Our house and Leo's house

Today I am resisting driving down to Coleman.  I am excited because they are planning to start the excavating for his house today but the weather is a little unsure so I am resisting until Leo goes down there and checks out the possible progress.  Maybe I will wait until the weekend or next week when they will have a bit more work down.  Today they are to start digging the hole for the crawl space.  They have to put up the cement block walls (5 blocks high for the people that care) and then they have to pour the footings and he wants a cement floor in that crawl space too.  The water pipe has been laid to close to the house, the electricity is in from the road and at the pole barn and the septic tank and tile field are ready to be hocked up.  Leo took care of all those issues and the company that he is buying the house from is doing the site work so we really are making progress.  

 A couple of weeks ago when I was down there the last time we stopped over at the 10 acres and he helped me see how it will look on the site.  They have been doing some dredging of the creek in the woods and it is cleared out and running free of overgrown plants.  They also built him a 'ford' across the creek so that he can drive back into the woods farther with his tractor.

 This is the site where the house will go with this as the view out his kitchen window.  He has recently mowed it and it looks pretty good for land that has just been reclaimed from the woods.  He and Josh cleared out this site over the past many years.  All the stumps and trees were removed to prepare for the house that he is finally getting.

 This is just another view looking south.  This will be his back yard.  There are a couple of birch trees and of course the pole barn off to the side.  I think it is a beautiful site.

 This past weekend we met Leo in Cadillac for dinner.  Bud and I had looked over the contract and helped Leo with the legal aspects of the house.  As you can see Leo is getting his hair back.  He looks a little 'sober' in this picture but it really was a fun evening.  I think Bud's picture just caught him not smiling.

 This is the best I can do for showing the plans for the house.  I had to blow it up and piece together some parts because the original plan was for a 3 bedroom house and he is getting the 2 bedroom version.
The house is 26' by 42' which makes it 1119 square feet.  The features that we liked were that we were able to modify this plan the most and make it fit his needs.  He liked the size of the living room which will be 24'4" by 13'.  He was able to get this big room by having just 2 bedrooms. He added a door on the right side next to the kitchen so that he can get in and out there if he builds a garage on that side.
The master bedroom has its own bath which is nice.  The 'double closet' look is just because I had to cut and paste a couple views of the plans to get what we are getting.  The guest bath is very nice too because you can see that you can get to it via the back door and from the living room.  That is nice for coming in from the outside and being able to use the bathroom without going through the rest of the house.
The kitchen is nice and open too.  He will be able to see the kitchen from the living room and check on food cooking.
 The laundry room is nice, right inside the back door and there is a coat closet right inside the front door.  I think the plans look nice.
It has been a process but I think we are getting close to getting Leo into a house by the first of December.  I am very happy with that plan.  They told us that the house is already under construction.
 Leo just called a few minutes ago and the contractors are meeting at the site in a half of an hour.  Not enough time for me to go down there right now but I am beginning to think that I may wait a couple days until the digging has been done and the blocks have been laid.  That will show more progress.  It is hard being so far away.  I would be there every day.  Leo is going over there today and meeting with the contractors so that is good.
You can tell that I am excited.  My goal is to get him as excited as I am.  Maybe that is asking too much but I think it will be better when he is actually into his house.

Yesterday Bud and I drove down to Grand Rapids and ordered our new furniture.  I am excited about that too.  It is going to look so nice in our living room.  Bud approved of all the pieces that Eva, Jessica and I picked out a couple of weeks ago.  He sat in all the pieces and thought they were comfortable.  The hardest thing we had to decide was what we wanted to have our 'accent' pillows like.  This whole process has made me excited about decorating this room and changing it around.  Leo will get our blue sofa and the mauve love seat.  We will need to get a cover for the love seat since mauve probably isn't a good color for anyone anymore and especially for Leo's house.  I am sure that we will be able to find something.

After picking our our furniture, we went over to Jessica's house and took her out to dinner.  Eva was busy so she couldn't join us.  It was a nice dinner and great to see Jessica again.  She is also excited about our new furniture since we are getting the exact same sofa and love seat that she and Doug have in their house. She did all the research for us and we love it.  Gray is the new "mauve' but a much nicer color.  I am excited about how to accent the gray colors in our house.  Maybe red will be our accent color.  I saw some beautiful red lamps that would look great. I could also do a turquoise or maybe even an orange/red color.  We will wait on those things until the furniture arrives.

SO, new beginnings for Leo and a new "look' for our house.  Now you will need to visit and see how it all comes together.

