Ocala, Florida

It's almost too warm today! Well... almost. :) We're actually enjoying the humidity and the 80+ heat of the last couple of days!

I am feeling much better now, having recovered completely from a bout of awful flu, it seems. I was really knocked out by the silly illness. Feverish and coughing my head off, I was unable to even *drive* till just yesterday.

I was mostly recovered when we arrived at Ken & Judy's near Huntsville, AL. We stayed in the RV, but enjoyed time with them as well as time to explore the Huntsville environs. Yesterday we left there, and drove on down as far as Dothan, AL. The campground was adequate but.. not at all fancy.

Tonight's campground is much nicer, and Jack took the opportunity to do our laundry, while I caught up on my email. I cooked dinner, using some frozen cooked hamburger, rice, canned tomatoes, part of an onion, a clove of garlic, parmesan cheese, and spices. Mmmm, it was GOOD!

On the Road Again!

Tonight finds Jack and me in Cornersville, Tennessee! We left Paris on Thursday morning at 10 am, all loaded up, and the new house in good hands. We drove to Brownsburg, Indiana, and stayed Thursday night with Annette and Steve. Friday morning, we drove on down to Louisville, where I had a meeting with Danny, my financial guru.

Angie and George were out of town, but they graciously permitted us to park in front of their house and to hook up to their water and power. We didn't see them till Saturday night, when they each flew in on separate planes, from separate destinations. They had been traveling since Labor Day, so they were happy to be home.

We went out to breakfast at KT's, to celebrate my 53rd birthday, and then Jack and I packed up the hoses and cords and headed on down I-65 to Nashville. There we visited Jack's friend Diane, and her husband Max.

Meanwhile, I've been sick. I had my flu shot in Big Rapids on Wednesday, and I started feeling puny on Thursday. I felt a bit punier on Friday, and then ydy I was a mess. Today I'm feeling better again, with no more fever, cough is much less, and my throat is not sore now. The hardest part is the sheer exhaustion. I've been unable to drive more than an hour at a time, before I have to rest, or even nap. And this morning, I felt too sick to attend church, so we missed for the first time since we were at Big Bend in Texas.

Yesterday, we went walking around on Alta Vista in Louisville, and I got some photos of pretty leaves:

Here's a photo inside the chapel at one of the beautiful seminary campuses:

I Love real Silverware!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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!

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!

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!

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!