Blue Hearts & The End Of My Blog

Early on during the corona virus, I did this project.

When we put scalloped wood trim on the guest cottage door,

we had some of the trim leftover.  I had my husband cut it into hearts.

I painted it, distressed it. Wrote "HOPE" on the pop caps --

and promptly forgot about them.

I just came across these pics.

I don't even know what I did with the hearts!

Chalk it up to "corona brain".

I started this blog to document all the antique furniture that I fixed up and sold.

And other vintage items I worked on.  

(I should have started it way before 2014.)

Then I documented getting my NW Missouri home ready to sell.

Next fixing up the new Ozark home.

Getting through the corona virus.

And lastly building and decorating the guest cottage.

(By the way, we have had every weekend booked since

we launched on AirBNB the first weekend of November!)

I have decided if I need to "document" something else I will start another blog.

It's a bit bittersweet, but this one has ran it's course.

Eight Months Of Changing My Diet

 I am still learning.  Evolving.  Especially in my eating habits.  This week I read about how bad soy sauce is for you -- not just the sodium.  Look it up if you are interested -- I am not going to preach about it here.  

But I did throw out FIVE bottles of  soy sauce or sauce that had soy in it.  It made me wonder what changes were next because I had already made SO MANY this year. More about that later. 

The changes that I have made:  I had blood work done in February that showed that I had high cholesterol.  I could either make some changes or take medication.  These are the permanent changes that I have made in my eating -- from now to forever, amen. (Like 2020 was not going to be hard enough without giving up junk food.)

1.  DEEP FRIED STUFF. No more, ever.  I have never been a huge french fry fanatic, so that isn't what hurt.  But it was giving up Chic-Fila sandwiches.  So sad.  Yeah, I can still have their grilled chicken sandwich, but it really isn't the same.  And no more onion rings or sweet potato fries. Fried cheese curds. Doughnuts.  Kiss it all goodbye.  Gone.  

2.  DESSERT MIXES.  No more desserts made from boxes.  I make a dessert once a week, and I have decided that I don't really know what is in those boxes -- so I will make it from scratch. Also no cornbread mix. Same with eating out -- we love a certain bakery type of restaurant -- and if the restaurant makes a great dessert from scratch then we will split one.  So it goes without saying -- "store bought" cookies and desserts are out.  Adios to Oreos and Little Debbie cakes.

3.  BREAD.  Don't worry, I am not giving up bread.  Just no more white bread.  Ideally I would make wheat bread myself.  Next choice is what comes from our favorite bakery restaurant.  It is $6 but we put it in the freezer and use it sparingly.  Third choice is wheat bread from a local amish bakery, only $3 a loaf -- I load up on that when we can get it.  Fourth choice is bread from a health food store that is locally made -- and it is $7 a loaf.  Last choice is a good quality loaf from the local grocery store -- probably about $5 but still loaded with a bunch of ingredients I am not familiar with.

4.  PASTA.  Not giving that up either.  But using a 50% rule.  Using at least 50% whole wheat pasta or 50% vegie noodles along with regular pasta.

5.  HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.  Out.  And it is in so many things.  Jams, breads, ketchup, ice cream.  You really have to read the label because it sneaks into so much.

6.  PROCESSED MEATS.  Out.  Hot dogs (which I LOVE), sausage, pepperoni, bologna.  All gone.

7.  PIZZA.  The main change here kind of goes back to #3.  I won't eat the pizza if the restaurant does not make the crust from scratch.  Papa Murphy's does.

8.  POTATO CHIPS.  I don't even need to go into all of the reasons.  I can't even pretend that they have anything beneficial.  I don't think I have eaten even one since February.

9.  ICE CREAM.  It deserves it's own category.  Our grocery store sells a brand that has five ingredients listed on the front: milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, vanilla bean.  Yes, I will eat that.  We live near a college that makes ice cream from their own herd of dairy cows -- yep, I will eat that.  But the regular tub of ice cream with unpronounceable ingredients -- nope.

10.  DRINKS.  I am only drinking water (we have great well water), tea (unsweetened) and milk.  I just had gum surgery this year so I am trying to avoid anything with acid.  

I have also ADDED a few things to my diet -- more fish, vegies.  But I think what I have subtracted is the most important. It will be interesting to look back on this list in a few years.  Will I be avoiding more types of food?  Maybe less sugar?  

