Monday, June 29, 2009

Get Ready...Here They Come...!

D-day is almost here...time for the Drool Gang to join us in NC!


Yes, we've been anticipating the day when we could bring the Bassets to their new home...but, as the yard wasn't fenced, we had to endure a few more weeks of separation from Gus, Duchess, and Elmo than originally planned.


Well, the time has come. As you can see from the photo to the left, our fence is finished. They installed the final panel on Friday...hooray!


Then, Mr. T spent a good part of his weekend installing two...count'em two...Doggie Doors to allow access to the screened porch, then onto the deck. He also has been re-working the deck steps to accommodate both the two-legged and the four-legged creatures that now call this house Home. (The previous steps were just too steep for everyone.)


He will head to L'ville tomorrow in order to help Missy M drive the 500 miles back here on Wednesday. She'll have all 4 furry friends (Ella Rae included) in the Explorer; he'll pack up the Endeavor with our stuff that's still cluttering up her house and yard. I'm hoping that my plants will make this trip, but that may be asking for too much.


It will be wonderful to have the whole family, together again. This should make for an excellent Holiday Weekend!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Welcome Back, Miz Edith

As I said in my last post, things are (slowly but surely) getting back to normal with our lives after our six months of moving from MO to NC via KY. Last night we were welcomed back to HP, NC by Miz Amelia...who has been just the greatest friend to Nana/Momma/Edith ever since they began playing bridge together at the Jamestown (NC) Library in '94. That was at the beginning of our last NC residency (94-97), and they have remained friends throughout all of our moves. Amelia has become a part of our extended family, and we are all grateful for her friendship and for her positive effect on N/M/E's spirits. As you see in the photo (left), they look happy, happy, happy to finally be together in the same city, once again.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Steak Street, a favorite of both Amelia and daughter Claire (who joined us for dinner after work). I've written about this restaurant and their yummy food before...and it was just as good last night as it was on our introductory meal. I shared the Voo Doo Shrimp appetizer with N/M/E...and we brought the rest home for today...:) While the others went for the steak entrees, I chose the Shrimp and Grits...and my only disappointment was that I couldn't finish the entire dish. Wow! Added some of that to the take-home box, too. Of course, with such wonderful dinner companions, I guess they could have put cardboard on my plate, and I would have raved about it. Have I told you lately that I'm thrilled to be "back home?" Well, I just didn't want there to be any doubt...

Mr. T and I converged on Louisville last Thursday (he, from DC/MD; me, from NC) so that we'd have two vehicles to move N/M/E and her stuff home from Missy M's. She said that she'd never realized...or acknowledged...that her "temporary move to KY" would have lasted as long as it did. She thought she'd be there for 6 weeks, max. Hmmmm. Obviously, she must have been absent when we said "this move might take us a long time, given the state of the economy and having to sell a house, get a loan for the next house, etc." She'd packed for that imaginary 6 weeks' sojourn, so you will probably understand her desire to burn the few clothes that she had reserved from the moving van. She's sick of them, she says. Oh well...that's why God made Macy's, right?

Back here in NC, we've had gully-washer type rains for the past 3 days, but Mr. Weatherman is promising hot, dry weather for the weekend. Better be right on this one. We need some dry weather to get the fence posts set on Monday...so that we can get the fence built...so that the Drool Gang can complete the family over the Holiday weekend, when Missy M loads up the Explorer for the 8-hour trip...which, with all the stops she'll have to make with 4 dogs, could take 10 or more hours. Then, we will truly be back to normal around here. Ahhhh. Sounds lovely to me.

While we are waiting on that dry weather and the fence, I thought I'd post a few photos of the daylilies that are currently blooming in our yard. Any guesses as to the names of these beauties? The tall, double Yellow-Gold ones look like they could be Double Eagles...maybe. The creamy white ones are similar to the Dad's Best Whites that we had in MO, but these are much taller. The peachy pink ones are almost an apricot color when the sun (finally) hits them. Oh well...a daylily by any other name is still as beautiful...with apologies to Mr. Shakespeare...:)

Enjoy...






Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Routine, Blessed Routine

I washed and dried my first load of laundry in our NC house last week. Ah. That felt good. There is something to be said for having a routine and returning to it after being "at loose ends" for almost 6 months.


