March 31, 2011. Harper, Texas. The Check List.

It is actually working.  We have 120 channels right in our house.  The portable satellite dish sits in the driveway, the receiver sits in front of the television and the television set, the new fancy one, sits on the table beside the hearth.  Of course, wires are strung over the floor, with the cable out the window to the dish, but the system works.  It actually works.  The electrician will come the week after next to install the new outlet and run the cable from outside to inside, so we will lose the wires snaking across the floor, which will be a great blessing.  But we have television in the Top House.

Next up, we drive back to the lake to spend the weekend with David and Sarah and Abigail.  Suzanne, Allison and Samantha attend camp this weekend, Girl Scout Camp, so we will hold forth at the lake.  While there, Ken will try the television system out at the lake while David launches his boat.   Once again, we must buy a new Television set for the office,  but now Ken knows the system to make the whole thing work, so it should be easier.  When we return to Mississippi we will try it out again at the condo.  With us  in the truck will go the dish and the box and the cables, and in theory, it should work everywhere in the US.  It is so clever.

Our check list is complete, for the moment.  We both have Texas drivers licenses, the car has Texas tags, the insurance is cancelled on the condo and the truck insurance is transferred to Texas. Whew!!

March 30, 2011. Double D Ranch, Texas. A Dry Ranch.

Everything is brown and hard.  The grass is brown and the rocks are brown.  Only the live oak trees have leaves that are not brown.  This morning at least four deer were close to our top house, and they even looked dark brown.  There is no question.  We need rain....again.

The locals speak of the years past of drouth, the longest being a seven years span.  In Texas, it is called drouth, at least it is in the Hill Country.   It was terrible, with dying cattle and dry wells all over the area.   The creeks and rivers are dry now with only the large rivers like the LLano still watered and even them not running much.   The predictions are that we will stay dry for several years, as we have a few years of ample rain.   "It is only a matter of time", say the local sages.

Ken and I still like the look and feel of the ranch.  We feel fortunate that we don't make our living off the ranch.  That would be difficult, if not impossible.

March 29. 2011 Double D Ranch, Harper, Texas. A Big Hassle.

Today our tasks were to have the truck inspected, register the truck in Texas, and obtain our Texas driving permit.  It seems simple but we knew it would be time consuming and irritating and it was.   Now, at the end of the day, we are close to being completely done.  Ken only lacked a copy of his social security number in order to complete his drivers license or rather his driving permit, the correct term.

It is so interesting to discover that the people responsible to issue permits and car tags are the same kind of people whether they live in Maryland or Texas.  No sense of humor, at least at first.   Eventually I got two or three of them to smile and laugh but I had to work hard to get that first smile.

The first part was easy.  As the truck was being inspected we had breakfast at The Longhorn Cafe, in Harper.  Next a drive to Junction to register the truck in Kimble County.  The tags are on our backseat.   Success!!  The process was easy but took almost an hour.   Junction has no drivers licensing right now so we were required to go to either Kerrville or Fredericksburg to get our permit.  We chose Kerrville and that was when we knew we were going to have trouble.  The two ladies at the service desk sent everyone away for yet another form, including us.  I am legal, but Ken must return with his Medicare card showing his social security card.  Who knew?

I kept looking at the lady, wondering why on ever did she use the hair curler to make a roll right at the top of her forehead?  The rest of her hair was pulled tightly back in a bun.  It looked ridiculous.  Eventually she got to be nice, even apologizing for us to require us coming back.  But at the end of the day, which took the whole day, we were pleased to have it all done, at least almost all done.  But those people.

March 28, 2011. Double D Ranch, Texas. Television.

First we bought the box from Camping World.    While we were there, I looked at a class B recreational vehicle.  I love them and have always wanted to own one, when we both retired.   But we keep talking ourselves out of buying it.  They are too expensive.  We will only use it to go from one house to another.   It is cheaper to use motels.  Once again, we walked away.

Next we drove to Fredericksburg via the back roads, and while I was buying groceries at Walmart,  Ken bought a new fancy TV to use at the top house.  Since we arrived, Ken has been setting up the system, connecting the portable satellite dish to the box and the box to the TV.  Finally, he is on the phone with Dish TV.  It is really nifty.  Some person someplace else knows all about our location, except we met a glitch.  Neither Ken or I or Robbie or Joyce knew our address.  The person at Dish TV thought we were daft, not to know our address,  but who can keep track?

