We have spent the last couple of days getting ready for our road trip north. Although I would much rather fly home, we have to take the truck back to Wisconsin because we are hauling back two dressers that Lindsay wants to use for the baby's room. She and Chris also have plans for the truck this summer; I suspect that they missed the truck more than they missed us.
Yesterday morning was spent filling the box of the truck with everything we wanted to take home. We know that we are going to encounter rain when we approach Wisconsin on Saturday, so in addition to padding, we also tried to make most of the items fairly water resistant. The largest piece of furniture we are taking north is a triple dresser with six drawers. We packed some clothes in the drawers since, of course, we brought way too much down with us.
Once the dresser was lying on its back and wrapped in plastic, we decided to see if a bathroom ceiling fan that did not work in the master bath down here would go north and be useful in Lindsay's house. She has a downstairs bathroom that badly needs remodeling, so we might be able to figure out some way of adding ventilation to that space when she and Chris rebuild it. We encased the fan box in a oversized garden garbage bag, and that slipped nicely into the front of the truck bed next to the dresser. A small box from Steve and Chris also was wrapped in a garbage bag and added to the bed.
Two blue plastic tubs were next, and on top of each of those were added small disassembled tables, extra folding lawn chairs, and an extra bicycle pump wrapped up like a mummy. On the face of the dresser, we added the matching mirror, padding the whole thing with left-over insulation board from the old windows and lots of blankets and towels.
Across the back of the truck, we were able to slip in a tall, thin dresser, and on top of that we added a well-padded piece of glass that protects the triple dresser top. Everything is strapped together and pretty secure. We were able to roll the tonneau cover over everything and shut the back gate. Although the truck bed does not have a lock on it, our belongings are fairly secure since one is simply confronted with the side of the tall dresser when the gate is lowered. To get at anything else in that bed, a person would have to roll up the tonneau cover and do a lot of unstrapping and unwrapping. If they want to steal my shoes or some old dressers that badly, have at it!
In the afternoon, we took one last trip to Sand Key Beach. There was quite a strong breeze, so after a while when sitting in the shade of the umbrella, I actually got chilled. Being in the sun was uncomfortably hot, but being in the shade too long was not great either. We did enjoy our time at the beach, though, watching the sailboats and jet skis, while also relaxing and reading our Kindles.
Today we got up early, changed the linens on the beds, and cleaned the house. Everything is scrubbed down for the next six months. We emptied out the refrigerator, storing the few remaining cold items in our electric cooler which will travel north with us. The dishes are washed and put away, the refrigerator is scrubbed and open, and the circuits to both the 'fridge and dishwasher are turned off.
Our bags are packed, so we will pack the back part of the truck later this afternoon. We've taken everything from the car, and we've moved the trikes into the Florida room, so we have only to drive the car in the garage when we return from eating dinner today. Once that is hooked up to the battery charger, it will be safely in place for the summer.
Personal showers this evening will be followed by one last load of laundry before we unhook the laundry facilities. We plan an early start tomorrow: the alarm will go off at 3:00 a.m., and we hope to be on the road by 3:30 at the latest. We plan to drive as far as Columbia, TN the first day. That is exactly the half-way point between Gladys and Green Bay. It will be an 11 hour drive... but probably closer to 13 hours before arrival taking in stopping for lunch and restroom breaks.
I pray that the weather will be good and that the traffic will be light. We think that by starting early, we will avoid most of the congestion of the Friday rush hour around major cities.
We both are going to miss Gladys. She certainly has become a home to us down here, and if we did not have friends, family, and a wonderful home in Green Bay waiting for us, I do not know that either of us would want to leave. However, this year will be the first time in three years that we will be in Wisconsin for the summer, so I am looking forward to spending some quality time in our yard and neglected flower gardens. The nice thing about leaving Gladys now is knowing that when we return in the fall, we will have a comfortable, inviting structure to welcome us home in Florida.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Progress in the Final Week
As we enter our final week this spring in Dunedin, I have to smile because the week started yesterday with yet another celebration. This one, of course, was for Cinco de Mayo. While less than half of the population in this area is of Mexican descent, the holiday gave everyone another chance to listen to music, to enjoy ethnic foods, and to overindulge in margaritas. Let it never be said that Dunedin does not enjoy a good party.
Today was a very productive day. We got up early and were greeted with a beautiful little freesia that seemed to have bloomed overnight in the back yard. The side yard also shows buds about to open, and that saddens me because I know that our lawn service is coming later today, and they will all be gone. I did take the chance to get a quick picture of the flower that was open although even that was tricky because we have had quite a gusty breeze all day long.
Our yard needs so much work, but we just do not have the time nor the money to do anything about it this year. Because Dunedin in reliant on well water, the city rightfully has put fertilizer restrictions on residential use. We know there are some types of fertilizers and weed killers that we can use, but we have to do more research to understand what is legal and what is prohibited. Someday (big sigh) maybe we will be able to grow more grass than weeds, and ultimately we may be able to hook up to the reclaimed water that is available in our neighborhood to actually keep the lawn looking good.
The good thing about the brisk breeze today is that it brought in cooler temperatures, so this day was a perfect day to work outside. Rick finished painting the second coat of paint on the south fascia, and then we worked together on the south fascia of the Florida room. We sanded and primed that in the morning, and as I write this Rick is putting on the first application of the finish coat. We'll add a second coat tomorrow, and then our work for this spring is finished here at Gladys.
We were finished with the initial outdoor painting by 10:30, so that gave us time yet this morning to run some errands, and to come back and trim some trees since Mondays are the days the city will come around and collect "bulk" items like tree branches. We actually did some fence-line creative cutting to take down vines and budding Brazilian Pepper Trees that were threatening to invade our backyard again. We also trimmed the old fashioned carnation bush in the corner of our lot. Finally, Rick climbed on the roof and cut off the brown or yellow fronds from the front yard palm tree. Since I trimmed the south side bushes last week, we now should have Gladys looking pretty good for the summer.
Naturally, this is Florida, so we know that Gladys will be totally overgrown by the time we return, but at least we have a good effort before we have to leave for the summer.
Tomorrow morning we'll finish the last coat of paint so we can pack away the painting supplies for the season. Unfortunately, with the high humidity of the summer, all paint cans and metal tools have to be stored in the house or they will completely rust by the fall.
