Lillian is so blessed to have you an Nita. Wow, what a lot of big projects you have! I just love that poem on the sewing piece you made.
Oh, I can see now that God put your mom in Lillian's nursing home because HE knew youall would need each other one day. It's just amazing -- God's plan for us. You have her, and she has you and your siblings and Louis Dean. God is good, all the time. I'm so sorry her daughter died. Again, I'm so grateful to God for putting youall there for Lillian.
Your sewing room is so nice, and right at the kitchen! Mine is more the "everything room." I have to sew on my D.R. table, but I can't really see to thread it anymore...(and it's self-threading)! Cataract surgery is so needed for Ed and I both.
Ed won't let me up on a ladder. to pant, (all my falls); Ed won't paint. There is a problem here. Well, there are many problems here!
See, when you're at the ranch, youall don't see all this stuff that needs doing. :)
Linda, Work, work, work, that must keep you guys young...LD looks so much younger than his actual age, in his tea break picture. If you are old school, we are your classmates, for we like to do things ourselves. I have always done the painting, Ted hates it....so he gets the plumbing.
Sad about Lillian's children. My mother surely believed the definition of sibling....I can still hear her saying this to one of my siblings, after they were crying to have a friend come over. Mom said, "You don't need any damn friends, you have each other. " LOL...well there were eleven of siblings, she probably did not want to see or hear one more whiny child. So , I laugh about that to this day. We never stop loving our children and wanting them to be friends. I am blessed with my siblings.
Blessings to all of you, love you, xoxo, Susie
No one decorates just like you do. It is amazing just to stop and really look at the photos. I’m getting closer to your style with my own sewing room, though mine needs some attention.
Precious Lillian. Sometimes she must feel so alone. I am praying for her comfort and that somehow God will heal the rift in her family. He healed the rift in mine so I know that it is possible.
So painting begins...I hate painting and would definitely pay someone to do it if I could justify that. I’ve got some painting to do this spring and summer myself. All the best with yours!
Linda, I love your stitches!! And I am sure you could do the new charts just as easily. I wish I could paint like you!! Poor Lillian, nothing breaks a Mothers heart like having estranged children. It is a very sad situation. So glad she has you all as her family too.
my two sons and their wives do not speak to each other, and I know how hard that is for Lillian. prayers for her hurting heart. after reading all your escapdes and cleaning surge I am exhausted. ha ha
It is a blessing to have siblings that love and appreciate one another for sure! Sad to think that they go to their graves estranged like that. At this point in my life I have only one remming sister, but we all always got a long. No matter what. Family is family. It's the same with my own children, they may have their differences but they still managed to love and appreciate one another. It would be heart breaking if they didn't. Good to see you had the time to get into your sewing room. I'm sure it's a great feeling of accomplishment to have that job done. Now on to the next. When you have a house it really does never stop. Hope you have a wonderful new week ahead. Happy Monday!
Linda, you are a consummate homemaker - you really get into the cleaning! Amazing! And you are an artist. And a fabulous cook! But what strikes me most about you is your love for people - your kindness - your generosity - your overwhelming compassion - and your busyness about helping others (God's work). May God bless you richly and may you and your family all be healthy and strong, godly persons of faith, and may God give you the desires of your heart.
Beth
p.s. Thanks for being an inspiration to me!
Its nice that you can just paint your house. Ours is siding and original to the house. We really need to change it as it has holes in some spots and is fairly brittle. We know what we want and now to just get it done! Tim and our sons Nate and Kyle can do it, plus we'd likely have a few friends to help too.
I have some projects listed in my head and I suppose if I wrote them out on paper we might make some progress!
I'm grateful that Lillian has you all. She needs the cheer you bring her. I'll be praying for healing in her family estrangement. Its hard.
I like that you explained just where your sewing room is. Now I can picture it. It looks really cozy in there!
I just love you zest for life and your giving heart. I don't know how you do it. You are awesome. I was enstranged from my brother for a few years. It's horrible. So glad we are all back together now.
Enjoyed this post and reading all bout your all's comings and doings. How is the painting coming along today? MERCY LINDA ya'll just about wear me out just READING about what all y'all are up to, ha ha LOL!! I could not keep up with you, no way, LOL. So very sorry to hear Lillian's news, very sad thing to go through. So glad she has a friend like you, who cares. Bless you, you and Louis Dean do so much for other people. Having friends like you would be a blessing for anybody.
I hope you get to 123 too! I am now 4 years older than my mother was when she died - so each year feels like a gift. Thanks for orienting us as to where your sewing room is. Your comments about siblings made me think. I have 2 sisters - one lives in London with her family - she follows the blog and we email a bit but not a lot - the other is in the same city as me but doesn;t like me much (and she annoys the heck out of me) - so yes, supportive siblings must be great. Cheers
Any estrangement in families is so sad...My heart hurts for Lillian, but I'm so thankful for your tenderness towards her and the care you give her.
Your projects just wear me out though.
I do know how one job leads to another though. We brought home a shelf the other day..someone was giving it away...and so we had to clean out this spot and then that lead to putting it someplace else and then we had to clean that spot..etc. you know how that goes....
Sue of photowannabe
Spring.... a season of tiding up, isn't it. We're doing the same. You and Louis Dean are making *good* headway, my friend. Everything looks so nice! And awwww, Ann's funeral is today. :-( I pray everyone gets through it, especially Lillian, and that peace can be found in all hearts.
My siblings and I have been estranged for many years now. Well, one of my two brothers is dead now but we were estranged before he died. A lot of people feel badly when they hear about an estrangement but truly... it is a joyful thing. Honestly. There's finally peace! I was so incredibly tired of the chaos, which defined my relationship with my brothers & their families, and tired of the hurt too. My heart was broken more times than not. So when I severed all ties, it was like a cloud of gloom was lifted and the sunshine came through. I've never regretted it, even to this day.
The world gives us a lot of "have to's"... like "having" to get along with our siblings or our life is somehow incomplete or sad. Challenging that "have to" can be about much happiness, calm and peace. At least it has in my own life. Maybe I'm just a renegade. :-D
Love you, Andrea xoxo
It always amazes me, Linda, how busy you and Louis Dean keep yourselves both with you home projects and helping others. You are indeed special folks. That said, it was sad to read about the death of Lillian's daughter and sadder yet to read about the estrangement in the family, It seems that happens a lot and it was also the case in my own family, but now it's much better. My only regret is that my own mother passed away before seeing that the rift was healed. Prayers that Lilian's own family realizes that time is short and life is precious to hold onto past hurts.
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