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.

Fireworks

This past weekend brought back memories of my childhood and the 4th of July Holiday.  This was always a special holiday to me because it was always part of my birthweek.  My birthday is July 1 and the 4th just extended the celebration with beautiful fireworks.  Since they were illegal in Iowa, we always had to jump in the car and find a place where they had a permit to fire them off.  Since July is in the  summer and I was usually in Earlville, Iowa in the summers, we would watch the display there with Grandma and Bop, cousins, Aunts and Uncles, sisters, and my parents.  I started thinking about Uncle Harold.  He LOVED fireworks.  He LOVED his own fireworks.  I never realized he was purchasing these in secret since they were illegal.  I think about how he taught me to light firecrackers at a very young age.  He warned me that I could lose a finger or hand but I guess he knew I would be okay.  His first lesson was to have the firecracker on the picnic table, light the fuse and  RUN!.  I graduated to where he taught me to hold it in my hand and watch the fuse until it was close enough that when I threw it, it would explode in the air.  What fun!  He explained that if it didn't explode, do not go near the dud because it might still go off.   When firecrackers and sparklers were getting boring, he would bring out the M-80's.  These looked like little dynamite sticks and were extremely loud.  We would place them in a tree, light the fuse, RUN, and then BAM!!  My ears would be ringing for a long time.  I don't think I ever held an M-80 in my hand to watch the fuse and throw it.  At least I hope I never did.

This is Uncle Harold. You may remember I blogged about him a couple of years ago.

As I grew up and moved away from Iowa, it was hard to find fireworks. We would have to travel from Georgia to South Carolina to buy them and they were expensive.  I did find some M-80's but they just were not like those originals in the 1960's.   We would shoot fireworks off in the middle of the road and it was so much fun!  Except one fell over and flew straight towards our neighbor and his son who were sitting on the lawn.  That scared me but it didn't stop me from continuing.  New Years Eve 1999 , Y2K, was a big celebration and we had plenty of fireworks on hand.  I was shooting them off in the middle of the biggest intersection of our subdivision, right where our friends lived. A huge cloud of smoke was growing bigger and bigger under the street lights. We knew a car was coming from the other side of the smoke but what a surprise to see a police officer puff out of that cloud!  Thank goodness he just kept on going.  That was probably my last time I shot off fireworks.    We would now have to watch the city display. This was always a hassle because we would find a secret parking spot that everyone else seemed to find. When the display was over, it would take us hours to get out onto the street and home.  This is when we realized that Maggie doesn't share my enthusiasm about the beauty of fireworks. She absolutely hates them because of the booms and louds noises.  I often wonder if something happened to her in her past life that causes this.  The best 4th she ever had was when she was flying from Georgia to Iowa and could see fireworks from the plane, but not hear any of them.

Iowa legalized fireworks three years ago.  That first year was incredible. People started shooting them in June and they would go throughout the whole night. It was spectacular, but people were not happy. It was too much .  It is now up to each city to enforce their own fireworks policy. Davenport can start July 3rd though the 4th.   We stand on our front porch and watch all around us and think how we don't have to spend money or travel to see such beauty.   And I enjoy my birthday for a week!

Grandma Rose's Quilt

Grandma Rose was a wonderful grandma.  She enjoyed when the grandkids came to visit and she would always cook excellent meals and bake pies.  She also liked to sew.  When she learned that I loved to sew too, she gave me a bag of already cut squares to make a quilt. I was in high school at the time and was excited to make a quilt and give it back to her.  She became ill in the early 80's and I thought to myself that I had better hurry up and make this quilt.  I started sewing all the squares together, which wasn't easy because I couldn't get the squares to  match up right.  I did get a lot done before Grandma passed in 1981 or maybe it was 1982. Since she wasn't around for me to give the quilt to, it went into a drawer with all my other unfinished projects.

I would see the unfinished quilt and squares from time to time when I would be digging in drawers for something else. This always brought back memories of Grandma, and how I should have tried harder to finish it.  Once in a blue moon, I would pull it out and sew a few more squares onto it. I had planned to make it a puffy quilt by putting our waterbed bed spread in the middle and then sew some buttons here and there to hold everything in place.  I had it all planned out.  Every time we moved, I would see those squares and also the shiny blue bed spread.  I think I even put the unfinished quilt in a couple of garage sales thoughout the years. I guess people didn't want another unfinished project either, so it never sold and the shiny blue bedspread ended up in the garage and became a moving blanket to protect our treasures whenever we moved.