After the outdoor work, we'll begin to pack the paperwork and the clothes that we want to take back to Wisconsin. Thankfully, I found my "things to do before we go North" list that I made last year, and we have done over half of those tasks -- like arranging for the water to be turned off and forwarding the mail to Wisconsin -- already.
We are both sad to be packing up Gladys for the summer, but we also are looking forward to getting to our "summer home" in the North. Our family is anxious to have us home, we have my niece's wedding to look forward to, and most importantly, we have a new little addition that hopefully will join our family in June. For the first time, Gladys has become "home" to us, but we know that once we are safely in Wisconsin, that house also will be home again. We are thankful that we have the opportunity to own two houses and to feel equally comfortable and welcomed in both places.
Today was a very productive day. We got up early and were greeted with a beautiful little freesia that seemed to have bloomed overnight in the back yard. The side yard also shows buds about to open, and that saddens me because I know that our lawn service is coming later today, and they will all be gone. I did take the chance to get a quick picture of the flower that was open although even that was tricky because we have had quite a gusty breeze all day long.
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| Wild pink freesia are the only flowers blooming in the yard that are not weeds! |
The good thing about the brisk breeze today is that it brought in cooler temperatures, so this day was a perfect day to work outside. Rick finished painting the second coat of paint on the south fascia, and then we worked together on the south fascia of the Florida room. We sanded and primed that in the morning, and as I write this Rick is putting on the first application of the finish coat. We'll add a second coat tomorrow, and then our work for this spring is finished here at Gladys.
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| The fascia on the south side of the house is complete. A close look also shows that the hibiscus are starting to bloom. |
We were finished with the initial outdoor painting by 10:30, so that gave us time yet this morning to run some errands, and to come back and trim some trees since Mondays are the days the city will come around and collect "bulk" items like tree branches. We actually did some fence-line creative cutting to take down vines and budding Brazilian Pepper Trees that were threatening to invade our backyard again. We also trimmed the old fashioned carnation bush in the corner of our lot. Finally, Rick climbed on the roof and cut off the brown or yellow fronds from the front yard palm tree. Since I trimmed the south side bushes last week, we now should have Gladys looking pretty good for the summer.
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| Our backyard is bare, but until we can put up a fence, we do not want to plant anything new. We removed the invasive Pepper trees before they spread further. |
Naturally, this is Florida, so we know that Gladys will be totally overgrown by the time we return, but at least we have a good effort before we have to leave for the summer.
Tomorrow morning we'll finish the last coat of paint so we can pack away the painting supplies for the season. Unfortunately, with the high humidity of the summer, all paint cans and metal tools have to be stored in the house or they will completely rust by the fall.
After the outdoor work, we'll begin to pack the paperwork and the clothes that we want to take back to Wisconsin. Thankfully, I found my "things to do before we go North" list that I made last year, and we have done over half of those tasks -- like arranging for the water to be turned off and forwarding the mail to Wisconsin -- already.
We are both sad to be packing up Gladys for the summer, but we also are looking forward to getting to our "summer home" in the North. Our family is anxious to have us home, we have my niece's wedding to look forward to, and most importantly, we have a new little addition that hopefully will join our family in June. For the first time, Gladys has become "home" to us, but we know that once we are safely in Wisconsin, that house also will be home again. We are thankful that we have the opportunity to own two houses and to feel equally comfortable and welcomed in both places.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Weather and Waiting
The weather has not cooperated with us this week, so we have made little progress on the fascia work. We have had rain predicted for most of the week, and moisture has followed those predictions for most days. Strangely, yesterday the skies were threatening all day long, but we did not receive a drop in Dunedin. Communities to the north, south, and west all got soaked, but we did not. Today dawned grey, but as I opened the blinds this morning, I was greeted by bright sunshine... and pouring rain! Go figure. The weathermen (who are correct down here about as often as they are correct in Wisconsin) say that we are already getting into "a Florida summer pattern" of sunshine each morning and rain about 3:00 p.m. We'll see.
If the roof and grass dries yet this morning, we would like to get out and to at least finish the south side fascias on the house. Late yesterday Rick finished scraping and filling in the fascia on the south side of the Florida room. I hope to get that sanded and primed today while he works on actually painting the south fascia of the house. That fascia is a bit more tricky since he has to use the taller ladder, but we bought a small roller, so we are hoping that the final coat will go much more quickly than previous coats.
While we have been stuck indoors, I have been working more on the family genealogy. Doing so, even with the Internet, is not as user-friendly as it used to be. When I started on this venture years ago, almost every record online was free. Now Ancestry.com has purchased the rights to many records, and, naturally, people can only have access to those files for a fee. Even the British records are not accessible unless I go through Ancestry.com.uk, again, for a fee! The only records that I have found that are still accessible without charge are through the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints -- the Mormons -- in Salt Lake, City. Their FamilySearch.org is invaluable.
I have been able to trace my family back to my great-great-great grandparents (thus, add another "great" on for my children) to the late 1700s/ early 1800s. Once the trail goes back to Germany (Prussia), records get a bit dicey since most are in the original German or Polish. I made some recent discoveries that are rather fun. My mother, who will be 90 this May, said that she had vague memories of her great grandfather George, but that she did not know and could not even name her great grandmother. I learned that her great grandmother's name was Susan Woodworth. My sister's name also is Susan. I wonder if, as a child, my mother heard that name and it stayed in the recesses of her memory as a good name even though she could not make a connection later on to an actual person from the past.
I also have taken Rick's family back a bit, although again, the Anderson side gives me trouble because of the way the Norwegians used to change surnames by adding "son" or "datter" (daughter) to the first name of the father. I lose them once the line goes back to Norway, but the English side is a bit easier. Our one regret is that we did not stay longer in Cornwall when we were in England. I wanted to visit some cemeteries and churches, but the Cornish roads are notoriously narrow and bordered by hedges, and our camper van was rather wide. We lived in fear of meeting another vehicle while we were driving through the area, so we did not stay.
