And Keetha Said - - -

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"Let there be light."


And behold, lamps were flung from the boxes in the nether regions of the garage



And were settled in the four corners of the duplex where they shed their radiance for all to see.


And Keetha was well pleased when she saw that it was all good, but she was heard to mutter under her breath, "Why can't they be cordless?"


Amazing what a difference taking all the empty boxes and newspapers to recycling made in the garage! Perhaps tonight is the night my car can come in out of the cold.

No, I did NOT ask Fisherhubby for permission to take or post this picture.

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Who Said This Would Be Fun????

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I'm talking about this unpacking and settling in thing - - - someone said it would be fun.

They lied.

Well, at least I don't find it very fun. But, before I talk about that - - - let's look at a little bit of nature.


This is our cute little, well actually he's pretty BIG for a squirrel, neighborhood jet black squirrel. When I talked about him earlier this week, someone said they had never seen a black squirrel and wondered if I could capture his portrait.

Voila!!! Meet Mr. Black Squirrel.

I hope he has a wife and we'll be seeing some little miniature black squirrels in the spring.


Now about this nesting thing. I have opened countless boxes - - -


And cleaned up enough of this to build a life size Washington Monument out of paper mache! And to me that is not fun.

There is a little bit to show for all this effort, at least I see some progress. See what you think.


The bowl and pitcher appeared, as if by magic, on the washstand. The bed has been made with a new "bedding bundle" from that lovely designer shoppe, Wal-Martay. A picture has been hung and some decor pillows have been flung about the decor.


The mirror has been attached to the dresser in the computer room and another installed in the hall. We love to look at ourselves. ;-)


Fiesta Ware is looking festive in and on the pie safe. Great Aunt Daisy's green depression glass cream and sugar have taken up residence with the Fiesta Family.


Mr. Swan is gaily swimming on the Oak Pond. He was a 50th Anniversary gift to my maternal grandparents from my Aunt Doris. He's been hidden away in the pantry for years and is very excited to be back on the old Oak Pond.


Foster Block pedestal glases, ice cream sundae dishes, and Boopie have moved into the penthouse.

French Haviland fine bone china now lives on the middle floor. They are HOPING those glasses don't stomp around and make too much noise on the ceiling. The Haviland china has a story - - - perhaps in another post - - -

Plain old Mildred, from Wards, moved in with her whole crew on the ground floor. Again, there's a story there for another post.


The dressing table, cleverly disguised as a dining room buffet, is sporting several choice pieces. A few more will join them later.


A child's tea set, small bowl and pitcher, and a couple of sundry items have moved into this little cabinet in the bedroom.

Sundry, isn't that a fun word???? Makes me want to say it a few more times. Sundry. Sundry.


For my LAST project of the day, I began putting books on the book shelf. Some of these books had been in a box in the garage for multiple years. They had begun growing mold. Here you see them stacked about on the floor drying after I carefully cleaned them.

Now, have we made any progress??? Well - - - I'll let you see for yourself:


If you scan down a post or two, you will see the condition of our garage BEFORE the "fun" we didnt' have today.

Now, if you aren't toooooo bored by all of this - - - check back another day to see if we finish unpacking, or if we leave some boxes in the garage for ANOTHER 7 years like we did in our Mairon home.

Oh, I kid you NOT about that 7 year bit.

Ta Ta For Now.

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What a Difference A Day Makes - - -

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Yesterday the Bull Frog showed up in our driveway.

Rick was the cowboy who roped and rode that Bull Frog. Thank you, Rick! You were awesome.

Today this "crew" showed up to unload the bull Frog. There was one more crew member, Jerry, but I guess he escaped before I brought out the camera.

In just two hours they had that truck empty and all the furniture set up in its designated place - - - well, truthfully that would be MY designated place.

I got to "boss" them around all morning telling them where to put it.

I couldn't have asked for a better crew! Helps that one is Fisherhubby and two are related to me - - - I'll let you guess which two.

And here's what we have now instead of an empty duplex:


Living Room:

From this view you can get a glimpse of the computer room and our bedroom.


Computer Room:

The mirror will be attached to the corner dresser just as soon as we get the necessary screws. I have curtains just waiting to go on that window - - - just as soon as we get the necessary screw to hang the hardware.





Dining Room:





Kitchen:





And now, my FAVORITE!!! I get a "football cave" for watching college ball!!!!

Football Cave:


I don't know who I'll have over to sit in these chairs and watch games with me - - - maybe Leigh and Jen the Dust Bunny - - - they LOVE college football almost as much as I do.


Now everything is in its place - - - - or is it???


