Living in Jacksonville – southern redeux

Ying Yanged

October 31, 2017November 15, 2017BGCT2VA5 Comments

( 20171016Litchfield CT

For the first time in almost four years I went North. Back to friends and places once familiar. Back to changing leaves and temperatures and shifting feelings. Funny that I chose October, the birthday month, the time for reflection and deflection.

I was not myself. A mood that had crept into me for several months came along for the trip. And ghosts long thought banished popped up for a pre-Halloween surprise.

It is difficult to explain except, perhaps, through metaphor. When a ship sets sail into rough water it had best make sure its ballast and cargo are balanced. Mine was not. My Ying was Yanged. And, like an unbalanced ship, I rocked this way and that. I complained that the New York traffic bothered me, when in actuality I normally couldn’t care less. The heat in Florida is terrible, I complained (what a news flash that was!), ditto the traffic here and the crime 10 miles away. Had I become a kvetch? Oy Vey!

kvetch

But, what was the problem? It has taken me these past two weeks or so to settle and reflect. The problem is me (Isn’t it always?). I don’t like being retired. I’m not even sure what I’m retired from! From two professions it could be said that I’m retired. A third was more a passion and an unfinished work, one that I thought I could continue here in Florida – restoring antique / vintage furniture. It hasn’t happened for a number of reasons. And, not making excuses, they are legitimate reasons. Truth be told, however, I like working. I need to work, again. Volunteering hasn’t been successful (still trying, though) and my one job experience here was a mixed bag (see my post, Charlie, September 2016).

It was while visiting Tiverton, one of my favorite areas up North that I again visited the weaving studio and shop of Amy Lund. I had met Amy a few years past when I had my shop, Redeux Vintage Furniture, in CT.

redeux store front

While visiting RI we made a “field trip” to see some craftspeople and Amy’s shop in Tiverton’s Four Corners is a favorite. Her enthusiasm and love for what she does is inspiring. It was a treat to visit her again, to see her work and to make a small purchase. If you’re ever in that area of RI stop into Amy Lund’s weaving studio .

After leaving Amy’s shop I knew I had to again work. It’s a matter of having a balance in life. And no one wants to be unbalanced!

20171014 Amy Lund (2) (704x1024)

So, what’s next? Another trip North! Well, kind of North – North Carolina and Tennessee to be exact (not sure if they’d like to be considered Northern States!). We’ll visit friends and view areas not visited before.

Thanks to all my friends up North for their welcome and patience with my “Yanged Ying”. Thanks, too, to HM for her special prayers. And to Geraldine Wahlgren, “that German Lady”, who took a chance 51 years ago this month and opened her heart and home to two young boys. I will never forget.

The Swerve

March 29, 2017March 29, 2017BGCT2VA1 Comment

It’s been months since I’ve wanted to write, much less take the time to actually sit in front of a keyboard again. Why tonight?

Tonight our book club met to discuss this month’s selection, The Swerve. If you haven’t yet read it, the 50 cent review is: a Renaissance era papal scribe goes on a search for ancient classic manuscripts. He comes across a poem written by one Lucretius, a Roman living approximately 100 years before Christ. The poem , On the Nature of Things, deals with the nature of life. It has influenced many philosophers and writers and, according to the Swerve’s author, Stephen Greenblatt, formed our modern world’s understanding of life’s purpose and essence. Lucretius described a universe where there is no God, we were created by randomly colliding and binding atoms, our life’s purpose should be the seeking of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, all religions are a hoax and, at the end…nothing. Greenblatt apparently concurs. I couldn’t disagree more.

It’s been six months since I’ve gone to work. At times I think I miss it. But, actually what is missed is the doing of work. Not willing to work weekends, nights or holidays does limit one’s prospects of finding part-time work. Being able to enjoy time with The Redhead and to explore the surrounds of our new home are important. That she goes to work three days each week has put me in the unenviable position of haus frau. But, it has also given me time to think.

Retirement, for some, is the long sought after golden fleece, awarded after a certain number of years toiling in the workplace. Yet, there are those that really like to work. Perhaps they are the ones that were lucky enough to have drawn a paycheck doing something they loved. Those aren’t jobs, those are blessings. With work, I’ve been blessed three times, so far. Interestingly, each of those three work blessings came from out of the blue – completely unexpected.