I must admit, also, that the English are not overly creative. Many times John X will marry Mary Y, and they will have a son named John X and a daughter named Mary X. Those children, in turn, will each have a son and a daughter whom they will name John and Mary. Ugh! Get creative, even! I must admit that neither Richard nor Steven is very unique when it comes to English names. However, I have been able to take their family back to the late 1700s, so that it rather cool. At least the parish records of England are in a language I can read, although I have to admit that spelling leaves much to be desired.
We are still waiting for Rob to come back and finish our floor. We talked to him today, and he promised to come between 2 and 3 p.m. Since it is now 4:00 p.m., I am not holding my breath that he will come.
We are to the point where we are starting to pile up everything that we want to take back to Wisconsin. Somehow, I do not think that our truck will be large enough. I hope that with this next trip North, we will be taking most of what we need back to Wisconsin. We are only making one more trip with the truck, so we soon have to figure out what belongs where in our two-house life.
If the roof and grass dries yet this morning, we would like to get out and to at least finish the south side fascias on the house. Late yesterday Rick finished scraping and filling in the fascia on the south side of the Florida room. I hope to get that sanded and primed today while he works on actually painting the south fascia of the house. That fascia is a bit more tricky since he has to use the taller ladder, but we bought a small roller, so we are hoping that the final coat will go much more quickly than previous coats.
While we have been stuck indoors, I have been working more on the family genealogy. Doing so, even with the Internet, is not as user-friendly as it used to be. When I started on this venture years ago, almost every record online was free. Now Ancestry.com has purchased the rights to many records, and, naturally, people can only have access to those files for a fee. Even the British records are not accessible unless I go through Ancestry.com.uk, again, for a fee! The only records that I have found that are still accessible without charge are through the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints -- the Mormons -- in Salt Lake, City. Their FamilySearch.org is invaluable.
I have been able to trace my family back to my great-great-great grandparents (thus, add another "great" on for my children) to the late 1700s/ early 1800s. Once the trail goes back to Germany (Prussia), records get a bit dicey since most are in the original German or Polish. I made some recent discoveries that are rather fun. My mother, who will be 90 this May, said that she had vague memories of her great grandfather George, but that she did not know and could not even name her great grandmother. I learned that her great grandmother's name was Susan Woodworth. My sister's name also is Susan. I wonder if, as a child, my mother heard that name and it stayed in the recesses of her memory as a good name even though she could not make a connection later on to an actual person from the past.
I also have taken Rick's family back a bit, although again, the Anderson side gives me trouble because of the way the Norwegians used to change surnames by adding "son" or "datter" (daughter) to the first name of the father. I lose them once the line goes back to Norway, but the English side is a bit easier. Our one regret is that we did not stay longer in Cornwall when we were in England. I wanted to visit some cemeteries and churches, but the Cornish roads are notoriously narrow and bordered by hedges, and our camper van was rather wide. We lived in fear of meeting another vehicle while we were driving through the area, so we did not stay.
I must admit, also, that the English are not overly creative. Many times John X will marry Mary Y, and they will have a son named John X and a daughter named Mary X. Those children, in turn, will each have a son and a daughter whom they will name John and Mary. Ugh! Get creative, even! I must admit that neither Richard nor Steven is very unique when it comes to English names. However, I have been able to take their family back to the late 1700s, so that it rather cool. At least the parish records of England are in a language I can read, although I have to admit that spelling leaves much to be desired.
We are still waiting for Rob to come back and finish our floor. We talked to him today, and he promised to come between 2 and 3 p.m. Since it is now 4:00 p.m., I am not holding my breath that he will come.
We are to the point where we are starting to pile up everything that we want to take back to Wisconsin. Somehow, I do not think that our truck will be large enough. I hope that with this next trip North, we will be taking most of what we need back to Wisconsin. We are only making one more trip with the truck, so we soon have to figure out what belongs where in our two-house life.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Struts and Stains
I have to admit that we have not gotten as far as we had hoped to get this weekend as far as painting the fascias are concerned. Neither of us are really thrilled about the whole job, so we both are too ready to accept the fact that it is too warm or too sunny or too something so we do not do the work. Rick has the peak on the north side primed, but we have not gotten too far beyond that point. The other disappointing news is that rain is predicted for all of this next week, so we will have to see what the weather dictates in this second-to-the-last week that we are down here.
We started today by getting ready for church, and then dropping the Toyota off at Mike's house (next door neighbor to Steve and Chris) so he could replace all of the struts on the car. He is a certified mechanic, and we trusted that he could do an excellent job for far less money than we would have to pay at a dealership. The parts alone cost us more money than we probably should have stuck into a car with 172,000 miles on it, but everything else works well, so we are hoping to get a few more years out of it before we have to replace it. We cannot afford a new car right now anyway.
Then we were off to church. We have met some nice people there, including a couple named Nancy and Don who come from Wisconsin. After the service, there was a potluck luncheon, and since they were grilling burgers and hot dogs, Rick agreed to attend. We signed up to bring chips. Rick had the great idea of going to Sam's Club and buying one of those huge packs of individually wrapped bags of chips like one would pack into a lunch bag. That way we could offer a variety of different chips, and no one (including me) would have to eat chips from a bag that several hands had already delved into. I reasoned, also, that whatever bags of chips were left from the 30 pack we took, we could bring home and eat in the next two weeks. The chips bags were a great hit. While some of the other large bags of chips were left over and half-eaten, every single one of our multipack of bags was gone. I guess other people liked the variety and sanitary idea also.
We did not get home until after 1:00 p.m. By that time, the sun was on the south side of the house and it truly was too hot out to paint. That's all right because I had two bathrooms and two other sinks in the house that desperately needed cleaning.
I mentioned earlier that we had Finish Line Flooring personnel come over to try to remove the stain between the living room and the Florida room. Today at 3:30, we were able to remove the poultice to see the results. We are both happy and disappointed. Although the stains did not totally come out, they do seem to be less noticeable; however, when we removed the poultice, we saw that some of it had seeped into the crevice between the two rooms, resulting in a totally NEW stain. Of course, that stain just has to be in a very noticeable place (why couldn't it be in the area behind the couch?), so now we will have to wait for Rob to come back to see if he can get the new stain out when he comes to polish the floor. The stain in the kitchen that we tried to remove did not come out at all, so like a prize-fighter's scars, that stain will just be part of Gladys' history.
