Tis the Season

This morning during my time of reading God's word, I turned the television on with a local station's "Yule Log". I don't care for all the music selections they put forth so turned the volume off, but the image of logs burning in a fireplace is a very nice background. I'm recording it, as I have in the past at times, in order to have in future days until summer hits and it's unbearable. We have our own fireplace but tend not to use it very often, in fact, it hasn't been cleaned of the ashes since the last time we used it, last Christmas perhaps.

With our kitchen remodel coming up likely early February, we have gone really low on the Christmas decorations and gift giving. I'd like to go even lower on the Christmas dinner - I'd be perfectly happy to do Christmas at Denny's (here's a link to a Randy Stonehill song of that title), but I know Marty and Nick really love having our little, but special Christmas dinner of rib roast, baked potatoes, and whatever sides I add. Rather than a pie this year, I picked up a pre-prepared layered strawberry shortcake cake. If it tastes as good as it looks, I'll be pleased. Clearly, I am cutting back some on my efforts. 

Gifts for the guys are mostly the necessities of life which they are in need of anyway. In fact, Nick's is only a bag of candy with a card for a Christmas I.O.U. shopping trip...he needs new jeans and new tees and it'll work better if he can go and try on and choose colors. 

I do miss so many past years of great festivities and socializing with friends and family, some of whom decorated to the hilt. Most of those folks are gone - in one way or another. Maybe next year will be more festive; when the kitchen is done, and hopefully we have decluttered and cleaned.

I'll 'wrap' this up now, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and whether you celebrate or not, I pray you have peace, and joy, and love and all good things during this holiday season.

Committed

It's official. The papers are signed. The deposit made. Demolition is expected to begin mid-February. Our contractor is a small, hands on business so only has a couple projects going at a time. He's about a week from finishing up one project, then the holidays, and has another starting in January, then us. In the interim, he will begin working on the cabinets, they are custom made by him so take time. While he does that, we need to procure ALL the other elements that go into making this a kitchen, the appliances, tile, sink & related items before he will start the demo. That way, it will all go together smoothly.

It's a big expense; probably the biggest we'll ever put into this house aside from the purchase itself.

In the meantime at home, I must get busy with the years of not dealing with clutter so that we can move stuff from the kitchen/dining room during the demo/construction phases and set up temporary cook/clean areas and plan out meals that require few dishes to prepare.

We have a fireplace so have considered using the camp stove there so that any emissions can go up the chimney. We have the microwave and the large toaster oven too. Disposable plates, bowls, etc. will be my best friend. We will only have a bathroom sink available for clean-up (the tub is upstairs, and no laundry tub), so plan on using as little cooking tools as possible for the time required to accomplish the work. I'm good with a lot of take-out meals too, but I'm sure that'll get old. Freezer meals in their own trays are a very good option.

Almost Signing

After the last couple weeks of going back and forth with questions and answers on the kitchen remodel proposal, it's likely we'll be signing the contract on Saturday morning. I look forward to the kitchen being done; I do not look forward to the process, the payments (ouch!!), nor the shopping for all appliances except a microwave, choosing tile for the walls and the floor, choosing countertop material/style, and of course I never look forward to yet another layer of dust. It will be so very nice to have a real, full-size oven again though.

Our current fridge is about 17 years old - leaks water, ice-maker quit years ago. Dishwasher is about the same and is used more as a drying rack than to wash. There is no oven, and the current range-top will be gone - I think it was original to the house in 1966, same with the sink;, garbage disposal works but is old and they recommend it be replaced. 

We're adding a 5' sliding door where currently is an 8' window. [To get to the patio where the grill is, you have to go down the hall and through the den/library - wonder who thought that was a good design?] We're adding an entire bank of cabinets - upper & lower with counter top, to a wall in the dining area - it will be all one undivided room for the kitchen & dining. The kitchen area proper, would still have only a small amount of cabinets, thus the additional. Cabinetry is probably the highest individual expense of the project. Current floor tile has to be replaced because the peninsula will be gone as the kitchen becomes a galley-style layout. 

