A Different Life II

[Gearheart]

Ah. Maker's Mark. There's one of those on my on board cabinet, along with a Chivas Regal aand a Drambuie for rusty nails. MM is not for mixing, but for sipping.

[Lily&Me]

I'm taking a step back from this thread, at least for awhile...it just seems to be time.

Safe travels,

Maggie

[nsbcpa]

Step backs are always good..... Thanks for sharing over the years...

[Hittenstiehl]

We will miss the daily musings but every once in a while will be good also.

To all things there is a season.

[TravlinMan]

Welcome home, Maggie. I enjoyed following your travels and wish you a lovely tomorrow.

[Airtandem]

rest up Maggie, will see you at MV.

mike

[Lily&Me]

Thanks, folks.

I have removed and bagged up a phenomenal amount of weeds from the beds around the house and my backyard garden....a heaping over, aching-from-bending-and-pulling, gorilla cart full...so much that I hauled my city trash can to the back yard rather than try to maneuver the loaded cart to the front. Yikes.

And, the exterior is more reflecting how I feel about my little house....tended to and loved, rather than semi-abandoned and neglected.

Rocks that I brought home with me..a few from Lake Superior, and many really gorgeous ones from Vermont...now grace my rock beds and borders, visual and heartwarming reminders of travel and beloved places, like the seashells that are everywhere, inside and out.

I need to wash the Interstate today... the last of the big, return-home tasks...then get to phone calls, making appointments, and those kinds of tasks that are filling my to do list.

My son's oldest is now about a half inch taller than his Grandma, second son is up to my nose....my sweet babies, growing up so quickly, and so good to spend time with them yesterday.

I was treated to mini concerts of cello and violin...Camden on the cello has developed some real skill this past year, and is going to start taking private lessons.

He is one of those motor powered kids, who throws himself into everything, masters it, strives to excel and exceed expectations...always, no halfway of anything with this boy.

They are excited about a trip with me to the UP next summer, and tell me they prefer staying in camping cabins to motel rooms. That can be done, most of the time.

It will be fun, a shared adventure, and we will get together over the next few months to do some planning. An overnight here, with a fire in the fire pit, hot dogs, s'mores, etc., will happen once the weather cools off.

It is good to be home...changes are occurring in a number of areas of my life, as widowhood evolves, matures and ripens with age. Some involve travel, and some don't.

A natural progression of events, it feels...Doug is always here/not here, and I believe that will always be the case, but my footing is solid these days and I am not so much in the shadow of the "we".

Life, it goes on, and it changes...it's what it does, always.

Maggie

[patnal]

We've never met and I've never commented but I've been following your blog for a few years now. From when we joined the forums in 2012 and enjoyed the DougnMaggie posts, to the pray for Doug post and thru your different life I and II. I've enjoyed your writing, your thoughts, and I've prayed for you and laughed and cried with you. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes, travels, adventures, your heart and your life. You have met life's greatest challenge and have been an inspiration to me. Thank you, [emoji253]Pat

[Lily&Me]

That's very sweet of you, Pat, and thank you for those kind words.

I will still be posting and sharing here, just not daily...it's time.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The Blue Beacon here is one of the best I've found around the country, and the Interstate is so clean and shiny that it squeaks when you touch it. I like.

I've made an appointment with a small, nearby auto repair shop to attend to the small spots of rust on the roof and coat the remainder with clear ProFlex RV. My regular body shop doesn't like to deal with rust "because it always comes back", but I have to do something...for now, and to prevent future problems.

I've done some touch-up painting in the little house, and when my son was here for lunch the other day he helped me remove dirty light fixtures and return them to place...clean. When you turn the overhead lights on, and can see the dust, they call to you til they are tended to...at least, they do me.

Standing on a stool, reaching far over my head while bent slightly backwards to remove and replace ceiling fixtures isn't the best task for me, but he's about 8" taller than me so it's easy for him.

Home earlier than usual this time of year, I feel I am luxuriating in the time I have to do pre-winter tasks...in the Interstate, and in/around the house.

On my to-do list, off and on for a couple of years, has been to get into, take inventory of, and start to rid out my small chest freezer...still with many things in it from the before, and probably put in there by Doug ...so I've been working on that this week.