Late in the afternoon, we went back to pick up the Toyota. Mike did an excellent job, and we are happy with the way that it handles. While we were there, we also checked on Steve and Chris' house. The inside is fine. The gardens in the front gardens are growing well, but alas, so also are the clovers and weeds in the front gardens. The pineapple in the back yard is toast, and some of the flowers on the north side of the garage did not survive the dry weather we are having, but other bushes and flowers in the back are doing well. Naturally, the cactus garden is thriving.
We went for a walk tonight in an old section of Dunedin with some beautiful 1920s-1950s homes. Dunedin has a lot of character, so we are happy that we can live here and take advantage of the great weather, the friendly people, and the wonderful water views. We will hate to leave in a couple of weeks, but we also are looking forward to getting back to family, friends, and summer in Wisconsin.
We started today by getting ready for church, and then dropping the Toyota off at Mike's house (next door neighbor to Steve and Chris) so he could replace all of the struts on the car. He is a certified mechanic, and we trusted that he could do an excellent job for far less money than we would have to pay at a dealership. The parts alone cost us more money than we probably should have stuck into a car with 172,000 miles on it, but everything else works well, so we are hoping to get a few more years out of it before we have to replace it. We cannot afford a new car right now anyway.
Then we were off to church. We have met some nice people there, including a couple named Nancy and Don who come from Wisconsin. After the service, there was a potluck luncheon, and since they were grilling burgers and hot dogs, Rick agreed to attend. We signed up to bring chips. Rick had the great idea of going to Sam's Club and buying one of those huge packs of individually wrapped bags of chips like one would pack into a lunch bag. That way we could offer a variety of different chips, and no one (including me) would have to eat chips from a bag that several hands had already delved into. I reasoned, also, that whatever bags of chips were left from the 30 pack we took, we could bring home and eat in the next two weeks. The chips bags were a great hit. While some of the other large bags of chips were left over and half-eaten, every single one of our multipack of bags was gone. I guess other people liked the variety and sanitary idea also.
We did not get home until after 1:00 p.m. By that time, the sun was on the south side of the house and it truly was too hot out to paint. That's all right because I had two bathrooms and two other sinks in the house that desperately needed cleaning.
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| Rob prepares the floor between the two rooms to place the poultice. |
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| The thick poultice is smoothed over the stain. Then Rob covered it with plastic to let it cure over two days. |
I mentioned earlier that we had Finish Line Flooring personnel come over to try to remove the stain between the living room and the Florida room. Today at 3:30, we were able to remove the poultice to see the results. We are both happy and disappointed. Although the stains did not totally come out, they do seem to be less noticeable; however, when we removed the poultice, we saw that some of it had seeped into the crevice between the two rooms, resulting in a totally NEW stain. Of course, that stain just has to be in a very noticeable place (why couldn't it be in the area behind the couch?), so now we will have to wait for Rob to come back to see if he can get the new stain out when he comes to polish the floor. The stain in the kitchen that we tried to remove did not come out at all, so like a prize-fighter's scars, that stain will just be part of Gladys' history.
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| While the stain is not gone, once the floor is buffed, we think that it will be lighter. |
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| Sadly, while the stain at the bottom of this picture is lighter, a new stain by the crevice between the room appeared. |
Late in the afternoon, we went back to pick up the Toyota. Mike did an excellent job, and we are happy with the way that it handles. While we were there, we also checked on Steve and Chris' house. The inside is fine. The gardens in the front gardens are growing well, but alas, so also are the clovers and weeds in the front gardens. The pineapple in the back yard is toast, and some of the flowers on the north side of the garage did not survive the dry weather we are having, but other bushes and flowers in the back are doing well. Naturally, the cactus garden is thriving.
We went for a walk tonight in an old section of Dunedin with some beautiful 1920s-1950s homes. Dunedin has a lot of character, so we are happy that we can live here and take advantage of the great weather, the friendly people, and the wonderful water views. We will hate to leave in a couple of weeks, but we also are looking forward to getting back to family, friends, and summer in Wisconsin.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Candles, Chips, and Stubborn Stains
Our goal this week is to try to get the fascia boards on the house scrubbed, patched, and painted before we go home in two weeks. To that end, we decided to get up and get outside as soon as possible since the weather now reaches into the 80s by noon each day. As we did in the summer when we were here, we know that our work time is before 11:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. to avoid the heat.
We bought the necessary supplies for the job on Tuesday so that we could get an early start on Wednesday. I jumped into the shower first, and as I was drying off, Rick was getting ready to go in. I reached for my glasses on the dresser, and as I brought my hand back, I knocked a small cup with a candle in it onto the floor. While I love my terrazzo floors, the ARE cement, and cement and fragile glass do not go well together. The cup seemed to explode as it hit the floor, sending shards of glass in all directions. Since I was wearing no shoes and only a towel and since Rick was similarly undressed, we had quite a predicament. I carefully tiptoed to the closet for a pair of clogs; thankfully, I did not cut my feet in doing so. We both must have been a sight wearing shoes and little else as we swept and then vacuumed up the remains of the glass cup. What I bummer! The cup was really pretty, so I hated to waste the glassware as well as the candle.
Thursday was spent washing down most of the rain gutters and the fascia around the house. Although this house is only 1400 square feet, the footprint leaves a lot of gutters and fascia to cover! We worked until noon, getting most of the washing done, and some of the scraping done. We wanted to start on the south side of the house since the intense sun made that fascia peel more than the fascia on the rest of the house. The pictures show the results after that first day.
Today we got up early again to beat the heat. I still had a small section on the west (front) of the house to wash, and while I did that, Rick started patching the fascia on the south side. I remember as a child watching my father scrape and then paint the wooden siding on our house. Some of the siding was original to the house, having been there since 1870. Needless to say, the house had a lot of chipping and repainting. After all of those years, the siding was uneven and pretty rough-looking. I did not want the fascia to look the same on this house. Yes, sanding to blend in the edges helps, but we did not want the chipped off paint to show. The salvation: a product called MH Ready Patch. People use it like a speckling compound on a wall. The result is to blend everything together so the fascia will be smooth and ready to paint.