Fall Vintage & Antiques GOING OUT OF BUSINESS Liquidation Garage Sale

Fall Vintage & Antiques GOING OUT OF BUSINESS Clearance Garage Sale. That is kind of a big title.  But I want people to realize that it is a big deal, and that they should make a herculean effort to come.  I had already mentioned earlier in 2020 that I had made a decision to pretty much curtail my antiques business:{  That meant quitting my antique booths cold turkey (good decision right before covid hit!)  Slowing my ebay selling to a trickle.  No more shows.  And putting a squelch on buying the rusty, primitive junk that I love to sell....and look at.

January 2020 we started to build our "guest cottage" which we still hope to turn into an AIRBNB.  Construction is basically (finally) over. I had kept a tight hold on some of the leftover antiques inventory because I didn't know what we would be using to furnish and decorate the cottage.  But in the last couple weeks I have been schlepping stuff in (and out) of the guest cottage, and it is time to let go of the items that we won't be using.  We are not only clearing out my leftover inventory, but items that I had collected just for the cottage and that now I realize there isn't room, or it just doesn't fit the look. A REAL RUTHLESS CLEARANCE SALE.  Garage Sale prices.

This is Saturday is SALE #1.  All of my Halloween and Fall inventory.  Slashed.  Whatever doesn't sell Saturday I am taking to a flea market and selling for $1.  I am not kidding.  I also have a bunch of furniture in Saturday's sale.  Whatever furniture doesn't sell will go on Facebook Marketplace. 

Some of the furniture is already on FM.  Also, there are stacks and layers of items that need to be sold, so....

SALE #2 will be in a month or so.  It will hopefully purge the underlayers.  And the CHRISTMAS inventory.  I want to get rid of all of it.  I am a motivated seller.

SALE #3 will be early next spring.  All of the springy merch.  All of the pastels, florals, cutesy and sweet items.  All of the garden items.  All of the outdoor items.  EVERYTHING that is hiding tubs that are stashed under the folding tables and out of sight.  All gone.  Including "props", tablecloths, tables --- everything needed for the bones of setting up.  I want it all gone.  So that I can use the shop (which previously was my antiques storage area) more as a workshop, and maybe even have room to put a vehicle in it.  

AND THEN?  Well.  God laughs at our puny plans.  Just look at 2020.  But a rough guess / sketch of 2021?  As I mentioned, hopefully running an AirBNB.  More volunteering / entertaining. And we are expecting our second grandchild -- that will help to keep us busy.  

Could It Get Any Worse?

 Could it get any worse?  A person should never actually let those words come out of their mouth, because the answer to that question is always -- yes.  But this week has been a progressive series of things getting worse.  Monday our contractor knocked over our planter by the driveway.  Boohoo.


Also on Monday (and Tuesday) -- a sick chicken. She was in a kennel in our house and had to have electrolytes given to her every couple hours.  Whatever evil was inside her smelled even worse when it came out of her.  (By Wednesday she was doing better.)

Tuesday morning at 2:30 a.m. my husband got up to use the bathroom.

He stepped in an inch of water.  The bathroom that attaches to our upstairs bedroom was pouring out water from the supply line to the toilet.  Maybe a couple hundred gallons.

(We sleep with a fan on, so we didn't hear anything.) Totally saturated the old growth pine floor upstairs, and made it's way downstairs into our dining room which is right below the bedroom.  Every absorbable towel, blanket, bedspread, was used to soak up the water.  And of course the rugs were all soaked.  So Tuesday morning our contractor cut holes in the dining room ceiling and walls to get air in there.  I should have taken a photo of the stack of laundry I did Tuesday.  

Also, the insurance guy came Tuesday to say water mitigation company would be covered by insurance.  And he agreed that the pine floor would have to be refinished because of warpage (again, just had them done when we moved in two years ago.)  By the way, major pain.  You can't use that area for like two weeks.

 Mitigation company came yesterday.

They set up dehumidifiers and fans in dining room,

downstairs hallway, and upstairs.  SO LOUD.

They will be with us until Monday.  Did I say LOUD?

Sorry, can't hear myself think.

 My son is staying with us this summer.  Today (which is Thursday) he found out that the people

he visited last weekend have tested positive for covid.  So he is in quarantine for two weeks, at our house.  I put up this curtain to separate his area from the rest of the house.  He gets the guest room, downstairs bathroom, sun room and deck. (Basically the only places where there isn't loud machinery.)

 We will be sliding food to him from under the curtain.

