For those who know me well, that is not real news. I've been using sterling flatware for my everyday eating since my grandmother left me hers in 1986. I never knew the name of grandma's pattern, but it is very simple, and well-used since the early 1900's when she was married. It's engraved with an M. The remarkable thing about her flatware is that there are literally dozens of serving pieces -- from meat forks to lemon forks and pickle tongs. The unfortunate thing is that there are only 5 dinner forks.
I took custody of my mother's sterling when she passed away in 1999. It too has just 5 dinner forks, though there are also 5 salad forks, more spoons, and 6 knives. She had only a few serving pieces.
I've been eating happily off of these two sets, quietly wishing that they were the same pattern. And I also quietly have been combing antique shops, looking at more sterling.
On Friday, I got lucky. Jack and I were in downtown Big Rapids, and visited the Big Rapids Antique Shop. Darlene showed us a set of sterling flatware which we both just loved. It's Reed & Barton Diamond pattern and there are 8 six-piece place settings (salad, and dinner forks, soup and tea spoons, dinner knife, and butter knife) and 14 serving pieces! I bought the set!
Yesterday, I polished each piece and .. my goodness, what a shine they make! Today we'll shop for a drawer divider large enough for such a magnificent set of silver.
I am not sure exactly when my love affair with sterling began. I remember eating from grandma's silver when I was a little girl. Of course, I remember the family dinners with my mother's sterling. And my Auntie Dots told me of her grandmother. She explained why she always ate ice cream from a sterling spoon. "Plate leaves a taste..."
I suppose it reminds me of a more genteel time -- a time when ladies had more time to set pretty tables, when people enjoyed entertaining friends, when people moved a bit more slowly and savored the finer things. That's where I am now. I have time to set a pretty table, I love having friends over for dinner, and I love taking the time to drive off the big roads, seeing smaller communities and .. just taking time to smell the lilacs. And I love my sterling silverware!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Drizzly and Cool
We have had a few really great days. Annette and Steve came up on Friday night, and we enjoyed a fine weekend with them. Saturday, we took them on a short tour of Big Rapids, dined at Pepper's, and then went to ArtWorks, our gallery which features the work of area artists. Annette bought one of Jack's prints, and I found an awesome wood burl bowl, which I'm using for a fruit bowl. I also bought some vegetable painting prints to frame for the kitchen.
We played ping pong in the evening, and that was fun! Steve had never played before, which I found hard to believe, since he caught on so fast. Jack fixed us Rock Cornish game hens, potatoes, and corn, and I made zucchini sautee with onions, tomatoes, basil, and parmesan.
This morning I had my ear congestion cured, much to my delight. This is only the 2nd time that I've had to do this, and it was not altogether pleasant. I am wondering how normal people get seen by a doctor when they need to be. The RN at the ER told me, however, that I was the 12th person whose ears she had irrigated already today.. and this was just noon! So I guess that going to the ER *is* normal for silly little things like this? I tried the local Otolaryngology office first, and they said October 12. No way could I have lasted that long! Turns out that I have a middle ear infection, and I have drops that are going to cure me.
So, with me feeling sort of puny, we just gomed out for most of the day. Late in the day, we did play a few rousing games of ping pong, and I got all caught up with Facebook. And we both had a few naps.
Drizzly and cool today, and we actually tried out our furnace to be sure that it worked. It worked so well, in fact, that we considered staying here for the winter! Well.. LOL not really, but it sounded good.
We played ping pong in the evening, and that was fun! Steve had never played before, which I found hard to believe, since he caught on so fast. Jack fixed us Rock Cornish game hens, potatoes, and corn, and I made zucchini sautee with onions, tomatoes, basil, and parmesan.
This morning I had my ear congestion cured, much to my delight. This is only the 2nd time that I've had to do this, and it was not altogether pleasant. I am wondering how normal people get seen by a doctor when they need to be. The RN at the ER told me, however, that I was the 12th person whose ears she had irrigated already today.. and this was just noon! So I guess that going to the ER *is* normal for silly little things like this? I tried the local Otolaryngology office first, and they said October 12. No way could I have lasted that long! Turns out that I have a middle ear infection, and I have drops that are going to cure me.
So, with me feeling sort of puny, we just gomed out for most of the day. Late in the day, we did play a few rousing games of ping pong, and I got all caught up with Facebook. And we both had a few naps.