Yesterday afternoon, we went to Tarpon Springs to pick up a few more sponges to take back to Wisconsin, and then we went to Fred Howard Beach for the afternoon. Our umbrella worked exceptionally well again, keeping us in the shade while the sun burned around us. Since we went on a Thursday afternoon, the beach was not crowded at all, and most of the people were parents with small children, college-age or older people who either had the day off or were working a late shift, and lots of retired folks like us. We sat back, read our Kindles, and enjoyed being able to do that, worry-free, for the afternoon.
This afternoon Rob came from Finish Line Floors to try to get the stain out of our floor. He ground down the floor, and he added a thick poultice that looks like cement. We have to let that sit for 48 hours, and then he will be back to take it up and to add a finish coat on the floor. Hopefully the poultice will draw out the stain and my floor will look beautiful again. We won't know until late on Sunday, so stay tuned...
Each job that we tackle and finish brings Gladys one step closer to being the home that we want. Eventually, maybe we will be able to sit on our little shady patio and enjoy the wonderful spring weather in Florida.
We bought the necessary supplies for the job on Tuesday so that we could get an early start on Wednesday. I jumped into the shower first, and as I was drying off, Rick was getting ready to go in. I reached for my glasses on the dresser, and as I brought my hand back, I knocked a small cup with a candle in it onto the floor. While I love my terrazzo floors, the ARE cement, and cement and fragile glass do not go well together. The cup seemed to explode as it hit the floor, sending shards of glass in all directions. Since I was wearing no shoes and only a towel and since Rick was similarly undressed, we had quite a predicament. I carefully tiptoed to the closet for a pair of clogs; thankfully, I did not cut my feet in doing so. We both must have been a sight wearing shoes and little else as we swept and then vacuumed up the remains of the glass cup. What I bummer! The cup was really pretty, so I hated to waste the glassware as well as the candle.
Thursday was spent washing down most of the rain gutters and the fascia around the house. Although this house is only 1400 square feet, the footprint leaves a lot of gutters and fascia to cover! We worked until noon, getting most of the washing done, and some of the scraping done. We wanted to start on the south side of the house since the intense sun made that fascia peel more than the fascia on the rest of the house. The pictures show the results after that first day.
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| The south fascia on the Florida Room. |
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| The fascia on the south side of the house really got a beating from the sun. |
Today we got up early again to beat the heat. I still had a small section on the west (front) of the house to wash, and while I did that, Rick started patching the fascia on the south side. I remember as a child watching my father scrape and then paint the wooden siding on our house. Some of the siding was original to the house, having been there since 1870. Needless to say, the house had a lot of chipping and repainting. After all of those years, the siding was uneven and pretty rough-looking. I did not want the fascia to look the same on this house. Yes, sanding to blend in the edges helps, but we did not want the chipped off paint to show. The salvation: a product called MH Ready Patch. People use it like a speckling compound on a wall. The result is to blend everything together so the fascia will be smooth and ready to paint.
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| After MH Ready Patch, the fascia needs just a little sanding to be smooth, and then it is ready for primer and paint. |
Yesterday afternoon, we went to Tarpon Springs to pick up a few more sponges to take back to Wisconsin, and then we went to Fred Howard Beach for the afternoon. Our umbrella worked exceptionally well again, keeping us in the shade while the sun burned around us. Since we went on a Thursday afternoon, the beach was not crowded at all, and most of the people were parents with small children, college-age or older people who either had the day off or were working a late shift, and lots of retired folks like us. We sat back, read our Kindles, and enjoyed being able to do that, worry-free, for the afternoon.
This afternoon Rob came from Finish Line Floors to try to get the stain out of our floor. He ground down the floor, and he added a thick poultice that looks like cement. We have to let that sit for 48 hours, and then he will be back to take it up and to add a finish coat on the floor. Hopefully the poultice will draw out the stain and my floor will look beautiful again. We won't know until late on Sunday, so stay tuned...
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| The stain on the floor left from the glue used to attach the large glass doors that used to separate the living room from the Florida room. |
Each job that we tackle and finish brings Gladys one step closer to being the home that we want. Eventually, maybe we will be able to sit on our little shady patio and enjoy the wonderful spring weather in Florida.
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| Someday, we will rebuild our little patio area and enjoy a shady spot in the afternoon. |
Monday, April 22, 2013
Timing is Everything
This past weekend has proven once again the truth in the old adage, "Timing is everything."
After dinner on Friday, Rick and I decided to get out of the house for a while and to go down to the Marina. The Marina was crowded, but we were able to find a parking space in the lot, so that allowed us to try something new: a walk along Edgewater Drive.
Edgewater Drive is, as its name implies, a street in Dunedin that runs along the coast of St. Joseph Sound. On one side of the street is the Sound while on the other side of the street are grand old houses with magnificent porches giving spectacular views of spacious, expensive yards and the aqua expanse of the Sound. Near the Marina and downtown, Edgewater Drive just has a public sidewalk with houses on the landward side and high-rise condominiums directly on the Sound; however, once one passes the condos, the street curves more toward the Sound, and the high-rise buildings give way to the high-tax district. Now the before-mentioned mansions are on the landward side, and the sidewalk begins to gracefully snake into a path on land called Edgewater Linear Park. Rick and I took a long walk through this Park, stopping to sit on a bench, to relax a bit, and to watch the sunset. We throughly enjoyed our time even though the wind was doing its best to blow Rick's baseball cap into the Sound. Timing is everything since we were able to watch a beautiful sunset before we walked back to the car.
Saturday entailed some shopping, cleaning, and hanging the picture frame that I noted in the last blog. We are happy with the frame, but anxious to have pictures of our new grandchild included in it when we come down in the fall. For anyone interested in the frame, I found this one three or four years ago through RedEnvelope.com. I recently looked at their site, and they still offer "gallery" wall hangings like this, although not exactly this same one. They actually have one slightly smaller than this one which also is great.
On Sunday, after church, we did our necessary shopping for the week. Since we only have three weeks left here, we are now in our "eat the 'fridge out" mode"-- that is, trying to put meals together so that we can use what we have in the refrigerator and freezer without having to throw out too much food at the end. Meals can get a little strange, but we usually do not waste too much by the time the weeks wind down.