My LUCKY DAY

I was just doing a little online shopping with one of my favorite clothing stores, JJill.  I was planning to buy some new jeans to replace the ones that I 'blew out' a couple of weeks ago. (see previous posting if you missed that great event)  As I was trying to check out and use a coupon for free shipping it wouldn't go through and I logged off but then came back to try it again.  The 'online chat' person came on and asked me if I was having a problem and I told her that my coupon number wouldn't work.  She told me it had expired yesterday (I knew that but was just trying to see if it would go through even though I was late)  I told her thanks and that I would remove the items.  WELL, she came right back with the offer of extending that free shipping for me.  I was impressed with their service.  It is a good company and I do LOVE their jeans.

SO, my lucky day, a wonderful service center AND my persistence paid off.  I am the owner of a new pair of jeans with free shipping and they were already 20% off.

JJill, YOU ROCK

The House of Representatives doesn't know how to work but a retail company sure does.

Stealing

Yesterday I went 'stealing' ideas and inspiration.

It was a beautiful fall day in N. Michigan.  Bud had planned a motorcycle ride with his Harley group and I wanted to go to Fiber Arts Show In Leland.  Everyone was happy.

Before I went I needed to do a little long neglected weeding in my hostas.  I had quite a pile of weeds but it is the last time this year for that task.  I know that some people like to work in a garden but it really isn't that much fun for me.  However, my very small garden was beginning to look more like weeds than plants and I wanted to get it cleaned out before the snow begins to fall.  So, work before pleasure and it was a short bit of work.

I headed up to Leland to the Fiber Arts show.  I was very excited about the possibilities of new inspiration because the promotion picture was fantastic.  I featured this artist and I am really interested in art quilts.  One of the exhibitors gave me permission to steal as many ideas as I needed when she gave me this 'loose' quote.  'Good artist (authors) borrow ideas, Great artist (authors) steal them.  I was going stealing, not that I am a great artist but I do have inspirations for great works and art quilts are a new passion, I need lots of inspiration because I really don't know where I am going.

This piece had a lot of stripes in it.  I like the way it looks.  I think I want a little more color in my works but it is interesting.

The artist seems to do a lot of work with this 'cross' pattern.

 If you look at the stitching closely   (or even if you aren't interested to look that close) you will see that it is in that same cross pattern and it is in different colors. I think I am looking for a little different look but I liked many things about her work.  I felt this was a bit too much inspired by what I would think is the shape of various flags.  I kept thinking of the Swedish and Norwegian flags when i looked at this piece.

 It was a small show but I walked around it several times.  Some of the artist were showing weaving and fabric shawls that were put together in an interesting way.

 I really liked this piece.  Maybe it is the colors.  What you can't see is that she has copper wire stretched between the posts of the fence.  It also had more dimension than you are able to see but it was very cool.

This lady was making what the British call 'fastenators' (I can't get spell check to help me with this one so that is the best spelling I can come up with)  You may remember them from the royal wedding when everyone was wearing them.  I didn't buy any but thought they looked cute.  

This is something that I decided to buy for myself.  You won't believe it but those are canning rings wrapped in wool yard and fastened together in the middle with a cinnamon stick for a stem and a piece of felted wool for the leaf.  I loved it and knew that I needed to buy it.  Now, I just may try to 'copy' this artist's work but at least I did buy one from her.  Her work was within my price range.  

 This old building in Leland was home to the show on this wonderful afternoon.  It was about 70 degrees out, the sun was shining and of course Leland is a wonderful tourist town in N. Michigan.  I don't go there very often but it is a wonderful town, just a short drive north of here.

One of its main attractions is Fish Town.  It opens on to the 'Big' lake (Lake Michigan) so it has been a fishing town for a long time.  The piers and the small buildings have been turned into wonderful artist galleries and fun little tourist shops.  I wandered around the area, stopping in most of the shops.  I bought some wonderful Christmas presents at a very unique toy store and a few other treats.

Whenever I go to Fish Town I am remembered of a strange event that happened many years ago.  Eva and Bill were visiting and Matt was just a baby.  We went up to Leland and walked around.  It must have been summer because I was wearing a halter top. Anyway, Matt reached over and 'exposed' me in a wardrobe 'malfunction'.  Strange memory but a funny one.  

Of course, I can ALWAYS find jewelry to buy.  I was taken by this little stone and decided that I needed to commemorate this beautiful fall day by bring it home.  (I didn't steal this one though, I bought it.  Wouldn't want to end up in jail and try to explain that little quote I heard earlier.  I somehow don't think the police would agree and I am always willing to pay artist for things I can't possibly recreate.)

It was a 2 cappuccino day and that makes it even more wonderful.  Rings, sunshine, leaves, art and inspiration.  As Bud would say "It doesn't get any better than this".  He had a great ride with his Harley friends and everyone was happy in our house.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?????