Drizzly and cool today, and we actually tried out our furnace to be sure that it worked. It worked so well, in fact, that we considered staying here for the winter! Well.. LOL not really, but it sounded good.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Socializing
We've enjoyed having some people over to our new house, over the past couple of weeks. Jack loves cooking, as do I, so it's just been really fun. We have had two small dinner parties, and we had the joy of hosting our church's PITS group last Sunday.
PITS is always fun, but it was super-special having them HERE! When people get a new house, the PITS group blesses the house with glitter! We are still finding it around in funny places, and it makes us laugh every time.
For PITS, the hosting household usually does a meat and drinks, and the other people bring side dishes and desserts. Jack did 4 chickens and a big rack of ribs, and it was all delicious. (Note to self: 2 chickens and 2 racks of ribs would have been better.)
I enjoyed giving tours of the house, and Jack entertained the men outside. The weather was lovely, as it has been for weeks now.
We've actually gotten some rain the past couple of days, which has been fun for the geese! The sandbar outside our house has just about disappeared under the rushing Muskegon!
We just returned from a trip to Indiana, where we had to exchange our table top. Why? Well... the leaf that Gerdt Furniture had given us didn't fit, as we discovered when we were setting up for PITS! Jack brought the whole top, just thinking... just in case. Well, the leaf that they had ready for us didn't FIT our table top, so they had to exchange the whole top!
Our main purpose of the Indiana trip was for Mary Elizabeth's 90th birthday party in Bloomington. It was great fun, and it was exciting to see all the people from her family, and to catch up with some old friends.
After the party, we went over to Bob and Ann's, and were happy to have a visit with them and to see them doing well.
In Indiana, we also got our Verizon MiFi card activated by Edward, a great guy at the Verizon store in Brownsburg. Even though we are in a "trust market," because of the Alltell purchase, he didn't have access to our account, but he made a call and got it taken care of for us! He was so competent and helpful.
The MiFi card is great! It goes along with the Verizon data plan that I've had all along, but enables me to "host" up to 4 other computers with WiFi. That means that Jack and I can be on the internet at the same time! Woo hoo! And it works! It works well, and fast.
PITS is always fun, but it was super-special having them HERE! When people get a new house, the PITS group blesses the house with glitter! We are still finding it around in funny places, and it makes us laugh every time.
For PITS, the hosting household usually does a meat and drinks, and the other people bring side dishes and desserts. Jack did 4 chickens and a big rack of ribs, and it was all delicious. (Note to self: 2 chickens and 2 racks of ribs would have been better.)
I enjoyed giving tours of the house, and Jack entertained the men outside. The weather was lovely, as it has been for weeks now.
We've actually gotten some rain the past couple of days, which has been fun for the geese! The sandbar outside our house has just about disappeared under the rushing Muskegon!
We just returned from a trip to Indiana, where we had to exchange our table top. Why? Well... the leaf that Gerdt Furniture had given us didn't fit, as we discovered when we were setting up for PITS! Jack brought the whole top, just thinking... just in case. Well, the leaf that they had ready for us didn't FIT our table top, so they had to exchange the whole top!
Our main purpose of the Indiana trip was for Mary Elizabeth's 90th birthday party in Bloomington. It was great fun, and it was exciting to see all the people from her family, and to catch up with some old friends.
After the party, we went over to Bob and Ann's, and were happy to have a visit with them and to see them doing well.
In Indiana, we also got our Verizon MiFi card activated by Edward, a great guy at the Verizon store in Brownsburg. Even though we are in a "trust market," because of the Alltell purchase, he didn't have access to our account, but he made a call and got it taken care of for us! He was so competent and helpful.
The MiFi card is great! It goes along with the Verizon data plan that I've had all along, but enables me to "host" up to 4 other computers with WiFi. That means that Jack and I can be on the internet at the same time! Woo hoo! And it works! It works well, and fast.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Getting Settled
We are getting settled nicely into our new house. We have almost all the furniture in place, and just a few things yet to buy. Jack is going to build us a bed for our Master Bedroom, as you see here. We have to get or build nightstands for that room.
I love the Master bathroom and the closet with clothes chute!
We are going to procure bookcases for the Library/Music Room, and that will complete this room.
I love the Master bathroom and the closet with clothes chute!
We are going to procure bookcases for the Library/Music Room, and that will complete this room.
Downstairs, the Game Room is shaping up, as is our #1 Guest Room.