After moving to Davenport, I decided I was done hauling so much fabric around and having it take up so much space. Yes, I was a fabric hoarder, and maybe still am.  I went through all my fabric and there I found the bag of squares  along with the quilt.  I left it out so I would remember to ask Molly if she would be interested in this quilt.  The squares were her colors, the colors she likes to decorate her bedroom in.   Molly was interested in a quilt so I was back to sewing.

 I pulled out the squares and found they were not cut square! I thought back on when I first started this quilt in 1978 and believed all I would have to do is sew the squares together and have a beautiful quilt.  Now, after watching hours of videos on how to make quilts, I realize I should have squared all of the squares.  I was having trouble all those years ago because they were not cut correctly!  I found that I had started to make a back to the quilt with the left over squares. I don't really remember doing this.  I had started a design but didn't have enough of the floral squares. This must have been when I became frustrated and put it back in storage.  But now that Molly is interested, I headed to the fabric store to buy material for the back. I wouldn't be using the shiny blue waterbed bed spread but had decided to make a duvet for a comforter.  I needed blue fabric to finish this project.

I ran out of floral squares for the design I was creating for the back

The fabric store didn't have the exact blue I needed to finish the back so I chose a darker blue.  Once I had it all sewn together, I really didn't like it. Plus, I cut the quilt too small for a queen size duvet.  Molly and I went back to the fabric store so she could pick out what she liked.  I was excited about the sale they were having.  After getting the fabric home, realized it was not the best choice of fabric for a duvet.  

Even though I haven't fixed the back, fixed the size, or completed the bottom, I threw it on the bed where it has been for awhile now.  Some day, I will pick this back up and finish it.

Let's see,  it has taken me 43 years, what's a few more, right?

Cat Door

 Binx brought us a mouse Sunday morning.  This is something that rarely happens anymore, since Binx and Pete are indoor cats now.  It was 6am and Binx woke me up with his intense playing noises.  I then heard a tiny squeak.  Oh no.  I was hoping it was just my imagination but I heard the squeak again.  I got up and tip toed into the kitchen to start the coffee.  I would need a cup before the daunting task of catching a mouse.  I turned around and Binx was sitting there looking at me, with no mouse in sight.  Oh no. I was thinking it may have climbed up into the cupboards and that would be just terrible.  But Binx didn't seem interested in anything near the cupboards.  He was just ready to start the morning routine.

I went to shut the bedroom door so Mike could sleep longer and when I moved the door, I heard the squeak right there below me.  It was still dark so I ran into the kitchen wondering what to do. I got up my nerves and turned on the hall light and there it was, laying there lifeless in the bedroom doorway.  I yelled for Mike to get up, which he did, and he sleepily picked it up and threw it outside. I thanked him and  told him to go back to bed.

Later that morning while sitting at the kitchen table, Mike and I talked about Binx and his mouse and then started talking about the cat door we had in Athens, Georgia and all the animals the cats would bring in the house.

There were numerous times we had birds flying around our house. Pete didn't bring us too many things but when he had something in his mouth, usually birds, he would come through the cat door with a special closed mouth meow.   We would instantly know.

We had baby rabbits show up in the house.  A screaming baby bunny rabbit is one of the worst noises you will ever hear.  We would try our best to save the babies but one notorious one didn't make it.  Mike was sitting in his chair in the bedroom watching T.V. (us girls always took over the living room T.V.) which was the case this early evening.  Suddenly, we heard Mike yelling something about maggots.  I ignored him because it didn't sound like anything I wanted to hear. He kept yelling so Molly ran back to find out what the heck was going on.  Maggie had the same idea I had, ignore the chaos. Without our knowledge, a bunny was under our bed and when the maggots were done eating, they quickly wiggled out from under the bed across the floor in front of Mike's chair. Maggie and I decided two people freaking out was enough so we  didn't need to join them.  They were able to clean everything up very quickly. Maggie and I  were in a little bit of trouble for not helping.

One time while  hosting book club, I started telling my friends the story of a bird flying around the house that morning. Just as I pointed toward the purple poop on the wall that I didn't have time to clean, I heard the cat door and Max proudly walked in with a bunny in his mouth.  My friends made an ahhhh cute noise because Max was so happy to have brought our book club a present. I quickly took the non-moving bunny outside and apologized to the bunny and to the book club members.  