It's time...it's actually past time...but I've paced myself with those things, and this is one of the last. Things solidly frozen just haven't been a priority.

Buffalo burgers, sausage links, sausage patties, 2-packs of boneless Amana sirloins, etc., all purchased in Shipshewanna or Iowa City in the before of carnivore hubby.

Also lots of freezer jams of various sorts, frozen turkey from Thanksgivings past, Ma Bell's smoked sausage, etc., etc., etc..

Anything vacuum sealed or freezer wrapped should still be edible, right? Even found a loaf of wrapped-for-the-freezer banana bread, which when thawed was actually quite good.

8 buffalo burgers to my son, whose kids have never eaten such a thing and are excited about the prospect....I told them the story of the buffalo burger with elk chili that their Grandpa ate on our first trip to the Tetons, post retirement, and they were impressed.

They will eat buffalo burgers and remember their Grandpa, and I am taking another step forward.

I'm thinking about painting the stained linoleum in the Interstate...anything would be an improvement, but replacing it seems much more complicated. A shade of floor and deck paint closely matching the cork-look flooring. https://www.designertrapped.com/how-...um-floors-yes/

After crazy heat for late September, thank you very much, we are having a spell of more seasonably cool weather...highs in the 70's, lows in the upper 40's and 50's.

Perfect for fall choring, and invigorating Lily-walks, and it will hopefully be that way for Moraine View in 2 weeks.

Gerard and Laura are coming back for this, and my son with his two boys are planning to pitch a tent on my campsite that weekend.

He wanted to take them camping, fishing, perhaps out in canoes that weekend...but, not being the rather compulsive planner that his mother is, he had no reservation.

I have a site overlooking the lake, so they will nest near me, do Dad-with-sons things, and I will have the pleasure of enjoying some of that with them.

Lily is happy to be home, and slides right back into the slightly different, home routine.

We've been for a ride for frozen yogurt in the RAV4, which feels like driving a toy car after three months of Interstate-only driving, and walked up to the detention basin several times so that she can rip and run...she's a happy girl.

And...I've baked a loaf of Dutch Oven bread.

I'm never really home until I've baked a loaf of bread.

Maggie

[unifreck]

Maggie
Re your floor, take the Interstate to a local flooring company or 3 , and ask if they
can place a new flooring material OVER the existing floor. I think that is a better
solution than paint.. You could also do it yourself with "press and pray" tiles from a big box store. Just suggesting. Ed
AEW

[Lily&Me]

Thanks, Ed.

I did cross that off my to-do list yesterday afternoon....after checking paint samples against the existing flooring, and deciding it just wasn’t going to look the way I would like.

I wouldn’t do the press and stick myself, as the task-saturation of trying to cut to fit would probably overwhelm my patience.

I have thought about a flooring place, and having them put something over it...also about having the benches removed to have the entire rear and main galley floor area torn up and replaced.

The latter probably bigger bucks than I care to spend.

My roof is being sealed with ProFlex on Wednesday, however, and the little rust spots taken care of.

I hope this place serves to be a good resource for small things...they are family owned, close to me, and have a good reputation.

They also have no issue with taking before and after pictures.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I found this at TJMaxx...yes, it came home with me.


The Interstate is in for its roof re-do, and I am poring over UP attractions and starting to make reservations for my road trip with the grands next summer....it’s going to be great, and they seriously don’t seem to care much what we do, they just want to go in “the van”...with each other, and with their Grandma. My sweet babies.


If you have not seen “The Good Doctor”, I watched both episodes last night and liked it...it is about a young doctor with autism, who is doing his surgical residency, and I think it is going to be a good series.

How he presents, how others respond to him, and how he/they learn to navigate living and working with this disability, has the potential for increasing our understanding of and compassion for individuals like this young man...I think it is going to be good, in many ways.


We’ve had one horrific natural disaster after another these last couple of months, devastating the lives of millions of people, and now the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

At the risk of being deleted, I’m just going to say this....the solution to preventing such events, in my opinion, is not extreme security measures and the scrutiny and screening of individuals everywhere, every way, and in every setting.

The means for an everyday individual to legally procure the items that deliver such violence upon their fellow man needs to be eliminated. Period.