But our forest-setting guestroom is on hold. That is because the log beds that we got are too BIG! I had been laboring under the illusion that twin beds are 36" wide. The beds that we got, with the big logs, are actually 50" wide. The nice folks at the Rustic Log Furniture store are going to help us out, though, by letting us exchange these for smaller beds. I didn't take photos of the #2 Guest Room full of unassembled logs!
Here is the kitchen:
And here's the dining room:
The living room:
The Library/Music Room:
Here's a photo of the ladder that Jack built:
Views down the hallways near the front door:
Here's our screened porch:
And some views of the river:
Here's the river deck, and the staircase leading down to the lower deck:
Here's a photo of the ladder that Jack built:
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Been Busy!
Yes, we've been busy! Doing what? Well...
Sunday was supposed to be their last day here, but it came and went and they had not been able to get all moved out. Monday they called again and they had filled their 26' U-Haul and had more stuff than would fit into it. They would have to make another trip.
Tuesday morning we got a call that they had moved all out at 2am. So Tuesday was our day! We drove the RV over there, leaving Paris Park with mixed feelings. She'd been good to us! We off-loaded the contents of the RV fridge into the new house fridge, called the power company to be sure that our power would continue, but in my name, and just kind of walked around a bit in the house. We kept Eddie in the RV. Then the VanDries folks called to tell us that they were on their way with our mattresses and TV! Delivery went swimmingly, and then we looked at each other and said, "Let's go to Indiana!"
We drove down there in Jack's van, leaving Eddie behind to guard the RV. We didn't want to dump him in the new house without our being there. He had been comfy in the RV for months now, after all! The drive was easy, and Steve had dinner ready for us when we arrived. :)
Wednesday morning, we got up early, picked up the 26' UHaul, and then drove it up to Gerdt and Kirk, picking up the furniture that they had for us. Back to Annette's and we loaded up all the boxes and the furniture that I'd had in Bloomington, and the new stuff that had been delivered from Kittles. The truck was packed and the piano went into Jack's van. (Legs unscrewed!) Finally, Annette could put her car back into the garage, and her walk-in closets upstairs were full. The dining room was free of all my stuff!
And Thursday morning, we left for our new home with the UHaul and the van. We got back here and off-loaded most of the things on Thursday. We got our mattress for our room set up with a mattress pad and our Travasack from the RV, so we could have a place to spend our first night in the house. Boxes went into the garage for the time being, and the lighter furniture came into the house. We put together the Ekornes recliners and tried out the TV. Nothing yet, but then, we don't have our Dish Network set up, no cable, and not even rabbit ears.
Friday morning, we awoke early after our first night in the new house, and enjoyed the sunrise through the fog on the Muskegon. Lovely. Now, to work! Jack went to his men's group meeting while I got ready for the day, and started deciding where I'd put things. And just then, the delivery people from Klingman's called. They were on their way!
Soon they had our TV console, the guest room bed, and the screen-room furniture here and set up. Just after they left, Jack brought Gary back, and the two guys off-loaded the rest of the furniture -- the heavy stuff! With the LR couch, the LR was starting to look like a real room! And the downstairs game room was looking fine, with the new Century table and chairs!
The rest of Friday passed in a blur, with us working to unload boxes and just tidy things up. And we went to bed early because...
Saturday, we got up early and drove to Lapeer, Michigan, over on the thumb side, where Jack's cousin lives. All of her daughters were there, and Jack's two brothers were there, too! We enjoyed a great meal and a fine time was had by all.
Saturday evening, we drove up to Birch Run, to the Super 8, where we stayed the night. Sunday, we found a wonderful little church in Birch Run. The pastor was celebrating 20 years with that church, and it was a happy time.
Then, we did some shopping at the outlet mall and got back to our new Paris home just about the time darkness fell. We put more things away, including the new things that we'd found at the mall.
Monday, we went and got more things that we needed for the household -- a lawnmower, for one! And we put away things. And did some laundry.
Yesterday, we had our first dinner guests! Linda and Michael had called wanting to come and help us unload things, so we cooked! I made Fettucini Milano, a pasta concoction with sausage, garlic, green onions, green peppers, parsley, and herbs. A green salad and garlic bread finished off the meal, and Linda's delicious raspberry pie and cheesecake topped off a wonderful day!
So here we are and we're both just tickled with this house and the life that we're putting together here! And I WILL be posting photos very soon!
