One Tough Lady

I have been away from my computer for a week or so, for the most part, helping one tough lady. It is a long story, but one I will remember the rest of my life. I have always had a soft heart for folks in need, and this lady was definitely in need.
What she needed at the time I met her was a helping hand or two. I will probably never know the whole story of what brought her to my area, but I did get to meet her and work with her for about a week and a half.
It seems she has been a widow for about eight years and her home in California had been foreclosed on.She has three daughters,and one of them had moved to Kentucky in hopes of purchasing some ground and building a house. Nevertheless,this lady had relocated to Elizabethtown,I would guess, to be near her daughter,about the time of the ice storm.There she lived in an apartment until a few weeks ago. Her daughter and son-in-law were unable to get a clear title to the property they were trying to purchase,at least that's what I've heard.Something regarding liens and the nursing home and the previous owners.Nevertheless, they were having to move,and the mother would be going,too.The couple would be going back to Arizona, and the mother to California.The mother had accumulated quite a bit of "stuff" in the last 35 years, so she had it stored in several storage units in town.Now that the plan was in motion to go back out West,the mother took her possessions out of storage and embarked on narrowing it down to fit in the truck and trailer she would be driving back to California.This is where I get involved. She had everything she owned set out on the adjoining property of her daughter's neighbor.Another soft hearted person.Thus she was not on the daughters property, but the entire family had been told they MUST be off the property by Tuesday night or the law might be brought in.The electric was to be cut off Tuesday, also.
Anyway,a young friend of mine, had stopped by her yard sale,as did a few others we know from the auction.Between these few folks, they relieved her of a lot of her belongings, but she still had way too much "stuff" to fit on the truck and trailer she would be driving to make the trip back to California.The young friend of mine stopped by my house to offer me some of the books and things she had given him. I was astounded. Every book he had of hers, was the same or similar to the ones I have collected for years myself.It was eery.How could anyone have that many interests in as many things as myself.I suddenly felt compelled to meet her before she left the area.I jumped in my truck to go and meet her. I drove about 2 miles up the road, and talked myself out of the visit. I felt I had way too much to do to involve myself in something else.When I returned home , my Mother and Sister had dropped by for a visit. I told them the story about starting to go visit, but then,decided against it.My sister said that was the Lord telling me to go, but I had chose not to go. That really upset me, so we three, all went to visit the lady together.We visited and talked with her for several minutes. I told her that I would come and help her the next day to set up a yard sale in hopes of thinning down some of her possessions.Little did I know, I was committed for the next week or so. The longer I worked with her, the more details I learned, and the more I felt I needed to help her to the end.That would be Tuesday week,on the 26th.The daughter and son-in-law packed their things in the trailer, and left on their way back to Arizona, after the first day of meeting them.That left the mother, living in the yard with her possessions,and sleeping in her truck.The house was still open, but for the most part, it was unlivable.How the daughter lived there for the 3 years, is beyond me.Nevertheless, the mother and me,sorted, boxed, and taped for several days.We had a yard sale set up, but being on an off the main drag road, we had hardly no one to speak of stopping to buy. A few stopped mainly,I think, to be nosey.Then we had a pile just for the auction.I had told her I thought she would make more at the auction, than the yard sale.She did make more, but still very little, considering she had some nice pieces that went for a song.
I spent every spare minute with her for the next week and a half.Sorting,boxing,culling out her favorite possessions to take back to California. For the most of that time the weather was great for what we were doing, but the last two or three days, the wind and rain really made a mess of things. It was a struggle to keep things dry and covered until they were packed. To top that off, the young man that was helping, had taken her trailor to have better tires put on it, and found both wheel barrings were bad. That was fixed and she got loaded and all sealed up with tarps,tape,ropes, and tarp straps, and headed out to California bright and early on Wednesday morning.She has called and checked in with us several times since she left.She stopped once, but didn't call,but the second night she called from West Memphis,Arkansas. The next call,she was on the Oklahoma line. The next call, she was 20 miles short of Amarillo,Texas. She hasn't called since. She'll probably call tonight.One cannot help but be impressed by this 73 year old lady to tackle such a trip,driving an older overloaded truck,pulling a huge overloaded trailer,through all of the construction zones of Interstate 40.That is one gutsy lady. We wish her good weather and lots of kind folks along the way to help her when she needs help. Several have already been gracious enough to assist her when she needed it.May God be with her.

I Met Me!

This is a post I started, but never completed. I decided to post it, even though it is running a little behind the news I have already posted regarding my One Tough Lady.

I have met a new lady in my neighboring community through an unusual set of circumstances. She has been in Kentucky for nearly 3 years,but I only met her this past week. Another good friend of mine dropped by one day last week, with a precious cargo(a truck load of yard sale items he had just acquired from helping this new found friend, I speak of). He knows me well, so he knows that I let very little go to the trash pick up folks.I can see potential in everything. He has that fault,too.Nevertheless, he thought of me.He had several items that he thought I might be interested in, and of course, he knows me well, and he was right. He left me with 8 small boxes of books and magazines, a couple of homemade book shelves, a mirror, and a few other assorted items.I am refinishing the mirror to match some Victorian items I already have and cherish. I used one of the shelves to mount my chop saw on. It works great for that.The other, I put on my porch. I had been wanting some storage of some kind for my seasonal flower pots and the like.And the books and magazines?That is where the story begins.As I began to sort through the books and magazines, I found there were many of them that were identical to some I had of my own. Many of which I lost in the house fire of 07.This really peaked my interest as to who this lady was. The more I went through the boxes of books, the more eager I was to meet her.Since I was home alone,I got the urge to go meet her. I jumped in my truck and headed down the road towards her place, but for some strange reason, I talked myself out of the visit,and returned home.It bared on my mind so, that I had turned back and returned home, I called and discussed the story with my Mom and Sister. They said that was God telling me to go, and Satan telling me not to go. At the time, I thought it was because I simply had enough on my plate without adding another job to my list of "Things to Do".However,we,my Mom,my Sister,and Myself,decided to take a trip to this lady's home and meet her.We visited her that day, and found she was having to return to her home state of California, due an unusual set of circumstances,regarding the property her family had assumed they were purchasing for the last few years.Nevertheless, the entire family,Mother,Daughter and SIL, was having to move back to their previous locations,California, and Arizona.Their dream of owning a piece of ground had been lost(for now,at this location anyway).

