We're braving the heat

The heat that has gripped the area is slightly less brutal up here, but it is still hot enough to force us to do the outside work in the mornings and evenings.  The middle of the day finds us inside with the air conditioning on.  Yesterday I spent the day doing errands off the mountain and saw just how hot it was!  Because it is a 40 minute drive to Target and Lowes, we tend to make our errand days quite full and do them less often, so we don't usually experience the full southern summer weather.  Sometimes, though, Ace Hardware and the Dollar Store just won't do.

Becky, Scott, and kids visited for the long Memorial Day weekend.  I had been in Ohio for a few weeks before then and drove down from Ohio with them.  Gary had the house and yard all in order, including the fairy house nestled against a tree in our back.  These are some pictures we took during that visit.

I am still volunteering at the library.  The money to purchase books comes from donations and  twice yearly iris sales.  Our 91 year old librarian has a large bed of iris which he tends.  Twice a year he divides the plants and sells the bulbs/rhyzomes.  He has been working in his garden for weeks and last Saturday he set up tables outside the library.  Each type of iris was placed in a separate box with a picture of the flower attached.  There was quite a crowd as this has become a well-known event and every single bulb sold, making over $700 for book purchases.  Bill was grinning ear to ear as we closed up the library.

Our garden seems to be thriving.  We weren't sure if that area got enough sunlight, but today I counted 16 tomatoes so I think next year we can go bigger.  Now if only nature would take care of watering it for us instead of us having to reel out the hose!

Happy Mothers Day

It's strange to think that this picture is two generations behind, but this is my mother just a few years older than my own children.  She was a beautiful person.

My sister was a cutie - and let's not comment on my chubbiness!

Back to present day...

During Krista's Spring Break I flew to CA to spend the week with her.  We spent most days wedding planning.  She and Mike will be married in the Bay Area on October 8th so there was a lot to do - finding a dress, a DJ, a florist, etc. Krista and Mike had already booked the site so I got a chance to see it and sample the food.  It's surprising how much can get done when there is only a week to complete it all.  We had a day in Visalia as well, but that was way too short to visit friends, so I really didn't even attempt it.  

The storm in the South was the real deal.  There was very little damage here on Signal Mountain, but down below there are sections of devastation that are just now beginning to be cleaned up.  Friends of ours who were watching the local channels for the storm's progress spent some time hidden away in their pantries, bathrooms, and basements, but we were watching the weather channel whose predictions for our area weren't as dire so we sat on our porch and watched the storm come in.  Ignorance is bliss!

Our landscaping is taking shape.  The sod has taken well so there is nice green grass in the areas close to the house.  We planted a few raised bed vegetable gardens and are working on some flower beds as well.  So far the deer and rabbits haven't found the young plants; maybe they are afraid of Yorkies.

Joseph is growing so fast.  We Skype almost everyday with him, but that is not the same as a cuddle.  Hopefully the Burdick family will be down for Memorial Day so we can play grandparents the fun way.  

So much news - so little time to devote to this blog post

 Joseph Scott was born in March 29 and we couldn't be happier.  Both sets of grandparents were in Ohio for the birth so the whole family was able to welcome him into the world.  He looks so much like Julia who, by the way, is being a wonderful big sister.  How fun to see the family growing!  I'll let pictures tell the story.

Spring has arrived in Signal Mountain.  The dogwoods, both white and pink are out in profusion, and the azalea and rhodie buds are ready to burst open.  Friday I went with a friend to a wildflower sale, so Gary and I spent yesterday tucking the dainty flowers among our trees and other landscaping.




 The wildflowers are much daintier than domestic flowers so it gives a whole different look - a little fairy-like.

There is  more sad news from California.  Claudine Senac-Urtecho, friend and fellow French teacher, lost her battle with cancer last week.  I remember so many activities we did together with our students. She was a devoted teacher and a good friend.  My heart is with her family at this time.

This week I am making a quick trip to CA to visit Krista during her week off.  We are planning a busy few days of wedding planning.  She has done a lot of the preliminary steps which will make it a bit easier to fit everything in.  Krista and I haven't been together since Christmas and I miss her!

The passing of a good friend

My heart is heavy.  It joins so many others who have been saddened by the death of Marianne Frazier.  

She impacted an uncountable number of lives in such a loving manner.  Always dedicated to her family, she was also a respected colleague, beloved teacher, and trusted friend.  To many, she was all of the above.  I met Marianne the first day I arrived as a teacher at Redwood almost twenty years ago.  Being the only two teachers who traveled between Main Campus and Sierra Vista that year, we shared a common bond.  She took me under wing, helping me to navigate my way through the intricacies of working in a new school.  During the years that I taught English Marianne was my inspiration, as we taught like classes and shared lessons.  Our prep times were the same for many years and it was Marianne and I who, on the way from SV to MC, used to pick up the Friday lunches at Pepe Pollo.  Our friendship cemented itself during those years.  Marianne had the ability to see things clearly and logically and, with a kind hand and humorous outlook, lead others in the right direction.  In that way Marianne helped me work through situations both professionally and personally. 

