June 2022

June 1, 2022

I LOVE being able to go outside to work first thing in the morning! I have been working on the barn the last couple of mornings. It has been cleaned, lime put down, and half of the stall mats are in place (this picture only shows part of the lime). I had to lock the horses out because they were "helping" too much. Chrissy actually took a bite of the lime because it must be a treat... it wasn't very tasty. I should be able to finish putting in the mats we have tomorrow.

June 5, 2022

I moved the temporary fence to include the back yard. When Bob came home, he looked out the window, smiled and said: we have horses in the back yard!

The grand kids came to visit and our grand son excitedly says: the horses are out of the barn and in the yard! Of course, we had to go pet them.

June 6, 2022

The grand kids have given their stamp of approval of the new place. Our grand son immediately claimed the downstairs bedroom as his own. It was soooo nice being able to enjoy their visit instead of having to limit them to one room of the house and hoping they didn't break the TV while there (tripping and falling or throwing a toy in the wrong direction). The kids really loved being able to run and play!

June 7, 2022

I am glad I had a mask available last night when Bob had to open this access! Apparently, I can't be very close to this dusty insulation at all without a dust mask on.

We had a small problem... the ceiling was leaking. It took a bit of detective work on Bob's part to figure out why. Of course, we thought it must be the plumbing because our youngest was taking a shower. But, the pipes were dry.

It turns out that there is a small crack below the caulking of the bath/shower wall and when the water hit the wall it continued on it's journey. Super easy to deal with! Just need some caulk. I suggested that Flex Seal tape. I mean... they built a boat with it, surely we can seal the shower wall! And... that is exactly what we used (works great)!

June 8, 2022

My morning view

The property has a full border of lilacs that are starting to bloom.

June 9, 2022

Bob says: We got a new bed for Buddy, who graciously allows us to sleep with him.

June 10, 2022

It has been 1 month since we signed the papers. Wow! What a month it has been! We were all talking about the changes and realized that, with everything going on, my youngest and I have not had our supplements regularly for three weeks. Normally, this would cause a major emotional breakdown and high anxiety for us. However, neither of us are showing the typical emotional instability. I am hoping that this move is part of our last healing phase and we will be back to ourselves (or better!) again.

In other news, the final room has had it's carpet shampooed. Now waiting for the wet carpet smell to go away to see what's left. The good news is that I didn't need an allergy pills immediately this morning and Bob had less congestion too. So, there is a noticeable improvement.

June 11, 2022

Apparently, the lap blanket I put on the coffee table that our daughter brought us was taken as an invitation.

June 12, 2022

Our horses don't seem to appreciate the finer things in life... they have broken this barn window three times already. Time for it to come down and put 6 mil greenhouse plastic film in it's place before they hurt themselves. Hopefully, they'll leave the other two windows alone!

In other news, Bob is fixing problematic doors today so they will actually shut. He tightened screws the first week, but these are a bit more complex and he actually had to learn a few new techniques to get them fixed. He smiles and knows that it is totally worth the effort though when the door clicks into place like it is supposed to and I clap in excitement (especially on the irritating storm door that I said to just take down .

June 13, 2022

I am not ready for summer heat. I told my daughter yesterday that I'm going to have to be unavailable before 10am so I can get some work done. We'll see how the new routine goes (with the humidity level I needed a change of clothes before 9:30 this morning ).

June 15, 2022

We took down the kitchen cupboard last night... we didn't uncover anything unexpected, but... shudder. The mice sure had a luxury suite going, didn't they? Bob was kind enough to vacuum the insulation and mouse droppings for me while I stayed in the living room away from the dust.

Bob has a bit of work left to do (finishing the wall, putting the cabinets back together where we want them), but we LOVE how open the kitchen feels - we knew we would!

June 16, 2022

I put my mom's crystal in the living room built ins, but told Bob they would have to move because they were practically invisible with the white background. So, he suggested painting the background a different color. We tried various colors and then he brought out a piece of wood and we decided that wood was our favorite. He picked up some shelving "paper" that looked like wood, but he said that was a complete disaster (he ripped it down before I saw it). Then, he discovered some free paneling - perfect! So, he brought it home and cut some custom pieces after work last night. He said it was nice to just be creative for a change.

