Looks Like a Stay-Cation This Weekend...

Mid-week I went over to Omi's place and took some pictures of the rhodies, which Sharon has been meaning to do for years.  They have such a short bloom time and she lives far enough away that getting down to the area during that short window is difficult for her.  The bushes are more than 50 years old, so they're enormous--bigger than the house--and the rest of the yard is really overgrown.  The "grass" is mostly "moss" now, so at least she won't have to mow very often.  A friend of mine and her new husband are looking for a house to rent, and they took a drive-by to see if they're interested, and now they'd like to see the inside.  If Sharon can get it cleaned up, she may have some renters for the place.

On Thursday, I finished the sock from the May Crown Sock Contest.  I had to rip it back to the ankle to put the heel on the correct side of the sock, working on it during TV viewing on Wednesday night.  I picked it back up Thursday morning and finished it by lunchtime.  Bekah, who was laid off a couple weeks ago, had some time to be social, so she came up and we went out for lunch.  We went and picked up the kids and made chicken for dinner.  Afterwards we went back to the school for the ice cream social and art walk.  Beautiful and delicious!

Then last night, we heard news that the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River, about halfway between here and Bellingham, collapsed after an oversize truck hit the structure.  It sounds like there was a lot of miscommunication and human error, but the good news is only two cars went into the river and no one died.  A few injuries, but nothing life threatening.  It sure puts a pinch on everyone's holiday weekend plans, though; it's the main North-South route through that area.  Everything else is not intended to carry that much traffic or is MILES out of the way. (Photo courtesy of Frank Varga, Skagit Valley Herald)

Ben is celebrating his birthday this Saturday, so I have a lot of work to do to get ready for it.  He wants a Skylanders cake, and I suspect that no one has such a thing.  I printed off a copy of a decoration that they can make an edible print to put on top.  I decided to try yet another store bakery to see if they can do a good job.  I'm 0 for 3 for the other stores.  It's amazing how BAD they are around here!

Have a great Memorial Day.  God bless our troops, past and present.

The Adventures at Omi's Continues

I was just looking at how late it is now, so this will be a super-quick update and I can put more information up tomorrow.

I'm helping Sharon clean up her mom's house again.  It's been sitting dormant for too long, so I offered to get this thing cleaned and ready for the handyman to come in and patch up the broken stuff and bring in some income for this property.  Of course, we haven't really worked out any kind of financial arrangement, but I've got some quilts that need binding put on them.

Quick tour of the house...not all of it, mind you, but the bulk of the living spaces:

The Living Room...I am standing in the dining room, which at that time had a table, a rug, a couple of drawers from the buffet (don't know how those got left behind) and a couple empty boxes.  And a giant brown house spider I named Frank.  Behind the big pile of rugs on the far end of the room is a giant box TV that I will not be able to lift.


The kitchen.  All the cupboards are empty, so it's mostly just cleaning the gluck off the dishes & utensils and wrapping them up.  Oh, and I'm throwing away the borscht on the counter.


The master bedroom.  Still a few little things in the closets, some linens, and look...another box TV.  All the furniture will be taken to the living room as a "staging area" for the movers to easily load into the truck.


The second bedroom--this used to be Sharon's once upon a time.  Disassemble bed, take out the trash, and pack up the last bits of stuff.  I would really like to burn the curtains, but we'll let Sharon decide.


The back deck needs a little work, too.


There is one more bedroom that is mostly empty--just a few cushions and a small table, but otherwise clean.  The basement I didn't even venture into and the garage is another story entirely.

Once again, I came across some fun treasures:  some ceramic jugs and these fancy candlesticks that pivot so the candle will always be upright and not drip all over the floor...theoretically.



In the meantime, our kids' bathroom is getting a facelift.  The floor was ruined and there was mold growing under the vinyl, so we had it torn up to be replaced.  And, well, it turned into a construction version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..."  If we're replacing the vinyl with tile, we might as well put the heating coils under it.  And if we're having to take the cabinet out, we might as well replace it with a larger cabinet, and if we're doing that, we should add an extra sink, and granite counters...and paint and lights and mirrors and fixtures.  We're not changing the tub, shower or toilet.  We stopped there.  It should be done by the weekend; the handyman will be here all day tomorrow.



Yesterday we took the Girl Scouts for a 30 minute karate lesson.  It was supposed to be an hour but between slow costume changes and traffic, it was truncated.  That was probably for the best since they were starting to get really squirrelly by then.  They really had a great time--most of them were really into it.  There was one that is *painfully* shy and had a hard time with this aggressive sport, but she stuck it out and participated, so...kudos!



Finally finished the second ankle sock in the self-striping yarn.  I tried to make them the same size, which helped by trying to start the sock at the same point in the pattern repeat--I should probably try it on to be sure. :)  I've made dozens of socks but I've never blocked one in my life.  Not sure how to do that.  I should have someone show me...maybe over a cuppa.