20161204Little Talbot (2)

So, what might our book club meeting have to do with writing again? Writing helps clarify what I see. And, if I truly believe that we are put here for more that our own pleasure, perhaps, by writing, I will see what is now calling me. After all, even the sea bird in the picture above found his reward in the hurricane devastated moonscape of what was once lush Little Talbot Island. All he had to do was see it.

As always, feel free to comment.

Bill

Charlie

September 12, 2016November 13, 2019BGCT2VALeave a comment

20160831_104547_resized

Tough day today, huh, Charlie?

“Yeah, it sure is. It seems a lot more days are getting tougher and tougher, for me at least”.

We’re in the break room, cooling off after driving our machines in the sun for an hour and a half on a day when the thermometer reads 103 degrees in the shade. Add another 10-15 degrees inside the cabs and today, like the past 10 or so, is indeed a Tough One.

He slips a “cooling bandana” from around his forehead. It is drenched in sweat as are his shorts and shirt. A mini cooler is pulled from the fridge and Charlie slumps into a chair while retrieving a half-eaten sandwich and a juice carton from the thermal bag. At 67, 140 pounds overweight, diabetic and with open sores visible on his lower legs, Charlie looks like he is losing the battle – with the heat, with the job and with himself.

“I wasn’t always like this”, he says. Was I staring or was he reading my mind? He had been a small-town policeman up north somewhere, I knew. Other than that, all I knew about him was that he was always polite, always soft-spoken and always the butt of jokes from the straw bosses up front that sat all day in an air-conditioned room criticizing Charlie for usually being a few minutes behind schedule on his tours. Miss your times and you, too, became a “Charlie”.

“My wife and I came down here after we retired. We had a small house. We’d go fishin’ and cook on the grill and drive around seeing the sights. We were happy. Then she got sick. Cancer. I took a job as a security guard to help with the bills. One day I was beat up and fell to the ground and hit my head. Never been the same. My wife died soon after”.

I’m sorry to hear this, Charlie.

“It’s o.k., it’s been a while. I live up the street, you know. At the motel. The one with the sign that says, ‘American Owned’ out front. Not many of those left. They treat me nice. No kitchen, though. I usually eat at Hungry Howie’s”.

Charlie is telling me this in a very matter of fact way. But, I’m not sure why. Is it because he knows that I, too, was “on the job” up north? Kind of like comrades? I don’t know. All I know is that my eyes are stinging from sweat – or maybe it is something else.

Train’s in!

I’ve got to go, Charlie. See you later. Drink lots of water before you go out again.

He looks up and says, “Oh, yeah”. And then, “You know, I used to be a somebody, once”.

Before I open the doors to go back into the blast furnace of St. Augustine in August I look around the office. It has changed. I will never again see it as I did just one hour before. Maybe I’ll be a few minutes late beyond the allotted 90 minutes of my next scheduled tour. Just so Charlie isn’t alone today.

The Front Porch

November 8, 2015November 8, 2015BGCT2VA1 Comment

Is there anything more welcoming than a front porch?
For years I have lamented the near demise of the front porch. As a kid growing up in a city neighborhood, the front porch was part of everyday life. It was a playground on too hot or too rainy days, a fort, and the place to plan all the events that we could cram into our summer’s days. It was also, and probably most importantly, the place that neighbors visited when strolling by one another’s house.

