My Trip This Past September

 My sister Jo in South Carolina had been accumulating things from her daughters and from thrifting. She needed to have a garage sale but  wouldn't be able to do it without help.  I looked at my calendar and got up enough nerve to ask my boss if I could take two weeks off in a row.  I would need a week with my sister and a week with my daughter Maggie in Georgia.  The answer was yes and I started planning my trip starting Labor Day weekend.  

When we were young we would watch our mom and grandma haul stuff  back and forth between their homes.  We would always have a car load of stuff when we went to grandma's and had a car load of stuff going home.  This tradition has been passed down to the four of us girls and we laugh about it quite often.  This trip was no different.  I packed my car full of things that would go to Jo's and things that would go to Maggie's.  I didn't keep things separate between Jo and Maggie in the car because I had to make everything fit! This made it hard during the trip because I always had to move things around.

I decided to go to Jo's first and then head to Maggie's.  I hadn't driven from Davenport to Jo's house in over 30 years, maybe more! We always drove from Davenport to Georgia. It was fun to go a different route and look at different scenery. Love the mountains!  Thirteen hours down the road I decided to call Jo when I stopped for gas. I told her I would be at her house in an hour.  I was very excited to turn into her subdivision and when I came up to her driveway, I noticed they had moved the mail box from one side to the other.  I remember her telling me someone had run into it and they had to put  new one up.  I pulled into the driveway and noticed Gary had built a very large workshop way back in the yard. Jo had hinted he had done this. The white truck was in it and I noticed the antique tractor was there too.  I stopped at the side of the house and unloaded a very large plant by the back door.  I then drove down the long driveway to the workshop because I had a very heavy piece of tractor to unload.  I grabbed my suitcase and the bag of food and started walking toward the house. 

 I noticed they no longer had a pool.  Jo didn't tell me they were going to get rid of that, and why did Gary get rid of the fire pit area that he worked so hard to build? And why was their white fence on the wrong side of the yard? That is when I realized I was at the wrong house! I ran back to my car with two very heavy bags, jumped in and prayed the owners didn't see me but my headlights went right into their living room.  I drove to the back door to grab the plant, I jumped out and threw it back in the car and then heard their front door open. Oh boy, they are going to think I am robbing the place.  I started driving and a man came out and yelled HEY!  I apologized and told him my sister lives next door and I drove from Iowa and was tired and delirious. 

He laughed and said he knew I was coming to visit and he couldn't believe I drove over 14 hours by myself and totally understood why I went to the wrong house.  Thank goodness. Turns out Jo and Gary had become really good friends with the neighbors. Of course, I didn't hear the end of it the whole week I was there.

So, what did I do that whole week? Luckily, Jo and Gary had help getting everything out of the attic before I got there. We moved everything out of the garage so I would have room to sit and price everything.  

We had a system. Jo would bring me a box to price and when I was done, she would put the items where she wanted them.   I had the sitting job, she had the on her feet all day job. We priced Monday through Thursday 9am to 7pm with very few breaks. 

 When we were finished with the garage, she reminded me we still had all of the stuff in her dining room to price.  We were exhausted and Jo became a little delirious.

I just drank tequila every night.

We were finally ready for the sale and we had a huge turnout.  

We still had a lot to sell for  the second day but you can tell a lot was gone. 

 

Afterwards,  I was able to hang out with my niece and my great niece which was really nice. 

 I then headed to Athens, Georgia to spend a week with Maggie and Chase. I still had the "go through stuff and get rid of things" bug when I got there. So, I put Maggie to work, starting with the pantry and then her clothes.

Maude and Penny really like the chairs I brought to Maggie.

I had a nice relaxing week in Athens which must be why I don't have many photos. We didn't do much except clean out a few closets.  I was happy that Maggie wanted to keep my Grandmother's bird art that came from Grandma's house, went to my mom's house, went to our house in Georgia, went to Jo's condo in Myrtle Beach, went to Jo's house, and now in Maggie's house.    The tradition of transferring stuff continues.

One last thing.  I did make a cat basket for Jo and Gary's cat but their new dog Charlie took it over.

Cats

 I buy cat food at a locally owned pet store in town.  They have good coupons and I always need canned food for Pete and Binx and also when Kiki comes to visit.  The pet store always has a cat for adoption and I like to take a quick look and then move on.  One day in August I looked at the cat and then read the cat's bio on the door.  It stated that Maryella had been at the Human Society since November 2020 and the staff couldn't figure out why nobody wanted her because she is sweet, loves hugs, and gets along with other cats and dogs.   That was 9 months in captivity!!  I was sad but just knew someone would adopt her so I backed away, like I always do.  

Three weeks later I needed more food and I had another great coupon.  I was so sad to see that Maryella was still there.  When I was at the check out, I asked the cashier what happens to the cats that are not adopted and found they are sent back to the Human Society.  The cashier was sad too because it was soon time for Maryella to go back.

Driving home I made the decision to adopt her.  I told Mike and he agreed,  even without seeing her! I went to work the next day and thought I had better go meet MaryElla during my lunch break. I hadn't  really met her or touched or held her.  So a colleague of mine and I drove over.  When we walked in the cashier welcomed us and asked if we needed help finding anything. I told him we were there to meet the cat. He said "great, we just go him an hour ago".   Oh no!!! Maryella was gone!  We jumped in the car and headed over to the Humane Society to tell them I wanted her.   They put her in a room with us but I didn't really need to meet her, I just filled out the forms and said I would be back after work to get her.  

I was a little worried about her meeting my cats and we were also watching Kiki at the time.  We set Maryella up in the spare bedroom with food, water, a bed, and a litter box.  She was frightened but was happy to be out of a cage.  Kiki really wanted to meet her.