It is starting to get cooler here already, though, so we are starting to think about heading to AZ. We had a frost here a couple of nights ago, though it is still very nice in the daytime. I have to say that I really don't want to even think about leaving!
Sunday was supposed to be their last day here, but it came and went and they had not been able to get all moved out. Monday they called again and they had filled their 26' U-Haul and had more stuff than would fit into it. They would have to make another trip.
Tuesday morning we got a call that they had moved all out at 2am. So Tuesday was our day! We drove the RV over there, leaving Paris Park with mixed feelings. She'd been good to us! We off-loaded the contents of the RV fridge into the new house fridge, called the power company to be sure that our power would continue, but in my name, and just kind of walked around a bit in the house. We kept Eddie in the RV. Then the VanDries folks called to tell us that they were on their way with our mattresses and TV! Delivery went swimmingly, and then we looked at each other and said, "Let's go to Indiana!"
We drove down there in Jack's van, leaving Eddie behind to guard the RV. We didn't want to dump him in the new house without our being there. He had been comfy in the RV for months now, after all! The drive was easy, and Steve had dinner ready for us when we arrived. :)
Wednesday morning, we got up early, picked up the 26' UHaul, and then drove it up to Gerdt and Kirk, picking up the furniture that they had for us. Back to Annette's and we loaded up all the boxes and the furniture that I'd had in Bloomington, and the new stuff that had been delivered from Kittles. The truck was packed and the piano went into Jack's van. (Legs unscrewed!) Finally, Annette could put her car back into the garage, and her walk-in closets upstairs were full. The dining room was free of all my stuff!
And Thursday morning, we left for our new home with the UHaul and the van. We got back here and off-loaded most of the things on Thursday. We got our mattress for our room set up with a mattress pad and our Travasack from the RV, so we could have a place to spend our first night in the house. Boxes went into the garage for the time being, and the lighter furniture came into the house. We put together the Ekornes recliners and tried out the TV. Nothing yet, but then, we don't have our Dish Network set up, no cable, and not even rabbit ears.
Friday morning, we awoke early after our first night in the new house, and enjoyed the sunrise through the fog on the Muskegon. Lovely. Now, to work! Jack went to his men's group meeting while I got ready for the day, and started deciding where I'd put things. And just then, the delivery people from Klingman's called. They were on their way!
Soon they had our TV console, the guest room bed, and the screen-room furniture here and set up. Just after they left, Jack brought Gary back, and the two guys off-loaded the rest of the furniture -- the heavy stuff! With the LR couch, the LR was starting to look like a real room! And the downstairs game room was looking fine, with the new Century table and chairs!
The rest of Friday passed in a blur, with us working to unload boxes and just tidy things up. And we went to bed early because...
Saturday, we got up early and drove to Lapeer, Michigan, over on the thumb side, where Jack's cousin lives. All of her daughters were there, and Jack's two brothers were there, too! We enjoyed a great meal and a fine time was had by all.
Saturday evening, we drove up to Birch Run, to the Super 8, where we stayed the night. Sunday, we found a wonderful little church in Birch Run. The pastor was celebrating 20 years with that church, and it was a happy time.
Then, we did some shopping at the outlet mall and got back to our new Paris home just about the time darkness fell. We put more things away, including the new things that we'd found at the mall.
Monday, we went and got more things that we needed for the household -- a lawnmower, for one! And we put away things. And did some laundry.
Yesterday, we had our first dinner guests! Linda and Michael had called wanting to come and help us unload things, so we cooked! I made Fettucini Milano, a pasta concoction with sausage, garlic, green onions, green peppers, parsley, and herbs. A green salad and garlic bread finished off the meal, and Linda's delicious raspberry pie and cheesecake topped off a wonderful day!
So here we are and we're both just tickled with this house and the life that we're putting together here! And I WILL be posting photos very soon!
It is starting to get cooler here already, though, so we are starting to think about heading to AZ. We had a frost here a couple of nights ago, though it is still very nice in the daytime. I have to say that I really don't want to even think about leaving!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Fun days
Well, OK, so it's not ALL fun, but it's mostly fun.