Our living room has wires and cords all over the living room, but at the moment, all we want is to find out if the system works.   We will soon know.   If it does work well, we will be able to have television at the farm and at the condo and the lake, all with one monthly service.  It's the same old story.   We buy a bunch of fancy equipment in order to save the monthly contracts.   Soon we will be ahead of the game!!

March 27, 2011. San Antonio, Texas. Paint Ball.

Sarah was invited to a birthday party, but a party with a difference.  The event was a session playing Paint Ball.  The celebration was for a 14 year old girl.  In the early years of birthday parties,  boys and girls were invited but around ten years old,  the parties were just for  girls...until now.   The girls are growing up.

I don't like paint ball as a game.  It is like war, but without hurting people.  Except, being hit by a ball of paint from close range on bare skin does hurt.  When the game was first developed,  injuries occurred to the face and eyes, but now every participant must wear a face mask and long sleeves, so the injuries are less frequent.  But as Sarah found out, being hit on the neck hurts a lot and raises a big welt, so playing the game has consequences.

The girls loved playing.  The boys too.  It was a hot sunny day, played on fields of obstacles.  Two teams are formed and start the play at either ends of the course.  The object is to hit the opponent and put them out of the game.  If you are hit with a paint ball, you must quit playing.  The team with the most players still playing wins that round.   Simple.  Everyone can play.

It was the most unusual birthday party I have ever seen.  But the kids loved it, both boys and girls.  I still don't like it.  Too much like war.

March 26, 2011. San Antonio, TX. A Work Day.

David worked all day on his new path,  first filling his truck with the base ground stone level at the dirt place, then spreading it on the path.  Finally he rented a machine to tamp down the stone.  Next he will spread small chunks of granite to finish the job.  This path runs from one side of his yard to the other, behind the pool.  This is his third attempt at a path.  First he put down paving stones.  He was not happy  because the children tripped over the stones when running, so he used the stepping  stones in another part of the yard.  Next attempt was to use mulch but it quickly spread over the yard.  Now he is doing it properly.  By this time tomorrow, he will have the best path on the block.

Suzanne washed up all the dishes we brought while I took all the dishes out of the two lower cabinets used for serving pieces.  Suzanne inspected every item do decide whether or not the object was useful.  The kitchen counter tops were covered.  I also looked into all lower cabinets, trying to find more space.  In between basketball games, Suzanne and I put all the objects back into the cabinets.  Now everything is in it's place and the cabinets are orderly.  Suzanne is pleased.

Ken put the table together and we moved the oak table to the garage.  Suzanne and I placed the carpets, experimenting  in several spots in the house, finally deciding what looked best.  Then we placed the chairs around the dining table, only to discover that we seemed to have lost one chair.  Ken and I had 13 Hitchcock chairs.  We left 2 at the farm and took 6 to Andrew and Christina in the trailer, which left 5 in the back of the truck.  But when I placed the chairs around the dining table, I could only find 4.  Where did the one chair disappear?  It is a mystery.

We all did good work today.  Tomorrow we will hang pictures.

March 25, 2011. San Antonio, Texas. Home Again.

We arrived at the lake at 9:00 am and ate breakfast at The Bakery, our favorite.  It was not crowded so we think things are not doing so well for them.   In the past it has been full.  From one time to the next, the restaurants in the place have changed.  "Flaps" a new restaurant serving breakfast  and lunch seemed  always busy but the last time we were at the lake it was closed.  Unfortunately, much of the Bakery crowd had moved to Flaps.  Today an old restaurant with a new name "Grandma M's" was crowded .  Restaurants come and go.

The lake house looks good.  We emptied the blue dishes from the truck and started to re-organize the cupboards but decided I must consult with Suzanne.   Ken read the instructions for our portable satellite dish so we are getting close to having our own TV everywhere we go.  It is certainly more complicated than it seems.  Now we need another part, but sending something to us is difficult.  We use a PO box at the ranch and most packages can not be sent to a PO box.    And truth be told, we do not really know where we will be next week.  Oh bother.

