I must confess to being less than diligent in the last two weeks with my posting; despite having not much new to report, I also don't know where the time has gone yet again.
Thursday, May 13 I received a nice phone call -- I'd won a prize!! The photo above doesn't do much for either Miles or me, but Glenn snapped this pix of the two of us with my gift basket. Friend Dixie and I attended a Taste of Home cooking school in Pocatello. Several vendors there offered prizes and I dropped my name in the hat for this one. A local gal publishes an e-newsletter called Saving Cents with tips about shopping in the area and online freebie samples. She contacted me with the news that I'd won her basket! Miles and I laughed and explored as we unpacked it -- with items ranging from shampoo and conditioner to Nips candies to air freshener. What fun!
Generally, I don't put much stock in horoscopes, but on my birthday I sometimes clip the 'scope about the upcoming year. In February, mine said I'd be entering a 'lucky cycle.' Maybe the horoscope is true, maybe I just started believing that I could win vs believing that "I never do" . . . but at the Altrusa conference last month I also won a net of $370 in a 50-50 drawing! I guess I'd better keep buying those lottery tickets! :-)
Since my last post, Glenn and I have made a couple further decisions . . . the most significant being that of new living room furniture! The last time we bought a new sofa, chairs, etc. for our living room was in June, 1974. Yes, you read that correctly. We still have the same furniture we bought in our second month of marriage -- 36 years ago! We reupholstered it one time, and the lamps have gone by the wayside . . . but that furniture is still hangin' in there. We've ordered a new sofa, two recliners, end tables. In addition, we're upgrading our television, too.
We cannot forget when we bought the current set. . . April 4, 1995. The date is embedded in our memories as when we arrived home from that shopping excursion. . . we got the phone call from brother-in-law Eric that Laynie Hillesland had arrived in the world! Yes, not only is our television over 15 years old now -- so is Layne!
In anticipation of the furniture's arrival, we spent most of the weekend May 14-17 working on the house and property. We've also decided that the 'old' t.v. will find a new home in our lower level, as well as the living room furniture. So, Glenn undertook a big task of painting the floor down there. (Note: The lower level has been wired, insulated and studded for two more bedrooms, a fourth bath and a family room. The work remains undone; frankly, we don't need the room nor do we have the bucks to finish it off.) So we ended up having to move everything either out or around in the lower level to facilitate the floor painting. Since we needed to 'touch' all those possessions anyway, we took the opportunity to further sort and purge things . . . like, why did I bring a 30-year old bowling ball with me when I haven't bowled in a league since about 1980? Two loads of items dropped off at Idaho Youth Ranch. The remaining things we've now reorganized a bit and repacked into empty (since the major unpacking is finished) Rubbermaid tubs.
While Glenn painted for two days, I would begin the laborious task of further rock-gathering. Overall, we took another six pickup loads of fieldstone from the pile deposited at the Jurgen place during the 2009 Fourth of July freak flooding. We're nearly finished with the rocks. I think just one (maybe two) more loads will complete the front perennial flower/rock bed. We'll need a few more larger ones to complete lining the front drive to Glenn's satisfaction.
We also put down a carpet remnant we found at Lowe's for $100 (less 10% coupon = $90) that is 12' x 19'. Once all of the new items arrive, we'll have a "family room" of sorts downstairs with sofa, chair, recliner, tables, t.v. w/cable and a desk. We've moved the two workout/weight benches and really tidied up. If not for the fact that the lower level has no walls, ceilings or doors -- and the 'bathroom' has only hook-ups (and is the storage 'area' for sporting goods!), we'd be all finished!
Other outside work included raking into the bare soil around the house (from the final grading and excavation that occurred late last summer) native grass and flower seeds. Ideally, the stuff will grow and fill in, but we're taking a 'naturalizing' approach -- we will not mow or water. I also completed a small rock garden beneath the dining room window which is doubling as an herb garden. My two rosemary plants, parsley, spearmint and sage are doing well. The basil died. Could've been the sub-freezing temps and snow cover we've experienced since then.