Chipmunks were the favorite. At least every other day we had one in the house. The cats liked to keep them alive because they are so fun to play with! They are fast and can hide in the silliest places. One day  Mike, opened a dresser drawer and out popped a chipmunk.  We had a routine when a chipmunk was in the house. We would open the kitchen door, throw a towel under the door leading to the rest of the house,  chase them with a broom towards the open door and away from the appliances. They were really hard to get if they went under the fridge or stove.  If they were able to get into the rest of the house, we would open the windows. Our windows were from the ceiling to the floor, so the chipmunks could run along the floor and jump right out into the yard.  Sometimes a cat would follow them out.  If that happened, we knew to lock the cat door because the cat would usually bring it right back in.

Speaking of chipmunks and appliances. One ran up between the dishwasher and cabinet and then was able to bury himself into the insulation on top of the dishwasher. That is where he ended up going to chipmunk heaven. We didn't know anything about him until we did dishes. For over a year we could smell him every time we used the dishwasher.  Was I ever happy to find him when we remodeled the kitchen.

Squirrels make the same noise as baby bunnies when they are frightened.  Molly and I were home alone when a baby squirrel was brought in. It latched onto the bottom of an upholstered chair and we tried for what seemed like hours to get that squirrel to come out.  We finally opened the front door and pushed the chair to it.  We would have put the chair outside but it didn't fit through the door.  We were able to pry the squirrel off the chair and onto the front porch.  It wasn't moving but we were now experts with critters.  They play dead and then run when it is safe.  In the morning, the squirrel was gone.

One time after we had all just gone to bed. I heard Maggie come down the stairs and into the kitchen.  She then yelled for me and asked me to hurry, get up and come in the kitchen! A racoon was heading for the cat door to come inside!  I ran into the kitchen and saw a shadow through the cat door so I put my foot in front of it so the racoon couldn't get in. I then locked the cat door, which was kind of scary with a racoon banging on it.  I got it locked and ran to the window where Maggie was watching.  The racoon wasn't too happy and tried several more times to get through the door. It then stood on it's hind legs trying to get a peak into the window, wondering why he couldn't get in. This made us think he had been in before.  Thank goodness for cat door locks.

Once in a while I would walk into the kitchen and a cat I had never seen before would be sitting there. We would look at each other thinking the same thing, 'Who Are You?". The cat would usually run back outside right away.  There were several that invited themselves in but there was one cat that came by more than the others. The girls ended up naming this cat Bounce.  Our cats didn't seem to mind sharing their food with their furry cat friends.

You are probably thinking, why in the heck did you have a cat door in the first place?  Well, we put it in so we wouldn't have to let the cats in and out all the time and they would have a safe place to run to if a dog was chasing them. And the best part was not having any litter boxes!  Just that made it worth having unexpected visitors. 

So back to Sunday morning....I felt bad that I didn't thank Binx for bringing us a present. I am out of practice on how all this works since they are indoor cats.  I grabbed Binx's favorite toy mouse out of  a drawer (it was put away because when Molly's cat Poppy comes to visit, she wants to actually eat it) and threw it on the floor and thanked him.

Thanks Binx!!

Crafting

 Santa brought me this!  I was so excited, I couldn't wait to start working on it.

What is it, you are asking?  

Doll house furniture!!   I have been looking for a doll house bathroom furniture set but couldn't find any that were reasonably priced.  In my earlier blog, I talked about putting together a doll house kit and I absolutely fell in love with the project.  I have furniture for all the rooms except the bathroom.  Santa found this furniture kit with over 36 furniture items that cost less than a doll house bathtub at the craft store.  How exciting!

Once I put all the pieces together I decided I couldn't stop there. I painted and upholstered everything.

I decided to sell what I didn't need at the craft sale.   Here is each room.

OOPS, I missed one. This gives you an idea of what everything would have looked like if I didn't paint.

When my sister Jo found out what I was doing, she said she wanted to buy all of it because she just bought a doll house for her new granddaughter.  I will have to ask Santa to put these online so I can order some more to make for the craft fair.

I have decided to build another doll house. More on that is a later blog.

Here is another thing I did.... I cut up a sweater!

I used a free pattern from a website my friend printed out for me. She said I should try to make there during my surgery recovery.

This is how the mittens turned out. Twice, I had to tear apart and put back together the first one I made because I didn't understand the online instructions. But, they turned out okay.

I go back to work tomorrow so my crafting will slow down.  I am half way done with my next doll house and will continue to work on that during the evenings and weekends. 