Garage disaster. Perhaps it would look a little better from the OTHER end?


Nope. No better. Shall we take wagers on how long it will take us to clear this out and clean it up???????

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We're In Like Flynn

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(Please read in a very nasal monotone voice) "Testing, testing, can you hear me now??? This is my first transmission from First Street South."

The Bull Frog is EMPTY bellied again!!! Every scrap of furniture and every box is SOMEWHERE in this duplex, and the belly has been swept clean.

Our "crew" of 6 friends and relatives took exactly 2 hours to make ye olde bull frog hungry again. Now the bull frog cowboy is on his way to rope and ride that amphibian right out of our driveway.

Some of my furniture is a bit worse for the wear. There are marks and dings that were not there before. I am choosing to look at that as "distressing" which is all the rage these days.

True, I am not a lover of the "distressed" look - - - but I am choosing to be THANKFUL. As I look around I realize we have way too much. Distressed or not distressed, I am thankful that I have multiple possessions and live in a comfortable home with a roof over my head and not on a garbage heap or under a make-shift "sheet" tent as so many do in our world today.

Pictures of this comfortable home will follow later today - - - -

Now, back to settling in.

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This Post's for You, Pam!!!

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But the rest of you may take a "peek" too if you wish!

Sister Pam asked me for pictures of our little duplex so she can picture us in her mind as we are moving in. We are sisters, but we have moved to opposite "poles" as it were - - - she to southern Florida, and me to central Wisconsin.


Welcome to our home. Walk on up to the front door, ring the bell, come in and sit a spell. Well, wait a couple of days until our furniture is in or there won't be any place to sit - - - but you get the idea.


This is our back patio. I'm sure we will enjoy sitting here in the warm weather - - - we had frost on the pumpkin this morning, so no patio sitting for us today!


As you enter the house from the garage, this is the view of the kitchen. On the wall to the left, up toward the cabinets, I hope to put Grandpa Butcher's table with two chairs and I hope my church pew will fit down into the hallway closer to the back door.


This is the view of the back door (into the garage) when standing at the kitchen cabinets. The door on the left is the laundry room, the one on the right is a "run through" closet shared with the living room.


Laundry room.


BONUS ROOM!!!!

I didn't notice when we first found this duplex that the laundry room was also a half bath. I feel like this is a bonus and a gift!!!


Brunhilda and Borris came out of hibernation in their purse conveyance today. They loved this corner of the counter, they stayed there overnight.


Standing where the dining room table will be, looking into the kitchen.

Can you see the grocery bag hanging on the left???? It is hanging on the doorknob of the door to the basement.


Looking into the living room from the dining room. Fisherhubby is pulling fishing line out of the vacuum cleaner. Now I wonder WHO left fishing line where the vacuum would pick it up??????? Hmmmmmm?????


Looking into the dining room from the living room.

Looks like Fisherhubby got the Dyson going!

Bathroom. Brunhilda and Borris' cousin has already moved in.



Piney view out the front door and across 1st Street.



Private back yard with a deciduous fence row. We saw a jet black squirrel playing in these trees this afternoon.


Vista down the length of the back yard.

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Brunhilda and Borris Go to Church

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Read all about it here.

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Color Me - - -

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Overwhelmed!!!!

(graphic from awakeningbusiness.com)

Our trip from Indiana to Wisconsin through the dead of the night went off like a charm.

Well, there was that one time when Fisherhubby's boat trailer lights stopped working - - - but he pulled over and fiddled with them for a few minutes and we were off to the races again.

Even Chicago was kind to us. That'll happen when you hit it at 4:30 AM and folks with BRAINS in their heads are still snoozing in their beds and NOT driving through the loop.

We did pull into the Wisconsin Welcome Rest Stop and snooze for about an hour. That was wonderful.

So - - - it is NOT the trip here which is overwhelming me. Nor is it the packing that we did back in Indiana, nor the cleaning either - - - those tasks are checked right off the old list.

No, what is overwhelming me today is trying to imagine WHERE IN THE WORLD we will put all our earthly possessions in that tiny duplex. Even after drastic sorting and weeding out - - - the stuff from our two story four bedroom home is going bulge out the walls on our duplex.

Oh well - - - if we cram all our furniture in there, slam and lock the door, I guess Fisherhubby and I can sleep on the street in the bed of his pick up truck.

The Clampets have arrived in Wisconsin Rapids.

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We are Wisconsinites!!!

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We arrived safe and sound in our new Wisconsin home town at 11:30 AM today!!!

More news later - - - but I knew some of you were worried about us since we started out at 2 AM.

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