My opinion. It’s not only time, it’s past time.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

It sounds like you and Lily are settling in for some time at home. That's always good. I hope the new vehicle repair place works out well for you. Those small, family-owned places are often the best.

Last week I finally got to see and walk around in my new house. I think I'm going to love it. The builder is sending me here and there to choose this and that every time I go down there. I was at the house when the electricians came and got to choose where they put the switches for various things. All good. The development I'm building in operates a nice RV park, so I can camp nearby and watch the house take shape.

The hangar is almost complete, waiting for delivery of the big front door. I got word yesterday that it will be delayed for another three weeks due to hurricanes. That door comes from Michigan. I guess their supply chain was affected somehow, because no hurricanes got that far north.

And, after mowing a couple of acres of grass here today, while looking at more acres that need it badly, I'll be very glad to have a much smaller yard to keep.

[Lily&Me]

That's great news, Mimi, and I know you can’t wait to be settled into your new place.

We go to the Moraine View rally next Thurs-Sun, and I’m actually...after a mere two weeks at home ...thinking about a few days north of here before I winterize and put the Interstate to bed until January.

I’m not making a run to Iowa until the first weekend in November, so I’ll have to see if the weather holds.

Keep us posted on the house, Mimi, and maybe a picture or two.

Maggie

[Gearheart]

We went to Copper Harbor in the UP last August. There is an old copper mine no longer working that you can go down in and see how it was. Your grandkids might enjoy that.

[Lily&Me]

Thanks, Gerard....I’m looking at mines and waterfalls and museums and a couple of boat trips.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I’ve been able to get accommodations in WI/the UP for the 5 of us for our road trip next summer, all with full or partial kitchens...2 nights in Bayfield, 2 in Copper Harbor, 2 in Munising, two days from there back to Iowa City, then a third to get back here. That will be our week.

There are not lots of places that can put us all in one suite or cottage, but there are some, and those reservations to my great relief are now in place...so the rest will be easy. I’ve ordered a tourism packet, so there will soon be paper to look at and pore over...

Lots to do in each area, so what we do each day can be decided at the time, and according to the weather. It will be grand.

I want them to have the glass bottom boat shipwreck tour, which with maritime museums will be in lieu of Whitefish Point and the Shipwreck Museum...just too far, too much ground to cover in 9 days gone.

Mostly, I want them to have fun, to do and see a lot, and not spend an inordinate amount of time driving...but for here to there and back. Perhaps the rest of the UP in 2019...


The man who has the Interstate has sealed about two dozen small rust spots on the roof, photographing them as he goes, and the first clear coat over everything should have gone on yesterday. We have had badly needed rain off and on for the past 4-5 days, so it’s been a piece at a time, but that’s okay...my roof will be sealed against rust when I get it back.

There are two cracks in the AC cover up there that he has taken pictures of, meaning it should probably be replaced before it comes apart in flight at some point...going to call JC tomorrow and see if it can be shipped to me. He could install it.


Lily and I took a drive in the RAV4 today to check out some campgrounds within an hour or so of here, as I am hoping for a final few days in November before winterizing and shutting things down for a couple of months...that’s my hope, we’ll see if the weather cooperates...I want something different, and more rustic than the state and county campgrounds nearby.

There are a couple that were...errmm, no...but I found a nice Fish & Wildlife campground that looked well-used but was completely empty this afternoon, so weekdays should be in a similar state.

No hookups, but clean and well maintained, well away from the road, lots of wide open spaces where Lily can run, new looking fire-pits with grills....at $6 a night. It’s now marked on the map...we’ll see.


I’ve been reading about the many health benefits of soaking not only in Epsom Salt but also Himalayan Sea Salt, and went in search of these this morning to replenish the nearly-gone homemade salts that I concocted last year...the Himalayan can actually be purchased already mixed with Epsom, and lightly scented with relaxing essential oils. Perfect.

I layered them, pink and white, in the giant glass jar I made Rumtopf in last year...voila, a relaxing, mineral infused and detoxifying soak in the tub whenever I take the notion.

They look lovely, cohabitating in that big jar, and smell heavenly.

[mimiandrews]

OK. Here are the two latest pictures I have of the house. It's been a little over a week since I was there.

[Lily&Me]

I love it, Mimi!

It looks perfect for you and the pup.

Maggie