Our washer and dryer went on the moving van to storage in mid-December, and I wasn't really certain that the 12-year-old pair would want to come out of hibernation...but, so far, so good. I had a heart-to-heart with the Machines, assuring them that they were valued members of the household with many years of services ahead and that much was expected of them. What? You don't chat with your appliances?


In the photo to the right, maybe you can see the Laundry scrub-board up on the shelf, top left corner? It says "Laundry 25 cents a load, 24 hrs." I bought it because it reminds me of my Daddy, who owned a laundromat for years in Henning. He always referred to it as the Wishy Washy, and he loved nothing better than to take apart and repair any and all of the commercial washers and dryers that broke down (which was quite frequently, considering the amount of use and abuse they endured). Brother J and I always got our allowances in quarters. A roll of them. $10...make it last. Of course, you could buy a Coke for a nickel, 7 cents for the King-size (which was 10 ounces instead of 6 1/2)...but, I digress.


Anyway, our own washer and dryer at home were...you guessed it...retreads from the Laundromat. Complete with the slots for the coins. He had put the key in the box lock and left it there, so we re-used the same quarters, over and over...but, still, you had to insert quarters in the slots and push the slide to get the machines to work. We thought this was perfectly normal.


When, on a visit from California, my Aunt Polly (Daddy's sister) asked to do a load of laundry, he forgot to tell her just to open the box to get the coins out. Oops. She went to Uncle Wendell to get some quarters, saying "did you know that Sidney makes Edith pay to wash clothes?!"


Other things are moving toward normal around here, too. Mr. T tilled up three long rows in the back yard for our '09 garden. Already it's bigger than any garden we had in O'Fallon! I'd saved lots of marigold and zinnia seeds from our garden in MO, and I mixed them with some sunflower seeds, some sand, and some potting soil; then I sowed the mixture in Row #1 while Mr. T followed with the rake to cover with garden soil. For Rows 2 and 3, I headed back to the Farmer's Market to get 10 tomato plants (Roma, Celebrity, German Johnson) and 10 pepper plants (California Wonder, cayenne, and sweet banana); as you see in the photo (left), Mr. T was able to get all of those in the ground last night before the (next) big rains came in the early morning hours. Of course, the ginormous crows and the squirrels have been having a hey-day out there: whoopee, looks like this place is Under New Management!


Speaking of the squirrels...I counted 10 of them at the bird feeders last Thursday. T-E-N. I can't wait until the Drool Gang arrives to give chase. I don't mind feeding them (I even buy "Squirrel Food"), but I do mind when they clean out the feeders and don't allow the Cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, finches, etc., to eat. Case in point (photo to right): the feeder is cock-eyed from the weight of several "flying Wallenda" motions by the squirrel to jump from the trees to the feeder...and look: the feeder appears to have grown a tail!


Ah...household chores, gardening, and goofy critters. Life is almost back to normal.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Walmart

So, it's early on Saturday morning. I've had my coffee, Mr. T is having a well-deserved sleeping in, and I'm wondering what I can do that doesn't involve unpacking a box (sick of it...sick of it...sick of it). I know! I'll go get some ferns for the front porch. I imagine that doesn't sound exciting to you, but I've not been able to have ferns in such a long time...either because I didn't have a covered front porch, or because it was way too sunny/hot to keep ferns. Now, I have a wonderful "rocking chair" front porch (yes, I've put 2 rocking chairs on it...:) that will accommodate ferns...and palms...and almost anything. Off to Walmart I go!


However...


At Johnson Street, when Lillie Pearl should have turned left, she swerved right...and headed straight to the Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market on Sandy Ridge Road. Oh. My. Goodness. Imagine if you will: acres of covered retail sales stalls, filled with plants, produce, meats, poultry, cheeses, etc., all fresh-from-the-farm. There were so many plants that I felt overwhelmed. And, I only visited one of the retail stalls! But, as you can see from the photo of Lillie Pearl (left), it didn't stop me from loading 'er up with Shasta Daisies (two varieties), Rudbeckia ("black-eyed Susans"), patio tomato and cucumber plants, and...oh yeah...ferns. Remarkably, there didn't seem to be any palms available, but that was OK as I couldn't fit anything else in my car, even though I folded all the seats down and made my PTC into my best imitation of a cargo van. As you see from the photo to the right, I did leave some things for the other shoppers...who were quite numerous, even early on Saturday morning.