Once our contract is signed and the deposit is made, he will begin building the cabinetry in January. When that is built, and only after we have purchased and had delivered all the appliances and other components, will he do the demolition, after which everything will be reconstructed and put in place. 

A big project, a big price tag, big fears...has anyone else gone through this? No DIY abilities here and we've only remodeled bathrooms before. When I was in my late 20's, my first husband & I did some remodeling to our kitchen, but he was able/capable and we both were young, energetic and had the strength to do the work ourselves. I think my biggest fear is that we'll go to this expense, and I won't like it, or we'll move and not have enough time to enjoy it. Well, I shant focus on the negatives of my fears...we've put this off too long already, it will be done, it will cost a lot, and we will be content. And I'm going to be very, very busy for the next few months.

Keeping Christmas decorations to a minimum this year!

Blessings to anyone still reading my ramblings :)

A Proposal

So did you think there's someone getting married? Nope, it's not that kind of proposal. Rather, it is a very costly proposal.

I've probably written in the long-ago past about the need for a kitchen remodel. Well, we're finally back at it after a nearly six year "delay". We were going to get started on it back in Spring 2013 (it was last bid on in Feb/Mar 2013) but after a disagreement about a component of it between Marty and I (and my bad response to that), it was postponed.

That and one year later the death of my mom and the next 18 months of back and forth travel to keep my dad on track, which turned into a fiasco later, upsetting me and destroying all the hard work I'd done for him. Well, that's water under the bridge, along with Marty's 9-month layoff before finding work, my health issues too, and then the "I'm just not ready to get to it" issues, but finally, here we are. We had the contractor in the week before Thanksgiving, and received his estimate after. Oh boy, have costs gone up in those years, especially on cabinetry. We've been sitting on the funds so we're ok even at the higher cost, but that doesn't make it any the less painful to have to shell out those dollars. The contractor is the same who did our beautiful bathrooms, he's not 'cheap' and his work is quality, and we trust him. Any others are big unknowns, and we are at the point we just want, and need to get, this done, so aren't even getting another bid.

When we did the bathrooms, we put in a shower downstairs where none existed which in turned moved the toilet over to the space where the wall oven enclosure had been, so I've lived with no full-size oven, limping along with my large capacity toaster/counter-top oven. It's been fine, and I've been able to make most things as I would have in a standard oven (recall my Toaster Oven Tuesday posts), but it has also taken over half of my precious little counter-space, so I'll be happy to regain that space!  

Our kitchen hasn't been updated since we've been here (I came in 1996, Marty ca.1992). The kitchen is tiny, out-dated, worn, and literally falling apart. A small drawer is entirely gone, the facing board below the range top is gone, the stain is completely worn off. After a water leak in 1997, we did replace the floor, removing the linoleum and carpet from the dining room and using tile. We lack cupboard storage place (little space was required in 1966 when the house was built) and outlets. The lighting is four fluorescent tubes under a pull-away plastic shield. The faucet is lifting from the sink, the sink has chips and stains that no amount of cleanser or bleach will remove, the counter has chips, the stovetop burner pans are worn, the knobs are yellowed, the enamel has painted repairs where it's been chipped, and one knob is entirely missing. The hood is harvest brown while the rangetop is white (the oven was harvest brown with an avocado handle!). 

A couple old posts that concern the kitchen are this one and this one showing the old oven.

I have mixed feelings, and am feeling a lot of anxiety. I'm not good with decision making when I don't really know my 'style' other than if this were an old farmhouse in the country, it'd be a snap. A mid-60s house in a California suburb, well...it's not a farmhouse. Some of my preferences, like white appliances which are not currently in vogue, will have limited selection. And all of our appliances need to be replaced, none are less than 16 or 17 years old and all have issues - other than the toaster oven, nothing is salvageable. That adds to the cost, and there are some unknowns that could cost a pretty penny too. My only hopes are that we will live long enough to really enjoy the new kitchen and if we should sell within a few years, that the home's value will sustain the cost of the upgrade. Kitchen and baths, the two most important rooms of the house, right?