I just came up behind a car with the bumper sticker:Lower Taxes, Secure the Border, Smaller Government.  America First.  IT WAS ON THE BACK OF A FOREIGN CAR a Volvo.  Not a very bright or insightful person driving that car.  I had to resist ramming the car.  Now I know I drive a foreign made care but I am NOT espousing that philosophy.  

Old folks trying new things

We are trying new things here in our house.  The other day while I was working downstairs on a sewing project I could hear Bud upstairs running the vacuum cleaner.  I thought he was just doing a good deed but when I cam up he had rearranged the living room furniture too.  I told you in my last posting that we are planning to buy new furniture and have started shopping around for what we want.  I actually picked it out already and Bud did approve so the shopping is done except to compare prices at different stores.  

 Anyway, we have talked about a different arrangement with the new furniture, pulling the sofa in from the wall and kind of making the room look a little more cozy.  The new sofa will have a lower back so it will have its back to the window but we will still be able to enjoy the view.

 The new recliners will also have lower backs and be a bit bigger so they will look nice right where we have recliners now.

 The love seat will enclose the little arrangement around the fireplace.  It will be new too.  We haven't decided about the tables yet.  I would like a different table in the middle, probably one bigger and not so fragile.It is made of oak but the hinges are sensitive AND I have had it for almost 30 years.  We will see how the budget goes.  We also need a new table against the wall behind the love seat so it would make sense to get new pieces for both those areas and maybe side tables to match.
I am liking the new arrangement a lot.  I think we will use the sofa more often to set on, not just to take naps.  The old sofa and love seat will go to Leo and his new place.  I will try to find a cover for the love seat since I am sure that he doesn't want that mauve color of the 80s as part of his color scheme if he has one.  Maybe the tables will go to him too.
SO that is what we are doing in our little home here in N. Michigan, buying new furniture that will last the rest of our lives so that when we are gone (as Bud said) the nieces and nephews won't say, "That is the same furniture they always had since I was little."  Maybe now they will at least remember that we did have something else that didn't look like it came from the 80s.

 Today we ventured out to the world of Sam's Club.  I will admit that I have resisted joining this organization for two reasons.  First of all I do not agree with the philosophy of the 'Walmart' organization. They seem to come in to a small town and wipe out all the local stores with their lower prices that they are able to negotiate (maybe strong arm) from large companies and have a lot of imports.  Second, I have never enjoyed 'big box' stores that sell everything from bathroom fixtures to deli meats.  Third, I don't have much use for LARGE boxes of almost anything.  I don't need to store a year's supply of toilet paper in my basement so that I can save  a couple of dollars.
However, we heard that they sell the protein shakes that Bud and I use on this diet and at a much lower price than we can get them at the local grocery store.  So today we joined. Wouldn't you know it though, when we went to try and buy some of the protein shakes, they only had one box and it was the flavor that we don't like.  We didn't leave empty handed though, we managed to find some other things that we could use.  I think that is part of their philosophy too.
It was not a fun trip.  Big box stores like that make me VERY grouchy.  Bud and I never shop well together anyway and this was just too big of a place to maneuver.  We left there without buying what we went there for and with things that we hadn't intended to buy.  Isn't that the way life is though.

We DID get a free rotisserie chicken with our membership though.  Tomorrow nights dinner is all set.

I do have to tell a little snobbish tale on me though.  We were walking down this one aisle and this man asked us if we wanted a sample.  I was just irritated enough to just say "NO" without even knowing what he was pushing.  Then I though maybe I would at least ask what he had to sample.  He told me it was mini corn dogs.  With that I then added insult by saying 'especially not THAT'.  Maybe I'm just not the Sam's Club kind of woman.  At least the membership wasn't too expensive and it is only for a year and we got a free chicken.  PLUS the bonus of the ability to buy a 2 year supply of tall kitchen garbage bags.
BUT, I still had to stop at Meijer to buy some shakes on the way home.

Exciting weekend

This past weekend I went to Grand Rapids to check out Art Prize with Eva.  We have attended many years and it is always a nice time to walk around the newly rejuvenated downtown Grand Rapids.  This year was no exception.  Jessica had to work on Friday and she had already attended so it was just Eva and me but we had fun.  

This next piece is one of my favorite.  Jessica and I took a class from the artist a couple of years ago.  This piece is all made from pieces of fabric so I have a great respect for someone that can 'paint' with fabric.  It is called the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and consists of 4 panels.  Above is the first panel.

It is hard to get a picture of the whole piece with all the crowds around but I did my best.  

This is the second panel.

