Thursdays News

It is a slow news day. Except the cactus is blooming. That means it finally got warm enough! Our "neighbor" came to visit yesterday. I do not consider him a neighbor really because it is a rental unit. He owns it is all. He said the place is his and he has no problem with keeping the alley open. It is his kids trailer that is blocking it. He did not sound like he was going to 'request' that his son move it however. Anyway we had a fairly amiable conversation. He thinks we are just plain loony for doing what we are doing. But he has a rental unit mentality whereby we are doing it for us with no intention of renting it. So our thoughts are coming from a different place is all.  I think we will not see enough of him to be a problem. A couple of old sayings come to mind; Don't borrow trouble and don't cry till you are hurt.

Today the plan is to continue working on the sewer in the ditch. Getting it the right level and slope is the business of the day. We have to get into and under the house ready for the plumber to come in and make the final connections. The plumber said he might be able to get to that late Monday if everything goes right and we have it ready. So that is the goal for this weekend. So I'll close down now and get a move on....Yeah...like I am going in that crawl space? I do feel sorry for the guy who has to though. Really I do.

Wednesdays pictures

Butch tried to keep from overdoing with the wrist yesterday and I was there to remind him. wink,wink. We did manage to get some things done. Like the electrical in the pedestal. When he did that he dropped an allen wrench down inside the box. He drove out to our MoHo and got his magnet and was able to retrieve it. We filled in some on the ditch trying to get the slope right for the sewer. We have a plumber coming today to supervise our efforts and hook up underneath the house.
Here are some pictures of yesterdays progress.:

Yesterdays News

The trenching went as good as those things can go. Heavy equipment makes me nervous. Butch had fun with it...just like the good oldays of working for him.

Our dirt work and rock were delivered for site one. We will have site two ready before too long.

Jason and Leo came to help. We are grateful. 

Yesterday Butch injured his hand while taking down a cabinet. I had told him I couldn't hold it...you know how that goes. His wrist swelled up and we put ice on it. He was sure it wasn't broken and it looked much better after the ice so life goes on. Yesterday was a big day and Butch apparently overworked his injured wrist as it started turning dark purple on the back of his hand and up his arm. So we went to ER to get  it checked out. It is fine. He is thin skinned, has a bunch of arthritis and overworked it. The ER doctor turned out to be a high school  old boyfriend of my sister Myrla! While we were at ER and Jason and Leo were holding down the fort our troublesome neighbor to the south paid us a visit. He and his son are considered slum lords in town as they own 49 rental properties in Jefferson. I know because I went to the Iowa assessors 

website and counted them. They were ticked off because they did not get our property snapped up before we did. There is an "unused" alley in our back yard through the block. Everyone uses it when they can but these fellows keep it blocked on the south end with a trailer so it can't be used. It does complicate things for us at times but the other end is open and we have access to the back of our property with a driveway on our empty lot next door to the house. It would just be so much nicer if these fellows would be good neighbors. But it seems they prefer to exert their power or exert what power they think they have. They bandied about with all kinds of threats and criticisms. But remember we were not there. They were telling this to Leo and Jason. Our plan is to continue to ignore them. 

So Butch is supposed to take it easy today. Anybody think that will happen?

Till next time.

Latest pics

These are the latest pictures on my camera. Not taking time to edit much these days.

This is an ankle bracelet recently finished. The other day (Sunday) I did two and one-half bracelets in one day. Now I must let my wrist rest before I finish the third one.

This is Renee. One of Leo and Keri's outdoor felines. She doesn't seem to mind having a rock for a pillow. Butch took this shot.

Doesn't the step look better? Will look better yet with new posts and a coat of paint. The tulips help add a touch of color.

The geraniums are waiting to be planted and my cactus will bloom this year in May in Iowa. Last year it bloomed in Mississippi in April.

Since the trencher didn't come yesterday. Oh yes, the trencher didn't come. I did some cleanup and we fashioned a work bench from one of the kitchen cupboards and a door. Then Jason came to help...

And since the trencher didn't come we decided to do demo. This is the kitchen with its cabinets removed. Then...

The guys decided to demo the wall to find out what was there.

It changed the outlook.

And they just kept going...

Late afternoon sun shines on the workbench...

Today the trencher is coming. They just called to say so. The problem is our help was here yesterday. Getting things coordinated to happen sequentially seems to be the major obstacle. I won't care one whit once this initial project of sewer/water/electric to the back yard is completed along with the dirt and rock work and our MoHo is sitting in its new home. The work project can then go as slow as necessary to have it all fall into place with nary a complaint from me.

Till next time...

