Remember Me?

Yes, I'm still alive.

Not carried away by a flock of passenger pigeons.

No computer failures, illnesses or life crises.

I've thought about the blog almost every day, 

but never kicked myself into gear sit down and write.

We've had great fun with company (more on that in a later post), 

started riding the horses again after a nine month hiatus

and of course are still dragging along with trying to get the house completed.  

Two weeks ago we popped the cork on a bottle of champagne

and celebrated with friends Barb and Rich 

with a feast beside the outdoor fireplace.

All you suffering Louisianans notice that we're wearing light sweaters in May!!  Hoorah!

So other than the glorious weather,

what were we celebrating?

We finally got approved for our Certificate of Occupancy!  

Yes, we've been "illegally" living in the house since the first of the year.

Do you think it took long enough to get our CO? 

Almost exactly two years after construction began 

and 5 months after we moved out of the horse trailer and into the house. 

We've still got loads to do to actually get the house completed

but according to the powers that be, 

we're in a livable house!

Blogging, construction.... 

Things move slowly here in Rockbridge County.  :)

No More Wardrobe Boxes.... A Master Closet at Last!

There are so many options for closets nowadays.
And true to form when presented with options,
I feel that I've got to consider them all.

I flip-flopped back and forth 

between wood installed by the original carpentry crew,

pre-fab wood "systems,"

custom wood from closet franchise type places,

or the Elfa system sold through the Container Store.

The design was a puzzle;
Those cute little windows were a thorn in my side!

Meanwhile we made do after we moved in
with a motley assortment of wire bins, laundry baskets

and a pathetic row of open topped wardrobe boxes for our hanging clothes.

The final decision was...

Elfa.

Everything out... 

What a mess!

Starting with the top bar which is the only thing screwed into the wall.
Everything else hangs off this bar and can be moved however you'd like...

I found the oak buffet at a flea market when I was in college 

it's always served as my dresser and was in the master closet at the old house too.

Even though it doesn't maximize the space,
there's just something homey about having it in the closet.

The Great Reveal!

The salvage doors from Caravetti's in Richmond. 

Closed.

And slid open!

His and Her's sides...

 It was a cinch to install,
looks downright elegant and is solid.

Big thumbs up from us for Elfa and Container Store!

Open or closed, 

the closet looks as good as we'd hoped and

AND....
               AND.....

I didn't have to paint anything!!!!!

Old Geezers

I had a post all prepared last week.

A day in advance which was a real first for me!

And then.....

When we started thinking about moving, 

it was shocking how many people asked us 

"How's the medical care there in rural VA?"

Geez are we that old?

Nobody's asking about the nightlife?

Quite a few people asked about whether

we were going to put an elevator in the house.

I mean do we look like old geezers or what?

Humph we thought.... 

What do we need to worry about all that for?

We're both the picture of health, no vices, no meds.

Perfect cholesterol, great blood pressure, 

normal blood sugar..... 

boring, boring, boring.

So let's just say that that adage about 

"All (good?) things come to he who waits"

has come to pass here in VA.

Joe had two ER visits 

and then finally a trip to Roanoke 

where he had a heart catheterization last week.

All's well,

no interventions such as stents, balloons etc were necessary 

but he needs to start working with a cardiologist

to be proactive 

and not let the moderate blockages that he has get worse.

He's lucky.

I'm lucky.  

And hopefully it was a wakeup call 

for us to kick up our already fairly healthy lifestyle 

several big notches.

Few things are worse about droning on over medical issues.

So that's all I'm saying about the week.

No photos of Joe in his hospital gown

Aren't you all glad?

Late Spring Snow

It's a happy town here....

People smile on the streets 

and store owners take the time to visit as you check out.

There are so many conversations going on in the aisles of the Kroger

that it can be hard to get your shopping done!

There was only a small amount 

of good natured grumbling 

about the late spring snow.

The power stayed on.

Most of the kids were out on spring break anyway.

So what if we had to cancel our invitation to 6 friends 

who were coming over to play cards?

Seriously,

who could not appreciate the beauty of waking up to this?....

The fence posts all wore caps....

There were low clouds for much of the morning 

that hid the mountains

and made us concentrate on the beauty close at hand....

Yes, even the pile of construction debris

looked better!

Since I have no flowers or garden yet, 

I wasn't bothered by the late frost nipping vegetables or seedlings.

Zero complaints from this Louisiana transplant!

Between Shepherd Ears.... Spring??

Didn't we have the first day of spring a while ago?

A gentle snow has been falling for most of the day.  

Joe kindly swept out the satellite dish for me, 

so I'm typing as fast as I can to get this post completed

before it fills up with snow again.

No wind and really not cold.

But coming down just thickly enough that we're in a white cocoon

with none of our usual views.

I love it and so does Atta....

She'd stay out romping and hunting rabbits all day if I let her....

The Desk Nook

In the 70's when I was in high school, 

my mother announced that my old bedroom furniture 

was in need of going to GoodWill.