 This afternoon we will empty the truck of the stuff at Suzanne and David's home and sort it, some items going to the ranch and some staying with them.  Tonight we will attend the Talent Show at the school of Samantha and Allison.  They are singing a song so we will be proud grandparents.  It's a job I can do well.

March 24, 2011. Caldwell, Texas. Wisteria and Dogwood.

I have seen more wisteria today than in my whole  life.  It has been remarkably beautiful.  In Jackson, I saw it in almost every yard but today, driving through Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, it was everywhere.  Huge bushes and tiny shrubs but all beautiful.  Our trip took us from one corner of Texas catty corner down to the lake, through farm land and driving on divided  but no inter-state highways, so we got to see where people live.  These bushes must have been planted many years ago because they are big.  And they are beautiful.  We must have arrived at just the perfect time for wisteria.

The dogwoods are out too.  Jackson has hundreds of trees in bloom and the whole trip today put on a wonderful show of dogwoods in the forests.  The trees have always been with me during my life.  Vancouver is lovely in the spring when the dogwoods are in bloom and of course, the Washington area is full of dogwood trees.  But today, the dogwood trees followed us the whole way here.  They were beautiful.

Our drive today was easy.  We only have two hours to go tomorrow.  Tonight, Mexican food for dinner.  We are in Texas!!

March 23, 2011. Jackson, MS. Clean Sheets.

I have always loved getting into bed with fresh clean sheets.  Last evening, I laundered the bedding, so after making the bed, I had the luxury of getting into a freshly made bed.  I do not know why this pleases me so much.  It is,  after all, something you do every week.  But I know that I just love getting into a freshly made bed.

Perhaps it comes from the memory of the sheets hung out to dry by my Mother, where the sheets had a special clean smell right from the out of doors.   My Mother knew even when I was a child that I loved clean sheets, so she would tell me ahead and I would jump into bed early and read in the fresh clean sheets.  Often she forgot to tell me, and I would be late into bed only to complain that she didn't tell me about the clean sheets.

This is one of those simple things in life that bring pleasure.  Who would ever think it?

March 22, 2011. Jackson, MS. Haley Barbour.

You first noticed him after Katrina.  Mississippi got cleaned up and cleaned out and re-built long before any other gulf states and you suspected that Haley Barbour was the reason.  You also knew immediately, that while other States with devastated coasts  continued to bicker and complain, Haley Barbour, as the Governor of Mississippi got down to work and formed committees and began the fix-up.  But living in Washington, D.C., you heard nothing about the re-building in Mississippi.  All you continued to see was the mess in New Orleans, where years after the disaster, the mess was still with the citizens of Louisiana.  It took a new Governor to complete the job.

We knew a bit about him before Katrina.  Living in the Washington area and being a Republican, you knew how successful he was as the head of the National Republican Committee but you needed to be a Republican to know it.

Then we moved to Mississippi two years ago part time and we saw the coast with the work that had been done and you noted that Haley Barbour was the head of the Republican Governors Association and you wondered what Haley will do next.  Everyone speaks well of him here and everyone seems to know him.  Now the good folks of Jackson are wondering if he will run for President.  They correctly list his issues as a candidate:  his accent which is more southern the further he moves north, his lack of interest growing up in the sixties civil right issues in Mississippi, his success as a lobbyist in Washington and perhaps his living in Mississippi.  Folks here think he will never get the nomination.

But what he does bring to the table is  success at every level of his career.   He has been a great Governor and would be a good President too.  We will see.

March 21, 2011. Jackson, MS. A Country Lunch.

We were so fortunate to be invited into this family lunch on Sunday.   The family dines together  after church at the farm in Madison, just north of Jackson.  One son and his wife live at the farm with Mother but all the other four children and spouses live in Jackson and gather each week for the family get-to-gether, complete with grandchildren of course.   This is an old Mississippi family so their traditions have been around a long time.  Between the excellent food and the wonderful accents, we enjoyed every minute of the event.

First, wine in the living room.  The room must be thirty five feet long and twenty feet wide with ceiling 15 feet high.  A massive room, made smaller by different groupings of chairs and couches, so a guest could either talk to those beside you or talk across the room to the other folks, which what everyone did, in true family tradition.