 Love of family and home guided her life, followed by love of friends.  She created a special bond with each of her many friends and all of us felt the strength of that connection.  Her next love was reading.  Commonly heard in Book Group was "Ask Marianne.  She's probably read it." Even after retiring, Marianne kept a special place in her heart for Redwood and Redwood, I know, counts her as one of its special people as well.

Through the years Marianne became a dear friend and confidante and our paths crossed often until Gary and I moved away.  I spoke with her on the phone several days before she passed away.  Out of necessity it was a short conversation - caring, yet matter of fact, with a little humor thrown in as well - typical Marianne.

The world is a sadder place.  I miss you, Marianne.

My life on the mountain

It's hard to believe we have been in our house for three weeks already.  Things are pretty much where they are supposed to be and we have a real life going.  There are still things being done on the house. Yesterday the garage doors got painted and the landscaper came around for his first look-see.  Today the cabinet people worked on a few hinges and we got our water pressure adjusted a bit.  Tomorrow the screens should be installed and the propane tank is scheduled to be filled to capacity.  It is generally one or two little things that get worked on everyday, but they don't interfere with life as we know it.

We had our first weekend of company.  It was so good to see Lynn and Kenny.  We joked that since they hadn't been to see us in California in 22 years, we had to move closer if we wanted to see them.  Becky, Scott, and Julia came to spend the long weekend.  Becky was sick for much of the time, but Scott was so sweet to help us out around the house doing things that one-handed Gary had difficulty with.  He cut some firewood for us and even taught me how to use the chain saw so that I can fill up the wood box if we run out of logs before winter ends.  Julia had a great time both in our yard and with the toys from the closet in the spare bedroom. We loved having her around but couldn't talk her parents into leaving her with us until our trip to Ohio next month.  Becky and Scott brought down a jigsaw puzzle of "another house in the woods" Neuschwanstein.  Come on guys - 2000 pieces???  The puzzle is still in pieces on the card table in the bonus room but the edge around is almost complete and the red brick front of the castle is put together.

I do manage to keep myself very busy.  For example, yesterday we spent several hours at a library meeting to set a schedule and discuss goals for the library, I worked on recipes to distribute to the egg co op members, met with the landscaper, took my walk (this time up the hill instead of on our level street), spent several hours on my writing assignments, organized the pantry since a bottle of red wine had fallen off the wine rack and shattered, causing the pantry to need repainting, FAXed more change of address forms,  and spent the evening with a Maeve Binchy book.  Today I've already been to the recycling center, and children's consignment fair, taken my walk, planned out the next big shopping trip off the mountain (if I'm going 40 minutes away for shopping I don't want to forget anything!), and helped Gary struggle with the XM radio antenna.  This afternoon is more writing, including reworking my personal mission statement for the class.

On the horizon for next week:  a visit from my sister and brother-in-law as they move from Boulder CO to the Tampa area, lunch with my writing teacher to explore the possibility of teaching conversational French to the Alexian Brothers seniors, a field trip to the local nursery and lunch with the gardeners of our development,  more library stuff... all quite retiree-ish, but strangely fulfilling.

I'm looking forward to a Skype call with my CA book group.  I hope it works.

Something we learned about our house - don't leave the attic door open

Most of our house is one story, but there is a bonus room over the garage which is Gary's hangout/media room/doghouse.  There is a small door in a hidden corner of the bonus room that leads to the attic.  Part of the attic floor has a plywood floor so we can use it to store seasonal things and boxes of stuff we don't know what to do with yet.  The rest of it is covered in deep blown-in insulation to keep the house below nicely protected.  This morning Gary was in the attic working on some wiring when our contractor arrived.  Wanting to speak with Tracy before he left, Gary hurried down, leaving both the attic and bonus doors open.  About fifteen minutes later we were standing around the kitchen island and a "snow" covered Macy appeared, looking more like a poodle than a yorkie.  She had obviously discovered a new fun place to explore and was covered in insulation puffs, very much like cotton candy.  I had to spend the next fifteen minutes combing her because a brush just caused more static, which made the insulation even harder to get out.  I think she learned her lesson - and so did we!

And one year later - we're in our house

This has been the most eventful two weeks I have spent in quite awhile.  The culmination, of course, is that we are in our house and loving turning it into our home.  It was a tight push on the part of our contractor.  He had subs working late into the evenings and on weekends to get us in by the end of January.  Because of the strange weather we still don't have our outside compete; the concrete walks are not poured and the landscaping hasn't been done, but that will happen when we are sure of a few good days in a row.

