7.14.13 Minions

Joe and I went to the movie "Dispicable Me 2" this afternoon.  We enjoyed large popcorn and root beer, both of which we refilled for "free" before leaving the theater.  There was nowhere to park, and the line was out the door.  I dropped Joe off to grab our spot in line and parked around the corner.  Evidentally on a rainy summer day, a movie seemed like a great idea to many people.  Plus, you get the matinee prices.  Anyway, Joe says he wants to dress as a minion for Halloween. We need overalls! If you search on the internet, there are all kinds of crafts and foods with minion  theme!  Making these for Halloween....too funny.

7.14.13 Cleaning, Sorting, Throwing, Donating, Part 2

This morning's task, clean out the antique ice box in the room off the kitchen.  I threw out 2 kitchen garbage bags of debris.  All PTA, Longfellow yearbook work, and hockey association committee notes, etc.  Also threw out a lot of newspaper clippings.  There was a point when I was at home full time when I started writing essays/columns, thinking I would like to publish.  So I had folders of favorite columnists saved, plus files on different topics, such as parenting, education, etc.  Threw it all out and feel happy about it. I also threw out summer time and preschool speech therapy folders from Zach and Katie, with speech excercises.
I threw out more video tapes.  It makes me appreciate DVR today, which takes up no external space today!  For donation, about 10 paperbacks that Eleanor gave me when they moved here that I had not read. Also found dish towels I bought at Ben Franklin crafts when they were going out of business.  I thought mom would enjoy them.  She declinedd! The days of the week "cow' design is one of my favorites!  I may stamp and embroider them, so I have a fresh set. There is also a tea service stamp design.
More thrown items:

• Guides for Windows 98
• Ink cartridges for printer we know longer have
• Poster hangers...the dreadful old ones that you cannot remove from your walls!
• All kinds of old travel pamphlets from our trips.  Clearly we were afraid to throw anything away.
• Old insurance and health plan information. 
• Reused...notebook paper and stationary

There were some found treasures though.  I have a folder for Matt, Zach, Katie, and Emily with newspaper clippings of them, early artwork, etc.  I showed Emily her portrait of our tall house!  As well as her early attempts at writing capital letter E for her name.  They had so many horizontal lines they looked "centipede style" font!

My plan is to store some dishes in the ice box, so I can move "everyday use" dishes and glassware into the buffett.

Next task may be the filing cabinet.  I already texted Katie to find out if we can get rid of all her student loan paperwork.  She said yes!  Matt and Zach?  We could make use of Zach's burn barrel.  I feel very proactive, doing this on a Sunday.  2 bags of clutter gone, and it's early in the week!  Last Thursday night I put 2 garbage bags in from the big decluttter movement, so they went out in Friday's garbage.  I used to have this on my monitor at work..."Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you CAN do!"  I am trying not to be overwhelmed that our basement, attic, and storage unit look like an episode of hoarders, and doing what I can do.  All that remains on the main floor, are 10 drawers....6 in the buffet, 2 filing cabinet, and 4 drawers in the living room.

This is the perfect accomplishment  for a rainy day.  It's been raining softly since 5:30 a.m. Wonderful, as it saves me watering the lawn, flowerbeds, and garden.  A gift from God.

7.10.13 Cleaning, Sorting, Throwing, Donating

No photos today.  I have been cleaning, sorting, throwing, and donating.  I have cleaned out the little white antique kitchen cabinet in the dining room, and went through both bookcases in the living room.  Found some funny things...

• Bills from Katie and Jordan's wedding.   (Not totally ridiculous...less than a year ago and I wanted to keep track of expenses.
• a 2002 activity agenda from a boy scout camp Zach attended.
• a polaroid photo of Zach, maybe age 9 or 10?  Not related to Boy Scout Camp.
• Emily's homemade book (paper and everything) about her rat, Snowball
• Art work from Katie and Zach, middle school on
• a certificate that Matt completed percussion camp at "Bands of America"

I threw out an entire kitchen garbage bag of video tapes. if you have a VCR (we no longer do!) you could have viewed the 1996 or 2002 Olympics.  I also obviously love Ken Burns' work, as I had taped all of the Civil War and Baseball documentaries.  There was an abundance of Disney...."Dogs", "Squirrels", "Seals"  all these old Disney movies.  There were tapes containing 12 episodes of Davy Crocket, or Lassie! 

