Well the end of another year is fast approaching and it has seen some major changes for members of our family. We saw moves, a new arrival, a new dog, a retirement, a knee replacement and an engagement. In many ways we were a family of movers and shakers; so to speak. So come on Fiddler Kin and share the year in your life on the blog!
John and I started the year with a trip to Hawaii---wooohoooo! I highly recommend Hawaii in the winter. I must say there is nothing quite like sitting on a beach chair in the ocean while talking to your sister back in Kansas and hearing about the snow that is falling. A partly cloudy day in Hawaii still beats a snowy day in Kansas.
The year flew by and as usual John and I led pretty boring lives---eat, sleep and work was our MO for the most part. In May we started the never ending home improvement jobs or as I like to think of it "the feeding of the money pit beast". The first little project was a new and improved toilet for the upstairs guest bath. It is powerful flusher. You don't really appreciate a good toilet until you have one that has to be flushed twice. We also tiled the upstairs bathroom. In October the beast was fed again. We started with the atrium. We finally replaced that leaking all glass roof with a real roof. It only took us 8 years. John and his new worker bee Gary did the work themselves. John added lighting and a ceiling fan. We are replacing the outside doors this week and getting rid of the glass on the north side. Next year we will hopefully be able to replace windows in the atrium. "The Beast's stomach will be growling by then. We also replaced a great deal of the deck. I didn't realize it but our deck is over 600 square feet. We were just going to replace some of the boards, but wouldn't you know it the joints were bad so we had to replace the entire upper deck and the stairs. The lower deck will hopefully be next fall along with the ballisters(sp?). Have to feed the beast next year too. We also made another gate for the lower deck. That board we had nailed up was a bit tacky, but it kept the dogs on the deck. Maybe next year we will finally work on the kitchen, or not. We also installed a new fireplace liner. The wood burning fireplace insert we have downstairs weighs about 600 pounds, so you can imagine the fun John and Gary had removing it and putting it back. Just for fun John dug up two 20 foot redbud trees and transplanted them in the puppy yard to offer shade to the atrium in the summer ----if they survive that is. They did get several inches of rain after the planting so that was a good thing. We still have dozens of projects that will take us into 2012 and beyond. Well I hope 2012 brings good health to all, new jobs to those who seek and an abundance of laughter. Happy New Year Everyone!
Getting physical
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Training sessions have been going really well these past few weeks. I
swim, lift, and run on my own (or with the masters swim team) during the
week, and o...
12 years ago
3 comments:
I hope 2012 is a good year for everyone. Thank you for recounting your blessings and reviewing your year for us Margaret. I can just visualize you sitting on the beach by the ocean while the rest of us freeze our little tushies off. Life does have it's little rewards. You have persuaded me to pause and reflect on my own precious moments.
Living closer to family and getting to know our grandchildren better has to head my top ten list. Gazing into the eyes of innocence is a very special blessing. It is a life changing event. One that makes you smile unexpectedly and have hope for the future. Seeing sisters and our children more often is icing on the cake.
Another blessing is access to the Emporia Public Library. The library staff is constantly adding new books to the inventory. And I have found books about the spiritural master Rumi there. Rumi is one of my favorite poets. And since moving to Emporia, I have discovered more poems by him.
One more event that intrigues Doug and I is the Republican primary. The road to the White House, lets face it, is fraught with many comic moments. I said comic not cosmic. Will the Republicans ever produce a candidate that behaves like an Adult. These candidate behave like a pack of squabbling children.
But let's not despair. The world is full of tenderness and mercy. As Doug and I settle into life in Emporia,we realize that the kindness of our family has made the transition possible. We are deeply indebted and grateful to everyone for their support. We hope all will be richly blessed in the year ahead. All the goodness we have experienced this year is because of the generosity of family. Thank you. Happy New Year.
Thanks for sharing your 2011 blessings and ponderings with us, Honor and Margaret.
It was lovely to see both of you, if briefly, for Christmas. I am blessed to have such lovely aunts on both sides of my family. So many strong, intelligent, caring women to stand as mentors and models alongside my parents.
I am glad to live closer to all of you so that we can share these memories on the blog--and in person. I look forward to more stories in 2012. Love to you all!
It is nice to see you more often Katie. Conversations with you are always interesting. Your posts are always fun and intelligent. We wish you peace and joy in the year ahead. And Margaret, once again thank you for the latest post. It stimulated serious thought.
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