3 Important Events in February

 Today is February 12th and three big things have already happened this month.  

February 2

Sometime in 2019, I went out to the mailbox and grabbed the mail. We don't get too many important things, like letters.  It was the usual day of junk mail and I was ready to throw it all in the recycling bin when my mom popped into my head as she reminded me to always open junk mail because there might be a dime in it, or more likely, those return labels with your name and address printed on it.  I opened every envelope hoping to find a dime when I noticed one of the letters from a company, I thought was trying to sell allergy medicine, was actually telling me my breast implants placed in 2013 had been recalled!  I quickly checked the serial and model number and sure enough, I had the bad ones.  The implants placed because of breast cancer could cause cancer.  I then read the list of symptoms and I didn't have any.  I wasn't worried.  My Athens Georgia doctor had told me I should have them replaced every 10 years and I was just 3 years away. I could wait.

When I went for my annual physical with our family doctor in 2020, I didn't even think to tell him about my implants until he asked if I was seeing an oncologist. I told him no but my implants had been recalled and that  I was going to wait. He wasn't going to have any of that!! He convinced me to meet with a local plastic surgeon, which I did right at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.  

This was something I should do but didn't want to do and with the beginning of the virus scare, I put it on the back burner. I soon received mail from the insurance company that I was approved for the procedure. Don't rush me!!  In October I received a call from the Doctor's office asking if I wanted to go ahead and get on the schedule. I told them not really.  I knew this surgery wouldn't be as brutal as the one in 2013 but I wasn't in a hurry.  I called the office back to ask if February 2021 would be okay. I thought the virus would be settled and knew this was the least busiest time at work for me. So, I was on the books for February 2021.

Maggie came up from Georgia the last week of January. She tested negative for Covid and headed right up. I had to test a few days before the surgery so Mike, Maggie, and I were quarantined at home.  We had a great time hanging out together.  Maggie had fun helping Mike shovel! I decided I am not shoveling at all this year so good thing Maggie was here to help.

I  went off to surgery February 2.

Everything went well.  I went from silicone to saline, teardrop to round, path results showed no cancer, and the implants were intact.  Three weeks of recuperating instead of six in 2013.  I have one week to go and feeling better everyday!

I also received a very nice and comforting shawl from the care givers at my Church. Hand delivered by my sister Mary, who is the care giver coordinator!

February 1

Pete, our cat turned 19!  We can't believe it.  We did a lot of reminiscing about how we ended up adopting Pete all those years ago, and how he grew up with us.  We had gone out to eat as a family at a restaurant  in a strip mall that had a pet store. The girls would always like to go look at the animals while us adults would finish up our pitcher of beer.  When the girls headed over this particular evening, I reminded them we would not be going home with any animals.   Soon they were back in the restaurant very excited about an orange cat.  Mike and I both said absolutely not. We didn't need to have another cat around the house. Somehow they convinced me to come take a look (maybe it was the beer). Molly took Sunny out of the cage and both her and Maggie started begging. Again I said no but  when Molly looked down at Sunny, and the way he looked at her, I melted and couldn't say no. That cat had so much love in his eyes and he was just begging to go home with us. The bio said he was born in a bucket, rescued and needed a good home.  I went back to the restaurant and told Mike I bought a cat. He couldn't believe it.  We decided Pete didn't look like a Sunny so we renamed him at least 15 times before we settled on Pete.

Can you imagine a pet growing up with you, for 19 years?  We expect many more years from him. 

The girls would dress him up in doll clothes.

NO Pete!  Happy Birthday to YOU!!  He get's a little confused in his old age.

A week after Pete's Birthday

We celebrated Molly's birthday! The whole family was together to celebrate and this was the first time since forever, .  Maggie was up here for my surgery so we were very excited to be all together again.  Maggie's boyfriend, Chase flew up from Georgia a couple of days after my surgery so he was able to celebrate along with us. Brice, our nephew and the girl's  cousin, even came for a day to hang out with us. It was a house full of fun!  Maggie baked Molly's cake and we had a fun, challenging time decorating it.

Happy Birthday Molly!!

Next we will celebrate Mike's birthday this month.  I guess that makes it four important events in February. Unfortunately, The girls won't be here so it will be a quiet celebration.

It is always a wonderful time when we can all be together again but very sad when everyone leaves.  I had a longer than usual what we call, Lonely Feeling.  It will be nice when we can all be together again.