Pray for me as I go through this. Demolition, once we sign, won't start until February or even March due to contractor's availability and other jobs he has going.

A Feline Friday Edition

I've not taken part in Feline Friday before, but am seeing several posts today, so thought I'd share and link up at Sarah Did It.

For as long as I can remember I've either had cats or been around cats. My farm grandma had barn cats that would stand on their hind legs to lap at the milk she'd squirt from the cows nipples while milking. I always thought that funny. With barn cats you get kittens, and I remember snuggling with them often too.

This is my sister with one of the kitties. The date indicates Oct 55 but that would be a reprint date; it is more likely summer of '53 or '54.

Notice the grandmother's flower garden quilt in the background on the right?

In 1963 we had a mama named Clementine. My brothers are holding two of her babies. It was the first time I recall actually seeing the kittens being born.

Me with Clementine in 1961.

My brother with Tommy. Tommy had a full tail, but it was all kinked up and looked like a ball.

There were many other kitties during my childhood: Kitten, Tommy, Many Toes (she was poly-dactyl), Monkey, and those who were either never named, or whose names are long forgotten and who were never photographed. Such as it was in the 1950s and '60s in rural Oregon.

In adulthood, and on my own, I've had Booger, Wanna, Spooky, Steely, Aja, Skitz, Monster, Fanner, Raven, Flame. Some of these I didn't have for long but Aja I had for 16 years. She was special, a long-haired gray and white girl. She was brought to the place I worked by a lady who was headed to the pound. She was only about five weeks old and spent the rest of the day either in my sweater pocket or curled up on my desk. As a still young kitty she traveled in the back of a camper to Colorado, at one point hiding so well that I thought she'd escaped through the window I found open. Some hundreds of miles later at a stop, my then-husband discovered her and brought her to me - I cried, and had been crying for hours. She was a true lap cat. I won't explain her demise, but I was heart-broken.

Skitz was a solid grey short-hair. Sadly, I never really liked her, but she lived with me for over 18 years. She played fetch and would not give up searching if the object was tossed where she didn't immediately find it. She had a rather Siamese type voice...maybe that's why I didn't like her. She also sprayed my coffee pot once!! Yep, some females will spray, even when fixed.

This is Monster. He was a feral kitty that we took in and tamed. His mama and several batches of her kittens roamed the neighborhood for a couple years before finally capturing them all. We tried to tame one of his sisters, but she never warmed up to us. But Monster became a strictly indoor kitty for a couple years. When my daughter came to live with us for awhile, she brought two cats with her and we decided it was time to allow Monster and his sister back outside. They both kept out of sight for a couple days, but eventually returned. Monster would come back in the house and he'd sleep on the bed all day, occasionally letting me hold him for a short time on my lap. The sister would never let us get close to her again and eventually got really sick, was trapped, and put down. Monster was 12 when we last saw him. He liked to be outside at night so as we always did, I'd let him out the night before I was to leave on an Oregon trip. He hadn't returned by the time I left in the morning and my husband said he never did while I was gone. Sadly, we think perhaps he fell victim to a predator. I like to think that while he was with us, he had many more years spent in comfort, than he'd have had had he been left feral.

Pure sweetness.