The dining room is at the back of the house, and is the same size and shape, so it will seat a lot of people.  The main table will seat twenty, although we were a smaller group, while the other four tables are normal dining tables, used for different occasions.  One table was set for the middle aged children and another smaller table was set for the under four.  One table against the wall was clearly the place where mail was sorted as the papers were still  out and scattered around, thus looking exactly like a lived in home.

Every table in every room held a bouquet of flowers from the garden, placed there by the Mother.   There was graciousness in every part of the home and I was delighted to have been invited into this family group.

Jackson Work Party

March 20, 2011. Jackson, MS. The Work Place.

The phone rang and we were summoned.   "We are en route with the load of top soil.  Would you both like to come to supervise?", asked Andrew.  It was too tempting to ignore, so we jumped into the truck and headed to their home.  By the time we arrived, the work was already underway.  Both Kate and Mary Frances had been recruited to shovel, so along with John and Andrew, the load from the trailer was being pitched over the garden, at least over the garden in waiting.  Of course, Ken immediately picked up a shovel to help while I gave encouragement and quickly retreated to the safety of the house, along with Christina and Molly.

Andrew has dug up a section of their backyard so he can grow vegetables.  He used a shovel but today, John brought over a Gravelly tractor to till the soil, so after the addition of the top soil and ash brought from the farm in Madison, the garden seem right ready to be planted.  It is impressive to see what can be accomplished with a massive amount of effort.  But of course, the idea is the most important part.  John and Andrew decided to have a garden in their backyards, so now it is happening.  John's garden is next.  Andrew has been raising seeds but I am sure Ken will not wait for the seeds to germinate and grow.  Probably by the end of the day, part of the garden will be planted with plants purchased at the garden stores.  Ken is not patient.

The girls were willing workers.  They just wished they had not just completed their showers before being called into the yard for their labors.   John and Andrew are tired too.

March 19, 2011. Jackson, Mississippi. The Drinking of Tea.

Now it is official.  In the February 26th issue of Science News, page 26, is a feature article on Brain Boosters.  It is an interesting article, but the item of note is tea.  I always knew it was good for you, but now it is a scientific fact.  Tea is good for your brain function.   In addition "increased performance under stress and improved learning and concentration and reduced stress" all comes from the drinking of tea.   It turns out that tea contains L-theanine, an amino acid that can alter brain wave rhythms, inducing wakeful relaxation.

Also, tea is a major dietary source of caffeine, which also increases brain function.  Did you know that people worldwide drink more tea than any other beverage after water?  It is true, test after test.  Drink tea and the scores go up and executive function increases.  It's all there in the article.

No wonder the agents did so well in the Bethesda Gateway office.  Every day, they drank tea at 4:00.  Now we will watch what happens, now that no one is serving tea.

March 18, 2011. Jackson, MS. A Busy Day.

I spent almost all morning getting my phone numbers released from Long and Foster.  After that was done, this afternoon we spent two hours at the Verizon Wireless store, sorting out what we wanted.  Now Ken has a new simple phone and we both have the same numbers, but we have a new plan.  Now that we have no land lines, our cell phone does double duty, so now we have 1400 minutes between the two of us, with a US and Canada plan.   The payment is automatically charged on our credit card.  For the phones, we are set.

Next up, we purchased the system to use the Internet, using the cell phone.  Super system, if the signal works well enough.  Except, we use a Mac and when Ken was installing the system onto our computer, it came up in big bold letters  ONLY WORKS ON WINDOWS APPLICATIONS.  Now we must return the whole thing to the store.  One would think that one of us would have asked the question before we bought the equipment.

Lunch out today at Pan Asia restaurant with Kate, Mary Frances, Andrew, Ken and I.  The three ladies then had pedicures, our tradition in Jackson every time I am in town.  They are too polite to say anything, but I noted that their toe nails were not painted.  When I mentioned it, their eyes lit up.    Now we all have beautiful toes.

March 17, 2011. Jackson, Mississippi. The Modern World.

Ken spent all morning gathering information.  What we are trying to do is to be able to connect to the television and the internet in multiple places without being forced to pay for a monthly fee in each of our homes.  At the moment we pay for internet service in Nova Scotia and the farm and the ranch even though we are only in each place a few months a year.  And we have no TV at any place.  Now we need service everywhere and do not wish to pay multiple fees.

