old toys, new fun!

During the recent restoration of our home due to our flooding situation, our insurance company had all of our downstairs belongings and furniture packed up and put into storage, for what turned out to be 8 whole weeks! This included a good portion of 3 & 4 yr.old's toys. As the whole ordeal dragged on and on with no end in sight, I dug out some of the toys I'd saved from when my 3 kids were little. I wish I'd thought of it sooner! These toys were a big hit! There was a marble racetrack that was built and rebuilt many,many times. And this whole set, which was a favorite of my two boys.

It includes an appliqued play mat made by my Mother-in-Law, some 25 years or so ago.



I missed getting a picture of my 33 yr.old son on the floor playing along with his own 2 little ones! But I did overhear someone say "Daddy! We sure do love your toys!".

Much to my surprise, this was the biggest hit with everyone! A set of Felt Dolls with wardrobe that belonged to my daughter. I used to make sets of these for her to give as birthday gifts back in the late 70's.

Well, the three youngest grandkids just went nuts over them! Who would have thought that in 2008, in a world of DVD's, video games, and all things electronic, that this would be so exciting to 8, 4, and 3 yr.old! They requested new dolls and more outfits, especially for the boys. They had new ideas of their own for pets, shoes and even wigs, so they could change the hair with the outfits. Soooo.... even though I am WAY behind on all my other projects, who could resist a request like that! Here's what we came up with:

What an enjoyable way to talk about old memories and make some new ones at the same time! (Could this be considered recycling???)

I have a few more boxes still packed away with more undiscovered "treasure". On the next rainy day around here, we just might have to see what's inside! I can't wait.......

taking things for granted

WOO HOO!!! We have hot water! YAY!

10 full days without hot water........talk about taking things for granted! At least we still had running water.... cold running water. But I think having no hot water is one of the worst minor inconveniences in our modern world.

For me, no more getting up in the dark at 5:15 to drive to Daughter's house to take a stealth shower, trying not to wake anyone up in the process.

For Son & family, no more inconveniencing Daughter's family with our inconvenience, taking tired, cranky kids to shower at her house in the evening before bed.

No more heating water in the microwave just to wash the dirty silverware and glasses piling up the kitchen.

note to self: never, ever again will I take for granted the ease with which we turn on the faucet and get whatever temperature water we desire....clean, fresh water for laundry, dishes or our bodies. We are so fortunate!!

Shan, I can't thank you enough for moving only 2 miles away so we would have somewhere to shower and sleep and cook and sew and play and just hang out during our exile from home and our flood aftermath that just seems to drag on and on.......just one more reason why I'm sure your move was the right thing!

What would we have done without you guys these last 6 weeks?

E.T. phone home...

Remember in the movie "E.T.", towards the end, when the family's house is draped in plastic and all those men are in Haz-Mat suits? Well, that's what our house has looked like (except for the men in suits part) for the last few days while our mold situation is being taken care of! I can't tell you how disconcerting it is when these words are inside your house!

and the downstairs guest room/playroom looks like this (yes, that's a zipper!...)

and the inside corner of the garage looks like this....

and yet, you don't actually have to leave the house while all this is going on!!! You just go on about your normal living as usual....this is all just so weird! Because all this moldy business was happening in the wall behind the hot water heater, we have had no hot water for the last 6 days, with 3 more to go.......Thank goodness Daughter has 4 full bathrooms w/showers!!

Mold is not something you are allowed to ignore if you know you have it. You cannot sell your house with previous mold damage unless you have a certificate to prove it's been cleaned up. It was all cleared today by a health/hygiene inspector so we are now good to go. Look at the difference!

BEFORE: all that black stuff on the wood framing is the mold.

AFTER: Look at that! It looks like new wood.

Now we can repair the drywall, lay the new flooring and carpet and be done with this whole inconvenient business! Hopefully one more week and we'll be back to normal......

Here's another little disturbing tidbit: for the first 2 years we lived here, this was MY room and my bed was up against the wall on this very spot! (I don't even want to think about it....)

Thank You so much, Previous-Homeowners (you know who you are) for leaving us this little gift to find 4 1/2 years later. We found your attempt at a quick coverup. Just remember, what goes around, comes around........

A Meal Fit for a King

Yesterday was my day off. I usually spend a good portion of my Wednesdays off sewing, but today I just was not in the mood. I felt like cooking instead. Since we are now in week 5 of the aftermath of our downstairs flood, there has not been much cooking in our house lately. The contents of our entire kitchen is still in storage and will be for 2 more weeks!.......Daughter, however, has a wonderful kitchen just 2 miles away, and since Son-in-Law is away on business this week and she isn't cooking much, I decided to take over her kitchen for the day and cook for everyone.....

The Grandkids recently discovered BBQ ribs and have asked for them several times. Since I am not a big fan of them I've never made them before (that whole getting-stuck-in-your-teeth thing turns me off!) I'm willing to try cooking just about anything, especially if the Grandkids are asking me to, and these turned out great! I even ate several of them myself....