I donated about 40 of my books to Goodwill, along with a set of encyclapedias from 1976.  We bought them for $50 at a rummage sale in the mid 80's before we even had children!  Dan and Joe expressed GREAT hesitation over my donating these.  

The best find was a handwritten note from my dad in 2006.  He wrote his letter a in typewriter style!  

I will continue on my quest of cleaning, sorting, throwing, and donating.  There's a house full.  Just a cupboard or a drawer can take hours.  In the words of my aquaintance Melinda...."I am seven people.  Nothing is easy for me!"  I know exactly what she means.  I suspect many of the things saved over the years will be easily thrown at this point.  

More updates later. 

7.9.13 Grandma's Garden

This is a hectic week for both Dan and I at work, so we're trying to fit in some easy suppers....leftovers Monday night, Tuesday night, Culvers! After Culvers, where Stacie and Dan enjoyed delicious butter burgers, and Joe sampled the Sour Dough Grilled burger and shared onion rings with mom and dad,(Growing out of kids' meals!) we stopped over to visit Grandma and see her garden.  To put things in perspective, we planted our tomatoes and peppers the LATEST we have ever planted, the  last Saturday of June.  Look at Grandma's tomatoes...

 

They are five feet tall, and loaded with fruit!

Here is one of her zuchini plants! 

Mom's yard is so peaceful and relaxing...green, quiet, with the wooden wind chimes making beautiful noise.

Mom had read in the paper that the salvation army was taking donations of fresh produce.  She was the first person to bring in garden fare!  They were pleased that someone had read the article and responded.  Mom spends about 2 hours a day outside caring for her yard, watering, mowing, etc. 

 Great exercise and so beautiful. We enjoyed the visit!

7.1.13 July Special Days

Here are the special days for July....
Matt and Mauri's anniversary, July 2nd.
Independence Day...Freedom isn't free!  July 4th.
July 5th and 6th, Dan and Joe tent camp at the lake for scouts!
Grandpa Bill and Grandma Estell's anniversary, July 11th.
Uncle Rob's birthday...July 24th.

Thank you to Dan, for knowing how much I love flying the flag.  This is our second American Flag in 28 years.

7.1.13 July is Here!

Dan and i have been working in the yard over the weekend.  We planted 4 tomatoes, 4 green pepper and one jalapeno plant.  We have never planted anything so late in a growing season.

Here is my favorite new addition to the back yard.  I love goats, and if I had the room, I'd have a real one!  Dan bought this one for our yard.  It reminds me of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, because it is positioned near the fort and the bridge.  I'm going to have to think of a name for it.

Dan bought this bird bath 7 years ago at the end of the season at Menards. It's been in the basement in a box.  He bought a round paving stone, and dug that into the ground for the base. Dad placed this where the old tree stump used to be, surrounded by the wooden shutters, when Dad built that as a pen for Emily 's turtles.  As you can see, we need some wood chips around this to beautify!

This Clematis vine is blooming.  It will bloom through frost if I remember to water it.  I planted it along the fence line, and there are some tree seedlings growing up from Judy's side. When I water my flower, I end up watering those trees!

I can't recall who, but a friend gave me this paving stone when Dad passed away.  Dan put it in the flower bed, with some fresh wood chips.
Joanna surprised me one day by bringing me the gift of this handing basket. Truly, I don't know the names of the three types of flowers, but all are surprisingly hearty in hot sun and wind.  The large pink blossoms are striking, but I love the little yellow blossoms as well.  They close at night, and open around 10 a.m.

Another deck favorite addition, the cooler Zach and Renia gave me for mother's day.  So colorful and cheerful.

Finally, Dan hung Joe's bird feeder from the deck.  It was a challenge to find a spot where the cats won't attack! This is Joe's attempt at the fleur des lis design. He painted his pack number on the other side of the roof.

Happy Summer everyone!