Ken has been reading about the full time RVr's, who use satellite dishes for TV and cellular cards for internet.  We made a decision to try them out.  We purchased the rig for the TV, which will go with us from place to place.  The three parts of the package will arrive to Christina and Andrew's home on Tuesday. And we are in the midst of shedding our corporate association in order to get the card for the computer to access the internet.  Then we will sign a contract in Mississippi with Verizon.  It turns out to be better than the discounted L&F package.  Interesting indeed.  I'm having trouble getting in touch with either Verizon or L&F to release our phone numbers.  Also interesting and irritating.

It's a great new world of connections out there, changing every day.  We hope the systems work.  If not, we'll have to try again.

March 16, 2011. Jackson, Ms. The Movies.

The world has indeed changed.  This afternoon, Ken and I,  Kate and Mary Frances went to a movie.  This theater has 17 shows going on at the same time,  each in it's own small room.  That is amazing to me.  But I was happy because the seats were comfortable and each seat has a holder to hold your drink, so I was a happy camper.  We ate lunch in the theater too, hot dogs and pizza and a soda.

Yesterday, during our planning phase, we tried to figure out what time would have the smallest attendance.  We chose the earliest time slot, the 1:10 showing.  When we walked into the theater fifteen minutes before show time,  the place was empty so we had choice seats.  Finally, eighteen other souls arrived.  The movie won several Oscars so I was surprised at the sparse attendance, but we were pleased too.

It was fun, interesting and engaging even though it was all about the Royals.  "The King's Speech", was the movie we saw today.  I would recommend it to anyone.  The rating is not for children but that was only because of the language used in the speech therapy sessions.  I must point out for accuracy sake, that the site for the first war speech King George made was actually Winnipeg, Manitoba.  True story, but not shown in the movie.  

Kate and Mary Frances enjoyed the movie and were pleased they saw it with us.  Being a grandparent is wonderful.

March 15, 2011. Jackson, Ms. Our Mississippi condo.

This morning I drove by myself out to our condo.   Betty and Vinal lived there while staying in Mississippi, while Ken and I stayed with Andrew and Christina's home, occupying Kate's room.  It all worked out very well but I was pleased to put my belongings into our own place.  It is interesting just how territorial we humans are.   We like our own space.  I spent the morning putting things away, doing the laundry and generally busying myself about the place.  I think I was nesting.

Now we have a week to enjoy Jackson and the family before taking our truck to Texas to unload.  The condo is small but pleasant.  We enjoy the ducks and geese and we love being on the lake.   We are short some paintings and we are bereft of family photographs but in general, the condo functions well.   Now we can live here for extended periods of time, hunkered down in our own little spot.  Once again, we are pleased that we purchased this little place.  

March 14, 2011. Jackson, MS. Betty and Vinal.

Tomorrow morning they leave Jackson heading north,  spend a couple of days with friends in North Carolina,  before driving back home to Nova Scotia.  They are good friends.  We could never have gotten all the furniture to Mississippi without their help and for this we are grateful.  And so are Andrew and Christina.

It all started as a lark.  Ken and Vinal were talking on the phone and in passing,   Ken mentioned that we were thinking about driving some stuff down to Mississippi.    That evening, I wondered out loud if Vinal would like to pull a trailer from the farm to Mississippi, in order to get a bit of a winter holiday.   The next day, Ken called with the proposition.   They are used to heading south for a month,  but this year was so busy they stayed in Nova Scotia.  Much to our surprise, they agreed, but only had three weeks to make the journey, so we made our plans.

Both Betty and Vinal are good sports and hard workers.  They worked the whole time at the farm.  Here in Jackson, they were off duty, so stayed in our condo relaxing and enjoying.  I think they enjoyed their visit, dining with us at Andrew and Christina's home and eating out for lunch with us and the girls.  Ken and I appreciated all their efforts.  We could never have done it without them.

March 13, 2011. Jackson, Ms. The Butchering Shop.

We arrived at a perfect time.  The place was in full operation.   Six hogs had been slaughtered that day and now all the meat must to be cut up and wrapped and put in the freezers.  That's a lot of meat so it required many folks working to get the job done.   Jay family and friends were in attendance.