Fanner, sweet Fanner, our special-needs kitty. One summer, Nick and I went to Oregon and visited a high school friend. They had a grass-seed business and at their shop had a mama with kittens. Fanner was pretty much the runt of the litter, but was female and had extra toes. We fell in love with her and she with us. Her fur was as soft as rabbit fur. Within a short time, we realized she had something wrong. Thinking it was something she ate (she was allergic to fish), we didn't think too much of it. But then she'd wobble and her nose and mouth would always be wet. We took her to one vet and he wasn't able to determine the reason for her problems. We then took her to a doctor who only treated cats and she was able to determine that Fanner's condition was caused by liver shunts, in her case, congenital. She would have seizures and later developed bladder stones which we had surgically removed once, but they redeveloped within six months and the vet said it would be too hard on her to go through surgery again. Her medications were no longer as effective and after much agonizing decided it was best for her to say good-bye. That was one of the most painful decisions I've ever had to make. Did I mention we all absolutely loved this kitty?

Sleeping sweetly on the step.

goofy Raven

 So as we were preparing to say good-bye to Fanner, a few months before at Thanksgiving, a neighbor came over with this little itty bitty black and white kitty. He's was out in his truck on a local road and saw this black and white something run across the road in front of him. Not knowing if it was a baby skunk or a kitty, and being an animal lover, he stopped, found it (thankfully a kitty), looked around for any others or a mama and finding none, brought it home where he cared for it with a bottle for a week or so. We welcomed here into our family. The vet said she was probably no more than seven weeks old. We'd already had her for one by then, so she was probably only about five weeks when the neighbor found her. She has a developmental birth defect of her eyelid and her eyes are a bit crossed, but otherwise is quite healthy...and chubby!

Raven

I marveled that she had the black dot next to her nose just like Tommy from my childhood. She plays fetch, but not as much now as she's gotten older, just turned seven. I find I'm a bit allergic to her as if I rub my eyes after petting her, they itch badly.

Flaming Star aka "Flame"

After Fanner was gone, and Raven was still only a few months old, I thought it would be good to be a two cat household, so we adopted Flame from a local rescue. She was there with siblings but we only wanted one and it was Nick's pick as it would be his kitty. Well, kitties pick their humans, and Flame in the last couple years has pretty much picked me as her human. Raven has chosen Marty, so Nick enjoys them when they choose to spend time with him. Flame will divide her time more than Raven. The two kitties haven't really bonded with each other and only play together/chase each other on occasion. Thankfully they don't fight with each other.

That's it on my cats. I'm thankful for all of them. I think if it were up to me, I'd have more, and they'd be indoor/outdoor, but I know there's a lot of risk with that, and heartache when they disappear so we limit to the two, and keep them strictly indoors. The same neighbor we got Raven from has some young kitties running around his yard again - likely feral. A couple had visited our back yard a few days ago and one got up into the tree chasing a squirrel. The other one went 'home', and the one in the tree spent over 24 hours there before it finally found it's way down. 

I'm chuckling right now as Flame has decided she rather likes watching The Spiderwick Chronicles!

Still Chewing, and High Anxiety

OK, so my last DOOW post talked about eating elephants 'one bite at a time'.  Well, those bites are pretty small, but I'm still chewing though some require lots of chewing. Progress is happening, yet it seems barely visible.

Oh, and on top of all that, how many remember way back when, 2012 to be exact, when we went through our bathroom remodels? We were on board to get started on the kitchen in early 2013. Just think, I could've been enjoying that new kitchen for the last nearly-six years, but I responded badly to an issue, and in my sinful response, wanted nothing to do with proceeding with the kitchen and we never signed the contract. Then, God had other plans for life events which kept us from proceeding, and fast forward to recent days, I've been complaining a lot about the kitchen's condition, every appliance is on its last leg, the base of the faucet is lifting from the badly chipped and stained sink (no amount of cleanser or bleach has helped), cupboards (ca. 1966) are showing their age (cheap construct to begin with), the funds have been set aside for all these years, and the burden of knowing it needs to get done is weighing me down, and my estimated life (aside from God's plan) span left on this earth is dwindling, I finally made the call to our contractor to re-bid. 

