My Garage With Teeny Apartment Attached

A couple of months ago, I moved into a garage with a small apartment attached. Yes...you read that right!  

I think my garage is bigger than my apartment...

Garage Door To The Left Of Photo

My teeny apartment is just 750 square feet...but I love it. 

I'm the first one to ever live in it, and it's the first time in my life I've ever lived in a place all by myself. 

Family is close by, and I've got some great neighbors. I'm good!

My Teeny Tiny Front Room

It's a bit of a challenge to decorate and furnish a small place and still be comfortable without being overly cluttered. 

For 2 months it's been pretty bare! I think I'm up to decorating now since stores are starting to open up. 

If you remember, I sold most of my furniture in Texas to the people who bought Rivercrest Cottage. What they didn't buy, I gave away. 

Looking back, it wasn't a smart move. LOL!!! We had two storage units filled with "pretties" and no furniture when we got to Mississippi!

When we bought the Mississippi house, I bought new furniture trying to quickly make it a home for Wild Bill. It felt like we were going to have a fresh start! That didn't work out...

With Wild Bill gone so soon, I gave our new furniture to the people who bought the house and went to hide out stay with Middle Daughter and family here in Illinois. If you read that post, you might remember the family lost their house and everything in a storm 2 days before looking at our house (the first time) with my realtor.

Most of my special "decorating stuff" I have left has to go into the oversized garage in bins. It was love at first sight for the garage...

Length of Garage Is One and A Half

There's a small driveway in front of the garage, so I can leave the car outside and use the garage as an entertaining area. There's no room for a table in my apartment, but in a pinch, I could put folding tables and chairs in the garage if I needed to feed people.

Garage On Left Is Mine, My Porch On Right

I want another ping pong table in the garage like we use to have. That is, if social distancing ever ends. 

Right now there's just me...and lots of stuff! This photo was taken before I went back to Mississippi and picked up my storage stuff.

Illinois tends to get cold. The garage has a wall heater to keep it warm in winter. 

Electric Heater at the top of photo

I won't use it unless I need to do some work out there. I don't think I'd want to pay the bill for heating it more than just a little.

Thanks for dropping by!

Struggles

Hope all is well with you...I've found it's easier to say you're back than to actually be back!

The last 7 months have been a struggle to get back to normal, especially in this world of shutdowns and Covid 19. 

I wanted more than anything to get a haircut, especially when my bangs almost reached my chin! But long hair started to grow on me (no pun intended) and now I'm leaving it that way.

I'm working on downsizing now that I have everything I own in my garage and small apartment. It seems you have to go through your things about a blue million times before you actually get to a point where you have just what you need and no more.

I've found Blogspot changed all their buttons while I was gone. Took me forever to figure out how to even publish a post!

Today is the first day of Summer I think. The 4th of July will be here before we know it, and it seems like it should be fall by now to me. Time drags. 

I've been going out to walk early each morning, trying to get some exercise and using the time to get some deep breaths. Just Breathe...Just Breathe...

How about you? Are you enjoying summer or would you rather it be fall like me? Fall always seems to be a time for renewal... I'm ready for that.

Thanks for dropping by!

                                                                           

Life Does Go On...6 Months In

Hey Everyone! I'm trying to come back. 

Finally getting my feet on the ground and starting over instead of hiding out...

It's been 6 months today since Wild Bill passed. Seems like so long ago in a different life.

I rented a very small apartment with a large attached garage. In the Illinois winters that garage will be a godsend.

Mississippi House bought in Aug 2019, sold Feb 2020.

I gave most of our furniture to the people who bought our house in Mississippi so I'm living, for the time being, with a few borrowed pieces of furniture from my daughter who lives nearby.

With all the businesses shut down, it's been hard to buy furniture so I'm taking it slow. I plan to buy a small home next year so will try to keep the furniture minimal.

Last weekend, I drove down to Mississippi with some friends and picked up what belongings I kept in a storage unit there. 