The weather on Sunday was beautiful with highs in the low 80's and a slight breeze. That's perfect weather for the beach, so after downloading some new books on our Kindles, we packed up the beach bag and headed for Sand Key Beach. Timing is everything, and our timing going to the beach was awful. Apparently, we were not the only people who thought a trip to the beach was a good idea, and traffic was backed up almost all the way across the causeway. On top of that, a red truck almost ran into us trying to get into our lane (don't they teach Florida drivers that the little stick thingy to the right of the steering wheel is a turn signal????), so the trip there was rather tense.
After we arrived, though, Rick got his blood pressure back under control, and we set up our big red umbrella at the beach. The girls bought Rick the umbrella for Christmas, but because of poor timing or high winds, this is the first time that we have been able to use it. It worked wonderfully! We would have been miserable, singed crispy critters had we not had the shade of the umbrella.
We both got into our books and were enjoying the afternoon. I must say that the sights at the beach are something else! Most of the kids are cute, most of the teens are skinny and look good in their suits, and most of the above 45 group need to rethink their choice of beachwear! Some of the off-shore sights are rather fun, though, as the above picture shows.
Both Rick and I were engrossed in our books when suddenly I noticed a rapid, drastic cool-down. I looked up to see a rather ominous cloud bearing down on the beach. "Ah, Rick," I said. "I think it might be time to pack up and go."
He looked up quizzically, and I pointed to the sky. "Yeah, you're right," he said. We packed up quickly, and we could see rain off in the distance starting to fall from the clouds. We stowed everything in the car, made a quick stop at the restrooms, and we were on our way. Timing is everything. By the time we reached the entrance to Sand Key Park, rain was starting to sprinkle on the windshield. By the time we were a block away, the rain was falling so hard the wipers could hardly keep up with the waterfall coming from the sky. We are glad that we were able to get the umbrella packed into the trunk before it got wet. That would have been a very big umbrella to try to open and to dry in the house!
This morning after ordering parts out to fix the struts on our Toyota, we came home and decided to take a walk. We usually do not walk in the morning, but more rain originally was predicted for this afternoon. We have been watching a house on a corner in our neighborhood that has been vacant ever since we bought Gladys. This past year, a tarp appeared on the roof, so we knew that there were major problems with the house. Rumor had it that a sink-hole was involved, but we never found evidence of that; however, this house was definitely a foreclosure and it definitely needs lots of work. Timing is everything. On our walk today, we heard hammering in the distance and soon stood before the house (which was recently sold for $50,000) to watch a crew of five men just finish sweeping off the roof. The shingles (or tiles?) were gone, and two of the men were replacing boards (not plywood) on the roof deck. The numerous nails, we are sure, was to meet hurricane ratings to give the owner a break on his insurance in the future. We peeked in the back yard to see that the pool had been uncovered, so this will be fun to watch the progress on this house. I know if he could have, Rick would have stayed and watched them work all day.
This afternoon Rick mixed up a batch of cement and patched the surface hole in the back where the old dryer vent had gone through. He also did a couple of other patch jobs so that when we come back in the fall, we don't have to waste any time doing those patches. We can just get to the prep work and then paint the house.
Ricks final task of the day was to start to look at booking tickets for us to fly back to Wisconsin for Christmas. Once again, timing is everything. If we try to fly too close to Christmas, both flights and rental cars are astronomically high priced. If we leave too soon after Christmas, high prices again are a problem. We have to fly early enough to beat the Holiday rush, and we have to stay long enough to allow all of the people who HAVE to fly back to school or jobs to be on their way. Thankfully, retirement gives us the luxury of having options on when we fly. We'll choose times to fly that will work to our advantage, knowing that timing is everything.
After dinner on Friday, Rick and I decided to get out of the house for a while and to go down to the Marina. The Marina was crowded, but we were able to find a parking space in the lot, so that allowed us to try something new: a walk along Edgewater Drive.
 |
| A bench in Edgewater Linear Park. |
Edgewater Drive is, as its name implies, a street in Dunedin that runs along the coast of St. Joseph Sound. On one side of the street is the Sound while on the other side of the street are grand old houses with magnificent porches giving spectacular views of spacious, expensive yards and the aqua expanse of the Sound. Near the Marina and downtown, Edgewater Drive just has a public sidewalk with houses on the landward side and high-rise condominiums directly on the Sound; however, once one passes the condos, the street curves more toward the Sound, and the high-rise buildings give way to the high-tax district. Now the before-mentioned mansions are on the landward side, and the sidewalk begins to gracefully snake into a path on land called Edgewater Linear Park. Rick and I took a long walk through this Park, stopping to sit on a bench, to relax a bit, and to watch the sunset. We throughly enjoyed our time even though the wind was doing its best to blow Rick's baseball cap into the Sound. Timing is everything since we were able to watch a beautiful sunset before we walked back to the car.
 |
| Sunset over the Sound. |
Saturday entailed some shopping, cleaning, and hanging the picture frame that I noted in the last blog. We are happy with the frame, but anxious to have pictures of our new grandchild included in it when we come down in the fall. For anyone interested in the frame, I found this one three or four years ago through RedEnvelope.com. I recently looked at their site, and they still offer "gallery" wall hangings like this, although not exactly this same one. They actually have one slightly smaller than this one which also is great.
On Sunday, after church, we did our necessary shopping for the week. Since we only have three weeks left here, we are now in our "eat the 'fridge out" mode"-- that is, trying to put meals together so that we can use what we have in the refrigerator and freezer without having to throw out too much food at the end. Meals can get a little strange, but we usually do not waste too much by the time the weeks wind down.
 |
| Our big red umbrella is easy to spot on the beach. |
The weather on Sunday was beautiful with highs in the low 80's and a slight breeze. That's perfect weather for the beach, so after downloading some new books on our Kindles, we packed up the beach bag and headed for Sand Key Beach. Timing is everything, and our timing going to the beach was awful. Apparently, we were not the only people who thought a trip to the beach was a good idea, and traffic was backed up almost all the way across the causeway. On top of that, a red truck almost ran into us trying to get into our lane (don't they teach Florida drivers that the little stick thingy to the right of the steering wheel is a turn signal????), so the trip there was rather tense.