I had recently gotten my drivers license, 

so she told me to go to Kornmeyers, 

 which was the large local furniture store in Baton Rouge,
and browse....

Get some ideas and then bring her for a "look-see" at what I'd found.

I'll bet she thought I'd lost my marbles 

when I excitedly drove her out the next week- 

not to Kornmeyers, 

but to two shabby and dusty antique stores.

I still have the four pieces we bought that day....

a dainty mahogany four poster bed, 

a sewing table/nightstand, a bookcase, 

and an oak roll-top desk.

Last week Joe and I set about reassembling the desk.

It unbolts in order to come to apart in 5 sections, 

and had been dismantled since the move from Louisiana.

There are hidden drawers.....

(supposedly all roll tops have several hidden compartments)

And since it's "original" there are plenty of scratches and mars.

But it's as solid as a tank

 and has room to spare for all of my stationery, papers and desk tools.

At 4' wide and 3' deep, it takes up a lot of real estate,
so I decided against putting it in the downstairs study
and making it share space with Joe's desk.

And truth be told I wanted a space of my own too. 

So I'm making my "office" in the alcove at the bottom of the staircase.
Nothing on the walls yet and I'm looking for a rug, but

here's my nook.....

No more blogging from the sofa, easy chair or kitchen island!!!!

That's the door to the basement storage room

so I'm tucked away and not really in the hallway.

I can roll my chair back a few inches, 

 to look through the center hall glass doors and see the hills.

It may be an antique,
but it isn't stuck on needing carbon paper or an inkwell....

It can handle the latest fashions with style!

Hello Old Friends! The Books Are Unpacked!

We're back to being paying customers of the electric company!

After 5 nights and 4+ days with no electricity, 

the bucket trucks "found" our road 

and quickly had our electric meter humming again.

It came back on about 2 hours 

before 15 people arrived for a potluck dinner and meeting;

talk about good timing!

How about a house update?

Look what came out of hiding last month!

The books!!!!

It looked like a Barnes and Noble 

exploded in the downstairs hallways
as I sorted and unboxed....

The fiction books claimed the stairwell.

Yes, I arranged them in alphabetical order by author....

Go ahead and laugh!

There are still about 30 novels residing in the To-Be-Read stack

which has been growing faster than it's been shrinking.  :)

They keep following me home!!  

My first job post-college was as a buyer for a local independent bookstore.  

I loved that job.... until it was sold out to Books-A-Million,  

Though I'd have officially been a manager with BAM,  

I thought of it as taking a demotion.

I enjoyed the decisions involved with buying

and the interaction with the publishers reps;

becoming an "unpacker" of books sent via a corporate office 

wasn't my idea of a rewarding job, 

so I reluctantly changed careers.

Just think how many books 

I'd have if I'd been working at bookstore for the past 35 years!

Decisions, decisions while arranging the nonfiction....

 Should Out of Africa go in Memoirs or Adventure/Travel?  

Does a book about historic barns belong in the section for Architecture or Horses?  

The blue tape in this photo is covering up the hole for the second return air grille.

One of the grilles arrived warped and needed to be returned; 

Noel decided that walking about within the ductwork of the house 

(between the floors!)

was just the adventure for a little tabby cat.

The creaking and noises had us flummoxed for several hours

before we realized that she was awol 

and cruising in the ducts!

Once we'd fished her out,
we taped up her access route to the hidden world!

The children's books 

as well as the Civil War history books of my father's.

are still boxed up waiting for shelves
.... and grandkids?  

I've had free time to read again since the first of the year

so the To-Be-Read stack is starting to dwindle!

You know what that will mean?? 

Time to get more books!!

A Powerless Feeling

We had dinner with friends in town on Tuesday night 

and when we left to drive home, the snow had just begun.

By the time we were 2 miles from home it was falling so thickly that we could hardly see to drive!

We woke up to a beautiful sight of  8" of lovely snow blanketing the fields and house. 

  

We took Atta on one long walk down the lane, 

but otherwise it was a perfect day to stay holed up inside 

and enjoy the view from the comfort of the house.  

Do you want to know one of my favorite things about the new house?

The generator!

Yes, after just a few hours of snowfall,

 our power went out and it's still out three full days later!

The generator is big enough to run the sewer (VERY important!), 

well pump (almost as important!),

 a hot water heater, the refrigerator, stove, microwave,

 a few wall outlets (the coffee pot outlet!)

and scattered lights here and there in the house.  

Despite the fact that we can't run our main heat, 

the house is staying at a constant temperature 

with just a little help from the space heaters,

that we're turning on and off throughout the day.

So we're warm and comfortable and not lacking for much.

I'm not crying yet over the fact that I can't do laundry and vacuum!  :)

According to the BARC website there are only a few hundred people left without power,

but I refuse to complain.

It could be much much worse and we've very fortunate!

Off to bed....

My fingers are crossed that the power will be back on tomorrow!