Could it get worse?  Well, it is going to feel like 100 degrees today,

so the deck is probably not going to be usable for him.  It hasn't rained in weeks,

so I do need to get out and water in this heat.  I need a vacation from bad news.

Waa.  Waa.  Waa. Call the wambulance.

Sign Of The Times

We saw this sign for gas when we were running around on Friday.

I couldn't believe that I was seeing gas at $1.04 a gallon.

Then later that day we saw gas at Sam's Club for $0.96!!

Which reminded me of a quarantine joke my sister told me:

"I feel like I'm a teenager again.

Gas is cheap, and I'm grounded."

Farewell To My Antique Booth

I have had at least one antique booth for the last 28 years.

Lots of different venues -- including my own antique shop for 3 years.

For at least 10 years I sold "junk" from an outdoor booth too.

I was always on the hunt for junk to resale in my booth.

It was a great side business when my kids were growing up.

It was a great side business when I had a "real" job.

Up until the last two years (since I moved to the Ozarks)

it has been very profitable for me.

But it is time to pull the plug -- it has not been

profitable enough for me since we moved down here.

I have one more trip down to remove my "stuff" and then I am done.

End of an era.

My ONE and ONLY Library Book during Quarantine

You remember libraries right?  Brick buildings full of books, magazines, audiobooks, friendly faces?  We were fortunate enough to visit ours the day before life came screeching to a halt.  We didn't know it was our last chance for weeks / months to check out material.  So I checked out ONE actual book and five audio books.  Those are the ones I am stuck with for the duration....

First the fiction audiobooks.  I gave all five a passing chance, but only one seemed worth listening to the entirety. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.  I admit I am a picky audiobook listener -- it has to be well written, and have a good reader, not too sleazy, not too predictable, not too sad, not too serious, no vampires, no zombies, no fantasy, sci-fi or magic.  (Second thought -- maybe I'm really not that particular). I may have to go back and give the other audio books a second chance.  Maybe a third chance for the really bad ones, depending on how long this lasts.

My ONE actual book?  "Rhapsody In Green" by Charlotte Mendelson -- non-fiction about a writer and her small vegetable garden.  If I was forced to only check out one book for two months, this would have been it.  I ended up with a winner by accident, and I love it.

She and I have some opposing thoughts.  She is all about growing edibles, and I am almost strictly flowers.  She loves starting with seeds indoors, and I try to avoid seeds altogether.   Still, she has many of the same gardening thoughts that I do. And is able to express those thoughts in a fun and entertaining way.  Each chapter is only 3-4 pages, so I can make it through a whole chapter without falling asleep.  She is pleasant and upbeat -- the book always leaves me smiling. I have finished the book and now am starting to read it for the second time.  I wonder how many times I will have read it by the time the library reopens.

"If you can find the perfect armchair garden-reading, it will soothe you better than almost anything."
-- Charlotte Mendelson

A Sick Rooster, Drippy Faucet & Lawn Chair Redo

Even on Corona Virus quarantine days you never know what you're gonna git.  At 7 am this morning my husband woke me up to say the rooster wasn't doing well.  I rolled over to ask him how the rooster was acting, and he pointed to a tiny bundle inside the crook of his arm.  Too sick to care he was being toted around.  Sigh.  One week of having chickens, and I was out of my depth. I made a couple emergency calls to people who know chicken charmers. Then I sent my husband out to try to round up electrolytes and VetRx.  Meanwhile I held and petted a very despondent little rooster.

(Here he is 24 hours later -- definitely an improvement).

I used a syringe to inject a little electrolyte water into Cogburn's mouth (beak?) about every hour.

Which gave me time in the kitchen to notice our kitchen sink faucet was dripping like crazy. 

We ended up tearing apart the old faucet assembly only to decide to go out and buy a whole new faucet set.  My husband did most of the work while I was trying to feed/water the rooster in our kitchen.

Cogburn started standing late-afternoon (instead of laying down with his eyes closed and feet curled😢).  And by that time we had a faucet that wasn't hemorrhaging.  Time to play.  My husband went out to work on his goat enclosure, and I thought I was going to garden -- but ended up sidetracked by an old metal lawn chair.  Great lines, but none of the cool old paint that I love so much.  So I decided to slap some gold paint on it.  Paint I already had (because going to the hardware store twice in one day would be politically incorrect in these times) even though it was interior paint.  I had already impulsively done a few swipes before I took the pic, but you can see why I thought it was dismal.