After we arrived, though, Rick got his blood pressure back under control, and we set up our big red umbrella at the beach. The girls bought Rick the umbrella for Christmas, but because of poor timing or high winds, this is the first time that we have been able to use it. It worked wonderfully! We would have been miserable, singed crispy critters had we not had the shade of the umbrella.
 |
| A "pirate ship" offers families tours. The crew are all dressed as pirates, and children have a blast. The beachwear on the beach is not always so beautiful to look at, though. |
We both got into our books and were enjoying the afternoon. I must say that the sights at the beach are something else! Most of the kids are cute, most of the teens are skinny and look good in their suits, and most of the above 45 group need to rethink their choice of beachwear! Some of the off-shore sights are rather fun, though, as the above picture shows.
Both Rick and I were engrossed in our books when suddenly I noticed a rapid, drastic cool-down. I looked up to see a rather ominous cloud bearing down on the beach. "Ah, Rick," I said. "I think it might be time to pack up and go."
He looked up quizzically, and I pointed to the sky. "Yeah, you're right," he said. We packed up quickly, and we could see rain off in the distance starting to fall from the clouds. We stowed everything in the car, made a quick stop at the restrooms, and we were on our way. Timing is everything. By the time we reached the entrance to Sand Key Park, rain was starting to sprinkle on the windshield. By the time we were a block away, the rain was falling so hard the wipers could hardly keep up with the waterfall coming from the sky. We are glad that we were able to get the umbrella packed into the trunk before it got wet. That would have been a very big umbrella to try to open and to dry in the house!
This morning after ordering parts out to fix the struts on our Toyota, we came home and decided to take a walk. We usually do not walk in the morning, but more rain originally was predicted for this afternoon. We have been watching a house on a corner in our neighborhood that has been vacant ever since we bought Gladys. This past year, a tarp appeared on the roof, so we knew that there were major problems with the house. Rumor had it that a sink-hole was involved, but we never found evidence of that; however, this house was definitely a foreclosure and it definitely needs lots of work. Timing is everything. On our walk today, we heard hammering in the distance and soon stood before the house (which was recently sold for $50,000) to watch a crew of five men just finish sweeping off the roof. The shingles (or tiles?) were gone, and two of the men were replacing boards (not plywood) on the roof deck. The numerous nails, we are sure, was to meet hurricane ratings to give the owner a break on his insurance in the future. We peeked in the back yard to see that the pool had been uncovered, so this will be fun to watch the progress on this house. I know if he could have, Rick would have stayed and watched them work all day.
This afternoon Rick mixed up a batch of cement and patched the surface hole in the back where the old dryer vent had gone through. He also did a couple of other patch jobs so that when we come back in the fall, we don't have to waste any time doing those patches. We can just get to the prep work and then paint the house.
 |
| Like all old ladies, Gladys needs a little patching before she puts on her make-up of new paint next year. |
Ricks final task of the day was to start to look at booking tickets for us to fly back to Wisconsin for Christmas. Once again, timing is everything. If we try to fly too close to Christmas, both flights and rental cars are astronomically high priced. If we leave too soon after Christmas, high prices again are a problem. We have to fly early enough to beat the Holiday rush, and we have to stay long enough to allow all of the people who HAVE to fly back to school or jobs to be on their way. Thankfully, retirement gives us the luxury of having options on when we fly. We'll choose times to fly that will work to our advantage, knowing that timing is everything.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Lazy Days
After the last three months of remodeling, we are now winding down what we are doing for Gladys. Not having a major task each day is a little unsettling, rather like the feeling of packing for a trip and knowing you are forgetting something important. We feel guilty to finally have some free time with nothing that we have to finish.
Today started dark and cloudy after some rain last night. We took a short trip this morning to Tampa to return a weaving shuttle that we purchased earlier. We thought about going to the Container Store, but I honestly could not think of a thing that we needed for Gladys, so we came home by lunch time.
After lunch, we took out the gallery picture frame that I used to have hanging in my office. We have a blank wall right next to the front door that we wanted to fill, and this picture gallery was a great fit. We chose what pictures we wanted to add to the variety of frames, and then took the flash drive to Sam's Club to have the pictures developed. Our pictures range from a picture of Gladys hanging next to a snowy shot of our Green Bay backyard. Then we have a picture of the Botanical Gardens, a shot of the crested crane from Animal Kingdom, three small shots of Chihuly's works, a view of Fred Howard Beach in Tarpon Springs, a sunset going down over St. Joseph's Sound at the Marina, and four shots of family members. These pictures represent some of what we have enjoyed this winter, and I am sure that we will change them as we continue to experience what Florida has to offer. We can't wait until we can have pictures of our grandchild in some of those frames, but that will have to wait until this summer when the little one is finally born.
A short shopping trip to Kohl's (I didn't trip this time!) to get Rick some new shorts resulted in him not being happy with anything and with me getting a new pair of shorts and two pair of capris. We had a 20% off coupon, and I have to say that the marketing worked on me this time. I am having a hard time deciding what to leave here and what to take back to Wisconsin. We need late fall, early spring, and summer clothes here, and early spring, summer, and late fall clothes in Wisconsin. Sigh. I have too many clothes here, so some of those will have to travel with us to Wisconsin and stay there when we return in the fall.
We leave for Wisconsin in three weeks. Lindsay and Chris will be happy to have us home so we can look after our own house, and Lindsay seems to miss our truck more than she misses us! Ah, well, at least we have something of value... Actually, we miss her too, and I will be happy to see my mother again who will be celebrating her 90th birthday on May 28.
In the next few weeks, I hope to finish some needlework that I am doing, and I hope that Rick can finally get back into his Nantucket Baskets so he does not drive me nuts. We continue to bike or to walk each day, and those are activities that we want to continue when we return to our northern home.
Today started dark and cloudy after some rain last night. We took a short trip this morning to Tampa to return a weaving shuttle that we purchased earlier. We thought about going to the Container Store, but I honestly could not think of a thing that we needed for Gladys, so we came home by lunch time.