I've started on a new journey -- one of discovery. I'm going to discover the new me that's become hidden under 16+ lbs of extra weight! I'm serious about this, too. I'm serious enough that I've started an account with MedHelp.org and have installed trackers for my food intake, my exercise, and my weight. So far it's fun and seems to have me thinking seriously about what I'm eating. (If this link doesn't work (It's for my personal profile page.), then go on to MedHelp.org and set up your own account. If you want to follow my progress, I would love that. You just have to add me as your friend. I'm in there as myjanee. :)
We've been working on Jack's house, making some real progress in his office and in the living room. Piles remain, of course, and dirt remains, but nothing like before. I've kept one of the bedrooms just as it was, so that I can go look and see that, yes, we have made progress! Oh, and I did get one of those $30 "gas mask" affairs to wear when I'm working in there. I find that my breathing has been much easier since then!
We're on track to move into our new digs on the Muskegon River! After we left Annette & Steve's, we were so excited about shopping for furniture, that we shopped some more! LOL! All of the following is to be delivered next week!
We now have mattresses for the Master, for Guest #1, and for Guest #2. We have a bed for Guest #1. (Annette, this is YOUR room!) This is a really great bed which would have been totally out of our league pricewise, but, since it was a close-out... I get it! The bed is an antique pine with black criss-crosses and little black rosettes. It is some sort of Mediterranean style, and it's almost a "sleigh" bed, but not "sleigh" enough that you'll hate it, Annette! :P That room will also have a small round side table and the antique walnut dresser that I have.
Guest #2 will be our "forest room." For this room, we chose two Rustic Pine twin beds from our local Amish furniture makers. They are something like this. Tucked in between them will be the cutest little log nightstand that you've ever seen in your life! We got a pine-cone lamp to go on that table.
We bought a TV -- one that is bigger than the one I used to have, but cost about 1/3 of what I paid for the other one. It's an LG. To go under the TV, we got a beautiful piece of furniture... Well, here it is! You be the judge. They even show it with Mission furnishings! :)
Oh! And we have our boats! We got Native Watercraft boats, which are a sort of hybrid between a canoe and a kayak -- best of both worlds, and the best boat for our river! Jack's is blue and mine is yellow!
We've been out in the boats on the river 4 times, and it gets better every time! We've been with Harold, Kathy, Janet, Pete, Linda, and Mike. Now.. as fun as this is, I want everyone I know to do this! We can arrange for a boat for you, so .. come on!
You know that I don't like to talk about the future in here, so I won't... much. We are going to be starting to move in on the 24th! We'll be having some of our stuff delivered on Tuesday the 25th, and some on the following Friday. The bulk of it will be here after the Indy-ordered furniture gets to Annette's -- or most of it, at least. I'm thinking that we can do the dining table/chairs and the recliners in Jack's trailer, because I'm getting antsy about having my stuff!
I've started on a new journey -- one of discovery. I'm going to discover the new me that's become hidden under 16+ lbs of extra weight! I'm serious about this, too. I'm serious enough that I've started an account with MedHelp.org and have installed trackers for my food intake, my exercise, and my weight. So far it's fun and seems to have me thinking seriously about what I'm eating. (If this link doesn't work (It's for my personal profile page.), then go on to MedHelp.org and set up your own account. If you want to follow my progress, I would love that. You just have to add me as your friend. I'm in there as myjanee. :)
We've been working on Jack's house, making some real progress in his office and in the living room. Piles remain, of course, and dirt remains, but nothing like before. I've kept one of the bedrooms just as it was, so that I can go look and see that, yes, we have made progress! Oh, and I did get one of those $30 "gas mask" affairs to wear when I'm working in there. I find that my breathing has been much easier since then!
We're on track to move into our new digs on the Muskegon River! After we left Annette & Steve's, we were so excited about shopping for furniture, that we shopped some more! LOL! All of the following is to be delivered next week!
We now have mattresses for the Master, for Guest #1, and for Guest #2. We have a bed for Guest #1. (Annette, this is YOUR room!) This is a really great bed which would have been totally out of our league pricewise, but, since it was a close-out... I get it! The bed is an antique pine with black criss-crosses and little black rosettes. It is some sort of Mediterranean style, and it's almost a "sleigh" bed, but not "sleigh" enough that you'll hate it, Annette! :P That room will also have a small round side table and the antique walnut dresser that I have.
Guest #2 will be our "forest room." For this room, we chose two Rustic Pine twin beds from our local Amish furniture makers. They are something like this. Tucked in between them will be the cutest little log nightstand that you've ever seen in your life! We got a pine-cone lamp to go on that table.