Things were made extremely interesting when Gary broke his right hand - and yes, he is right handed - one week before our move.  He was making a hole in the entertainment center when the drill just wrapped his wrist and snapped the bone that holds the thumb to the wrist.  The prognosis is good but he will be in a cast for about four months.  Those of you who know Gary can understand how much it bothers him not being able to jump into things both inside and outside.  Luckily we have met wonderful people who have been pitching in with food, trucks, advice, muscles, and who have taken over manning the electric drill.

Not even a broken hand can keep Gary from trying out his Christmas present.  He doesn't have a man cave, but did get a man aerie in the bonus room above the garage.

It's great to finally see our stuff again.  The movers arrived with our load from storage last Tuesday. Even though our house is around the same size as our one in Visalia, the style is so different that it has been a creative challenge trying to locate things in their proper places.  I know that once everything is placed it will be moved a few times more to make it work for us in our new woodsy lifestyle. Of course there are still unopened boxes.  Those must be the things we shouldn't have brought with us because apparently what they contain is neither necessary nor wanted enough to look for.  It's great having a real kitchen again and after our Costco and Walmart runs, it is stocked with the basics.

 The dogs seem very comfortable to have their things back as well and have found their comfy places in the sun.  They enjoy that some of our windows are low enough to be Yorkie height so they can watch for deer and turkey in our back, but last night they weren't so pleased with the howling of the distant coyotes.  They also don't like that this red clay causes them to need a lot more baths.  I think they are going to need new hairstyles.

I will include a few pictures here, but most of the rooms are still embarrassingly cluttered so I am just posting a few where we have been able to hide our boxes and strewn paper.

Since I first started this post we have made quite some progress.  We were able to take a large load of flattened boxes to the recycling center; the propane tank is filled; the dryer is working so the laundry pile is shrinking.  It's looking like we will be ready for our first company next week.

Just a few quick pictures

The dogs were not fond of the snow during our big storm.  This was the day that Gary was scheduled for his eyelid surgery.  Needless to say, that didn't happen.  It is now set for January 20.











This is our street two days after the big snow.  It was the first day we could get up there easily.  I took this picture from in front of our house, which is just to the right.




 In just one week the snow is almost all melted except for where it was  piled along the roads or where there is deep shade.






The end of January is coming fast and because of the weather it is a little less sure that we will be in the house in two weeks.  The subs are working weekends and as late as the light will allow to help us along.  The fun part, though, is that everything that is done is noticeable, so it feels like huge progress is made from one day to the next. Today our main living area looked like this, but by tomorrow it will have changed because this afternoon the cabinet installers were working on the unit to the left of the fireplace.  This picture is taken from the breakfast nook, looking through the great room into the office.  You can see a small section of the kitchen counter in the bottom left and the white door is the front entry.


These are some of our new neighbors.

Becky sent through this picture of Julia a few days ago and it is my new favorite so I had to share.  I'm loving the hair!

Love to you all.

.

Beginning a new year

We spent a few hours today at the house. On the way up we stopped for two salads and had a picnic on the floor of one of the spare bedrooms (that room is getting carpet so we didn't need to worry about spilling salad dressing on the unfinished hardwood in the kitchen).  The heat is on in the house so it was warm inside even though outside there were snow flurries in the air.  While Gary worked on crimping some of the audio wires, I laid out newspapers in the sizes of various pieces of furniture and tried to get a read on where things should be placed and which things will need to go into storage in the attic.  The kitchen is mostly installed so I spent time opening and closing drawers and cabinets trying to decide where things will go.  We probably won't be up there much next week because 1. the flooring is being finished,  2. Gary is getting yet another eye surgery on Monday, and  3. there is a storm coming in.  It still seems like there is a lot to do in the house, but our builder insists we are still on for a late January move.  The furniture is scheduled to arrive on January 30, so I hope we have a house to put it in.

We were very excited to see our screen porch and fireplace almost completed.  When we left in December it was just open space. Now all it needs is staining.

 Tennessee does seem like home, but we did have a wonderful vacation in Ohio.  It was so good to have the whole family together for a bit.  I love the changing and intertwining dynamics as the kids get older and have their own independent lives, yet are still united by family.

 Becky and Scott are wonderful parents and they so enjoy that role.  They are both busy with careers as well, but somehow make it all fit together.  Excitement is building for the arrival of their son, scheduled for March 29. 

 Dan is carving out his place within the Kroger corporation. Talking with him about his enthusiastic career plans reminds me of how it was when we moved to California with Guardian so many years ago. The cold winter doesn't seem to be bothering Dan as I thought it would since he truly enjoyed the hot weather in the Valley and in La Quinta.

 Krista puts herself out there for her kids in Oakland.  She is not working with easy kids, nor in an easy situation so her successes are very meaningful.  We are all excited about Krista and Mike's engagement and I am working with her long distance to begin wedding plans.  Luckily she has some good friends who can help her filter the preliminary ideas.  At some point I will fly out to help her, probably in the summer when she is not working.
I hope everyone is staying warm and dry.

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a wonderful 2011.