Here we go again

Monday we met with Ray, our builder, to see what he could do with the fire damage on Main St.  We removed the plywood “band aid” and saw that the damage was not extensive.  It was confined within about 4 studs.  It looks like it started on the porch railing… just where a  can for cigarette butt might have stood.

Ray seems to think he can fix it for a reasonable amount and got started on it. 

I visited with the insurance adjustor this week and think we are moving closer to settlement on the Minnesota St. duplex in St. Louis.  The tenant abandoned it in a total mess, and so it will need to be cleaned before it can be relisted. After having the theft and the problems with one house in St. Louis, I decided to put the other duplex on the market too.  That one faired better.  We had an open house on Friday and got several offers.  So it’s now under contract. 

I was moving my IRA properties to a new custodial trust.  I thought the Minnesota house would be sold before the transfer took place… but it wasn’t.  Even though the first trust co. had signed the paperwork for the sale, they transferred it to the second co.  The problem?  The insurance $ will go to the first company and I don’t want to have to re-title it.  So I spent a good part of the week trying to get it back where it belonged.  Finally on Friday, the two trust representatives and I spoke on a conference call and figured out how to make it happen.

I did some visiting teaching and I worked on some articles and projects. It was kind of a quiet week because they predicted snow and ice.  It didn’t materialize on Wednesday night (Although they canceled youth activities) but by Thursday morning we had some wintry mix, and by the evening most of the trees had a nice coating of ice.

Friday was one of those dreadfully beautiful days.  Ice glistened on every tree.  Our willow was bent almost to the ground. I'm glad to say it's upright again today.

While it didn’t get very warm, the sun came out and helped melt some of the ice so the trees didn’t suffer too much.

 Here the sun is just rising over the shed.  And below is the view across our road.

 Ice on our almost blooming peach tree. Silly thing!  Doesn't it know it's still winter?  And water melted and refroze forming long drips on the rose branch.

 This wild plum tree just looks like a crystal tree.

 And here the sycamore branches show icicles draping from wide branches.

Saturday I had a heritage seed class.  It was very interesting to learn about how to plant seeds and transplant seedlings and harvest seeds.  There are seed exchanges around and they encouraged us to hang around “seedy” people.  At 1pm we had a wedding at the church.

Did I tell you our stake is doing a cookbook?  When I rode up to Stake Council with the RS president we talked about it.  So then the ward asked if I’d be responsible for collecting and typing the ward’s contributions.  Then the stake leader responsible called and asked if I’d do it all.  “All of it??”  They have a printer set up to print and bind, but I will collect the recipes from the other wards and organize them into categories and insure they are uniform (The wards should be doing that, too.) and put them on pages.   Then the leader will work on an index. And take it to the printers.

 Tom had bought a device that takes old 35 mm  photo slides and transfers them to digital prints. He has been doing a couple of trays of slides a week transferring them over. He’s gone through his year in Germany and is now on Sequoia vacations. As he puts them in he is labeling them.

I spent lots of time trying to organize my lessons for the next 5 weeks and deciding what was the most important thing to teach.  Then I had three people in class. It’s hard to divide up into group discussions with three people.  Sigh.  At least I got a list of everyone that’s supposed to be there.  I’ll try to contact them and see if we can have a better class next week.

Fire in the House!

We received the following email from our property manager the final day at sea of our cruise:  "Hi, Lee called us early this morning and said the house caught fire, the fire dept came out and put it out, not sure the extent of damage..."  Yikes that gets your mind whirling; still 200 miles off the coast of New Orleans, too cheap to make a phone call to get the rest of the story and no idea how serious the damage is to the house we just bought and remodeled a year ago.  By logging onto the local newspaper website we learned the fire department had responded at 1:19am and found the front of the house 'fully engulfed' in flames.  Fortunately for us, we were on a 'Fun Cruise' and went to the 'Chocolate Extraordinaire' event, dined on chocolate goodies and forget our concerns.   

We were able to look at the house on the following Monday and this is what we found:

The plywood is covering the opening of the broken window.  This window was original to the house with a large beveled plate of glass.

A view of the inside:

The newly sanded and stained hardwood floor did not suffer any damage and there is minimual damage to the interior wall. 