Trencher day

Today is the day we are supposed to get the trencher. I am such a skeptic these days. I do not count on anything happening as it should until it does. But our plans are made and so are the sandwiches. I decided we may not want to take time out to go somewhere for lunch...if things go as planned...so I made sandwiches for us.
I am also taking my camera to get some updated pictures. My friend Mickey said she never ever got enough in process pictures on remodeling jobs. I know how it happens- you become involved and taking pictures is not in the forefront of your mind so I plan to take a few today and get them posted asap.
Till then...

This 'n That

We worked yesterday at the house. Butch took down the ugly wrought iron railing on the front steps for me. That was a big job as the posts of the railing were set in cement. I have replacement posts for the main supports  but the uglies will have to stay for awhile to hold the porch roof up. They had outdoor carpeting on the steps and they had glued it down. My plan was to sand it off but as luck would have it that didn't work. Plan B is to sand it till it is smooth and paint over it. Butch and I both worked at sanding it down yesterday so it is now ready for paint. Looks much better even without paint.
Butch mowed and I raked most of the back yard. Neither of us are used to this physical labor. He is more used to it than I but we were both stoved up last night. A couple of aspirin and a good nights sleep does wonders.

Done Deal

So we did change our permanent residency yesterday afternoon and it did indeed take most of the afternoon. Now I know what our contact in South Dakota did for us and her other clients. It was sort of a sad deal to tell her we were changing. She had become a friend over the years. If any of you are interested in changing your residency and mail service to South Dakota you can contact Terri Lund at Terri@dakotainternationalservices.com or you can read all about what it entails to do so at www.mydakotaddress.com. She certainly deserves the plug.

Today we will be putting on our work clothes and working at the house. Butch plans to mow ( He loves it) and I plan to sand off the concrete steps in preparation to paint them. I am working on curb appeal for the time being. The serious stuff will begin when we are parked in the back yard and do not have to leave for lunch breaks etc.
later...

Change of Address

Well it looks as though we will be changing our address from South Dakota to Iowa. We can then change our insurance on the motorhome to RV insurance and the cost will decrease more than half. When it was our only home we carried much more insurance on it. Other things are a bit higher but it all evens out to be a more profitable decision to make Iowa our permanent address...for now. We are like gypsies sort of and so therefore you can never be too sure of what we will decide in the future. But in this year of 2011 we will become Iowa residents once again.
Our address will be 402 N Cedar St., Jefferson Iowa 50129. Any snail mail can be sent to this address at anytime as we already have the mail part set up at the post office.
This afternoon we plan to go to the courthouse and make it official after visiting the
Assessors office (Homestead exemption)
Drivers license (No test now)
Car and motorhome license and registration
Voter registration? ( Not sure we can do that just yet)
Then we go across the street and pay up on insurance policies for both vehicles.
Notify a whole bunch of businesses and people and the change will be made.
I have probably forgotten something but if any of you know what it might be be sure and let me know.

PS: Many thanks to all of you expressing sympathy on Angels passing. It was not easy for either of us to endure. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Angel 1994-2011

She was the best of cats.

Elise and her first Easter

With her loving grandparents

Another Delay

Can't get the trencher we ordered because someone else has it and I assume they have been delayed by weather and so therefore we are too. Perhaps we will get it next Monday. We are scheduled to but that doesn't mean much. The sun was out for about an hour this morning but back under cloud cover now.

I have done two bracelets and one ankle bracelet in the past two days. The ankle bracelet is waiting for a snap clasp that I have ordered before it will be completely finished. They all have homes and will soon be delivered. It keeps me busy. I have a pink cluster partly finished that I set aside to get the ordered ones done that I will pick up and finish most likely today.
We are still doing research to see if it is feasible to change our residency to Iowa. So far the figures are tipping about $400 towards Iowa but we haven't looked into changing the registration on the vehicles yet. If there any fees to do so it could tip the other way. The last I knew Iowa required all new residents to take the written drivers test before issuing a drivers license. I remember this from when we moved back from Nebraska because I was incensed when I had to take it. You can only miss three so I best pick up a book and start studying if we make the change.
So we are bit bogged down and I am a bit peeved but nothing I can do about it but get over it.
Till next time...

Lowes and other updates.

Lowes are becoming our new best friends. We have been there the last two days but now we have all of the supplies needed to put in water/sewer/electric for our Moho hookup. Machinery,supplies and people are all lined up. The big bugaboo is cold and rain. We need a few dry days and some sunshine before starting on dirt work and ditches so we take comfort in the fact that at least we will not need to interrupt the work to gather things we need once the weather cooperates. It is all there. Today Butch may get around to doing the put-together part so it will be ready to go in the ditch when it is opened etc.
We have decided without a doubt that April will be a travel month for us next Spring. Running heat in April is really unnecessary if you stay in the right part of the country. The month of May is soon enough for central Iowa regardless of the stage of construction we are in at the time. I was reading Howard and Linda's (full-timing friends) journal and Howard talked about avoiding storms in the Spring and that too is a factor. Last April we were in southern Mississippi and they were getting hit hard north of there. Same is true this April. A certain amount of it is just taking life chances but staying in the Midwest especially southern Midwest in the Spring may be pushing it a bit. When you know better, you do better.
Our 16 year old cat Angel is not doing well. She cries alot for unknown reasons. She has difficulty getting up and down. So much so she rarely does it. She spends 95% of her life sleeping. She no longer asks to go outside or get treats. The decision is hard but we may need to make it soon.