I put everything in my attached garage for the time being while I determine what stays. 

I know this 70 year-old church pew will stay. I love it. I bought it on Facebook Marketplace from a wonderful couple who became my best friends during the 7 months in Mississippi. 

Juan and Floria were truly angels who showed up to help me through the worst part of my life. I will forever be grateful that God sent them to me just when I needed angels the most.

I hope you'll come back and see me. I'm determined to get back to blogging and life and hope you will share it with me.

Thanks for dropping by!

Back From The Abyss

It's been a while...Let's catch up!

I spent December with family in Illinois.  In early January, Oldest Daughter and I went down to Mississippi to get the house Wild Bill and I bought last August ready to sell. 

Our house was located in the town of Southaven (northern Mississippi) just south of Memphis Tennessee.

On the night of January 11, 2020, there was a bad storm in the Memphis area. In Germantown TN (west side of Memphis) 20 to 30 houses were demolished by the storm.

The next day, Sunday the 12th, a couple standing in the middle of the lot that was her home the day before, made a call to a realtor friend. The couple had been planning to marry in the spring, then buy a new house together in the summer...

"We're going to need a house a lot sooner than we thought!" they told their realtor friend as they picked through the rubble of her home.

"I have the perfect house for you."  Realtor Friend replied.

I was packing boxes that Sunday (getting ready to have our realtor put the house on the market) when he called me asking if I would be willing to let a friend of his see the house right away. How could I refuse when I heard their situation? 

The next day, Monday Jan 13th, the couple came to see our house... packing boxes and all! 

All the home-selling advice you will ever get advises you against showing a house before it's cleaned up and ready -- but what the heck -- I had a feeling.

They came, they saw, they liked. But...they wanted to look at the competition, just in case. I knew they were "The One's" and didn't even bother to put the house on the market. 

A few weeks later, the couple returned with her 3 daughters to look one more time. 

On our back patio that day (with an engagement ring in his pocket) he got down on his knee and proposed to her and her girls. 

They got married a few weeks later and, as a brand new family, they moved into the house at the end of February. 

I left them most of the new furniture we had just bought and moved on. The house was never really our home, it's just a place we once lived. 

Wild Bill, 1996, I Would Love To Do It All Over Again

Thanks for dropping by!

These Days...

Hello Friends! I miss not being able to check in often, and I want you to know I appreciate those of you who are still dropping by.

I last wrote to you on Christmas Eve. I'm sure you can tell by my post I was so down in the dumps without Wild Bill there with me. 

The next morning I found Bill's jacket, which he'd left hanging on the back of the guest room door the last time we had visited. I put his jacket on, along with the best face I could muster, and tried to be brave while the family opened Christmas presents.

Crafts-type magnifying light

I'm one of those people who doesn't like to receive gifts so usually I just get special ones "made with care" from the little ones who love to give something they've made or picked out. 

Another Crafts-type Magnifying Light

Well, this year that wasn't the case. First thing Christmas morning two of "The Daughters" plopped a big package in my lap and insisted I open it right away! Even before the grandkids got to open theirs...

I tried to put it aside...tried to convince them I just wanted to enjoy the little ones opening their gifts as we do it "one person at a time" and I didn't want to kill their joy...

Surprisingly, my usually understanding Middle Daughter just insisted Grammy needed to open her gift first!

So half-heartedly I opened the darn thing up. And there in my lap was the most inappropriate gift in the world! 

The shock took my breath away. And then...well...tears rolled down my cheeks as I laughed and laughed.

Youngest Daughter laughed with me too -- as she knew exactly how right that totally wrong gift was for me -- while Middle Daughter was unabashedly perplexed!

Middle Daughter had heard me say a while back I wanted to buy a lighted magnifying glass for doing crafts. She's NOT a crafts type person. So she found me what she thought was a perfect pair of magnifying glasses with a light. 