The reason I say I met Me, is because this tough little lady is a pack rat,like myself. Most of the things we spent so much time packing, over the week and a half I spent with her,were the same type of things I collect.Most were related to her various crafts, and since she is a widow, and crafts make up a huge part of her life.There is no way I could fit all of my collection of "stuff" into the truck and trailer she is using. It would take a Tractor trailer type truck to haul my precious possessions. Let's hope I never have the need to move and transport my "stuff".Life takes a lot of unforeseen twists and turns, and one should never say "Never", but for my sake, I hope I never find myself in her situation or anything similar.I doubt I could be that strong.

She calls every night or at least every other night to let me know her progress. She was 20 miles short of the Arizona/New Mexico line,last night.She sleeps in her truck, usually at truck stops or any large parking area where there are other travelers, stopping for the night. That is good to know. There is more safety in numbers.She has been on her journey since Wednesday morning of the 27th of October.That's one week today. Hopefully, she will be in her home state and find an apartment in three or four days. Cold weather is closing in, and she says it does get a bit chilly in her truck, before she awakens each morning, and starts the engine to get warm.Her faith is strong, and I am sure it will carry her through to her destination,safely.I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet her. Going through all that she's going through at 73,is an inspiration to me.I only hope I can be that strong,when I'm her age.

Chickens Make Good Pets

Then...



Now...



Actually, this was taken a couple of weeks ago, so she has grown a bit more. Yes, we think now, she is a hen.We were not real sure for a while there.She's too big for the cookie jar these days, so we keep her in one of the garages at night, and outside in the sun,during the day.We'll need to gradually introduce her to the rest of the flock. You know they can get a bit ugly to new comers at first.Hopefully, she will be use to the rest of the chickens in time to spend the winter out in the hen house, but I hope she still remembers the special raising she had. I guess if we continue to spoil her with the cat food she loves so, or the hot dogs she's learned to eat when we're out of her special cat food,we'll continue to be close friends.We haven't really given her a name yet, but I'm considering Ellie Mae.We've had a Henrietta and an Esmerelda at one time.Those older names are cute for chickens. Maybe she'll like to be called Gertrude or Genaveve. We'll just have to see what feels right for her!

Brendie's Christmas Swap

http://bregleestate.blogspot.com/2010/10/swap-handmade-christmas-decoration-and.html

This is the link to Brendie's Christmas swap. Stop by Brendie's blog and get registered. Sounds like fun. Although I have never been part of a swap before, I think I'll give this one a try.Everyone is invited to participate.Let's help Brendie have a great first swap.

Hop on over for another drawing.

Oh, and by the way! Hop on over to Mountain Home Quilts to enter the drawing for the fat quarter of fabulous fall fabric.(Whoooh!That was a mouthful.)

I hope this link below gets you to the right site. I had a lot of trouble getting the link to work properly. I don't think I know enough about computering to get it right. I hope it gets you to the right place to enter the drawing.You will need to copy and paste it in your browser.


http://mountainhomequilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/o

Is Your Money Going Down the Drain?

While browsing through blog after blog, I ran across this clip from Walletpop.It really got me to thinking about the way I wash my clothes. Most of us look at washing clothes as another dreaded chore that must be done. We never really stop and think about all the different aspects of the cleaning process. Oh,yes, sometimes, I'll spray a stain or two with some type of highly advertised stain remover,and pour in a little extra detergent.If it comes out,fine,if it doesn't.Oh,well.
There are a lot more concerns to clothes washing then we realize. The fellow in the clip listed below,talks about some of them.It made me take a second look at the laundry procedures I was using. Hopefully, it will enlighten some of you,as it did me.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/09/28/savings-experiment-coming-clean-with-the-truth-about-the-best-d/

I Love a Challenge!

While answering a few of my comments today,I got an idea for a post.
My Challenge For Today! I realize there are some that cannot be completed in a day, but maybe the challenge for the day could be to complete a certain project. That might give me enough incentive to finish several projects that I've already started.It seems when I have someone waiting to see the finished product, I try harder to complete the project.

Today, I have several WIP projects out and waiting. I will attempt to finish at least one of them today. We'll see how that goes.

The picture above is just showing how I take a lot of little bits and pieces of things most folks would throw out, and make something pretty and usable with it. I love doing that.I do accumulate a lot of "stuff" that way, but on rainy or snowy days when I must stay in, I can pull out my scrap box and go to work creating something pretty at no cost at all.If I don't need it for myself, I always keep a box of little last minute gifts for whatever occasion might arise.

Double Duty!

Guess what! I woke up early and sought out something quiet to do while Pop was still snoozing.I had been working on a set of coaster/hot pads until midnight last night,so I proceeded with them. That was a nice calming and quiet project.The fabric I was using was a bit wrinkled, so I proceeded to pull out the iron and board. That was going to make a lot of noise, so I reconsidered and found something to use as an ironing pad on the counter top. Wallah! My newly made dish draining pads will be perfect. Just the right size for ironing small pieces on the counter top.