Back to speaking of the "Hills" -- I'm leaving June 10 for Illinois to fulfill a promise made to sister Brenda. I'll be arriving there two days in advance of Seth's graduation party (Sunday, June 13) to help out. Yes, Seth will participate in commencement exercises on Saturday, May 29 and be headed off to college in the fall; at this writing, most likely the University of Iowa.
In anticipation of the furniture's arrival, we spent most of the weekend May 14-17 working on the house and property. We've also decided that the 'old' t.v. will find a new home in our lower level, as well as the living room furniture. So, Glenn undertook a big task of painting the floor down there. (Note: The lower level has been wired, insulated and studded for two more bedrooms, a fourth bath and a family room. The work remains undone; frankly, we don't need the room nor do we have the bucks to finish it off.) So we ended up having to move everything either out or around in the lower level to facilitate the floor painting. Since we needed to 'touch' all those possessions anyway, we took the opportunity to further sort and purge things . . . like, why did I bring a 30-year old bowling ball with me when I haven't bowled in a league since about 1980? Two loads of items dropped off at Idaho Youth Ranch. The remaining things we've now reorganized a bit and repacked into empty (since the major unpacking is finished) Rubbermaid tubs.
While Glenn painted for two days, I would begin the laborious task of further rock-gathering. Overall, we took another six pickup loads of fieldstone from the pile deposited at the Jurgen place during the 2009 Fourth of July freak flooding. We're nearly finished with the rocks. I think just one (maybe two) more loads will complete the front perennial flower/rock bed. We'll need a few more larger ones to complete lining the front drive to Glenn's satisfaction.
We also put down a carpet remnant we found at Lowe's for $100 (less 10% coupon = $90) that is 12' x 19'. Once all of the new items arrive, we'll have a "family room" of sorts downstairs with sofa, chair, recliner, tables, t.v. w/cable and a desk. We've moved the two workout/weight benches and really tidied up. If not for the fact that the lower level has no walls, ceilings or doors -- and the 'bathroom' has only hook-ups (and is the storage 'area' for sporting goods!), we'd be all finished!
Other outside work included raking into the bare soil around the house (from the final grading and excavation that occurred late last summer) native grass and flower seeds. Ideally, the stuff will grow and fill in, but we're taking a 'naturalizing' approach -- we will not mow or water. I also completed a small rock garden beneath the dining room window which is doubling as an herb garden. My two rosemary plants, parsley, spearmint and sage are doing well. The basil died. Could've been the sub-freezing temps and snow cover we've experienced since then.
Back to speaking of the "Hills" -- I'm leaving June 10 for Illinois to fulfill a promise made to sister Brenda. I'll be arriving there two days in advance of Seth's graduation party (Sunday, June 13) to help out. Yes, Seth will participate in commencement exercises on Saturday, May 29 and be headed off to college in the fall; at this writing, most likely the University of Iowa.
Meghan's desire to visit the family will bring her, Miles and Glenn to the Prairie State on June 17; we'll all head back to Idaho on Monday, June 21. While Meg would have liked to attend Seth's party, we all concluded that in order to maximize her visit with family, the following weekend would be better. Little time would be possible in the frenzy leading up to and including the party itself. Between the party weekend and my family arriving, I am looking forward to a couple of days of 'quiet' (use that word loosely when describing the Hillesland household!) days with my sister.
Until then, we keep peering out the window hoping that the whispers we are hearing are from summer, and not the winds of winter still gently blowing on us. As late as this past Monday, May 24, we still were experiencing mixed rain/snow. Glenn's brought our four hanging baskets of dianthus into the garage two nights this week; frost on the roofs of neighbors indicate it was a good idea on his part.
Today looks as though it is promising mild weather and the morning sun is gently caressing the snow-covered mountain peak in the south. A goal for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is planting the vegetable garden, and hoping the frosty nights have passed once we do. That said, the weather forecast is calling for cooler and wetter days Friday and Saturday. Maybe Idaho has voted to skip summer this year, and we missed the article in the newspaper! Sigh.
Gotta go. If summer's not whispering. . . Miles Guy is babbling -- and I think he may want his breakfast.
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