I am going to offend both ends of the spectrum.

The left wing "leave it the way you found it",

and the right wing "make it look like it did when it was made in 1954".

I hastily painted it with one coat, and then took a palm sander to it.

I think it is the best of both worlds -- and it inspired me.

More lawn chair rehab in my future.

How I Plan To Survive The Corona Virus Crazies

I normally ignore what is going on in the world in my blog.  At first the blog was antiques only. Then I added gardening.  Then refurbishing our new house.  Now building our guest house.  I am off topic enough that I feel like I can address the corona virus.  And when I mean to survive -- no, I don't mean physically.  I mean mentally.

My grandson and I were at Target in Branson, MO last Thursday.  We went for recreational purposes because it was too cold to play outside.  Craziness ensued.  Empty shelves.  No toilet paper.  A day after this people got into a fist fight at the Branson Walmart over toilet paper.  I was stupefied.  I walked out of Target that day with a box of Fig Newtons.  No doubt people were wondering what survival article I had read that recommended hoarding Fig Newtons.

So I called my sister, who is smarter about some things than I am.  She said that in the last week when she bought "staples" she bought two instead of one.  And to make sure we had adequate pet supplies.  And medications.  And cash.  Apparently I was way behind on self-educating on what is needed during a pandemic.  We went to Walmart that night (we had to park on the perimeter) and bought the last two bags of cat litter.  I guess every one else was much more astute about what to purchase at such a time as this.

My husband works for a University.  He definitely has this week off for spring break.  Maybe next week for Corona Break.  And who knows how much time after that.  We will have to survive each other.  Think of "The Shining".

 I plan on continuing to go to the grocery store, library, our church and the hardware store -- just taking precautions. (Church and library closed for a couple months after this.) Careful, not fearful. We do like to go out to eat, and I probably won't be doing that.  But I understand that there is going to be more "isolation" than I have ever experienced.  And this is how I plan to survive the quarantine crazies:

-- it is rainier and colder than it should be for this time of year.  But as soon as it warms up a bit I have many outdoor projects to do.  My husband is currently picking up a small goldfish pond to put out in front of our house by our berm.  (While we had talked "fountain", our previous discussions never included the  words "pond" and "goldfish" and certainly not "water lilies".) All can be attributed to the corona crazies. But at least he is staying busy.

-- I have to decide whether or not to keep my antique booth.  I would have to give notice April 1,
and be out by the end of April.  Last spring / summer the antique business took a huge hit because of local flooding. At this point I think I would rather not weather another summer like that.  And let's face it -- even if there is no more threat of the virus, there will be serious economic repercussions.
I can always sell at a home market, and have no overhead. Or commission. Or travel expense.

-- I am creating a succulent nursery.  More on this later, but it should keep me busy (after the weather warms up).

-- I am in  the process of thinning out perennials which are already overrunning areas in my borders.
I am potting the extra up, to either use at the guest house or sell at a Home Sale.  That is what the spoons are for.  After dipping them n chalk paint and letting them dry, I can write prices on the round part with permanent marker.

-- I am cooking.  Sure, I have always cooked.  But a few weeks ago we started eating healthier.  I told my husband that it is not a diet, that makes it sound temporary.  This is a permanent lifestyle change.  Argh.  So hard.  Maybe I will do a blog on this later. I caught a network TV show with chef Jamie Oliver.  Five ingredient cooking, quick and easy.  He emphasizes fresh, healthy ingredients.  Well, if you only have five ingredients to worry about then , why not?  I got the hardback cookbook that goes with the show on ebay for $8 (free shipping)!  So I am going to work my way through the cookbook (no, not page by page -- but the recipes that appeal to me).  It helps make healthy eating somewhat adventurous.  And healthy eating might be hard if we are stuck at home for a few weeks.

-- with humor.  A local donut shop offered a free roll of toilet paper with the purchase of a dozen donuts.  I bribed my son into coming to help with a chicken enclosure (another of my husband's projects, to keep him from the crazies) by offering him toilet paper in exchange for a day of work.

-- lastly, I will have much to keep me busy once the guest house starts moving along.  They are at a prolonged standstill (that is not helping us with the crazies) waiting for windows and for the weather to dry up.

Brown Recluse Spider Bite -- OUCH!

Yesterday I was putting on a pair of dirty jeans that had been on the floor

(because I was going out to do yard work anyway.)