There was some smoke and heat damage to the porch ceiling as well:

This is the railing where we suspect the fire originated at the point where it attached to the house as that is the point of the most fire damage:

The house is still occupied, there were no injuries, and the handyman that did the remodeling is confident he can make the necessary repairs within the limits the insurance company allowed.  All have certainly been blessed!!


This is what it had looked like.

Cruzin' Along

Let me catch you up on last week.02-11-13

I woke up about 3am on Monday morning and decided to take that time to call Hong Kong… well, to skype.  I was doing an assignment for a company there and wanted to connect and to get more information.   So I visited a bit with the editor and then went back to bed.

Monday and Tuesday were preparation days.  Monday I went for a short time to do clay with Marian.  We glazed some pieces and tried some new ways of doing glaze.  In the evening, we went to the Empty Nester’s Family Home Evening.

Tuesday I played catch up.  I finished the Hong Kong piece and they liked it and decided to hire me to do 2-4 emails a month.  I sent off version 4 of the financial introduction.  We packed for our trip.

Wednesday we drove to Andy and Kera’s.  It was fun to visit them and the children. They are all growing.  Hard to believe Charlotte will soon be three!  Tom fixed a few things, played with kids, and napped.  I wrote some stuff and read stories to kids.  Kera made yummy bread!

Friday we drove to Rebecca’s.  We got there in time for Tom to get a sticker on the car and for us to watch their little Mardi Gras parade.  Here we see the result of don't ask don't tell policy revocation... well, not really.  They are JROTC.

 Riley with her bead collection. And a lollipop

 Joshua was marching in the parade. We saw pictures of Rebecca’s night time venture to a Mardi Gras parade.  I got my own beads!  I think half of New Orleans escaped by going to Disney world.  The other half came on the cruise.  Lots of people on this cruise are from right around New Orleans.

Saturday, I decided I should have brought more than one skirt for dress up night.  So we went Thrift Shopping.   I got a couple of skirts and some blouses. We had lunch and then Dan took us to the ship. … where we had a pre dinner snack… and then a great dinner.

 Our state room.  The piano bar.

 Bird's eye view of the ship. (Callie is in the hot tub.)

View looking down five flights at the atrium of the ship to service desks and lounge.

 Ship at Cozumel.  I'm in the brown shirt holding my hat against the wind.

Sunday we were going to have our own “church,” but the water was a little rough, and the ship was traveling faster than usual, and we were toward the front of the ship… and I got green around the gills.  I was pretty useless. I tried lying on the top deck, midship in a pool lounger, but it was fortunate it was close to a bathroom.  Finally Tom got me some Dramamine.  I decided sleepy and useless as better than pukey and useless.  I slept until about 4 and then felt pretty good… good enough to eat lobster for dinner.  And they have this melted chocolate cake served in a ramekin with ice cream on the side.  Mmmm.

Sunday evening we stopped to help the Carnival Triumph that had a fire in the engine room.  We went along side her and ferried food, water… and likely more booze over to help them out.   It took from about 5-10:30 of ferrying the little boats back and forth.

 That was why we’d traveled faster than normal.  That was why the port thrusters (that felt like they were just under our stateroom floor) kept roaring and throbbing from 5-10:30 as they adjusted to stay near the other ship. [Little did we know that we’d get home before they did, and they’d be on national news for days… eclipsing the State of the Union speech.  An accurate indication of our warped priorities.]

We got into Progresso just a little late, but it was fine.  We went to see the Dzibilchaltun ruins.   Try saying that three times quickly.  (dzeebil-chal-tan)  We had a Mayan tour guide and learned of the lack of fertility of the local soil.  It was an interesting site.

 This guy was posing for a photo  It looked so awesome we had Callie run up and do the same... a little less impressive.

 They had a cenote or watering hole caused by an underground cave falling in to reveal the formerly underground river.  People swam in it.  I tucked my toes into it and they got nibbled on by little fish.

I saw some fantastic Mexican pottery.  I thought about buying a sink… but didn’t.  Now, I wish I would have.  Although I’m not sure I’m willing to turn our upstairs bathroom into Mexican decor.