They were in the midst of cutting up meat from the bones, cutting the meat into small pieces, then putting the meat through the grinder thus making sausage.  Finally packing the sausage into plastic bags.  Seven men were cutting up the meat, some were grinding the meat while the ladies wrapped the meat and labelled the packages.  The place was hopping.

In the corner of the butchering shop is a stove, so when we come in from the frozen outside air, we head to the warmth.  The whole atmosphere is exciting and pleasant, even though it is a huge amount of work.  It's all for consumption of the good folks who are working tonight.  It's farm folks getting ready to provide their family  food, just they have done for hundreds of years.  It is very impressive indeed.  We were lucky to show Betty and Vinal the show.

March 12, 2011. Jackson, Ms. Sweet Arrivals.

Molly is a charming child.  She has been asking every day when grandma and grandpa were arriving.  When we appeared,  Molly raced away to hide in the kitchen because Betty and Vinal were with us.  Soon she got over being shy and she was as excited as everyone else to have us finally arrive with the trailer full of goods.

Andrew asked a friend to come and help unload the goods.  It took just a few minutes with those two young men carrying things into the house, with Christina telling them to place the furniture.  Now everything is in place  and look marvelous.  A few boxes yet are ready to be opened but they will wait until tomorrow.  It was not easy to bring this stuff down but I think we did the right thing.   It is so much more fun than sending things to auction.

Now Betty and Vinal are staying at the condo while we are borrowing Kate's room.  The four of us will sleep well tonight.  We are all weary.  It was a long drive today, but we just kept on coming.  The barbecue sandwiches and salad we ate for dinner made it worth the drive!!.

March 11, 2011. Bristol, Va. Traveling.

It is a busy highway, but it is still a pretty drive.  We have enjoyed it before and it never fails to please.  Highway 81 is full of trucks but it runs through lovely farmland, right through the valley, with mountains on both sides.  With Vinal pulling a trailer and the winds high, we were forced to reduce our speed, thus enjoyed more of the scenery.   It seemed that all traffic was driving slower too, perhaps due to the high cost of gas.  Our trip so far was uneventful.  With cell phones in each car, and the trailer very visible over the car,   we had no problem keeping track of each other.

It is still difficult to realize how much has been accomplished in only one week.  Last Thursday evening we arrived at the Hill House that was jam packed with boxes.  Every closet  was stuffed full of clothes, all of course, hanging in the wrong closet.  If I thought about it for long, I could have gotten discouraged, but I keep my focus on the one task that I was working on right then, and kept on going until I had completed the task, before going onto another job.  I could tell I was over tired when I caught myself going from one task to the next, but never completing anything.  That was when I went to bed.

But I will tell you, that I slept well only after both the truck and trailer were loaded.  Until then, my to-do list kept going through my mind during the night.  Soon we will be in Mississippi, but we will enjoy the travel from here to there.

March 10, 2011. Artemas, Pa. Almost Ready.

It is amazing.  The trailer is loaded ready to go.  Despite the rain, everything we had boxed up and set aside is waiting for us to leave tomorrow morning around ten.  I am actually treating this whole thing as a lark, that we are actually moving all this furniture and all these belongings all by ourselves.  We could never have done it without Betty and Vinal, that is for sure.  But now we are ready.

Ken worked on our accounts while Vinal and I loaded the trailer.  Fortunately, all the stuff was light, but to tell you the truth, all of us are having trouble standing up, let alone climbing a flight of stairs.  Ken's shoulders hurt from hunching over the computer while Betty wrapped all the paintings and helped carry items into the trailer.  So we are all a bit dis-abled.  I wish our hot tub was working!!

One question one might ask is "What ever possessed you to go into the moving business"?

March 9, 2011. Artemas, Pa. Another Miracle.

All day we have been working but now it is done.  The truck is loaded with all the stuff for Texas, never to be opened until we hit the Lone Star State.  When I say loaded, I mean it is full.  The bed of the truck is filled to the top with objects.  Betty wrapped and Vinal loaded and I cheered.  Ken worked on the computer all day, keeping us current with our accounts.  The main room of the hill house is looking better and better.  Now, all that is left are stacks of paintings and photographs, ready for our return in June.  It is another minor miracle that the truck is packed and ready for the trip.