I thought I felt a sticker, but when I shook out the jeans a little spider fell out.

A little brown recluse spider.

I received some great advice to use a permanent marker to outline original swelling.

And every morning do a new outline.

With any sign of infection you need to see a doctor,

but so far I have just had swelling and itching.

You can bet I won't leave clothes on the floor again.

Making The Move

 We made the move!

It was preceded by a couple weeks of pretty rough goodbyes.

I have volunteered with the above ladies for years at a

"store" that gives away clothing to the less fortunate.

 This is my "reading club" that ditched the reading years ago.

More like a lunch club with amazing support and some great wisdom.

Ladies that I have been friends with for years came to see me off.

Some of the wonderful friends that I didn't even manage to get a photo of. 

(I managed to not pick up my camera during the whole move.😕

 What we did right:

throw ourselves a "farewell party" where friends to could stay

to help us pack afterwards.  The above shows all the yummy

treats they brought.  I don't really even remember the

packing stage, I just carried the neighbor's baby around like a security blanket.

 I think we had about 30 awesome people helping us

pack every square inch of this 20 foot moving truck.

(And only 6 people to unload and unpack, much

gratitude to my sister-in-laws family and my son.)

Fortunately, they didn't realize everything we had squirrelled

away in our "shop" every trip we made down here for the last 

six months.  But that can wait for now.

Moving Melancholy

All changes, even the most longed for,

have their melancholy;

For what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves,

we must die to one life before we can enter another.

-- Anatolle France. 

You have had fair warning,

this may be a downer.  And probably too sad for family members.

As the house is emptying out I needed to snap a few photos.

But bright colors seemed a little too cheery....

it is starting to really hit me.

 So this post was me wandering around outside.

This is a giant tree in front of our house.

It has kept watch over the house about 100 years,

and over my family for 30 years.

 I like to think how many times we wandered in and out of this gate.

(And how I ruined my knees laying that brick).

 I did dig up a few plants to take,

but I am leaving many behind.

There was not one flower or bush in the yard when we moved in.

 Original shed (out house?),

one of my favorite things about the yard.

View of church next door.

I can still see two little boys holding hands,

walking up that sidewalk.

Being followed our loyal gold tomcat who met them at the end of the block.

Whining, Japanese Beetles, God & Paint Therapy

Some periods of life are just hard. Hard.  Can't get around them, have to make it through somehow.  Hard.  We're going through one of those.  Long and hard.  I thought our northern house would have sold by now, so now I am hours away from my husband (and grandbaby!) babysitting our Victorian house.  He is job hunting in the new location and I have put almost all my money-making "junking" ventures on hold during this transition.  Which means we are cash poor.

Nope, I am not done whining...  The temps and humidity this summer (since June!) make it feel like 100 degrees almost every stinking day.  Our northern house hasn't seen any rain in weeks.  Lots of grass is dead, some trees looking bad, and I am watering almost every morning.  I have started to collect "gray water" during the day to water potted plants.  So I was watering this morning and I noticed Japanese beetles eating my crabapple tree (probably the photo "frame" of flowers you are looking at on my blog right now is a photo of blooms from that tree).  Japanese beetles.  Argh.  So gross.  So discouraging.

 Must go to Home Depot and spend money on JB traps.  (I think God had a plan). I picked up two, and wandered to the paint department.  I had kind of been thinking about painting our china cabinet.  We bought it back around 1986 from a little old lady whose husband had made it for her.  We paid $75, which was a lot of money for us.  I was thinking that for our Ozark house I wanted something older and more primitive to put dishes in, but frankly that is not in the budget right now.   So I was perusing the paint samples, and found a lovely shade of gold by Behr -- Romanesque Gold.  I pulled the trigger and bought a quart.

I dragged the china cabinet on the back porch, did a "primer coat" with a white chalk paint.  Then a coat of the gold with a little of the white chalk paint added (to kind of layer colors.)  And then a coat of the straight gold.  During these three coats my nerves began to calm.  I began to count my blessings, and remember the joy and peace God grants me while I paint.  God is teaching me all sorts of lessons during this season of my life, and sometimes I lose sight of that.  It is EASY to see the hard, and much tougher to see the good.

I have a few more stages left before I finish the china cabinet (stay tuned), but today was a good start. And I am feeling better. By the way, the vicinity of the beetle traps looks like a Alfred Hitchcock horror movie "The Beetles"-- apparently the bait really does work.