My anxiety threshold is at its peak, and I am so not ready for all the decisions that need to be made, but that first bite of this elephant needs to be taken. I've pretty much concluded that the less input my hubs has, the better...it will be better for us that way. The first bite was setting up the contractor appointment, and he'll be here at 4:30 today (PST). I've already been informed that demo and construction won't be able to start until mid-February at the earliest, so that gives me a deadline date to have all things in place: sorting, clearing, shopping for all the necessary required items, and maybe going to a doctor for anxiety meds (said tongue-in-cheek!).

Biting Elephants

There's an old question, "How do you eat an elephant?" which is answered with, "One bite at a time." and I just have to keep asking, "But where do I take the first bite?".

I try to start...somewhere, anywhere...and am side-tracked or overwhelmed before I make any real progress.  Focus. It's an issue.

Moving along...to try again.

Of Low and High

The Low:
Less than two weeks ago, I learned that our kitties' veterinarian was ill and taking time away to be with her family. Sounded serious. Later in that week, I learned it was cancer and she was already on hospice. On Monday of this week, I learned she had passed away, and today was her memorial service which Nick and I attended - a huge outpouring of the community. 20 days from diagnosis to entering eternity. There's still stunned disbelief. She was younger than I. Her cancer was very aggressive. I know no other details than that. She was a wonderful, wonderful veterinarian and cared greatly for her kitty patients and their human "parents". While I only knew her from visits to her office, she was warm-hearted, kind, patient, and just one of those souls that makes you feel like you're family. She is missed, and will continually be missed.

The High:
Though that might eventually be debated by some. My daughter called the other night. She said she had recently submitted her DNA to the 23andme folks. She checked the day she called me, and discovered she had a message from someone of whom he and she shared 25% DNA. That means, a half-sibling. She asked me if I knew anything of this; specifically as to her dad having a child when he was pre-20s. She's excited and not at all upset with him, just surprised to find this out as it has never been mentioned to her. I confirmed that when her father and I were married, he had shared that he had a child but he and the mom had parted ways. I knew/remembered nothing more than that. I felt it was not my secret to divulge. I have no animosity toward my first husband, he's a good man, and has been a good father.

When I spoke with her she was still so high from finding this out that she said she probably wouldn't sleep. They have shared a number of emails, but she has not said anything yet to her dad as he was away for a few days. I don't know if this will upset him or not, but she is really, really thrilled to have another brother and to get to know him.

Hot August - Days and Nights

It's been a long, hot summer, as many in the west know all too well. Fires everywhere! Little relief in sight.  For the next 10 days our forecast runs between 95-100 for the days, and 64 - 72 for the nights. That's just too hot when the nights don't cool.  The 64 at night isn't until about the 10th day.

July 17th found me traveling north with my friend Panda, me in my car, she and her little doggie in hers. I was headed to my aunt's in Oregon, she to her daughter's in Washington. We had a fun two-day trip traveling together this way.

The first two weeks were spent at my aunt's doing the usual summer things we do. The exception to that, was meeting a 4th cousin (to me) for the first time. He lives only a little over an hour away from her, so we met at a restaurant and shared family history information. 

There was also a special class reunion. Our class has been exceptional in having a picnic reunion on the 5-year anniversaries, and a full weekend with a casual meeting at a bar (small town, I don't drink but have gone on occasion), nice restaurant dinner the following night, and then the casual picnic the next day for the 10-years. Some make it for all events, others only one or two. This year was special as it was in-between a 5-yr and 10-yr time frame and we chose to invite the class that was ahead of us, and the one from behind us. Our graduating class had only 71 students, of which 5 or 6 have passed away, but but we still had around 20 or more show up. The lower class had only three, and the upper class just a few more than that. Being a small school community, everyone knew who everyone else was. Our next reunion will be a major one...50 years! It's hard to believe!