We ate dinner in the dining room every evening.  It was fun to sit at the same table and visit with the same people and be served by the same server—who remembered I didn’t want a lot of ice in my water.   I thought the food was tasty and of a good variety.   They offered unusual fare to try so I had escargot one night, alligator fritters another, and frog’s legs as well.  I’ve decided you put enough butter and garlic on it and almost anything will taste great.

Tuesday we landed in Cozumel.  Tom and I scheduled a horseback ride in the jungle past Mayan ruins and an old town.  We were on our own to get a taxi there and back.  We were very slow getting off the ship because of another ship coming in and the gang plank being pulled up.  So we lost an hour there. Fortunately our gig was at noon and we arrived in good time.  We did ride through "jungle".

  We stopped at a small town… with plenty of shops to lure one into… and saw a small Mayan ruin.   It was pleasant to see deer, iguana, birds, butterflies and flowers and have a quiet serene ride.  Sore seat bones by the time we got back, though.

I decided to go onto the adult’s only deck and soak in their hot tub.  On the pool deck about 10,000 kids immerse themselves skin-to-skin in the hot tub.  There, I was the only one in the tub. Nice.

Rebecca used her time to swim with the manatees and the dolphins. They had a very good time, too.  When we booked, not through Carnival, it saved probably 50%.  But it was a little more stressful knowing we had to make sure we were back on the ship on time.  At Cozumel, we had three people sprinting like mad to make the ship before it left dock.   The ship stayed 15 min past the announced departure… so maybe they don’t just leave you behind.  But I don’t want to find out the hard way that they will.

Our steward made great towel animals, and so we thanked her and rated them.  We got to pose our figures on the shelf for the duration of the cruise.  She was pleased we liked them.

 Callie was the ice cream kid.  I think she had eight ice cream cones one day.  A very happy child.

It’s always interesting to spend the day at sea and have the weather get chillier and chillier as we headed north.  I was able to check emails a few times on the trip.  Wednesday night we get an email saying the Main St. house had a fire.  Really?  What happened?  How bad?  Don’t know.  We can’t call.

Thursday morning we got back into port and learned it’s not too bad… we think.   But we return to a zillion phone messages.  “Hi.  I’m the person assigned to your fire claim.” “Hey, I’m the inspector coming to check your house fire at 10am today.”  Which day was that?  Just a little stress to end the trip with.  I assume it will all work out.

We got off the ship and through customs by about 10:30. Dan and Riley picked us up and took us to Rebecca’s house.  We did laundry, I did some work and we visited with kids.

Friday we left about the same time the kids left for school.  We made good time and had an uneventful trip home.  We listened to the last book of the Eragon series as a book on CD in both directions of travel.  24 CD’s and 31 hours of listening!!!  We made it through disk 10 by the time we pulled into our driveway.  I will need to get the book to finish.  That way I can skip the complete and thorough sensory details and descriptions…and move on to the action.

It was good to sleep in our own beds.  Saturday we did laundry, again, went through mail, did some shopping, and generally got ourselves settled.  We checked out the Main St. houses.  One part of the front wall was burned and discolored with a doggie door sized hole burned through the inside wall as well. One window was damaged.  In the mean time, the buyers of the Minnesota house backed out—too much work with the theft damage and all.   At least the title is mostly cleared.

I worked for a while on some articles I wanted to finish by this pay period.  Didn’t quite get them done.  But I prepared my lesson for Sunday.  This is my first week to teach the Teacher Development class.  I’ve had to prepare my own curriculum based on Seminary and the new Youth teaching programs.

Today’s class went well.  Now I have blogging and writing to missionaries.  And the cruise is just a dream and a memory.

The Deed is Done (Almost)

Many thanks to all the children, grand children, in-laws and youth who assisted in the 'ground recovery' program-- also known as 'downed trees and limb' cleanup from the ice storm of 2009.  Yes it took almost 4 years, but the clean up is 95% complete.  With approximately 6 acres of trees, there were a lot of limbs to clear and burn. The first three photos capture how things looked last fall before I tackled clearing this part of our land. 

This is what it now looks like! 

Ah, the joy of not tripping over limbs!  And the trees we cut into firewood back in 2009 provided heat to the house for three years - and there is still enough cut wood left over for another year.  When that is gone there is the double tree that fell over during the storm that is just waiting to be cut for future firewood.

And lest any of the grandchildren are concerned, there is enough wood for future burns so they can roast marshmellows when they come visit this year!    S'mores anyone?

