Too Many Possibilities

We spent most of yesterday morning working in the yard and the afternoon trying to figure out what we were going to do next.  We have too many tasks that need to be done, and Rick is already starting to panic that we are not working fast or hard enough. (Please note the blog up to this point for the number of tasks that we HAVE completed!)  Last night, though, for the first time since we came last Saturday, we took a drive down to Weaver Park near the bay -- actually, St. Joseph's Sound, if you want to be technical.  Unfortunately, the Park was holding an outdoor concert, so we bypassed the gazillion people and parked in the "other" big city park near the Marina.  We walked out onto the pier and were able to watch a beautiful sunset over the water.

Before that wonderful sunset, however, we cleaned out the Florida room off the living room and painted the first coat of Pratt and Lambert's Ocean City Blue. The room is a pale blue, and the best thing about it is that the paint color separates it from the living room for the first time. Sadly, because we had to paint, we also had to take down all of the window blinds. This leaves the whole back of the house totally exposed, and that is not really a secure feeling right now, especially considering the house behind us.

As I mentioned earlier, the house behind our property (separated from us only by a chain-link fence) is unkept and the back yard is filled with rolls of insulation, an old pontoon boat, and God only knows what else.  We saw a lock box on the handle of the back door, so I thought that the house was for sale or in foreclosure.  Rick and I took a walk around the block last night, and much to our surprise, we saw that someone was sitting in the house watching a TV. OK, so the guy is just not into yard work...

However, today when we came home from Lowe's (our second home), I heard a lawn mower running. Sure enough, a man riding around on a standing lawn mower was cutting the grass in the neighboring house's back yard.  Only lawn service people use that kind of mower.  Then he came back and trimmed around all of the trees, using a blower to clear grass from the small patio in the back.  As he turned his back to us, we saw the words Property Agent on the back of his shirt.  Generally if  a bank owns property, they will hire a service to take care of the lawn.  Before he left, we saw the man take out a camera and take pictures of the back yard, the house, the pontoon boat, and the electrical meter!

I have no idea who we saw in the house last evening (a squatter, perhaps?), but the pieces of the puzzle all seem to fit that the house is in foreclosure.  We hope that if it is we can get a nice, quiet family who will take care of the property and be good neighbors. The other options would be either that someone does own the house and is just a slob, or that the house is for sale and may end up as a rental.  Too many possibilities exist for what may become of that property; consequently, Rick and I have renewed our efforts to find the money to put up a 6 foot privacy fence around our whole property.

We started today by adding a second coat of paint to the Florida room, using every last drop of the gallon to cover all of the walls. To escape from the paint smell, we went out in late morning to buy more paint and to find a Woodcraft store in the area to get stain for the vanity.  We wanted to check out some other nurseries for our tree options, but we spent too much time at a store called Leaders.  This store specializes in high-end wicker and rattan furniture.  The is NOT the cheap junk found in most stores; this furniture must pass quality standards and the upholstery is all done in North Carolina, so at least part of it is American made.  We wanted to see what kind of a sofa/love seat/chair grouping we could find for the Florida room that would match the new color on the walls.  We found a pattern of green palm leaves, blue flowers, mauve accents (think Monet impressionism) that went well with the painted piece of drywall we took along.  We had already selected the style of furniture that we wanted last year.  As the saleswoman started added the pieces together, I wandered around the store.  Then I saw it: a white bedroom grouping of louvered doors and glass over woven rattan that I had been seeking.  The headboard was proportioned well, the nightstands had a drawer and louvered doors below, the dresser would be adequate for our clothes down here, the mirror was the right size for the bedroom wall, and it had a matching cushion-covered bench for the end of the bed on which to sit to put on shoes. (The current chair in our bedroom for that purpose is constantly covered with clothes that we intend to wear the next day since we usually have "work clothes" and "store clothes" going at the same time.)   The bench even came with two louvered drawers in which I could store the bed linens.

"Rick," I said, "You have to come and see this."

As I started to walk toward the bedroom set, Rick later said that he knew exactly what set I had chosen.  Although the quality is not up to Ethan Allen or Rick Anderson-made standards, it is not bad and will certainly suit our needs.  The only problem:  too many possibilities on what we wanted to buy from the store, and too little money to cover it all!  We got a price for the whole Florida Room set and for the bedroom group, but we ordered nothing yet.  I cannot make that commitment until we see if there will be any hidden costs with the windows and doors going in (other than the expected cost of all new window coverings!), and until we see how much the electrical updates will be in the kitchen.

Everywhere we turn, there are things to do and great possibilities that present themselves to us.  Our task right now it to prioritize what needs to be done, what we can afford, what we really need, and what can wait until me have more time... and much more money!

Gladys became a little more beautiful today with another room painted, and she will get even better when we finally tackle the guest room tomorrow.  For now, the styrofoam insulation boards are back up in the Florida room windows to give us some privacy, and our bedroom furniture includes Lindsay's old dresser and mirror, two ancient Ethan Allen end tables that serve as night stands, no headboard, and an old desk chair that Rick used in high school.  The house's "decor" is early American marriage, and that is OK.  How else can two old fogies like us feel like newlyweds again as we struggle to turn a beat-up old house into a beautiful southern home?