Change of Plans

So here we are.

We made what Steve calls an "executive decision" to remain home for a couple months. Some family situations have occurred that should keep us closer to home for now.  Plus our Saturn started making funny sounds around the fan or fan belt or timing chain.  Time to look at that before ANY big trip. Easier to repair at home, for sure.

Also we are considering that the expense of driving the rig south and then finding ourselves on a return path too quickly doesn't make sense.  When we go, the cost of our trips is dependent on the amount of diesel to go long distances. Then spreading that cost out over the length of stay lowers the cost per day on our trips.  

The motorhome is unpacked and parked back in it's berth in the yard next to the garage.  Items that could freeze are stowed away back in the house. Other items will be left inside to make our escape later this spring or into early summer. 

Instead--- we are going to focus on heading out in spring towards going "out west" to Yellowstone and Glacier. It's about the same distance to travel as to what we planned for Texas. We've been to Texas before (maybe not all of it but at least some of it). Going "out west"  is an area that's been on our "bucket list" for quite a while.

So that is that. 

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This whole winter has been very strange weather. We were looking to escape the snow and cold. But it looks like the snow and cold are escaping us! 

Usually, our average snowfall here is 36 inches a year. Well well, just look out of our windows right now! Yes, that is a lot of grass showing through.

Yesterday was amazingly warm. We were up to 45° with sunshine. The snow melted rapidly and we even heard spring birds calling through the air. 

So maybe we didn't have to go south to escape winter after all? Spring is finding us.

One of our winter projects was going to be perhaps painting the dining room and living room in the house. The previous owners had painted this heavy beige-ish mauve color and it was okay but it really seems to suck the light out of the rooms. Especially on dreary Winter days, we had been contemplating on brightening it up.

We grabbed a couple samples from the hardware store and decided to paint them in a few areas around the house to see how it would turn out. We really didn't want to paint a lot of the trim, just the walls.  Our trim is already a color called "String of Pearls". Kind of a light creamy color, not blazing white. We were looking for a good color that would coordinate with it. 

We decided to paint the walls with the same "String of Pearls"  to match all of the trim. Off we went to Menards for a couple gallons and some extra drop cloths.

I really enjoy painting, (Steve doesn't)  and Steve helps with the cutting in and the moving of furniture. We quickly got everything covered up and went to work.

The first coat went on quite well. Although the paint says it only is one coat coverage, we knew covering over such a dark color it would probably take two.

You can see the difference in contrast of the light color versus the dark beige mauve. What a transition!  Painting is such a satisfying project because you get immediate gratification. It is so transforming... seeing what you covered up verses seeing what you will finishing with. 

So right after lunch, I am busy painting away. Steve was examining some repair YouTube's on maybe replacing the fan on our Saturn. The phone rang--- and it was an emergency from our grandson at the middle school.

We needed to get him over to urgent care 

to see about X-rays and stitches! 

Oh my! 

All the drama

 all the tragedy

 all the traumatic experience!!!

No. Not really. 

He is teasing.

See? 

Can you believe this????  It seems that he was out on the playground and a soccer ball bent his finger over backwards! The skin on the inside of the finger split right at the crease on the backside of a knuckle. I guess it created quite a scene on the playground with all of the other boys so excited about the blood. LOL. The poor janitor had to go out and clean up the biohazard. The school nurse got him cleaned up pretty good and decided that she better call to get him in to see about stitches and the possibility of a broken finger.

Clayton was quite the trooper. Even if he wanted to cry, he didn't. I told him it was okay if he did. But he held on and listened to everything that the staff at Urgent Care told him they were going to do. They numbed him up and stitched him up with six stitches!

If you think this next picture is gory, don't look and scroll past

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They ran him over to x-ray, and fortunately nothing is broken. He's going to be sore for a while. He gets the stitches out in 8 to 10 days. They wrapped him up good and sent him on his way. We took pictures to send to his parents at work and they gave us permission to get him a treat on the ride home. 

Ice cream always makes everything feel better. 

The added bonus is now he can stick his middle finger up at people and not get in trouble for it. LOL

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We settled him in on a comfy chair and let him watch some YouTubes. We got back to our painting because of course, I was standing in the Urgent Care facility in painting clothes and hair up in clips out of the way. Might as well finish what I started, hey??

We worked our way around the room from the fireplace across the back up the side and around the front. It sure was making a nice transition. The ceiling looks shiny in this picture but that's just because the paint was wet. It dried to a nice soft eggshell finish like the walls.

We got the rest of the second coat on after breakfast this morning. Now we moved all the furniture back and it looks pretty nice. The room looks larger and doesn't seem to soak up all of the daylight the way it used to. 

Next, we are moving on to the living room. There really isn't a lot of wall space because there are a lot of windows and doors in there. The fireplace will get a new coat to freshen it up as well.

We started the center beam and now it's time for lunch. The ceiling in the livingroom is 9 ft but the diningroom is only 8 ft. Quite a transition, and the beam helps to define the separation. 

In between this painting project I have been working on some practice swatches on my big new-to-me quilting frame. I will do a post about that later and the next quilt that's going to be ready soon. These were going to be projects I was setting aside for a while but now I'm able to get back to them. Pretty exciting.