When the two daughters wrapped gifts down in the basement the night before, Middle Daughter showed Youngest Daughter the glasses. Youngest Daughter hinted that the glasses might not be exactly what I was looking for...but Middle Daughter was so sure they were exactly what I wanted and she wrapped them right up!

Friends, they were NOT what I had dreamed of, but they were exactly what I needed! Right then and there it was like Wild Bill was right in the room with us.

You see, they were nothing like what I had in mind, but they were exactly what Wild Bill would've bought for me thinking they were excellent!

Bill had the most awful, futurist wrap-around sunglasses when I first dated him back in 1995. I just could not convince him the 1970's called and wanted their sunglasses back! It took years before he gave them up.

Middle Daughter was so apologetic for getting me what she thought was the wrong gift and wanted to return them right away. I told her not in a million years would I ever give them up! 

And right there on Christmas morning-- a newly-widowed, old grandma sat with her ridiculous magnifying glasses and found the joy of Christmas once again.

Thanks for dropping by!

P.S.  Everyone else wanted to wear them too...even Middle Daughter once she understood I believed it was Grampy (whispering in her ear from the other side) that had led her so far astray. 

Why The Bench Didn't Get Painted

The hall bench was going to get painted in THIS post a short while back when I was inspired by some painted chairs in Purple Hydrangeas' blogpost.

The bench is very functional and photogenic! Here it is dressed up for Christmas...

Fortunately, before I got a paint brush out our house was under contract in 2 weeks, and the buyer was interested in purchasing some of our furniture. 

So the bench is staying with the house, along with some other pieces. 

It's a blessing because we are moving several states over and haven't found a new home yet, and our closing date keeps getting closer and closer.

I'd rather find a loving home for my favorite pieces of furniture than to drag them around and put them in long-term storage. 

My grandmother put her family furniture in storage just after the Great Depression when she moved to California from Nebraska, and her furniture stayed stored for over 40 years! 

Ten years after my grandma died, my dad went back and rescued three pieces of her oak furniture in the late 70's. I wrote about that in this POST one Christmas. 

He brought back my great-grandmother's childhood washstand and mirror for me...

They are remarkably well preserved for being in a barn for over 40 years! 

The mirror has very few spots and no damage on it although I did remove the oak wooden arms that attached the mirror to washstand because they were wobbly.

Thanks for dropping by!

Made Me Want To Paint Something!

Just when I was going to take it easy, I saw this post and loved the finish on these chairs over at The Purple Hydrangea's blog.

The Purple Hydrangea's Chippy Chairs

I decided I have to try this paint technique as I have several different colors of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint that I've hoarded, but never used. 

I think the likely victim is the dark wood bench in the hallway, but rest assured...someone here is getting painted and distressed!

Thanks for dropping by!

Grow A Beautiful Hydrangea Plant Of Your Own

What's the trick to growing your own hydrangea bush?

The only advice I can give you (that has worked for me) is to water your hydrangea bush A LOT and otherwise just ignore it!

I bought an inexpensive blue hydrangea bush in June of 2017 and planted it in a pot. Within a month, the blue got completely washed out as you can see in this photo from a post where I asked for help from other bloggers...

I Asked For Help In This Post

I got a lot of advice like...put a rusty nail in the pot, add coffee grounds once in a while, buy additives at the garden shop that is meant to turn them pink or blue depending on which color you prefer...

The best advice I got was "water it like crazy because the name itself, Hydrangea, indicates water." 

So here we are, 2 years later. I've pretty much watered it like crazy and then ignored it! The pot sits out on the patio all year long. 

In winter we get 2 or 3 small snow storms and the snow piles up on the pot and the poor shriveled plant. Sometimes I look out the window and think the snow is going to kill the plant for sure! 

It was especially cold this past winter, but the plant came back with a vengeance this year and it seems like it can't decide whether to be blue or pink, so it's going for both!

I love it when even a crappy gardener like me can grow flowers like these! 

I see a few hydrangeas flowers for sale in the floral sections at the market, and they sell for more than the price of a potted hydrangea that often has 3 to 6 flowers on it! 