Mr Potatohead

Ethan showed up at church with Mr. Potato head glasses on.  I laughed long and loud when I saw this. I gleaned it from Laura's Facebook page.

Easter Sunday Too

Ethan hunting Easter eggs.This is fun?

"Nana" getting closeups.

Found that one!

And that one!

Easter Sunday

Butch and Keri loading Keri's brothers dogs in her car. I was laughing so hard on the second one that I only caught one picture. Hemi didn't think Butch's "bridge" was a good idea.

House pics (Before photos)

We have been gathering materials for the first project which is getting us settled into our back yard RV site but in the meantime we have been doing what we could inside too. The rain and cold has held us back. It looks as though we have the right people and materials lined up and things should come together in the next couple of weeks if we can catch a break on the weather.The green carpet has now been removed from the steps. Some sanding, painting and new posts and railing are in the future.

This is what we will call for now Bedroom 2. There will not be 2 bedrooms when finished so once the wall comes down between it will become part of Bedroom 1. 

Bedroom 1.

Bathroom

Where the water heater used to be.

Backyard looking northwest from far southeast corner of  the backyard. There are orange flags marking spots for sewer/water/electric line and RV site 1 but they are hard to see. Gary and Susan's travel trailer is in the background on our other lot.

Old kitchen. New kitchen will be essentially in the same area but none of what is there now will be there later. Wall on the right will be gone.

Living room. Windows will change and wall on left will be gone.

Back yard view with house in it. Front of RV would be just out of view on the lower left if it were parked there.

Butch's brother Bill the plumber came yesterday with supplies and advice. We needed both and he was very helpful. Brother Leo was off at a Tax meeting so missed out on lunch with his brothers.

Today we are off to gather more supplies and do some shopping. Later...

From Simply Tim

Ga$ and Other Worldly Observations
Simply Tim | 04/21/2011 at 2:56 PM | Categories: Commentary | URL: http://wp.me/p11uGF-D0
Many Americans are begrudgingly becoming a part of a World with which they are unfamiliar. When I was living in Greece in the early 60s, I recall Europeans were paying over $3 a gallon for gasoline (due partly to heavy taxes), and even more in larger cities, which remains true worldwide today. Back then, military families like mine -- at the expense of U.S. taxpayers -- were given gas stamps such that we only paid about 75 cents per gallon after reimbursement, while Stateside prices at the pump were locked in around 30 cents a gallon. From my family's perspective at the time -- having been indoctrinated into our American mindset -- the 75 cent per gallon amount was still extraordinarily exorbitant.

I suspect many Americans nowadays have no idea what the rest of the world has been paying for gasoline and other fuel for the past half century. Even today, as we complain about rising fuel prices, the rest of the world has been dealing with it for decades.

Most homes in Europe are kept in the low 60s during the winter. They've learned it's much cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and just makes more sense to put on a sweater rather than paying extra for fuel and higher household temperatures. They've been doing this for centuries. When I visited Ireland in the early 70s, my bride and I stored 90% of our luggage in a Shannon Airport locker, and hitchhiked the country staying in bed and breakfast types of places and farm houses suggested in the then-popular travel guide series, "Ireland on $5 a Day*". At one such establishment the proprietor actually apologized for the temperature of our bedroom. As the woman stooped to turn up the heat on the tiny room's space heater, I stopped her. "That's okay," I said. "We're fine." I was beyond embarrassment. The next morning we discovered the old woman had baked a loaf of white bread during the night because she had been told that's the only type of bread Americans ate. That afternoon, my wife -- who had been a whole grain food co-op enthusiast and home baker for years -- baked a loaf of coarse brown bread in the woman's wood stove. That night we ate a traditional dinner with the proprietor's family. In their eyes, we were no longer American tourists.

Frankly, I think it's about time the American lifestyle reinvents itself, but I know that type of change doesn't happen easily or -- overnight. For now, I'd be happy if we Americans spent more time educating ourselves as to how the rest of the world lives and works, and how well-off we really are.

