The Buzz is Over

 No, not that one! The cellar is well supplied.

In spite of unstable weather with a drier than usual April, cooler than usual May and June, minor flooding in July, heat wave in August and a moderate drought in September, our garden has thrived.

It has been a buzz of activity in late summer and fall with lots of bees, a variety of butterflies, countless  hummingbirds (because they will not stay still long enough to be counted), beneficial wasps and many little creatures, like moths, which we have not identified. 

Scolia dubia (blue-winged scoliid) wasp that loves to feast on grubs (think Japanese beetles and June bugs)

In August a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails paid a visit, 

and several Black Swallowtails stopped by.

                    September brought the Vanessaes,

                lots of Monarchs,

                    a few Great Spangled Fritillaries,

               and these little yellow butterflies that flit around so fast its difficult to 

               capture a photo.             

The Vanessas, Monarchs, Fritillaries, and the little yellow butterflies stayed with us through much of October. 

With the anticipation of our first freeze tonight,  ABN has been hard at work putting the garden away for the winter 

while Captain winterized The Wanderer. 

That brings us to one of the questions we are frequently asked from friends we encounter around town  "Have you been traveling?" The answer is no, but not because we haven't tried.  After the exhaustion from the basement renovation we needed a break and were looking forward to a trip through North Carolina with a visit to Asheville (one of our favorite cities) as well as spending some time with our granddaughter in Wilmington. We got as far as Asheville when COVID required us to return home. After a couple of weeks we both recovered just in time for ABN's planned second shoulder replacement. The surgery went better than expected, so we decided to plan another trip to North Carolina during the beautiful fall season. A week before our scheduled departure, Captain dislocated his 27 year old artificial hip. Long story short, it was put back in place and he is scheduled for a hip joint revision in November. No, he is not in any discomfort and is getting around quite well. He just has to be careful to not turn his leg in a manner that will cause it to pop out of place again. Once again, we had to cancel our North Carolina trip. 

We are disappointed to have our plans interrupted but extremely grateful the aged hip did not become displaced before the renovation was completed, while ABN was recovering from surgery or when we were off the grid, like in the middle of the dessert.  

Success!

Two months of packing and unpacking, moving boxes, aching body parts, paint under fingernails and general fatigue, the renovation of ABN's craft studio in the (formerly wet) basement is completed.

The dining room and Captain's TV room are free of sewing machines and supplies. Fabric is no longer stored under a bed.

"Miss Wilma," who is the same age as Captain and once belonged to his grandmother, takes center stage on the former Janne kitchen table.

ABN has a cozy corner in which to start her days.

Pencils, pens, paint and such have been returned to the slat wall.

The paper craft area is waiting for inspiration.

Captain has regained his workspace in the garage where he is building racks for the new wine cellar.

With over 14 inches of rain since July 1, we can say the dry basement system has been thoroughly tested. It passed with flying colors!

Update

We are making progress!

It may not be trendy, but we are so excited to have the utility area of our home functioning again. It’s the nuts and bolts of the house that make it livable and comfortable. 

 

 

ABN's Workshop

Now we can move on to the fun part. Well, it will be fun after the studio floor is scrubbed and painted, cabinets are washed, counter tops put back, some of the drywall is repaired,  the ceiling replaced, the wine cellar rebuilt and all the craft equipment and supplies returned to their proper places. That will take several weeks, depending on the “unexpected.”

We have had a couple of significant rainfalls and the basement is totally dry! We love the sound of swooshing when the sump pump moves the water through the system to the outside drain.

Now, back to work. Wait! It’s Sunday and we need a day of rest.

 

Summer Update

 

As we head into mid-summer, folks around town are asking about upcoming travel plans. Our answer is "we have none at this time." Whaaat??? Yes, we are taking a pause and giving much needed attention to our well-worn, yet charming (at least we think so) home. Let us share a brief history before we share the details. 

A few years ago ABN did a bit of research at the local library and City Hall where she found records showing the property was deeded to a contractor for the development of a subdivision in October 1925. Our lot was identified as Lot 5 and was deeded to E.C. and Minnie Cox in 1926, and was deeded from the Cox's in 1947. With that information we believe our house was built in 1926 or 1927, indicating it is nearing 100 years of age.

We happened upon this cute little cottage style house in 2005 but it lacked two of our main requirements, a second bathroom and a garage. We ruled it out, or so we thought. However neither of us could get this charming little house out of our mind. Thus a new adventure was born.

We immediately had a garage and carport built, as well as a bathroom installed upstairs. 

The following spring, ABN embarked on turning what was left of the backyard 

into a garden.

This is the 2022 garden. 

 

In 2007 Captain began his tenure as Chief Project Planner and Manager

by updating the pantry.

from this

to this.

A patio was also installed.

Captain added a side deck in 2008.

In 2009 our time and energy was spent doing clean-up and repairs of damages from the epic Ice Storm.

2011 saw a spare room become an office/TV room for Captain.

Things got really exciting in 2013 as Captain, with help from wonderful friends, demolished the existing deck to build a screened porch. (It was okay, the new side deck was left intact.)

This wonderful addition was never appreciated more until our current project left us without air conditioning these past two weeks!

The excitement, for ABN, continued in 2014 when her Christmas gift from Captain was the creation of a real craft studio to replace the craft space in the basement.

In 2015 the renovations came to a standstill as we retired and had less time to invest in home improvement. Yep that is when we started traveling 5-6 months a year. Our "at home" time was spent on maintenance and repairs.

And this brings us to our current project, a dry basement. Although our basement, like most of the basements in our neighborhood, was never "dry," it became wetter over the years. Knowing that some day we, or our heirs, would need to sell our charming little house, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and have a dry basement system installed. This is a major project as we had to remove almost everything and store it in the garage, guest room and on the porch.

The downstairs air conditioner, water heater, washer, dryer and sink had to be disconnected and placed 6 ft. from the perimeter of the basement. We have air conditioning upstairs and were able to shower at the gym. Fortunately the outside temperature has been quite pleasant and a new hot water heater has been installed. If all goes well, the air conditioner will be reinstalled next week (just in time for rise in temperature and humidity.)

It will take weeks to clean up the dust, rebuild the stairs and a few walls, paint, reinstall cabinets and return the craft studio to its previous state. And, as always, we are expecting the unexpected so our travel plans are on hold.

We will update our blog as we progress, not only to share with you, but also as a record for our online journal.

We will leave you with today's view of our home and an invitation to stop by for a glass of wine.

       
                  

Celebrating Camille

 

Photo by Alison Loftis

Gathering with family in Indianapolis we celebrated our granddaughter, Camille's graduation from Butler University.

Earning degrees in both dance and French, she graduated Cum Laude. Needless to say, we are proud grandparents who want to share some of our favorite celebration photos.

                                

Photo by Alison Loftis

Housemates

Grandy giving sage advise? No, Camille is telling him she is starving. 

Did we mention, Camille is a dancer?

The festivities continued in Paducah as we celebrated Camille's 22nd birthday.

How does one get 22 candles on a piece of lemon cheesecake? Very carefully!

A visit to Grandma's house would not be complete without a little time in the garden 

and the craft studio.

Our hearts are full but somewhat bittersweet as there will be no more "stop overs" on the way to and from Florida.