People should know they can buy a potted hydrangea, take it home and water it and cut flowers for the house for years to come.

Thanks for dropping by!

Professional Photos When Selling Your Home

This is the first time we've had professional photos taken of a home we are selling. 

The weather has been rainy and overcast all week so taking photos required as many lights as possible.

I do believe it's worth the cost to have professional photos taken, but luckily our realtor provides the photographer's photos as part of the service that she provides for her fee.

The photographer's photos show our home so much better than mine! 

I'm inspired by her photos and definitely plan to get a wide-angled lens and take some photography classes when we get re-settled in the future.

Here's her photos of the two guest rooms. I like how she got the rooms in full view, including the vaulted ceilings. All our bedroom ceilings are vaulted to about 16 feet, which makes it difficult to photograph.

The bathroom between the guest rooms has a tiled bathtub/shower combo. I like how she managed to reflect the tile that goes up the shower wall in the mirror while showing off the best view of the bathroom.

She also got the laundry room view in one photo while it took me two photos to get it all in.

So I'm sold on the value of a professional photographer when it comes to selling a home. 

If you saw my photos in the last post, I think you'll agree it isn't just that she used a wide-angled lens, but that a professional has a better eye for details.

If you'll share your opinion, I'd like to hear your thoughts on using a professional photographer and whether you've used one in the past. Did it help your home sell faster?

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms and grandmas out there! I hope you're enjoying your day and letting someone else do all the cooking. 

Thanks for dropping by!

House Staging Tips Put To Use

Thank you to all those who commented on staging the mantle in the last post! I saw a trend towards the family painting for the mantle, so that's what we ended up with there.

The lanterns are staying for now, but I'm on the lookout for something smaller. 

Everyday I wish we had left the TV hanging over the mantle...it would make that area so much simpler! 

But the large TV cabinet and oversized TV are in the room now, and we have no desire to take them with us! We've offered them as a 'negotiable inclusion' in the terms of a future sale.

The entryway kept its bench and rug, but everything else (except an old watering can of florals) got removed.

I watched A LOT of "How To Stage Your House" videos on YouTube over the weekend. 

The best advice was (1) Know Who Is Your Target Market, and (2) Clear Everything 'Not Essential' Out Of Your House for a showing. 

I had just bought a real cute new bathmat that day, and the person making the video said, "Don't go out and buy a new bathmat because you should remove everything from the floor -- including your bathmat!"

The kitchen still has some chickens around, but gone are almost all appliances.

It was an exhausting weekend, but the house is cleared out and simplified, and the photographer came yesterday and took pictures of the house. 

The photos should be ready tomorrow, and then finally we are going up for sale! 

While we were moving "extras" out of the house to storage, we had to buy 2 chairs to turn the dining room back into a dining room. 

We've been using the dining room as a reading room recently with a couch in there. I went a lot of places - real quick - to find some reasonably priced chairs!

Finally I found something that would work (and that was in stock) at World Market. I bought two, round-back gray chairs that we can use in our future home too.

One thing I think we did right was to almost completely clear out the walk-in closet in our master bedroom. 

The photographer said she doesn't normally photograph closets, but did photos of ours since it was all cleared out. I'm so glad I emptied it out as I think a large closet is a good selling point, and I'd hate to have people walking into our "stuff".

When I determined who our target market was, it was more than likely a retired couple like ourselves. Over half our neighbors are retirees so that was a no-brainer!

Outside the master bedroom, there's an office nook. The office area is almost empty now too.

I've found it's easier to see problems when you take a picture and look at an area by photo instead of looking in person. The photo below makes me realize I need to clear out some of those books on the top shelf!

The powder room and laundry room are next to each other near the garage...

Thanks for taking this tour with me...I'm leaving you with the view of the powder room mirror. I just want to say here, the speckles on the mirror aren't dirt! 

It's a reproduction mirror that has an "effect" speckled on to make it look old. It looks better in person, honest! 

Thanks for dropping by!