Those old cement and wooden porches were the foundations of the neighborhood. We could play with Buster Madison all day long but he became even more popular when his parents came out onto their porch in the evenings after supper. It was then that Mr. Madison would treat every kid to a piece of butterscotch candy. Mr. Madison would tell us that what he was sharing with us urchins was a piece of Callard & Bowser Butterscotch –“the finest in the world”. He may have been right, we just knew it was a special treat. To this day butterscotch of any type conjures up images of sitting on the Madison’s front porch with our little piece of England. At the other end of the block was Mrs. O’Leary. Her son was a policeman so we always settled down a bit as we passed her house. Ya’ never could tell when being extra nice would come in handy! Anyway, Mrs. O’Leary had some fine honeysuckle bushes in her yard. When she would sit on her front porch, we’d ask if we could pick a few (a few dozen, it always turned out) to get the honey. We could – if we didn’t trample her roses. Not being complete fools, those roses were treated with lots of respect for sure.
And, now, neighborhoods are mostly absent the front porch. We won’t even discuss gated “communities”. Our neighborhood, like so many others, has replaced the front porch with rear decks or sun rooms. Although, many of our neighbors have taken to setting up folding chairs by their front doors and garages to mimic the old porches. It works, kinda’. There’s even a sort of code: one chair, wave as you pass. Two or more chairs, you’d better stop and sit a spell. Our friends, Maria and Tom, usually have at least 4 and can somehow produce several others in the blink of an eye. Like true copy cats, we have assembled our hodge-podge assortment of “front porch” chairs, too. It’s great.
So, imagine my surprise and curiosity when it was announced that Jacksonville was holding this weekend its Second Annual Front PorchFest in the Springfield section of town (PorchFest) . Since The Redhead was up North visiting friends and family and my list of things that needed to be done had dwindled, I figured it was a good chance to explore another area of town and to see some front porches – I hoped.
Sure enough, Springfield is about 25 minutes from here, a hop, skip and jump from the downtown and Riverside areas. Tricky folks over there – hiding in plain sight. Arriving a bit early, 12:00 noon and the music was set for a 1:00 P.M. start time, I had time to walk around. It’s a mixed area, with Main Street being the closest thoroughfare. The neighborhood is filled with large, early 1900 era homes sitting side by side with bungalows and craftsman-style houses.Some have been converted to professional office spaces but most are home-sweet homes. Mixed in is an ample dose of abandoned and run down houses and buildings. I’m told these are being bought and renovated on a rather steady basis. None the less, home is where the heart is and this place, it turns out, has plenty of heart!
For a bit over three hours the hands of time had turned back. Front porches everywhere! People were walking around on the sidewalks and in the road. Food trucks, set up on the periphery, sold everything from fresh ground beef hot dogs (yep!) to fish sandwiches to organic fruit “hand pies”. The Redhead will be happy to learn I was very sensible and stuck with the fish. I did get the address for the local bakery making those hand pies, just in case.
But, the music was reason most everyone was there. The Methodist Bell Ringers set up on the park green, A Soul Group was singing to heaven and us up on Silver Street. Blue Grass was around the corner. A folksy gal was on third and the popular Firewater Tent Revival was just up the block. (note the drum kit)

Too much? No way! All of this was within a short stroll and a few hours. Evening would bring out larger musical groups, some of which I had had the pleasure of hearing at the Riverside Art Mart or my beloved Lillie’s. For me, previous and much looked forward to engagements (plus some unseasonable heat) kept my time at the PorchFest too short. So, I hoped to find that one special group or singer that would be “better than good”.

I was not disappointed. Complicated Animals is a duo now in Jacksonville, but singer, Monica da Silva, originally hails from Brazil. They call their style of music, Indie Nova. Their arrangement of, “Take a Walk on the Wild Side”, was an intriguing blend of Lou Reed meets Suzanne Vega meets Astrud Gilberto, without a hint of pretension. Wonderful stuff. Complicated Animals http://www.complicatedanimals.com/ can be found at several venues right here in the Jacksonville area when they are not touring. This Saturday they sung, just for me I think, from the front porch of a charming old colonial.
How wonderful front porches are!

Hope to hear from you. Better yet, stop by. The front porch is all set!

Does every love affair have to end?

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015BGCT2VA1 Comment

Does every love affair have to end?

She gave me the news a few days ago and nothing is the same. If she didn’t bring out the best in me, at least she let me share what was.

She is a free spirit. She was the sun on cloudy days and yet so cool when everyone was sweating. Being with her at night was best. She sparkled. And moved to music that was hers alone.

In five days we will say goodbye. Forever. It is so final that the words ,”please, don’t” can’t even be thought. It is over.

Because of a landlord’s desire for more, so many lives will have less. Much less.

My beloved Lillie’s is closing.

Goodbye, Katy. Goodbye, Debbie. And Alyssa and all the others.

Does every love affair have to end?

Call me Killa’

October 12, 2015October 13, 2015BGCT2VA3 Comments

Alice: “I’ll be right back, Killer. And, I call you, Killer, because you slaaay me.
Ralph: “And I’m calling Bellevue because you’re nuts”! Link to TV clip

Last week was my “face your fears time”. It began early one morning with our friend and neighbor, Lydia, knocking on our front door. The Redhead went to the door, as did our two friends visiting from Connecticut, Sue and Mary Ellen. There was a brief conversation, three sentences of which can be recalled: Lydia – “There’s a snake by my backdoor, a bad one. I don’t know what to do”. The Redhead – “I’ll get, Bill”.