I marinated them for a few hours in Coca-Cola and lots of minced garlic. I poured off the marinade and baked them covered with foil for 2 hours. Then 45 minutes uncovered, basting with BBQ sauce (next time I'll make twice as many and use the grill) They were falling-off-the bone-tender and we ate every one of them! Served with Buttered Noodles w/ Parmesan Cheese:

Roasted broccoflower: If you haven't tried broccoflower, get some and cook it like this. It's delicious! The non-veggie loving grandkids even ate it (well, a few bites anyway). I love broccoli, but not cauliflower so much, but this hybrid is great! Just toss with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees.

I could live on this salad! Baby greens, chopped pears, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, balsamic vinaigrette. (add some cooked chicken and it would make a perfect meal!)

Garlic cheese biscuits: Make Bisquick drop biscuits according to the box, adding garlic powder and a good amount of grated cheddar cheese. I normally would have made homemade dough in my breadmaker if I had my own kitchen stuff available, but these are quick and tasty. Not a single one left, and I made a double batch!

For dessert, I wanted to try out a new recipe, something baked, with apples or pears, but the day was getting late, so I went with the always kid-friendly ice cream cones...... peppermint ice cream on chocolate-dipped cones.

Look at these happy, satisfied faces!

Boy, was that a good dinner, if I do say so myself!!!

I can't wait to get busy in my own kitchen again once it's put back together.....I'm planning the menus in my head as we speak......

silver linings.......

Since I know that all things happen for a reason, I always try to find something positive in any unpleasant situation. Our recent flood and all that came after it actually caused a positive situation in the sewing part of my life! I managed to sew my flannel stash down to zero!! And just in time....I think flannel is on sale at JOANN this week!!! (....."she says as her fabric addiction rears it's ugly head")

Even though I was able to feed my sewing need during our 'exile' from home, since I was taking up space in Daughter's living room I kept things to a minimum: nothing that needed much cutting or a pattern or lots of supplies. I was able to finish the pile of my "famous" flannel blankets that I usually put off in favor of aprons or something for the grandkids.

Many years ago I made a flannel blanket for baby gift, using one yard for each side, and got such great feedback that it became my "usual". I can't tell you how many I've made by now! They sew up very quickly and everyone loves them! I regularly get requests for them but keep putting them on the back burner.

(two sets for my friend who is expecting triplets this week!)

And flannel patterns are so beautiful now! They used to have mostly baby designs and now you can find ANYTHING printed on flannel (see here).

My two sided blanket has proved to be the perfect project for teaching beginning sewers, too(see here and here). All my grandaughters have learned to sew this way and we now make them for several organizations that give blankets to children in crises: Binky Patrol and Project Linus. The girls not only have learned to sew, but are learning to help others at the same time.

I had such nice patterns in my stash that I decided to make some 2 yd. long blankets and have posted them in my ETSY shop to see what happens.

I've also been finding flannels that match the personalities of friends and family so instead of more aprons for Christmas gifts, some will be getting lap blankets! I found a really cute "office items" print (here) with cute computers, desks, etc. that is going to be perfect for my co-worker. (She told me that she keeps fighting with her one yr.old daughter over the one I made for her, so I think she needs her own!)

I saw LOTS of lovely Christmas flannel this week, so of course my wheels are turning again! I can't wait to get my hands on some of that! After all, I do have a big empty space on my fabric shelf now.....

All in all, what a wonderful feeling of accomplishment I'm experiencing in the midst of a very stressful situation.


I love seeing those silver linings..........

Home Sweet Home

We moved back home on Thursday, 18 days after our "flood". We spent a full 2 weeks living at the Marriott.

This has been SUCH a learning experience!! After hearing horror stories from many, many people about similar situations, we were prepared to do battle with our insurance company and expected resistance at every turn......and OH, THE IRONY!!! While we were busy "keeping an eye" on our insurance company so they wouldn't mistreat us, the construction company doing all the repair work was price gouging us and cheating us at every turn!! And who alerted us to this initially? Our insurance adjuster! Our insurance company, Wawaneesa, couldn't have been more helpful and generous.........

So, we fired the construction company and moved back home to take care of the rest ourselves. With the money we have left, before the contractor could steal it all, we are getting new carpet, vinyl flooring, and some new appliances (hello, new double oven!) AND getting the old mold damage repaired. That was the ONLY thing insurance wouldn't cover, but we're making it work anyway!

Here's what we're living with for the next few weeks:

We'll just do most of our living upstairs until our home is as good as new....actually, it will be EVEN BETTER THAN BEFORE!!

I'm just really glad to be back home and back to my old routine..........

Where are my Ruby Slippers?

Last night was the 7th night we've spent at the Marriott, ("courtesy" of our insurance company) just 5 miles from home......