I had separated the stuff and put them into separate bedrooms, so last night after dinner I packed up all the goods into boxes, ready to be loaded today.  Now tomorrow Ken and Vinal will get a trailer in Cumberland,  and in the afternoon we will load the furniture and stuff for Mississippi.  With any luck we will leave Friday morning.   Having friends who help are another miracle in life.

Today it snowed.  Betty and Vinal left a day early due to the bed weather.  Freezing rain that was coming would have kept them home in Nova Scotia until today, but here they are, helping us  get the stuff to Mississippi and Texas.  They will drive the trailer but will not go along to Texas.  Duty calls them back home.   This whole week has seen a series of minor miracles.  I have appreciated and been grateful for everyone.

March 8, 2011. Artemas, Pa. Minor Miracles.

It seems impossible but it happened.   Today, just at noon, as we were approaching our driveway at the farm, a blue car pulled into our driveway, not five hundred yards ahead of us.  It was Betty and Vinal, just arrived from Nova Scotia while we were returning from Bethesda.    The first part of the miracle was that they found this place at all.  It is a difficult place to find for the first time, especially coming from the north.  And then for the two of us to have arrived at the same time was a true wonder.  Almost a miracle.

Then we settled on our apartment with no fuss and no muss.  Ken and I signed our papers at 9:15  this morning and left immediately for the farm.  The purchaser came at 11:00.  The money was in our account by 2:00 this afternoon.  This is another minor miracle indeed, thanks to agents Judy and Suzanne.

The fact that we are up and functioning at the farm just a few days after our arrival is also a miracle.  Now we must keep on going, putting things away, then getting ready for the drive to Mississippi.  The trick is to just keep on going, until at last, everything will be in it's place.  I long for the day!!

March 8, 2011. Bethesda, Maryland. Talking.

Our time in Bethesda was productive, profitable and pleasant.   Now, talking all day such as we are doing today, makes us  weary,   so I guess the timing is perfect.   This morning I received a tutorial on Facebook, taught by my friend Sarah T.  Now I know more than Ken.  And we had lunch with Mary and Singh and had two other meetings with friends.  The Hyatt is a wonderful spot to visit friends.  They are so accommodating, even though we are not registered guests.  But we had coffee and fruit in the Daily Grill and we will have a drink with friends shortly, so I guess they are happy for me to use the computer and drink beer.

Tonight we will have dinner with Wendy and Clausen, to bid a farewell to Bethesda.  We are ready.  The traffic get worse every year and we are ready to go places and do things, in addition to talking all day.  Now, I bet we will no longer talk all day, which will be a good thing.   In the future, in order to talk with us,  our friends will have to visit us, which will be a good thing too.  But we will not be talking all day.

March 6, 2011. Bethesda, Maryland. A New Era.

I am back living in the lap of luzury, staying with Lynn and Mike in their lovely home.  It is always amazing to me that someone actually enjoys cooking and right now we have just eaten a magnificent dinner of lamb shanks, mashed potatoes and asparagus, with fresh berries and cream for dessert.  And Lynn liked doing the whole thing!!  I am so impressed, both for the food and for the attitude.  After the chaos I left at the farm, seeing a beautifully appointed home is a pleasure.   It will make me work extra hard to get the place totally orderly at the farm.  Beautiful home, lovely people makes for a wonderful visit.

Now the wheel has turned.  Tomorrow we visit dentist and doctors for the last time here.   And we settle on our apartment on Tuesday, so this really is the end of an era.  We moved to Bethesda in 1970, expecting to stay there for two years and here we are, ending our stay of living in Bethesda and Kensington and Chevy Chase.  Now we are ready for the next phase of our life, which we hope will be driving around North America, visiting our family and friends.  Of course, we hope for good health.  We leave Bethesda on Tuesday with gratitude and thanks.

March 5th, 2011. Artemas, Pa. Organization.

It is so difficult to keep focused on only one task.  Every time you turn your head, more objects need attention, so you catch yourself going from one task to the next but never completing anything.  It especially seems so when we have object piled up in one bedroom for Mississippi and another stash ready for Texas in another bedroom, so it seems that we are staying in a mess, when really we have made great progress.  Both Ken and I are working on the computers at our own desks.  My desk is much more tidy because I have yet not found half of the contents of my old desk, which is going to Mississippi.  I am working at what is now, 'My Desk" when really it used to be Ken's, given to him by his Mother when he went to college.  I like it.