Tell me there is a lion in your backyard. No problem. Tell me there is a leak in your faucet. No problem. Tell me there is someone walking down the street, wearing a mask, and carrying your neighbor’s TV. Absolutely, no problemo. But, tell me something is crawling in your backyard and it’s not wearing a diaper. That’s a problem. For me. That this bit of news was delivered by Lydia to The Redhead and Sue and Mary Ellen made this a stomach-churning, knee buckling, cold sweat type of problem. At least for someone still believing in chivalry. And, as Don Quixote found out, chivalry and common sense don’t always go hand in hand. No sir. And timing. Timing is very important. Oh, yeah. Ya’ have to think some things through, very carefully. And, that takes time.

But, on this beautiful sunny morning, time and common sense were two gifts denied me. Thanks in part to dear friend, Sue, blurting out, “I’ll go over”, I needed to DO SOMETHING. Fast! Because, as well intentioned as she was, Sue, from Queens, NY, knows about as much about snakes as Donald Trump knows about hair style and humility.

So, no contemplating a plan. No assembling of an appropriate arsenal of weapons. Just time to grab a shovel, slip on a pair of moccasins (oh, the irony!) and hot foot over to Lydia’s backyard to see, The Bad One.

There he was, curled up just outside her back door. Just a Black Racer napping, I hoped. Now, if someone really hates snakes, as do I, the best hope is for a snake to be (1) a tool used by a plumber, (2) a Black Racer. Both are useful and won’t hurt you. Usually.

So, let me just give this little bugger a nudge and send it on its way somewhere else. What a hero I’ll be – without breaking a sweat! So, tickle, tickle, my little pal. Up goes its head, open goes his mouth, rubbery go my knees. The open white mouth tells the tale: it’s a water moccasin or “cotton mouth”. The books say it all – Avoid, venomous, dangerous, and nasty. Lydia was right, it’s a bad one.

The next five or so minutes must have been like watching the Wallenda Acrobats walking a tight-rope wearing clown shoes. It’s a dangerous act, but it brings out laughter. Lydia has out her camera phone. Sue is saying, “oooh, oooh”! Both are laughing. The snake is not laughing. He looks straight at me as I bring down the sharp edge of my Ames spade shovel. Whack, whack, miss, whack. Another look at the snowy inside of his mouth as he wiggles a little closer. Whacko. This SOB won’t die, I blurt out. More laughing. Oh, ladies, it seems I was born to amuse you. Yikes! This thing is still moving. Whacko, chop. Take that!

At last. Finito! What might have made a fine pair of boots for a midget is now a nearly tri-sected length of nasty. It must be three feet long. Hmm, with a little effort I could stretch this to being an 8 foot menace to humanity. No, we’ll leave well enough alone. A quick catapult into the nearby woods and it’s sayonara for this critter.

Let’s hope the next knock on the door brings with it a friend with a piece of apple pie, maybe a bit of pumpkin bread or a ”I’m just here to visit, put on the coffee”. But, if not, now I’m ready for anything!

After the first step

September 16, 2015September 17, 2015BGCT2VA3 Comments

Nearly two months later than our target date and almost seven months to the date since we first saw our new home, our remodeling work is DONE!

To celebrate the event – and to thank all of our new neighbors for their patience and kindness during our home makeover – we had a Neighborhood Open House party this past Sunday afternoon. Friends we have known for about a year – before moving to this home and friends just recently met came and helped us celebrate and give thanks for all we have been given.

The week before the Neighborhood party we had two big events here: Our house – each and every room and space – was blessed by our parish priest and pastor, Father Jhon Guarnizo (Blessed Trinity Parish ). Our home is and will always be a house of peace and love.

Fr. Jhon and Debbie on Blessing Day. Note batik of St. Luke in background

The following day Sister Swammy (Linda) came with her husband, Dave, for a too brief visit. Linda and Dave met several of our friends at our Labor Day picnic where we gave some of our southern friends a lesson in how to make a “real” hot dog – grill it baby! No boiled or steamed dogs in this house! The Swammy also regaled our friends with the story of her vision of what our new home would look like and when we would find it – months before it happened. She was correct about everything. The Swammy was presented with a special memento of her predictions.

The day after Linda left to visit family further south, our sun room floors were finished with a vinyl planking – perfect for the room since it is very durable and nice looking, too.So, now that our construction work has been completed, what next? When we moved here to Jacksonville from Connecticut we did not expect to become different people. What we did hope for was a chance to have a life which we could build together. We are doing just that. Having completed step#1 of our new life we’ll need to think and pray for our next step to be made known.