Arriving back at the house, I grinned sheepishly as Mr. T rolled his eyes at my loaded Lillie P. "You need to stop adding work for us to do, dear." I know, I know. But, they were so pretty...and they are all perennials, so any work we do in planting them now will reward us for years to come. In theory...

The previous owners obviously liked daylilies, for there are several plantings on our property. I've identified Stella d'Oros (lots of them) and possibly some Double Eagles (?), along with a pretty peachy-pink one. Wonder what that is? They also liked azaleas and rhododendrons, along with dogwoods, which do well in a tree-shaded yard...which we haven't had in several years (since our house in Dacula, GA). However, there doesn't seem to be a single iris. Not one. How can a Tennessee girl live without her iris? Well, we'll fix that, as soon as we get our plants we harvested before we left our MO house (which are currently lounging in Missy M's back yard). We have several varieties of iris, some of which were shared with us by friends and family. We'll proudly add them to our NC soil.


BTW, never fear. We still had to make a Walmart run later on that day for some shelf support brackets (so I could unpack a box of books onto one of the bookshelves) and some picture hangers...and Mr. T got those Cat Palms for the door (left). Ahhh, yes. It's starting to feel like home around here.

Friday, June 5, 2009

It's Been a Memorable Week

Now, where was I? Oh yes...moving into our new house. And other good stuff...


We've had one heckuva week around here. Let's run the numbers: closed on the NC house on the 27th; celebrated our 33rd anniversary on the 29th; greeted the moving van and 5 movers on the 2nd; celebrated Gus' 6th Gotcha Day on the 3rd; and began the l-o-n-g unpacking process that may take us 6 more months to complete.


Never fear, it hasn't been "all work and no play," since...in the middle of all that's going on...we took a little side-trip to Durham and stayed for the night at the Washington Duke Inn on the campus of Duke University, to celebrate our anniversary in style and comfort. (This was before the movers arrived, so we'd been sleeping on the air-mattress at the house...and eating off paper plates with plastic forks, etc.) Ah...what a wonderful treat that was! We had champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries (photo to the right) in our lovely room overlooking the golf course. Our breakfast was served outdoors on the terrace. And, we truly felt like we were beginning our thirty-fourth year together...and this new chapter in our lives, in just the right way.


Back to the house...


Painted for three days before the movers arrived. I taped and painted Nana/Momma/Edith's room a beautiful plum color, similar to the one I had in my office in MO. I also did the dining room (in Caramel), and the entrance hall, the living room, and the breakfast area (which will serve as my office) in Autumn Wheat. Mr. T etched, primed, and painted the garage floor...and his workshop area...a manly Slate Grey.


Big Day...and the Big Atlas Truck and the movers...arrived on Tuesday. Took them all day to unload all of our stuff. We are the most fortunate people on Earth, for the sun shined all day...and nary a drop of rain fell from the sky.


That started on Wednesday, when we had a storm of biblical proportions. Wind...rain...hail...lightning...thunder. Check out that photo (left) of the water standing in our back yard. Wow! And, it has rained every day since then. You may have heard on the Weather Channel about the flash flooding in Guilford County and Greensboro? That's us! Anyway, I believe that the drought in NC just might be over.



Found the box with my printer, so was able to print out this photo (right) that Missy M took of Gus on his Gotcha Day. Since he is adopted, we don't know when his actual birthday is...but we can celebrate the day he came to live with us...June 3rd. Missy M, Duchess, and I drove from our (then-new) house in O'Fallon across the Mississippi to Illinois to his foster home...and we knew he was meant to be part of our family. Well, all except Duchess...who is still waiting for us to "take him back." Tee hee. The rest of us agree...he's one Cool Dude!

  A Bright, Sunny New Chapter Here’s to spending 49 years with the same Valentine! Even though our story’s Prologue began in Jackson, MS, wh...