Third panel.

Fourth panel.

Of course we had to take a 'selfie'   we are standing in front of another beautiful piece that was impossible to take a picture of so we decided to take a picture of ourselves.  The piece behind us is all plants on many panels to create a wall of different colored flowers.  It was beautiful and very creative.

If you look closely behind the picture of the real angel, you will see an angel hanging from the ceiling in white.  This was a beautiful piece too.
Eva and I went to the Top 25 pieces in about 5 hours.  It was a good way to see the most important pieces without having to see all of them.
Jessica told me (after I came home) that the fabric pieces have made it into the Top 10 of the show.  I heard today that she is moving her piece outside because it has been in the Gerald Ford Museum and that has been closed because of the government shutdown.  I hope that doesn't have any impact on her ability to possibly win.  She is a very talented fabric artist, a wonderful woman and a great teacher.  I was especially impressed by her ability to share her art skills with people like me.
After our day at Art Prize, Eva and I did a little shopping before returning home exhausted from a great day together.

Saturday we were joined by Jessica.  We started by revisiting a furniture store and showing her the sofa and chair that I had picked out the day before.  We are planning to get new furniture in our living room and I love the sofa that Jessica picked out for her house.  This is the sofa that I want.  We will probably get a lighter gray color, maybe even the same color as Jessica has.  The chair is the one that I like best and it is a recliner.  The fabric on the corner is my choice for the chair.  We will look around up here too but Bud liked my choices too so we will probably go with them.  

I think that this looks comfortable don't you?

SO, after getting up from the chair I reached back and felt a little unusual breath of fresh air on my backside.  I was a little shocked that these jeans decided to give out but I do wear them a lot.  Fortunately, I had a sweater with me so I just wrapped it around my 'blowout' and we were on our way.  LOTS of laughter and fun sharing this 'moment' via text with family and friends but it was a funny moment.  

 I was able to find a new pair of jeans when we stopped in a store in Rockford.  They fit pretty well and they let me wear them out of the store.  Problem solved.

We also went to the Farmer's Market to check out some 'pumpkins on a twig' that Jessica wanted to buy.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of them.  They are quite a cute little fall decoration.  

Us girls spent the day together, checking out little shops and just having fun.  It was a great day.  

 I checked out Eva's garden before I left.  He has zinnias that are taller than she is.  She is a great gardener.

 Sunday afternoon we attended a concert here in TC.  Charlotte is the third from the left and she sang three beautiful songs at the concert.

 She is a beautiful young woman with a great voice.

And of course, her boyfriend David sang too.  It was a wonderful way to finish off a fun weekend.

Moderates

I'm Sorry, no pictures today.  Just me spouting off so if you wish to skip this posting that is OK with me and remember it is just my opinion, I am not trying to offend anyone, just make people think a bit.

While we were on vacation I picked up a USA Today and was really interested in an article.  I cut that article out and would like to summarize some of the points that most struck me as thought provoking.  I don't know the exact date of the newspaper since I just took the one article out but it was some time in the first 2 weeks of September.  Diane Medved titled her article #!$%#@*^$% MODERATES!  In politics, as in family life, working through disagreements is essential.

It is a long article but the essence can be the question "How did extremes hijack the middle?  How did the strident voices out-shout the voice of reason"  She does have examples of both parties and their extreme attitudes by saying in the media today "You don't go viral suggesting respectful cooperation." The problem is evident between parties and within parties, each group claiming that they are the "true conservatives or defenders of the people"  " Repairing the increasingly bitter divisions requires coming together in the middle, rather than stubbornly clinging to the extremes.  Moderate is a compliment.  Moderation is measured and Prudent.  It needn't neglect principles.  Principles undergird proposals but moderation puts them into action.  Efforts to incorporate principles into real-life action won't get very far if you have to bully everyone else into accepting them.  Autocrats and dictators impose their views, elected officials work with their colleagues so the solutions crafted include as many underlying values as possible."
She goes on to point out "Ask any parent: Do you want your child to be reasonable, considerate  and tolerant of his sibling? (I would add do you want them to be that way with the people around them too?)  Or do you respect more the tantrum-prone child who demands things his own way?"
Another great example is "What kind of marriage is more likely to succeed?  One where a spouse unyieldingly rules the domicile or one where the mates offer selfless gestures to smooth and improve their relationship?  When one partner chooses to indulge the other's preference, or both compromise, are they abandoning principles?"

She ends with:  "When it comes to governing, visions of perfection and lofty principles inspire, but moderation lets us function in the real world."

I am hoping for some moderation in our world the next few weeks and maybe even it will come back in fashion.  Wouldn't that be nice.