We are making real progress.  All the boxes from the main floor have been put to bed.  Now I must complete the organization of our clothes.  And Ken tends to leave four or five objects in a box, so the lower level still needs attention by him.  But he has opened and read all the mail and partially set up his desk.  It's a new one to him so putting things away requires constant thought.  This desk and credenza used to be Freddie so it is fun using Fred's desk.

We have too many objects and too many paintings and too many pictures.  And I have too many clothes.  Gill complained last summer that she was sick of looking at our clothes, so this year I will take more and different clothes to Nova Scotia.  I certainly don't have space here at the farm!!

March 4, 2011. Artemas, Pa. A New Home.

We are home.  745 Creek Road,  Artemas, Pa.  17211.  Last evening we arrived home at the farm very weary, to find progress had been made in our absence.  The furniture on the lower lever has been arranged in a very attractive functional manner, complete with rugs on the floor and pictures on the walls.    The first floor of the house was full of boxes, stacked up four high and completely filling all the space.  It looked like a ware house.  And our clothes were all over the house, stuck into any closet.  What a mess.  I took so many trips to the upstairs closet that my legs ached.  Instead of walking so much in Mexico I should have been using the StairMaster.  

This morning,  the work crew arrived.  Tom, Suzanne,  Susan and Ed and Jose, friends from work, drove up to the farm to help open boxes.  They were very hard workers.  My role was so say where each object should go.  If I didn't know what to say, we put the object on the screen porch.  Now we know what goes to Mississippi and what goes to Texas.  By tomorrow evening at this time, the kitchen will be orderly as well as the master bedroom and the closets.  So we will be able to function.  I will leave the paintings and pictures until we return in June.  It would have been impossible to have gotten my hands into so many boxes without such hard working friends.

Just the right number of people and just the right type of people allowed for such success today.  After all was said and done, we dined like Kings at The Belle Grove restaurant.  I am exceedingly grateful for all their efforts.

March 2nd, 2011. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Moving Again.

Many people hate change, but both Ken and I just love it.  We like nothing better than overseeing a large building project where everything will change, always for the better in our minds.  Other folks have told us of their huge troubles with their projects but when we pick apart the issues, we find that it was just a normal part of the  process.

The same is true for us when moving from one place to another.  Today I am as happy as a lark, packing away our belongings into the lockers and getting our duds ready for travel.  Then we anticipate with glee the task ahead of us at the farm,  which is to open all the boxes and organize what will be taken to Mississippi and Texas.  In addition, all our clothes have been stuck in any old closet, so they must be organized and put in proper places.  The only problem is that first we must decide where to put them.  So we will be living in a big mess at the farm, but only temporarily.

Thank heavens for friends too.  We leave Mexico tomorrow, fly home to Maryland and drive straight to the farm.  Now here is the best part.  Friday,  five friends are driving up to the farm to help open boxes!!   First we will have a bigger mess, then gradually, the mess will be put away, either in boxes to head to Mississippi and Texas or stashed in the farm house for later.  We can do this and will enjoy the process.  I hate ruts!!

March 1, 2011. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. A New Month.

There is something nice about looking at a new month and seeing the whole month ahead of you, ready to fill in the details.  It is silly really, because it is only another day, but somehow it makes you feel good to begin another new month.   We have certainly enjoyed February, here in Mexico, but now we are ready for the next step.

I have been busy e mailing back and forth with Christina and Suzanne, trying to figure out what of our belongings they would find useful.  They have been very helpful so now I know what to do with a lot of the stuff.  Now we must get it organized, ready for the journey to Mississippi and then Texas.

Now we must stay healthy and energetic and get everything done.  We have a big job ahead of us, when we return to Maryland.  Fortunately, I am able to plan ahead, and then put the plan into action.    The next step is to just do it.  Friends from work are coming to help with opening boxes, and Nova Scotia friends are coming to drive a trailer of furniture to Mississippi, so we are fortunate to have helpers.  With any luck our apartment will settle on March the 8th, so by the first of April, we will be looking at a new fresh month with most of our life in order.  This is always a good thing.  Now here we go, ready to launch into March, like a lamb!!