Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Tuesday, June 26, 2007




The Mr. leaves tomorrow (sniff, sniff) ... we've had a productive two weeks in some ways ... but still not 100% unpacked from moving into our new home. Shuffling STUFF has become a way of life around here. In order to organize the garage, we had to clear out our basement storage room to get ready for the new carpet ... which evolved into getting carpeting in most of the basement, which means the whole area is a mess again! Of course, said carpeting is to be installed AFTER dh leaves (booo, hooo) ... in the meantime the garage is still disheveled. Dh is a stickler for organization. He likes to be able to walk blindfolded in any room (other than the kids') and find something. Can you believe he actually MADE me organize my desk (tsk, tsk) ;) I am a procrastinator ... and work best under deadlines ... so often put off tasks ... not dh ... Friday and Saturday we're having a huge garage sale ... to clear out some clutter. I'm thinking of hiring this local company that will list all your more valuable items on ebay and take a percentage of what gets sold. I just don't have the time, energy, or desire to do so ... yet don't want to just give away some things at the garage sale.

Photos: family room with storage room stuff; emptied out storage room

Tuesday, June 19, 2007





Got Mower? In another few weeks it will be time to give our front lawn its first mow. Dh is home enjoying puttering and unpacking boxes ... moving stuff here and there ... tidying up HIS garage (man room). We decided to order carpet for the basement instead of having the stained and polished concrete ... to make it a bit warmer (we weren't crazy about the finished product. It should have been better protected while the builders were making the house). We ordered a large slab of basalt rock to have our address engraved on to place next to the flag pole ... and a few "bowl" shaped basalt rocks to sit on around the campfire ring. Once this area is done, we can hydro seed the other part of our front lawn.

Friday, June 01, 2007







Weekly Report: The weather has turned from a damp, chilly Memorial Day and skipped right ahead to warm summer sunshine. This heat-up should make the newly hydro seeded lawn sprout and be green before DH arrives with his mom on June 14th. Yesterday I shopped around for patio furniture to use in the backyard; it's made from all weather wicker ... I ordered three counter stools to use in the kitchen. Our rain gutters were installed ... and I finished planting some bushes I purchased last week. The nursery lady gave me a list of deer resistant plants ... let's hope she's right!