Under other, more pleasant, planned for circumstances, having a mini-suite at the Marriott all to myself (Son & family have one next door) that I'm not paying for would be fabulous!! But last night, after having been to the house and seeing what shape it's still in after 12 days, when the door to my suite closed behind me, I finally had a meltdown.....real tears and everything. And I am not a cryer, believe me! But I just want to go home! The tears only lasted a few minutes.....I got a grip, counted all my MANY blessings, and went out to dinner with my family....AGAIN! Yes, even going out to dinner is getting old!


WOW! Listen to me complain about hotel suites and dinner out!#@&*!!# Am I having a pity party or what? O.K. enough of that. (Just a minute while I re-read my previous post to myself....)

Trying to keep 3 and 4 yr.old busy and happy during all this hasn't been easy. D-I-L has enough of a challenge keeping up with these two busy kids in our own home with their own things! I think she just may lose her mind if this drags on much longer! Thank goodness for pre-school and friends and family nearby for long daily visits......hotel mini-suites and pre-schoolers are not made for each other!!!

The repairing and restoration part of all this should be completed today and this afternoon we meet with all those involved to pick out new carpet and flooring. The thing making this take so long was the discovery of mold in the wall between a bedroom and the garage, next to the water heater, apparently left there for us by the previous owners 4 years ago......

So......now starts weekend number two in "exile". Daughter has kindly let me set up my sewing in a corner of her living room. I only brought the most basic of projects/supplies but have made quite a few of my favorite flannel blankets this week. This whole situation is causing me to have quite a creative crisis!! I feel like the people in the movie "Alien" where the little aliens come bursting out of their chests!! I have so many apron and sewing project ideas building up inside of me with no outlet right now, like they're just waiting to burst out of my chest! ....O.K.....I know that was kind of a weird and creepy analogy, but I NEED MY OWN SPACE BACK!!...I NEED TO COOK IN MY OWN KITCHEN! ....I need to get rid of all these "aliens" building up inside of me ASAP!!

If only I had a pair of Ruby Slippers so I could click my heels right now......There's no place like home!..........

Thanks for letting me vent. You're a good listener.........I feel much better now!!

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER... whether you want it or not!

I had no idea how involved water damage repair and restoration can be. This has really turned out to be a nightmare!!

This is the culprit:

Yes, this little reverse osmosis unit that came with our house when we bought it 4 1/2 years ago, something WE HAVE NEVER USED! NOT ONCE!!

A little hose the size of a pencil came loose and we came home to find 3 inches of water covering our entire downstairs.....and WE WERE ONLY GONE 7 HOURS!! The contractor helping with all of this says that these units and the same size hose behind refrigerators that connect to the ice maker are the most common reason for household flooding. We removed the unit the very next day and capped off the spigot with a little thingy that cost $1.19.

Yep! 30 seconds of effort and $1.19 and we could have avoided all of this trauma. Please everyone! Take 5 minutes and check all your water filters and ice makers and make sure the hoses are firmly attached!

We had to move out of our house right away. All the water was extracted. Fans, heaters, and de-humidifiers were brought in.

The bottom 12 inches of drywall around the entire perimeter of our bottom floor was cut away.

Carpets and linoleum have been removed.

Insurance adjusters and contractors are trying to work things out to OUR benefit (HA!)

The estimate for the whole thing (not counting the old mold damage discovered during all of this that the insurance will NOT cover) ..........FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!....FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!#*&!#%!!

We spent the first three nights at Daughters house. She has plenty of room for all 5 of us and all the cousins thought it was a great adventure. As of last night, our insurance has booked us into 2 suites at the new Marriott in town for the next week (" one week at a time"). The time estimate on this "project" is 3-4 weeks! (you do the math on that one!)

I am a creature of habit. I like my routine. I like my own room. I like my own bed. I like my own space. This is all such a HUGE inconvenience...... and yet I know that's all it is. An inconvenience.

When I think of all the Katrina victims who will never have their homes back, will never have their own beds, their own space back. Or the recent Hurricane just last week in Texas......those people have lost their homes and belongings forever. Believe me, I don't BEGIN to compare this situation with what those poor people are going through. I've been praying for all those affected every day since this happened. Nothing like your own little inconvenience to really realize there is always someone worse off than you....

Thank You Lord for the following things:

1. This flood was clean, fresh water.

2. None of our furniture or belongings were damaged.

3. It didn't happen UPSTAIRS. Just think how much worse both floors would have been.....

4. It didn't happen 3 weeks ago when were gone for a whole week on vacation.

5. Daughter lives 2 miles away in a big house with plenty of room for all of us.

6. We'll end up with all new carpet, flooring, and possibly kitchen cabinets (?)

7. Son is taking care of all of the details and dealing with all those concerned and I don't have to . (just one more reason to feel proud of one of my children!)

I have my sewing machine and several projects with me, I'm surrounded by family and in a few weeks I'll be back in my own bed in my own space, which should be even better than before, if all goes well.......

Just so you know, I'm really not complaining.....really I'm not! (see #1-#7 above...)