respublica

The End of the Move

Can you picture a house full of boxes and boxes and boxes? Well, that is our Collinsville house right now. The movers were fantastic, a great group of men who were all hard working and more than that, good-humored and funny the entire time. Lots of good joking around with us and hearty laughter which made things less stressful. 

From the campus to Collinsville the next morning.

Now we have furniture and not really sure if each thing will stay where it's been placed. Also the lampshades were taken off each lamp for the move and now it's a puzzle to remember which shade went with each lamp.

We have a bit of work to do to get whatever is in each box placed somewhere, but we rented a storage locker so we can get some of them out of the way for a while. It's hard to think straight while walking around stacked up boxes. We will make it, but it will take time.

Our first night back we ordered a pickup dinner from Fassi's Greek American and it was so good, just what we needed.

Fifteen years ago we left

Back in 2005 we moved from Collinsville to the seminary campus. Today we move in reverse. Here is what it looked like during the first move. Poor old Speaker dog did not like this one bit.

More floors

Yesterday we finally got to see how all the floors on the main floor looked since they were refinished. We had to be careful to only walk around with socks on and it was really something special.

The kitchen which joins the family room. The two rooms are open to each other

The front door opens to the living room which opens through french doors (not pictured) to a library. At least we call it a library, it's basically my room with computer and books once the furniture gets back in.

The other side of the living room and dining room is too the left.

We're really happy with how this all came out and and hope all the moving in doesn't wreck the place.

 

Transforming old floors

Our Collinsville house was built in the late 20's/early 30's by Mr Krite. Mr. Krite owned Krite Hardware which was located on Main Street in downtown Collinsville. The building still has the name Krite in the brickwork above the store. Anyway, we have to believe he had access to great workmen and materials for many reasons, but especially because of the hardwood floors which are throughout the first floor.

While we've lived there most of the floors were carpeted and while the occasional carpet layer would ask us why we wanted to cover up the wood, we stayed with carpeting. Now that we no longer want this, the floors were uncovered and we saw this last week.

The flooring people were interested in the manner in which the wood was laid. Each room was laid in squares with interlocking corners and we were told this would have taken a lot of work and it was done very well. There were no issues and bad boards. What I saw was, oh, man, how will they ever clean up.

Well, the guys were there all week sanding and top coating and today buffing. It turned out just unbelievable and we could not be more amazed and thrilled.

Dale took this picture when he wasn't able to walk in on the floors but it's pretty easy to see the difference. I"m so glad I took the time to get those rooms painted before this started.

Someone had too much time on their hands in one picture

Masks

Clever but oh, man, the thought of doing this exhausts me.

At home fireworks

There has been a trend on Facebook recently in which people are posting about how much they hate neighborhood fireworks. I'm happy to learn we aren't the only ones who find these constant fire cracker booms coming from down the street maddening. There were summers when we'd had very hot weather and no rain which made everything very dry. Then comes the local fire crackers with the bang and whizzzzz as the come down. We often worried about them hitting our roof or garage and having a fire.

Unfortunately there will be more of the constant bangs and explosions all day and especially late late at night because most cities have cancelled fireworks displays this year due to the conronavirus.

2020 strikes again

I've barely spent much time watching the news lately but one story popped up that has us all sighing with that, "of course this is coming, it's 2020."

We're about to see dust from a Saharan Dust Plume. Big dust clouds starting in northern Africa will begin blowing over the Gulf of Mexico this weekend and residual dust will affect us as the days go on. The good part? This dust may hold off tropical storms and hurricanes in our south. Also, we could see some of the best sunrises and sunsets.

If true about the sunsets, Facebook will be filled with these photos. Get those cameras ready.

Moving is hard they said

It's an understatement that moving is hard. It's almost insurmountable. I'm posting some of these experiences so I have a record that I can look back on in the future. Like around Christmas when everything is over and all in place.