After lunch, we took out the gallery picture frame that I used to have hanging in my office. We have a blank wall right next to the front door that we wanted to fill, and this picture gallery was a great fit. We chose what pictures we wanted to add to the variety of frames, and then took the flash drive to Sam's Club to have the pictures developed. Our pictures range from a picture of Gladys hanging next to a snowy shot of our Green Bay backyard. Then we have a picture of the Botanical Gardens, a shot of the crested crane from Animal Kingdom, three small shots of Chihuly's works, a view of Fred Howard Beach in Tarpon Springs, a sunset going down over St. Joseph's Sound at the Marina, and four shots of family members. These pictures represent some of what we have enjoyed this winter, and I am sure that we will change them as we continue to experience what Florida has to offer. We can't wait until we can have pictures of our grandchild in some of those frames, but that will have to wait until this summer when the little one is finally born.
 |
| The blank wall with two of three hooks inserted for the picture frame gallery. |
A short shopping trip to Kohl's (I didn't trip this time!) to get Rick some new shorts resulted in him not being happy with anything and with me getting a new pair of shorts and two pair of capris. We had a 20% off coupon, and I have to say that the marketing worked on me this time. I am having a hard time deciding what to leave here and what to take back to Wisconsin. We need late fall, early spring, and summer clothes here, and early spring, summer, and late fall clothes in Wisconsin. Sigh. I have too many clothes here, so some of those will have to travel with us to Wisconsin and stay there when we return in the fall.
 |
| Our living room wall with the completed photo gallery. |
We leave for Wisconsin in three weeks. Lindsay and Chris will be happy to have us home so we can look after our own house, and Lindsay seems to miss our truck more than she misses us! Ah, well, at least we have something of value... Actually, we miss her too, and I will be happy to see my mother again who will be celebrating her 90th birthday on May 28.
In the next few weeks, I hope to finish some needlework that I am doing, and I hope that Rick can finally get back into his Nantucket Baskets so he does not drive me nuts. We continue to bike or to walk each day, and those are activities that we want to continue when we return to our northern home.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Thank God It's Just Dirt
My agenda for today was to throw in a load of laundry and to pay attention to my much-neglected floors. While we love Gladys' terrazzo floors, we find that having all hard surfaces in the house also allows us to notice all of the sand, dirt, and other debris that migrates indoors each day. I will freely admit that with the amount of sand here in Florida, I would never have wall-to-wall carpeting. What must accumulate in those carpets in a year is disgusting!
Our terrazzo has lots of grey, white, salmon, rust, and brown marble chips in it, so actually seeing the sand is sometimes difficult. A walk across sandy floors with bare feet, however, is very revealing! We also have learned that the sand and dust that accumulates on the furniture and floors requires a good dust-mopping or vacuuming at least every other day. Since I have not truly scrubbed most of the floors (with the exception of the bathrooms and guest bedroom) in the last couple of weeks, today was my chosen day to tackle that task.
I am so thankful that my talented husband installed a central vacuum system for us last year. The central vac has 10 times the suction power of a canister vacuum, so we know that when we vacuum the floors, we are getting everything off of them. (The exception to that last statement is plaster dust. Anyone who has ever remodeled knows that plaster or drywall dust is insidious-- getting into every crack and cranny, and actually embedding itself into fibers and skin. Thankfully, we have not done any drywall or major demolition lately.)
Since the completion of the laundry room this year, Gladys' square footage has risen to approximately 1400. That's a lot of floor to vacuum and to wet mop! As I started the task of vacuuming this morning, though, I thought of the news events that I had witnessed earlier on TV, and I have to thank God that the only thing I have to worry about is dirt.
I do not have to worry about my children. They are grown, educated, gainfully employed, and safe. I do not have the burden of that poor family in Boston who mourns the loss of a daughter younger than my two daughters. I do not have the responsibility of trying to explain to a six year old who loved to Irish dance why some madman set off a bomb that destroyed her dreams of dancing or even normally walking again. That same little girl also will have to face the even great trauma of losing her beloved eight-year-old brother forever.
I am not one of those families whose homes were blown apart last night by a massive explosion from a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Who am I to grumble about a little dirt on my floors when those unfortunate families may no longer have floors to mop. And in that tiny town, those who only lost furnishings and floors may be the lucky ones because they are not mourning the loss of a husband or wife, mother or father, brother or sister, child or grandchild.
My house still stands, my belongings are secure, and my family is safe. I have no major trauma in my life. All I have to worry about is a little dirt. Thank God.
Our terrazzo has lots of grey, white, salmon, rust, and brown marble chips in it, so actually seeing the sand is sometimes difficult. A walk across sandy floors with bare feet, however, is very revealing! We also have learned that the sand and dust that accumulates on the furniture and floors requires a good dust-mopping or vacuuming at least every other day. Since I have not truly scrubbed most of the floors (with the exception of the bathrooms and guest bedroom) in the last couple of weeks, today was my chosen day to tackle that task.
I am so thankful that my talented husband installed a central vacuum system for us last year. The central vac has 10 times the suction power of a canister vacuum, so we know that when we vacuum the floors, we are getting everything off of them. (The exception to that last statement is plaster dust. Anyone who has ever remodeled knows that plaster or drywall dust is insidious-- getting into every crack and cranny, and actually embedding itself into fibers and skin. Thankfully, we have not done any drywall or major demolition lately.)
Since the completion of the laundry room this year, Gladys' square footage has risen to approximately 1400. That's a lot of floor to vacuum and to wet mop! As I started the task of vacuuming this morning, though, I thought of the news events that I had witnessed earlier on TV, and I have to thank God that the only thing I have to worry about is dirt.
I do not have to worry about my children. They are grown, educated, gainfully employed, and safe. I do not have the burden of that poor family in Boston who mourns the loss of a daughter younger than my two daughters. I do not have the responsibility of trying to explain to a six year old who loved to Irish dance why some madman set off a bomb that destroyed her dreams of dancing or even normally walking again. That same little girl also will have to face the even great trauma of losing her beloved eight-year-old brother forever.
I am not one of those families whose homes were blown apart last night by a massive explosion from a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Who am I to grumble about a little dirt on my floors when those unfortunate families may no longer have floors to mop. And in that tiny town, those who only lost furnishings and floors may be the lucky ones because they are not mourning the loss of a husband or wife, mother or father, brother or sister, child or grandchild.
My house still stands, my belongings are secure, and my family is safe. I have no major trauma in my life. All I have to worry about is a little dirt. Thank God.
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