The better portion of the next two weeks, was spent traveling to Kansas and back. My aunt's oldest granddaughter is attending school there for the next two years aiming for her master's in mathematics. There were two cars and five people going, and one car and four people returning. We went through portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, and spent a day at Yellowstone. We stayed two nights in Kansas, and a couple hours from the school is the location where my great-grandparents lived. He had been there in 1893, married a gal from Cincinnati, OH in 1902, and my grandmother and her sister were born there at the property in 1904 and 1905. They then sold out and traveled to Oregon around mid-1909.

While gone I missed the every-third-year (paternal line) family reunion, but figured this would be my only opportunity in life to visit Kansas and the original family homestead (maternal line) so off I went.

After spending 10 days in motels and 8-10 hours a day in a car, I rested only two days before returning home to California, spending a night just three hours from home.  The drive wasn't bad except for the smoke from the fires, and crossing the border from Oregon, all the way to the inspection station, it was black on either side of the freeway - made me cry! And that wasn't even part of the Carr fire in Redding. Only the smoke from that one could be seen from the interstate. There were signs of many fires that had burned at different places all along the interstate. Rain would be a real good thing about now, as long as it wasn't a sustained deluge.

There were only a couple of days where I felt temperatures were reasonably cool. One day was spent at the Oregon coast, the other was the day at Yellowstone. Everywhere was hot, hot, hot, and Kansas had 60%+ humidity while we were there. On the return, we spent the last night at La Grande, OR. 106-degrees at 5 o'clock at night.

Now I'm spending my days getting caught up after Marty and Nick "bached" it for nearly a month. Laundry is done and I started in on the kitchen only to promptly clog the kitchen drain after putting very old sauerkraut down the garbage disposal...who knew? Marty tried, but didn't have the necessary equipment to clear it so called in a plumber and $145 later, good to go.

On the 24th or 25th Marty heads to Colorado to comply with his late father's wishes for his ashes to be scattered near Steamboat where he had spent much of his life; same time as my sister plans to drive down for a visit for a week and which is the same length of time as Marty will be gone.

Nick will be starting his school year again soon. He continues to work at the pizza joint and seems to be happy there.  

This is probably enough update for now. Perhaps there'll be a picture or two in the days or weeks ahead when I take the time to download from my phone and camera to see if any are clear enough to post...taking photos from a car speeding at 80-mph or more isn't conducive to good photography!

Missing Winter

I'm sure there are many of you out there who would argue and say you'd LIKE to miss winter, but for us out here in SoCal, we've had a very mild, all-too-warm, winter.  Today is pushing 80ºF.  I'm hoping that after this next 10+ days of heat-wave, pushing toward 90ºF, we might get some cooler temps, but that may not happen.  We've only had one really good rain storm hit all fall and winter to date...not good! The hot days of summer 2018 are coming in early. 

Earlier today, I took some material out to the compost bin, stopped to check on the hummingbird nest outside my kitchen window and discovered it has one egg in it.  I'd not seen the hummingbird working on the nest nor sitting in it so was a bit surprised to see an egg.  A short time later, she was sitting on it.  I've had at least two individual hummers hanging around since summer, so have kept the feeder going with a minimal amount in it. 

I also noticed the daffodil/narcissus stems are coming up and have a bud or two showing.  The neighbor's ornamental pear is also starting to bloom, the jade plant had just begun to bloom a few weeks before Christmas and is now covered in little white flowers, and the little purple violet plant near my front door has several blossoms.  

Genealogy, and paper de-clutter projects have been filling most of my time in recent weeks - there's much to do.

Even going to Road 2 California with my friend Panda and another very nice lady I met for the first time, hasn't sparked me to get back to much quilting.  The projects are sitting there, making me feel guilty that they're neglected, but still...just sitting there.  Oh, and R2C was actually a LOT of fun with these two gals, but yowza, my aching feet and back by the time the day was over - so, so out of shape!

Too many places have become over-cluttered while I've neglected to deal with them the past few years and now even my son Nick is pestering me to 'clean it up Mom'.