4th of July Reflections – happy anniversary

July 4, 2015July 4, 2015BGCT2VA1 Comment

This weekend, in many ways, marks our one year anniversary here in Jacksonville. While it was actually the end of June last year that we arrived, it was the 4th of July when the reality of our having moved here struck us. A year ago we knew very few people here. Our world was ourselves, the beach and our beloved Lillie’s. We were determined to explore and to make this home. The night of The Fourth we went to Neptune Beach to see the fireworks. We were awed by the displays lighting up the night sky from Jacksonville Beach all the way down the coast to St. Augustine. One year later and much has changed. We have, once again, our own home. We have made several good friends. We have found a church – Blessed Trinity, which has become our spiritual home and anchor. Fr. Jhon (correct) Guarnizo, our pastor, will bless our new home once all the construction (and repairs) have been completed. We are hopeful this will be later this month. We still go to Lillie’s. Katy, Lillie’s owner, will be at our house warming and blessing party. She has played a big part in making us feel so welcome here. This year we probably won’t be at the beach for the fireworks. Instead, we will celebrate Independence Day with friends and possibly view the fireworks from the nearby Inter-coastal bridge that has sweeping views of the beaches. This past week has been a time of reflection. Cleaning out our apartment and turning in the keys brought a finality to the first chapter of our move here. Many good memories were made there with new friends and visits from family and friends from “up north”, including the North Carolinian’s. One friendship lost continues to bewilder us. For me, the loss is also a sadness which I cannot fully explain, even to myself. Reflection was also brought about by conversations had with several friends and family members this past week. Despite knowing that our move was absolutely the right thing for us to do, I miss them. Very much. Their visits are always too short and too infrequent. That reality is a compliment, I suppose. It is certainly the truth.

The construction of the sun room being delayed because of damage found (some wood rot) has been a set back. Finding it now, while a huge disappointment, is a blessing, though. Imagine, if the sun room roof was being built another way and the problem was not discovered until next year or a few years from now. The damage would have been much greater. Now, we expect the repairs to commence this coming week and all the bad parts will be cut out and replaced within 2-3 days. The construction of the sun room will then resume and, hopefully, be completed by month’s end. It’s a life lesson, for sure: cut out the bad before the damage is too great.

Painted Headboard (note slats and rattan details

On another note, we are nearly done with all interior work. A few cosmetic touches only remain. For our “Florida” guest room we have found an interesting headboard. It kills me to buy a piece of furniture and have it painted. But, until I get the ole’ workshop set up, this is a good option. Ditto, with the small console for our living room.

20150704_2446 — Painted Console for TV and stereo stuff (gray blue)

Once I clear out the garage, having an outlet for my refinished/painted furniture should be no problem. Can’t wait!

Happy Independence Day!

Tests and Setbacks

June 25, 2015June 25, 2015BGCT2VALeave a comment

So, 8 days after moving into our still-being-renovated home, we are tested. Tested in our resolve to keep going, in our faith in believing that we have done the right thing and tested in patience.

It began with the air-conditioning starting to act a bit quirky. Some days it would run fine; other days it would cause the circuit breakers to trip. The electricians checked the box and said the breakers were fine. The home-warranty company sent a tech out and he found nothing. Maybe it was all the work being done that caused an electrical overload, he thought. When the breakers for the unit tripped during the day it was inconvenient. At night it was something else. Waking up sweating and knowing that I’d have to go into the garage to re-set the breakers was beyond inconvenient. Everyone knows, especially those of us born and raised in northern cities, that southern snakes lay in wait for us to walk in slipper-clad feet into a dark garage. Past moving boxes and assorted renovation material I needed to go. So, a plan for dealing with the sure- to- be- lurking prey needed to be devised. Aha, confrontation! So, I’d get up, turn on every light on the way into the garage and start banging on the walls and saying loudly, “come out you dirty bums and I’ll cut your heads of”!! It worked. Never did those dirty-bum snakes show up. When I’d get back to bed the Redhead would just look up and say, “Are you crazy”? I suppose she just doesn’t understand the theory of Sun Szu and his The Art of War. But, it worked. This was only the beginning of what was to come.

After another week of the air conditioning acting up, it just died. Gone, fried. The condenser was completely shot we were told. Not to worry we thought. Our Home Warranty, purchased when we bought the house, was meant for just such an emergency. A little over a week in our new home and we now have no air-conditioning in 95 degree weather. The indoor temps stayed in the 85- 90 range. Thankfully, we had extended our apartment lease until the end of this month, so a night or two sleeping on our pull-out sofa until the unit was fixed wouldn’t be too bad. Or, so we thought. Wrong. For whatever reasons, the warranty company has kept dragging its feet authorizing the repair/replacement of the unit. Repeated calls just kept us moving through an anonymous labyrinth of “help desks”.