June 21, 2022

Chrissy and Destiny enjoying the front lawn this beautiful first day of summer.

House update: it has been over a week since the house has triggered my allergies. I think it is safe to say that we have won this battle.

We do have mice. We caught one and I heard another complaining about his path being blocked. The traps are baited and reset. Thankfully, there are only a few places for them to get in now. Bob will fix the newest finding (in a closet of our bedroom) after we catch this next one.

I have officially brought all of my boxes in out of the garage (our youngest still has a few... ). I have also decided on where the last few pieces of furniture go and am just waiting for a day that isn't too hot, the wind isn't blowing 30mph, Bob isn't busy with other stuff, or Bob's back is out to bring them in... I may have to wait a while... In the mean time, I am attempting to clean the garage enough to put the tools away in an orderly fashion and make the space workable.

The barn is almost done (just need to bring in some hay). The shed still needs cleaned out. I am starting to organize the "tack room" as much as possible (Bob will need to build a support wall for us to hang things on). We still need to fence an better area for the dog, though the current pen is double what she had in Madison. And, I have decided where I want the garden... I think. It appears that gardening will have to wait for next year. However, I should be able to get most of preparation done before winter.

I wanted more to keep me busy...

June 22, 2022

I am forever in awe about how the Lord cares for the minutest details of our lives.

I lost my sunglasses today. I can't be in the sunlight very long without them without my eyes hurting. I retraced my steps through the day... watering the horses, tack room, hay shed, garage, nearly every room of the house... I stopped short of digging through the garbage.

I was very upset. These sunglasses are perfect for me. They wrap around, protecting my fragile peripheral area, and are polarized. I've had them for nearly 20 years. They've been dropped and knocked off my head by horses countless times and are still in decent shape. They are one of the few things that I can look at with pleasure that my ex did for me (only me and with no prompting). They were very expensive at the time, but he insisted I should have them because I had developed cataracts and the light was very painful.

So, yeah, I know they are "just" sunglasses but they've been with me quite a while and my spare pair are inadequate to use very long. So, I was quite upset when I couldn't find them.

Bob came home and I asked him to keep a look out for them. He was busy replacing the back storm door handle so I could easily come and go through the tack room. I sat on the stairs to watch him and looked out the window. There on the ledge were my sunglasses!

I had looked in that area, because I had washed my shoes there. But I looked on the ground, not the window ledge. I am delighted. It could have taken us weeks to find them there, but the Lord directed my sight and put my heart at ease.

I, maybe, should get a decent spare pair, though, so I'm not quite so upset the next time I loose my sunglasses.

June 23, 2022

Glad I haven't started a garden or started fencing yet, as I am changing layout plans for the 3rd time... I may drive the guys crazy.

June 24, 2022

I just abandoned the barn when a 2 inch deer fly flew in.

June 25, 2022

Meet the newest member of our family (the young dog that is being held in place because cats are far more interesting than sitting still ): Jericho. :) The plans for fencing a dog pen have moved up a bit on the priority list.

June 26, 2022

Bob has fulfilled a dream he had for when he bought a place of his own: accent lighting (including behind the TV) with hidden wires and outlet. It took many late nights and a few challenges, but his expertise in electrical has definitely shown through!

Once done with that, he turned his attention to doors... A few of the doors were still catching, so Bob got a palm sized wood planer... for those times when hitting it harder with a hammer just doesn't do the trick.

After spending half an hour shaving this particular door it was still catching. Bob's like "ugh! I'm done". Then, a little while later, it dawned on him... oh! we have power tools! It works great now!

We've just accepted things not working quite right for so long that we are still adjusting...

June 27, 2022

Looks like we are down to two kittens (the other two simply vanished ), but aren't they adorable?

June 29, 2022

Do you know what this says? It says I've lost 5 lbs since March!

I was also curious about my outdoor activities and how far I am walking, so I turned my pedometer on. Monday and today I walked 1.5 miles - before breakfast (I've been postponing breakfast since it has been getting too hot for me to do much outside so fast).

It is not a super big drop in weight; but it is, at least, going in the right direction again. And, I feel stronger, which is even better than the weight loss.