We bought a TV -- one that is bigger than the one I used to have, but cost about 1/3 of what I paid for the other one. It's an LG. To go under the TV, we got a beautiful piece of furniture... Well, here it is! You be the judge. They even show it with Mission furnishings! :)
Oh! And we have our boats! We got Native Watercraft boats, which are a sort of hybrid between a canoe and a kayak -- best of both worlds, and the best boat for our river! Jack's is blue and mine is yellow!
We've been out in the boats on the river 4 times, and it gets better every time! We've been with Harold, Kathy, Janet, Pete, Linda, and Mike. Now.. as fun as this is, I want everyone I know to do this! We can arrange for a boat for you, so .. come on!
You know that I don't like to talk about the future in here, so I won't... much. We are going to be starting to move in on the 24th! We'll be having some of our stuff delivered on Tuesday the 25th, and some on the following Friday. The bulk of it will be here after the Indy-ordered furniture gets to Annette's -- or most of it, at least. I'm thinking that we can do the dining table/chairs and the recliners in Jack's trailer, because I'm getting antsy about having my stuff!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Happy Monday!
I closed yesterday on the house, and all went swimmingly! We've been busily buying furnishings for the place. We went to Indiana on Wednesday, and stayed with Annette and Steve. We went to every furniture store in the area, I believe, and I've been collecting some cool furniture, with Jack and Annette's help! So far, I've gotten 2 queen-sized mattresses, which will sit on the floor till I get bedframes, a dining table and 6 chairs, a leather couch, 2 Ekornes recliners, a little console table with 2 small benches, 2 barstools for the kitchen counter, and a fabulous game table with 4 massive chairs for the lower level. I also chose a few accessory pieces, including a metal bird sculpture and a Mission-style Tiffany lamp.
I have yet to get a bed frame and headboard for the #1 guest room, twin beds, a nightstand, and some sort of dresser for the #2 guest room, a ping pong table, a little bar for the lower level, bookcases for the library/music room, an end table for the living room, a chair and two nightstands for the master bedroom, and a chair for the piano room.
Jack's going to build us a bed for the Master bedroom, and we're both excited about that. He's always wanted to make some furniture, and so I'm giving him a chance! It'll have 4 big drawers on the sides, and a door at the foot, which will give us access to underneath. We can keep suitcases in there. :)
We will also be building an outbuilding-shop for him, and probably a carport structure to protect the Navion when we're here. Those will be 2010 projects. We're going to build an access to the river, which is 25' lower than where our property meets the river line. This access will include an arrangement to bring our boats up out of the river.
Oh! And we're going to get boats! These will actually be hybrid kayak/canoe boats which you can see here. We just now got off the phone with the guy from Clare who sells these. He's holding 2 for us, and we can go and get them later today. Of course, this means that we have to figure out a way to carry them! LOL! I'm getting mine in yellow, and Jack's will be blue. I'm so happy, and so ready to settle into this new life!
I have yet to get a bed frame and headboard for the #1 guest room, twin beds, a nightstand, and some sort of dresser for the #2 guest room, a ping pong table, a little bar for the lower level, bookcases for the library/music room, an end table for the living room, a chair and two nightstands for the master bedroom, and a chair for the piano room.
Jack's going to build us a bed for the Master bedroom, and we're both excited about that. He's always wanted to make some furniture, and so I'm giving him a chance! It'll have 4 big drawers on the sides, and a door at the foot, which will give us access to underneath. We can keep suitcases in there. :)
We will also be building an outbuilding-shop for him, and probably a carport structure to protect the Navion when we're here. Those will be 2010 projects. We're going to build an access to the river, which is 25' lower than where our property meets the river line. This access will include an arrangement to bring our boats up out of the river.
Oh! And we're going to get boats! These will actually be hybrid kayak/canoe boats which you can see here. We just now got off the phone with the guy from Clare who sells these. He's holding 2 for us, and we can go and get them later today. Of course, this means that we have to figure out a way to carry them! LOL! I'm getting mine in yellow, and Jack's will be blue. I'm so happy, and so ready to settle into this new life!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
We got the house!
It happened at 7:40 today! I signed the counteroffer on the house we had picked out! It's in Paris, MI, which is immediately north of Big Rapids. It's on the south side of the Muskeegon River, where it flows from east to west, before it bends south again. And here it is!
We struck a mutually good deal for the house, and everyone is very happy. We have nearly no furniture for the house, so we'll be doing some serious shopping over the coming weeks. We also have to have inspections done on every aspect of the house, within the next 10 days. Closing will be on 8/10, and we get to move in on 8/24! We are so excited!