A week after we adopted her, I went on vacation for two weeks while Mike stayed home. When I came back, MaryElla who we now call Ella, had adjusted to her new home and her new friends Pete and Binx. Kiki had gone home by this time. Ella sits with Mike in his chair, not on his lap, and sometimes another cat will be there with them. She is still a little skittish and looks around when she hears any little noise but every day she was becoming more trusting.  Her favorite place is the basement but she is starting to come upstairs more often.  Her safe space is still the spare bedroom but we decided since she was getting more comfortable, we would take everything out of her safe space.  

A couple of days later, Mike called me at work and said there was a cat on the landing of our upstairs porch crying to come in.  I told him not to let it in and to not feed it.  

LET ME IN!!!

When I got home, the cat was screaming so we put him on the bottom porch with some food and water.  He was very hungry.  I called Molly to tell her to start posting on social media that we had found a cat. I felt so bad for this cat. He had a flea collar on but was very skinny and full of burrs.  Mike cleaned him up and this cat kept eating and eating.  We couldn't believe a cat was wanting to adopt us, right after we adopted Ella!  Ella must have put the secret cat ESP signal out to all cats loose in the area to come on over! Cat friendly house!

No one claimed Sammy and we are not sure why. He is a fun loving, happy go lucky guy. We  decided  he could live with Molly and Kiki and if that didn't work, he could stay with us.  He lived out on the porch for two weeks until he was neutered..  We were thankful for the nice weather for him to stay out because we did let him in once and he wanted to spray everything.  Now that he has been to the vet, we haven't seen him trying to do that, thank goodness.  Pete, Binx, and Ella are not sure about him yet because he is full of  energy. Sammy can't figure out why the other cats don't want to play with him all the time.  There has been a lot of hissing and slapping but we know things will calm down. Sammy really enjoyed moving in with us. 

UPDATE!

Sammy has moved to Cedar Rapids and loves his new home with Molly and Kiki. 

The other night, we saw another cat outside. Oh no......

Cat Baskets

 Since I have been obsessed with making baskets, I have decided to make baskets for cats.  I cover the rope with fabric as I watch T.V. at night. 

 I then take the rope to my sewing machine and start sewing it all together.  Sometimes I have a tester come by to make sure it works.

I made this one for Maggie's cats.  They are large cats and I asked her if they would fit in this basket. She thought they would.  I decided to make it a little taller.

When Maggie took the basket home to them, one cat took it over and wouldn't let the other one near it.  I decided I had better make another one for her other cat. 

What fun would it be for the basket to get smaller as it got taller so the cat could lay down and hide? Well, they would not lay down in it.  

Maggie sends me photos of her cats and how they struggle to fit in the baskets.

I decided to make one giant basket for them.  Below is Binx helping me gauge the size. He is smaller than Maggie's cats. 

This wasn't easy because as it got bigger, it had to rest  on my head while sewing!  

One time when it was on my head, Mike put a plate of crackers with peanut butter on the table.  I didn't know this, set the basket down, and when I picked it back up to continue sewing, I found this.

When the basket arrived at Maggie's, she sent me photos showing me how the cats fit!! They take turns using it too!

Maude folded the side over a little to see what was going on around her.  Kiki did the same thing to hers.  The cats like to customize their baskets!

I am done making baskets for awhile, unless Manzini wants one. He is Jo and Gary's cat that I will be meeting for the first time in a couple of weeks.  If he does want one, I had better get started.  He is a big cat too and takes over the dog bed!

This Past June, Moving Molly Again!!

 Molly bought a house in Cedar Rapids, closer to her work than where she was renting. Buying a house in this market is not an easy thing  She looked at one house that already had an offer by the time she walked out of the house to her car.  She couldn't believe they wanted a very tiny house for such a high price but later found out it was a very desirable neighborhood because of the schools.  She was constantly monitoring the MLS listing her realtor provided as well as the internet sights.  One popped up on an internet site that she liked so she immediately called her realtor to set up a time to see it, that day!  She liked it, made an offer, they counter offered, and she accepted.  This was all done within 3 hours.  Molly knew she had to be fast and she needed to find something before her lease ran out for her rental.

We couldn't quite figure out why this young couple wanted to move out of this new, beautiful house after only two years. They were the first owners of this newly built house. We still are not sure but it worked out for Molly.   Since her lease didn't run out for over a month where she was renting, Molly was able to take small loads of her stuff every day to the new house, after work.  She was also able to do a few things before moving in.  The previous owners had a large, white dog so she cleaned the carpets. She also mowed with her very first ever mower.

She also had to figure out how to close off the basement so her cat Kiki wouldn't chew on all the wires and eat insulation.  The basement is unfinished and Kiki likes to eat everything she isn't supposed to.  An accordion door was the solution although, after move in day Kiki figured out how to open it.  Molly fixed it where she wouldn't be able to.

That day, we had her first meal in her new house!

Move in weekend came so I headed over to Tiffin on Friday night to help her pack the rest of her things.  Of course Kiki had to help.

Saturday morning we picked up the U-haul and Mike came to help.  We loaded up the truck, drove from Tiffin to Cedar Rapids, unloaded the truck, and drove the truck back to Tiffin, actually Coralville, to turn the truck back in.  We did all of this in less than 6 hours. We were exhausted.

Molly is settling in after two months. She is replacing all of the screens with pet screen.

She stenciled her laundry room and put up shelves.

She fixed her leaky shower head with her helper.

Soon she will be thinking about finishing the basement.

Molly is liking Cedar Rapids and is excited to explore the city.  We climbed Mount Trashmore one day and what a view!!  Yes, it really is a mountain made of trash.