But, one thing I've leaned is that I just cannot stand the scented trash bags. What on earth made trash bag companies believe this is a helpful addition? The smells of the various scents make me almost dizzy. I have them now because since the virus hit, people bought trash bags like toilet paper and most chose the unscented. Now about all you see on the shelves are the scented ones.

So, yesterday we spent most of the day in Collinsville because the flooring guys (part 2) came to begin the process of sanding the main floor hardwood floors. That work is a science in itself and the two men who are doing the work are very congenial and work none-stop. By the end of the day, most of the floors had been sanded. Today they will start the touch-up (I think) which will take awhile but maybe even begin the clear coat.

In the midst of all this our new oven and microwave were delivered. I was surprised that it took longer to set in the microwave than the stove. The stove went in really quickly while hefting the old microwave out and hefting the new one in was more of an effort.

Today I'm left with walking around the sem house looking at all the darn small things I have no idea what to do with.

Lesson? Don't keep stuff you don't use. Don't keep buying things you think are cute or special in some way if you don't really need them.

Oh, Hey July

What we all must feel

Why is the East terminal like this now?

Since the virus shutdown Dale has not had to travel by air or car since early March. So when we took Katie back to the airport this morning after spent a few days helping us pack, we were pretty surprised by the different drop off configuration for Southwest. It has long been the case that the vehicles dropping off a passenger pulled up and parked (briefly) diagonally. Now, for a reason which escapes us, they have changed that to horizontal parking. They have cut the number of cars which can do this well over half.

So, we wondered just what the reasoning was for this since Southwest has the most passengers out at Lambert by far. During normal times sthe

Kitchen work

Katie was in town to help us pack up stuff before the move. Lizzie was also over helping. We packed a ton of boxes and really, not overly much is left but what is left to pack are weird things that sit around in every room. I'll deal with those later in the week. But the Collinsville kitchen is what we went over on Saturday. We cleaned and cleared out things that made no sense since Dale and I were basically just camping out there for 15 years. Now that room looks great and ready for the oven and microwave to be swapped out tomorrow for stainless. The white ones have been there for 19 years.

Waking up to advice I don't need this week

It's always something and this headline does not apply to us thank goodness, but it was just one more thing to worry about happening.

"Five Tips to Protect Your Sewer this Summer"

I can't even right now.  Thankfully the advice is pretty benign.

Can you keep up?

There is so much going on in this country right now I can't keep up. So much of what is being discussed seems coming from out of no where. We're still dealing with the virus, IT'S ON THE RISE!. We're changing the names of things and tearing down statues. Meanwhile bars and restaurants are packed. House sales are through the roof. You can't even buy a stove, the suppliers and manufacturers are sold out. I know this because I went to buy one yesterday and settled for the floor model or wait until November.

Then there's congress and the president, every day something crazy.

I miss the days when we just considered the day's weather and sports scores.

Getting closer

Yesterday the man from the moving company brought by many boxes and rolls of packing tape. He explained how to tape things up, especially the garment boxes. I never knew there was such a thing, but they are amazing. They open up tall and have two holes near the top into which a hanging bar goes. Then all you have to do is hang your clothes on the bar and tape up the box. When the box gets to the other house, we will just hang them right back up.

However! Who comes downstairs this morning carrying a big load of his clothes on hangers and out to the car. I said, what are you doing? He said he was bringing them to Collinsville. So much for the garment boxes!

On the other hand, Katie came into town yesterday and she's been a help with deciding just how to box up what. We decided that emptying closets will mean a box that contains her former things, Lizzie's former things, and ours. Each will be labeled. Actually all the photo albums and old school papers were making me crazy so this helps a lot.

Also what I like about taping up these boxes is we don't have to over tape them as we would if we were shipping them with UPS. A couple swipes of tape and that's it.

We're going to Terry's Appliance store today to get a new stove. We were talking recently that the one that's in the house we got in 2002 which means it's 18 years old and not working well. How time flies.

Do we really need a story like this?