20150624_2432 (1024x768) — New air-conditioner!

Having gone without air for over a week, with no help from the warranty company, we bit the bullet, called a local A/C company that was recommended by friends, and had a new unit installed. We knew we would need to get a new one someday, but had hoped to get a year or so of use from the old unit. What’s the old saying about, “best made plans”? The warranty company says that it will give us a “buy-out” for only the wholesale cost of the condenser unit part of the system. At least it something and now we have a very efficient unit cooling our house. Beware of Home Warranty policies when buying a home!

Round two.

20150619_2427 (1024x768) — Sun Room framing

Our sun room addition was going along nicely. Ahead of schedule, actually. It will be a nice room with a great place to view the pond. Yesterday, the workmen building the room discovered some wood damage on our chimney area that was undetected during our pre-buying home inspection.

20150618_2425 (1024x768) — Impact Enclosures team building sun room

We need to get it fixed before we can continue. We have called our carpenter friend, Wayne, to give us a second opinion and possible fix. We’ll know tomorrow what our real situation is.

20150624_2406 — Luis installing baseboards

On the bright side our interior work has just about been completed.

20150624_2404 (1024x768) — Cutting the baseboards

The new baseboards are being installed and I’m taking care of some minor electrical work like moving switches.

20150618_2421 — Ray from New Millennium Tile

20150624_2435 — Tumbled marble and Italian glass tile

The kitchen tile back splash is completely finished and looks beautiful. Pictures have the glass tiles looking green but they are more like sea-glass blue.

20150624_2434 (1024x808) — The new kitchen

Tonight, The Redhead made dinner in the new kitchen of our once-again cool house. All is good. We have faith. And the vision of Sister Swammy that this truly is, “Our House”.

Home

June 15, 2015June 15, 2015BGCT2VALeave a comment

Monday, June 8th was the deadline set by our insurance company for us to move into our home – ready or not – or else…no insurance. Never mind that we had been spending at least 8-12 hours everyday at the house, we had to sleep there. Cat-naps didn’t count.

So, on the morning of the 8th, Debbie met the window shutter guy at the house and I coordinated the movers. Thanks to the help and handy pick-up truck of my friend, Bill, nearly everything left the apartment and garage in one trip, including bicycles and plants. Most of what was left behind that day has been brought over bit by bit. Thankfully, we had extended our rental lease for an additional month just so we wouldn’t be too crazed on moving day. Just this morning, Debbie and I remarked how very different this move was from when we left Connecticut: Less stuff to pack; no Sue or Mary Ellen.

For several days we sort of roughed it. No stove, no sinks, except a utility sink in the laundry. We did have a shower and a half-bath. Now, we are all set.

Our cabinets are all in, all appliances are hooked up – and working.

Both baths are fully finished (except for paint in the guest bath). Shall we have a painting party?? We’re still fine-tuning some electric and baseboards are due to go in this coming Wednesday.

The new roof is coming along and should be finished in the next day or two.

The foundation for the new sun room addition has been poured and work on the framing should commence this coming week.

It is a lot of work. But, we wanted to get everything that needed attention, or that we wanted, to be done before or shortly after we moved in. So far, so good. We are very blessed that we could do this and lucky it is going – for the most part – so smoothly.

So, what’s next? Sometime later this month or early July we will have our housed blessed. At that time we’ll have a house-warming party for friends, neighbors and many of the folks that worked so hard to make this all possible for us: tilers and tile suppliers, carpenters, electricians, folks that helped us find our new furniture and those that helped us pick out paint. We are grateful to so many. We hope our dear friends in Connecticut, North Carolina and Rhode Island will be here, too.

After we have settled in and cleared some of our things from the boxes now jammed into our garage and a spare bedroom we will be able to focus on other goals and projects. For me, it will be again restoring and reviving vintage furniture. I’ll figure out a way to cool down the garage during the especially hot season of June – September so I can work with my paints and stains. Not sure where this will wind up taking me, but it’s time for me to again be productive.

Well, that’s it for now. Keep good thoughts and prayers for us. Hope to see you soon.

	Jack Dennis on Chopping Flora
	thelittleman on Chopping Flora
	BGCT2VA on Duped
	Dan R Morris (@DanRM… on Duped
	Neese on Duped

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