We struck a mutually good deal for the house, and everyone is very happy. We have nearly no furniture for the house, so we'll be doing some serious shopping over the coming weeks. We also have to have inspections done on every aspect of the house, within the next 10 days. Closing will be on 8/10, and we get to move in on 8/24! We are so excited!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Some Fun!
Things have been going great for us here in Big Rapids. Over the past week, we've done lots! On Thursday and Saturday, we participated in the Tucson/Michigan party, put on and attended mostly by those of us who live in MI in the summer, and at Far Horizons in Tucson in the winter. Dinner was at Donna and Al's on Thursday, and it was great. There was pork brought in, and we all brought food, too. Jack and I played that game with balls tied together and flung over a small goal-post. Once I got the hang of it, I won handily!
Saturday, the second half of the Michigan party took place. We kayaked down the river to Harold's new dock, which worked wonderfully. Then we celebrated the beauty of the day with a pig roast at Pete and Janet's house. It was good to see everyone, and the mood was merry.
Meanwhile, we got word that my bid on the house in Brownsburg, Indiana had not been accepted. There was another offer which had been accepted, and so ours was not even considered. Down? You bet! Out? No way!
We decided to look at houses in the Big Rapids area, and look we did! We looked at a bunch of them, spending a couple of Sunday afternoons with Doug at Canadian Lakes touring some neat houses. And we looked at some around Big Rapids and a couple in the Paris area.
We found one that we liked in Canadian Lakes... and then another. And then our realtor here found one for us on the Muskeegon River, in Paris, which we really liked. Sunday afternoon, we took Luanne and Dan with us and walked through the house again. They were helpful to us in giving their opinions and we had a great time looking around with them, and imagining it as our house.
Today we met with Judy from Big Rapids Realty, and made an offer. Tomorrow we'll know if they accept it as written, or if they have other ideas. I really hope this one goes through!
If this doesn't happen, we've decided that we'll go back to Brownsburg, IN and look there again! Jack and I are the kind of people who are just plain happy, so I know that we'll be happy wherever we are.
I will treat you all with photos and a link when the deal is done. For now, I don't want to jinx things. I will say that the house has mostly hardwood floors, beautiful hickory cabinetry throughout, a great kitchen, open floorplan, a separate guest area, quality construction, and fine fixtures. Its style is what I'd call Contemporary/Mission, which is clean and sleek and very me. Oh.. and did I mention the views of the river right outside the windows?
Because I have given away just about all of my things, we'll be doing quite a bit of shopping for furniture and other furnishings. I'm very excited about starting all over like this! And, what's more, we'll be doing our part to boost the local economy. What are you doing for your local economy?
And, while all of this excitement has been going on, we have been continuing our work on -the house-. We have now taken 84 bags of mostly clothing and shoes to Goodwill. And we've loaded up Chuck's truck with yet another bed full to go to the dump. We can now walk down the hall! And the Master is almost cleared out, and Bedroom #2 is cleared, except for a monstrous pile of stuff from this and other rooms that is to be sold at Jack's yard sale.
Having cleared a bit of floor, I've actually been able to vacuum some of the carpeting! I wanted to take recycling today, but we didn't get there in time, so we have the van packed full of our recyclables.
But progress is happening on that house front, and it's visible, finally.
Saturday, the second half of the Michigan party took place. We kayaked down the river to Harold's new dock, which worked wonderfully. Then we celebrated the beauty of the day with a pig roast at Pete and Janet's house. It was good to see everyone, and the mood was merry.
Meanwhile, we got word that my bid on the house in Brownsburg, Indiana had not been accepted. There was another offer which had been accepted, and so ours was not even considered. Down? You bet! Out? No way!
We decided to look at houses in the Big Rapids area, and look we did! We looked at a bunch of them, spending a couple of Sunday afternoons with Doug at Canadian Lakes touring some neat houses. And we looked at some around Big Rapids and a couple in the Paris area.
We found one that we liked in Canadian Lakes... and then another. And then our realtor here found one for us on the Muskeegon River, in Paris, which we really liked. Sunday afternoon, we took Luanne and Dan with us and walked through the house again. They were helpful to us in giving their opinions and we had a great time looking around with them, and imagining it as our house.