I just really hate, come to hate, stories like this since the virus hit. Every news outlet in the country is posting stories about the danger all around us. It's maddening and this story from the New York Times just about sent me over the top.  Read it if you have the stomach for it.

Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over

 

 

Helpful hints for the kitchen

With everything else going on in the country, this article seems rather unimportant. But if your anything like us, we've spent a lot of time making all our meals at home and these helpful kitchen hacks (hints) may be helpful. At some.

I especially appreciated how to make plastic wrap work easier. Plastic wrap is fairly necessary now and then but it's a bear to deal with. You slide it along the cutter but it never fails to fold itself into itself by the time it's cut. You fight it the whole time you are trying to cover something with it. Here's the hint: Keep the plastic wrap cold. Put it in the refrigerator and it will stretch properly and evenly.

And, just in time for sweet corn season, the easiest way to get the kernels off the cob if you want to freeze fresh corn. Which I do and I read that Kellers farms in Collinsville may be opening up next week! The best sweet corn. The hint is to get out the almost never used Bundt pan, put the narrow end of the corn in the hole and then knife down the cob. The kernels will fall into the pan.

There are many more at the link

What is the explanation?

I've been really puzzled over the sudden taking down of statues of Christopher Columbus. I've seen news reports with video of this being done in St. Louis and now Sacramento California. But I don't hear exactly why this is so important. What did he do that offends people today?

What's next? The removing of portraits of presidents in the halls of Washington DC?

And now this from St. Louis:

More name changes and monument removals might be forthcoming in our area, after a statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from Tower Grove Park

St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page says he has ordered staff to review all roads, parks and statues for potentially problematic names.

Down to brass tacks

Yesterday the flooring people came and laid new carpeting on the second floor and down the stairs. It was amazing how quickly (generally speaking) they did this. I mean it took most of the day, but they got it all down and they removed the main floor carpeting ahead of today refinishing. What we were pleased about, or maybe, grateful knowing, was how many compliments they gave us on how well built the house was. They loved all the molding and baseboards too. But they didn't have to paint around all those, ha.

Today comes the end for floors and everything else needed to get moved. It's a relief but also a bit of inner panic over just how all our things will be put in place.  Dale took these pictures ans as good as he is in many things, he hasn't a composition gene.

Our bedroom. The carpet is actually much lighter than it appears in these photos due to odd light.

The second bedroom which is showing only a small part of it.

Here is how the floors downstairs look before they finish. Actually the flooring guys said the floors are in great shape even though I see spots where at some point in time a former owner must have had area rugs because of the rectangular darker spots.

The library or as we like to say, my room.

Living and dining. We found the floors aren't just laid in one direction but what they called laced at corners which is pretty.

I'm looking forward to going over tomorrow and seeing the change.

One example of "why do we still have this?"

Emptying out a closet in Collinsville today ahead of the flooring people, Dale came across this and sent a picture. My guess is he wanted to know if we should keep it or not. It was his baby scale from when he was a fairly small baby.

To be honest, I checked online to see if there was any value and there isn't. Sentiment? Maybe. But it looked too dangerous to use even when our kids were born so I'm leaving it up to him as to whether to keep it or not.

One tiring weekend

We spent most of our weekend going back and forth to Collinsville trying to get the house ready for our move. It's just exhausting to take a look around and see the things we have and don't even know why. I found all kinds of papers and photos and books dating back to my grade school days, not to mention our kids grade school days. These things take up lots of space on shelves which we don't notice until we have to make room for other things. We are under the gun, so to speak, because the flooring people are coming today to put new carpeting on the second floor. After that they will refinish the downstairs hardwood floors. This meant getting everything out and off the floors.

The upstairs is empty of things, but the main floor is still a work in progress. On Saturday we brought our oldest grandson with us to help and I was under the impression he'd be helping with getting things our of the way before the floorers. But no, Dale's idea was for him to help with those darn basement bookshelves he's been making.

They got a lot down, but oh, boy, is there more of other things to do.