Went to Atlantic plus

We went to Atlantic yesterday. Butch had an eye appointment. All is well. His pressure in both eyes was excellent so no more of those expensive eye drops. I shopped a bit at Schwesers and purchased a couple of new tops. Then got my haircut followed by lunch at The Farmers Kitchen with old friend and former co-worker Connie Jones and her mother Sharon Rieber. We visited for a good long time and it was fun and long overdue.
In between I tried to do some of Bob's business but what I found out is that once he was having his bills paid by the state, the state does not want my help. I was trying to get his last bill at the funeral home paid for with the pittance he had in his checking account but the state says it is theirs and they will decide if the funeral home gets it. At least that is the story at the bank. They would not let the funds loose to pay the funeral home. Bottom line? I am out of it. All the way out of it. The funeral home is on its own to see if they can get paid.
So all of our friends we did not have time to see can blame Bob. Why not? I would! Heehee.

On the way home we stopped at Marv and Judi Smith's place in Yale Iowa. We visited for a good long time and it was long overdue.
When we left there we stopped in Jamaica IA for one of their famous tenderloins at ToJo's. I must say it was worth the detour. Butch and I shared a tenderloin and it was plenty for both of us. It was the kind of tenderloin I like. I am not much for the thin and crispy ones. I like the ones that have some meat in them. This was one I would look forward to enjoying again.
Twas a very busy and full day.
I forgot to mention that when we left Jefferson in the morning headed for Atlantic it was snowing, slushy and slick on the highway. Slow going for awhile. We did drive out of it about 10 miles south of town, thank God.
A touch of color in an Iowa Spring- Trust me- They need it!!

Raccoon River Valley Trail

If it ever stops raining I plan to get on this trail. It has been a favorite trail of mine for years. This video is almost like riding it. Well not really but since it is raining cats and dogs it works for me!

Details

I have been taking care of details. As executor of Bob's estate I have crap...excuse me...stuff... to take care of such as an AARP magazine subscription that does not expire until August of 2015. I attempted to do that online. We shall see if that works. I also know he has a Playboy subscription but since they come under cover I do not have the mailing label that would give me the info. Have to wait on that one and pay to have it forwarded before I will have access to it. And that most likely is just the beginning. It is all small stuff, extremely small stuff. It is just a matter of remembering it all. I found about 4 Christmas cards with return addresses on them so I plan to compose a letter informing them of Bob's passing and send it out. But now that I do not have my friend Kay handy to help me I will have to get a printer bought. It might be easier to just write it out by hand since it is only four of them. Kay is grinning when she reads this.

We worked at the house yesterday. Butch worked underneath getting the plumbing straightened out and pulling lines that will not be working. I worked in the garage going through Bob's stuff to see if there was anything that needed my attention and throwing out the rest. Jefferson is having a free junk pickup day and people are hauling all their accumulated junk to the curb. Other people in pickups are scanning all the neighborhoods and seeing if there is anything worth "picking". We have seen quite a bit of stuff disappear from yards. Redistribution of the wealth. Gotta love it!
So the plan now in week two is to see if we can locate some people to assist us in what we have to do getting set up for the motorhome in the backyard. The weather has been a bit of a factor too as we did have a bucket load of rain. You would think these fellas would get in touch with us since it was raining so hard they could not do their other work. I am sure they would tell me they too had indoor stuff to catch up with. Hmmm... We must be a low priority.

Oh nearly forgot. I went to the local telephone and internet people to see if setting up Internet through them would be more profitable than Verizon. Seems not. It would be nearly $200 to get set up and then I would pay $10 more a month than I pay now plus to put it on vacation they only charge you half! So all winter while in Texas I would pay $35 dollars even though I would not be using it at all whereby I pay $5.00 a month now to do that with Verizon. So we are staying with Verizon and by dropping it down to a 5GB account from an unlimited account I can save $10 a month.We were grandfathered in on the unlimited because they no longer offer that one. My past usage said I only exceeded 5GB one time in the last 2 years. That would have cost me an extra $10 is all if I had been on this plan at that time. And we will now have MyWiFi so Butch and I can both be on at the same time. So now that we have to be home to receive our FedEx from Verizon Butch is off taking care of details.

One of the things he plans to do is see if we can change our residency to Iowa advantageously. I sent him off with a list of current costs for license renewal, insurance and taxes. If we stay with South Dakota we are not eligible for homestead exemption in Iowa. Personally I do not think it will pencil out but I have been fooled before. Our vehicle license renewal is less than $500 for both motorhome and car in South Dakota. Insurance on both is less than $1500 a year. Butch thinks that by changing the Motorhome to a recreational vehicle instead of a home it will change the amount of insurance. Not sure on that one. We do have a choice so it will be interesting to see which way that goes. A few years ago we moved from Montana to South Dakota while sitting in Colorado. This would be moving from South Dakota to Iowa while sitting in Iowa..maybe.

So now I must get back to laundry. Butch hooked up to Leo's water for now. We can go a week comfortably on a full water tank but past that is very iffy. Still hoping to move into town soon.