Today we met with Judy from Big Rapids Realty, and made an offer. Tomorrow we'll know if they accept it as written, or if they have other ideas. I really hope this one goes through!
If this doesn't happen, we've decided that we'll go back to Brownsburg, IN and look there again! Jack and I are the kind of people who are just plain happy, so I know that we'll be happy wherever we are.
I will treat you all with photos and a link when the deal is done. For now, I don't want to jinx things. I will say that the house has mostly hardwood floors, beautiful hickory cabinetry throughout, a great kitchen, open floorplan, a separate guest area, quality construction, and fine fixtures. Its style is what I'd call Contemporary/Mission, which is clean and sleek and very me. Oh.. and did I mention the views of the river right outside the windows?
Because I have given away just about all of my things, we'll be doing quite a bit of shopping for furniture and other furnishings. I'm very excited about starting all over like this! And, what's more, we'll be doing our part to boost the local economy. What are you doing for your local economy?
And, while all of this excitement has been going on, we have been continuing our work on -the house-. We have now taken 84 bags of mostly clothing and shoes to Goodwill. And we've loaded up Chuck's truck with yet another bed full to go to the dump. We can now walk down the hall! And the Master is almost cleared out, and Bedroom #2 is cleared, except for a monstrous pile of stuff from this and other rooms that is to be sold at Jack's yard sale.
Having cleared a bit of floor, I've actually been able to vacuum some of the carpeting! I wanted to take recycling today, but we didn't get there in time, so we have the van packed full of our recyclables.
But progress is happening on that house front, and it's visible, finally.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
What's the Weather Like Here?
I thought that was a good question, because.. it's been everything today. We awoke to chill and fog, and then it was cloudy and then it was sunny and warm. Then it clouded up and rained .. hard! And now it's partly cloudy, cool, and lovely.
Progress continues on the house. I took yesterday and today off from working. Jack worked on it ydy, but not today. We have cleared out much of the stuff from bedroom #2, but there's lots of "garage sale" stuff left in there, which will remain till we're done with said garage sale.
Yesterday, we also worked on a dock for Harold, to make it easier for us all to get up out of the river when we come kayaking up to his place! It's very cool.
One reason that I have taken some time off from the house is that I'm concerned about my health. I've been suffering more with asthma since we've been here, and it doesn't seem to be getting much better. I have been using a dust mask, using Zyrtec (allergy pill which works well for me) and using rescue inhaler as needed. I think that I really need to be back on the inhaled steroid, but that involves a prescription. I miss Michael like crazy when I'm well, but even more when I'm not feeling perfect!
Paris Park has been good, though, with the weekends, we've been getting inundated with loud campers. That's typical of "campgrounds," as opposed to RV parks, though the latter are also wilder on weekends.
I have not heard further on the Brownsburg, Indiana house deal, except that the bank has the offer and another offer. And "patience" is evidently the watchword when it comes to short sales. I really want it.
I'm including some photos with this posting! These were some flower shots I took down at Oliver Winery's fabulous gardens, when we went to southern Indiana in late June:
Well.. this is obviously not working. I've uploaded twice, but the photos are not coming through.
Progress continues on the house. I took yesterday and today off from working. Jack worked on it ydy, but not today. We have cleared out much of the stuff from bedroom #2, but there's lots of "garage sale" stuff left in there, which will remain till we're done with said garage sale.
Yesterday, we also worked on a dock for Harold, to make it easier for us all to get up out of the river when we come kayaking up to his place! It's very cool.
One reason that I have taken some time off from the house is that I'm concerned about my health. I've been suffering more with asthma since we've been here, and it doesn't seem to be getting much better. I have been using a dust mask, using Zyrtec (allergy pill which works well for me) and using rescue inhaler as needed. I think that I really need to be back on the inhaled steroid, but that involves a prescription. I miss Michael like crazy when I'm well, but even more when I'm not feeling perfect!
Paris Park has been good, though, with the weekends, we've been getting inundated with loud campers. That's typical of "campgrounds," as opposed to RV parks, though the latter are also wilder on weekends.
I have not heard further on the Brownsburg, Indiana house deal, except that the bank has the offer and another offer. And "patience" is evidently the watchword when it comes to short sales. I really want it.
I'm including some photos with this posting! These were some flower shots I took down at Oliver Winery's fabulous gardens, when we went to southern Indiana in late June:
Well.. this is obviously not working. I've uploaded twice, but the photos are not coming through.
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