greaterthansparrows

Institute is done for the summer, until September.  One sister, when this was announced a few weeks ago, exclaimed in dismay, "We have to stop for the summer?"  I remember the same reaction from a sister who had retired at age 60 and started coming.  "But I need this!  do people really need the summer?  Can't we do something during the summer?"  I wasn't the teacher then, just one of the class, but I would never had known this dear friend except for Institute, and she has been unable to come once this year. I've missed her. She had been called to teach the night time class, and we would consult, but not this year. We had a huge lesson, in terms of reading to cover:  Numbers 13-36 (its last chapter).  I wasn't feeling well, and I was doing the best I could to concentrate and prepare.  I am so grateful for the Lord making up the difference and carrying me through, these last two weeks in particular beyond any adequacy of mine, as we were in t...

[Note: this first paragraph has borne some corrections from my dad since originally being put up.  Moral of the story, doublecheck your memory.] During World War II my father's unit was assigned to Fort Lewis, now Joint Base Lewis-McChord, fifty miles south of Seattle.  That's a little south of here, in the county where we now live.  He would hitch-hike up to Tacoma to have Sunday School in a converted home, because there was no regular meetinghouse yet.  The members were discussing the need to raise funds to build, but that was still in the future. It was rather fun, when we moved here, to have him walk in during his first visit and say, "Ah, this is the building they were raising money for."  It was dedicated in 1950 (I think) by David O. McKay, then an apostle, and built in large part with member labor.  We have one brother* still here, still living, who was a part of that physical building effort.  He's 92 years old and still running his father...

Yesterday was the day that the new people started scraping off the popcorn ceilings (we didn't do them, but I liked them, especially after they were repainted and didn't glitter) and whacking out the parquet tiles of our teak floor.  Tuesday was our final clear-out, a two day extension from our agreed timetable, because they were understanding and we were pushing as hard as we could. Looking into the kitchen--passage on left to dining room, the refrigerator gone--last pass Thirty+ years is a long time.  The young couple who will live there are excited to see the possibilities and how they can fit them to their own needs.  Their vision is not identical to the one we came in with, all enthusiastic, when we were the young couple.  That doesn't bother me a bit (at least so far) and they have invited us to stop by often and see what is happening.  Her parents are doing this work with them, and they all have experience redoing prior properties.  The last o...

Amazing the things you forgot you wanted--it seems I am still, after all, my father's child.  I have a garden, and besides the vegetables, I have been buying flowers.  Having a new place, having no one else to worry about, I have craved flowers to grow and bloom.  As much as counter space is at a premium here, from the first foray into the garden shop at Fred Meyer for an early sale, I am cherishing my little red begonia.  My father used to plant begonias, and lilies, dahlias, and delphiniums. Permanent plantings were azaleas and rhododendrons; native dogwood and mountain laurel were already on the property.  We would all load into the station wagon together and each pick out a color for pansies every summer.  I was always torn between the deep red and the deep, dark purple, or the purple and gold, and happily most all the available colors came home with us, between all of our individual choices. I'm not going to try to keep up with what my dad use...

We have sold our house.  Well, technically it's not sold until they exercise their option, but we have signed a contract, they have forked over some money, and will lease it while they make the repairs it needs in order to get the source of financing they want. It is going to a young couple who are desperate for more space and who are excited about a house with plenty of space, a double lot, and three blocks from the first Montessori public elementary where they are already placed and driving their eight-year old to school everyday from outside its boundary lines.  They also have a six month old baby, and want to be able to put her in her own room and out of theirs.  Her mother, the grandma, contacted us the first day Hubby put a post on Craigslist because he included the address.  Grandma came, then brought daughter, then son-in-law, then grandpa who can do the work, and they all spent an hour and more going through an inspection a week ago.  Then the emails ...

Oddities and details... There are two keys to this house, one opens the front door and basement, the other opens the back kitchen door.  Except for once to make sure it worked, I have not used the second one.  There are two locks on each of the two doors, for a knob and a deadbolt, but just the knob on the basement door.  The one key which opens both locks on the front door and the basement knob has to be inserted and turned differently for each of them--teeth facing up, turn key to the right for the top lock, teeth facing down and turn the key to the left for the doorknob (because the doorknob was put in upside down, we did that by mistake once in replacing a lock), and then teeth facing up but turning to the left for the basement door because it looks like a different maker or model but was able to be keyed to the same or...I have no idea.  It was mildly confusing, I had to stop and think whether I was doing each of them right, sometimes I wasn't, and wonder if I...

Oh, dear, I knew it had been too long, but I didn't realize that a full two weeks had gonr by.  If I stopped to think about it, though, last weekend I had no computer (translation: see, it wasn't my fault!) for four days, no access to online resources until the night before my lesson, so that was the first priority, and I haven't been on my blog since then.  Thanks so much to the kind friend who was able to find a way in and clean it up without having to take it in to the "hospital." Moving is so unending a process.  The new place looks worse now because there is not time to sort most of the stuff now before pulling it out and bringing it here.  We can see the end in sight at the old house, we're not there yet, but coming closer.   Hubby has borne the vast brunt, and he's my hero. The  cherry blossoms bloomed really late this year, and I have missed them, since that's not the place where I live now to get up, go out and come back in, or gaze out t...