Is it spring yet?

I’m afraid my daffodils have not looked at the calendar.  They are coming up… as are the hyacinths.  And I even have a crocus blooming.  While I love the signs of spring, I worry that there is still winter ahead.  We have had days as warm as 70 and nights as cool as 15 degrees.  Poor plants.  No wonder they are puzzled.

It feels like this week is “same old, same old,” But I guess I’ll share it anyway.

I worked.   I am still collaborating on the financial sales letter lead.  I write.  It comes back with comments all over it.  I rewrite…. It comes back.  You get the picture.  Wayne asks if I’m dismayed by the comments.  Not really.  I’ve realized I don’t know enough about the product.  And Wayne has his vision, too. The goal is to mesh our visions into a great sales piece.  I think Wayne can’t actually WRITE it… he can just REWRITE it.  So at least I need to start the process so he can then gain his vision.  And I look at it as a good chance to learn something new.

Tuesday I went and did clay.  I am starting with a new batch of white clay (I buy it in 25# bags) and it is much moister clay. It takes longer to dry.  So I brought home a bunch of half finished projects.  I was working on cut vases and Marian says to do three so you get the hang of it by the third one.  I think my beginners luck is over.  I had problems with two of the three of them.  One, I mended.  The other one all my decorations fell off, and so it will now be a plain vase.  (Once the clay is dried to greenware, you can’t go back and put wet clay on it… at least I don’t think so.  You see, the clay shrinks, like 10-14% so if you add wet clay to dry clay, it will crack as it dries.)

Wednesday I did some writing and worked on the clay in the evening while Tom was at Bishop stuff.  It was still wet enough for me to cut the vases and overlay more cut-work where the space was.  Hard to explain.  It didn’t come out quite like I’d hoped, but I’m learning. (The tree motif was supposed to wrap around the small vase.  And it did... until I grabbed it too tightly and it cracked off. sigh.)

Tom has been working on the shed in back.  He found some metal siding and put it around the bottom of the shed as skirting to keep the critters from making homes under it.  It looks nice. He also repaired the water damaged door and it looks good as new.  He’s been sorting through stuff in the shed.  Which means I’ve been sorting through stuff, too.

I have the Family Home evening boxes of lessons that are looking for a home and some old dolls and.  I went through my treasure box and found “duckie” and baby caps crocheted by great Auntie Lou, and a hand bag knitted of string by Grandma Swarthout’s Grandmother.  Also plaster hand prints of my children.

Thursday we had our favorite builder come and tell us why we have some small cracks appearing in our walls.  He didn’t seem to think they were of more than cosmetic concern.  We also discussed putting a beam up downstairs and taking out the post to give our family room more furniture arrangement choices.   In the afternoon I went for a massage.  Actually it was a raindrop treatment and massage.  Ummm.  Sure felt good.  I’d like to do that monthly.

The tenant moved from our Church St. House so we went to look at it. It’ really looked good.  It’s a cute place.  Needs a little touch up paint where she screwed the TV holder to the wall.  And a screen door.  Tom can’t understand why I chose beauty over function—with a cute screen door over a functional storm door.  The front of the house just needs “cute.”  Later that afternoon I went visiting teaching. 

Sister Dale finally got moved back to mountain home.  She’s my favorite 90 year old I visit who had MRSA and had been in a hospital 3 hours away for over a month.  She’s in a nursing home now and she has a much better chance of getting better with people who love her close by.  Tom and I went to visit her on Wednesday, and my visiting teaching partner and I went on Friday. Her thoughts are still a little muddled.

Elance asked for photos of where we work—and to be creative.  So with Tom as my photographer, I posed for pictures working in the tree house, in the pasture next to the model A, and by the pond.  Don’t know if that’s what they want, but it was fun to do.  I just learned if I recommend someone to Elance, I get $10… so if you are at all interested, let me know. I’ll send you a link and help you with your profile.

Today was a good day.  Nice testimonies.  I had my visiting teaching interview.  Our seminary teacher is leaving to go on a mission so she was released and a new one called today.  So I did a little training with him, too.  I’ve written grandchildren.  I’ve written the elders and sisters serving from Kisumu and Busia.  And now I’m writing you.