Car additions, ready to be packed for the long journey....

So, today, and most of the weekend, is preparing the stuff that I will be taking to Alaska in the car.  I want to have it totally packed by Tuesday so that anything I might need on the road will not accidentally get put into the moving van.

I had purchased cross bars for the rails on the top of Miss Gaddy.. my Caddy...so I could mount a car top carrier to handle some of the extra things I may need to carry with me.  I also purchased a carrier that is not too big but will add 14 cubic feet of storage space for things.  

When Rob was here, he looked everything over and we did a test fit to make sure I had what we needed and that it worked with my car, so that if I needed to ship things back, there was time.  But the rails fit and the carrier did not interfere with the radio antenna and would be easily accessible on the road.

So, this morning, Danny Lantz came up from Maryland and together he and I figured out how the rails went on... I lost the instructions.  So we got the rails on, then the carrier and then we tweaked and tweaked and tweaked to have it just right.  I will have to keep checking every time I use the car and throughout the trip to make sure that everything remains nice and tight.

So here is Miss Gaddy with her new hat on.  I think she looks lovely.  We will add her new tail (tire carrier with a full size spare)  the day we hit the road.  The hatch does not open with the tire carrier locked into place, but if we move the holder out just an inch, the hatch is accessible so all is well.

Some Goodbyes are harder than others....

So, yesterday I signed the title to change the title on the truck.  I met John Russel at Compass Auto Tags to finish the transaction.  It has been so strange to not see the truck in the driveway, but it really did bring the reality of everything really hit home when I signed that title.  I am really and truly doing this... It is happening and FAST...

Sheila came over again yesterday afternoon and we picked up where Patches and I had left off on Wednesday evening.  We headed up into the attic.  Since all of the fabric stash was inside 7 totes, I decided to bring down the suitcases that I had held onto, thinking that I might store fabric in them and then get rid of them in Fairbanks.  I also bright down all of the suitcases that I will be using to pack for the 4100 mile journey to my new home.

Then we went into the bathroom and went through the linen closet and the little cabinet next to the sink.  Trashed stuff and culled through towels, wash cloths and the like.  There was a large stack of towels that went out onto the free table.  There were curling prons that I will never use, Nettie Pots and stuff, bandages, etc.

I had two small tables that I had decided needed to skip the trip to Alaska.  So we took a large amount of stuff to the "free" table and headed to the basement.  I still had some things to search through in the sewing room.  And so we continued there.  As we filled up containers with more free stuff, Sheila would take it up to the table.  At one point she started putting things in boxes so people could go through them on the ground as there was no room on the table.

Then she took stuff up and came down to tell me the table was empty.  Nothing left.... it was all gone, every last thing.  I figured it was the gentleman who had stopped the other day in a white SUV that also took everything.  When we stopped finally, I reviewed the saved videos for the "free" table that my little WYZE camera had recorded... and sure enough, the white SUV had made a haul.  But we kept adding to the table and it kept disappearing.  I took the final little load out after Sheila left and added 2 pieces of fabric and a skein of yarn with a couple of other odds and ends.  Before it turned dark, the yarn was gone and the fabric disappeared early this morning.

I have arrived at the point where I am almost ready to be packed and moved.  With the help of family... Brian and Rob, and friends like Sheila and Patches, I have gone through 40 years of accumulation of living in this house.  I took pictures today of some of the results of the work.  I will try to show before pictures, followed by after.  Enjoy!!

The workbench before being purged.

This is after.... only stuff on the top.  I still have to go through some of it to have tools for the trip.

Trundle bed in the sewing room before the purge.  Hard to even see the bed at all.

Trundle Bed ready for packing.

Basement shelves early in the purge

Ready for the movers...

Views of the sewing room from the front and the back... before!

The front and back of the sewing room, ready for the movers....

My stash safely in tubs.  Better to pay to ship than try to replace it at $15.00/yard in Alaska.

Quilt room before...

The most empty room in the basement.  Quilt frame disassembled, sewing machine returned to it's box and everything else ready to be moved.

It is a full service move, so they will be packing up everything we have not... and they may be repacking some items.

I spoke to the driver today.  He ill be arriving on Tuesday a tad later in the morning than he might like.  He is from Anchorage and will be arriving from Maryland.  He sounds excited to be doing this move as he will be heading for home.

As for my goodbyes today... I drove to Elkton, MD to deliver Red Hat stuff, quilting stuff and embroidery stuff to Janice Dillard.  She had gone on a couple of our Red Hat trips back in the day and we had reconnected when she started sewing and quilting and using a machine embroidery machine.

After leaving Janice's house, I headed over to visit my greatest friend in the world, Marji Lantz.  She and I have had some really grand adventures since meeting in 2004.  We traveled to Alaska in 2008.  We have had many wonderful times together and grew quite close quite quickly and she and her husband have been my guardian angels since Rudy died.  I do not know how I could have gotten through some of the dark times and trials without them.

She refuses to even talk about my moving.  She tried to have September deleted from this year's calendar so I would not move and has threatened to attach bungee cords to the bumper of my car to keep it from moving when I pull away.  So when I walked into her house today, she was shacked and surprised, but every time I mentioned the move, she covered her ears.

I finally had to head home and she got out of her chair... not an easy task as she has suffered a shattered right elbow and shoulder last year and this year she fell and broke her left hip... but she got up and walked over and hugged me as tightly as she could and told me that she was going to miss me terribly!!

Me, too, Marji.  But we will talk and catch up on the phone, just like we do now, it will just be harder to visit.  But we both have Amazon Show and we will use them to have face to face visits.  It was a hard drive home today.... lots of tears, even now!  I love you so much, Marji, it hurts!!!

One final reunion.....

Last night was the final group of friends, getting together to help send me on my way.  These were the ladies that I had worked  with for close to 14 years at Jefferson Bank in Downingtown.

I had started my short career at Jefferson Bank doing data entry in the Installment Loan department.  Mary Ciarlone, who was in charge of Human Resources for the small bank, stole me from the Loan department and mentored me as I learned the intricate and sometimes frustrating world of payroll and benefits and Unemployment.  I also helped her with overnight Fed Funds investments as that fell under her supervision for a time.

As the bank grew, we needed to add another person to help carry the load.  Our first hire in that endeavor was Alicia Rissel.  The three of us worked as a team, sharing the jobs and learning all aspects of HR.  Over the years we had several people in and out of the department, including Pam Rice, who quickly became the 4th Musketeer in the HR leadership.  In the final days, Mary was the VP of HR, Pam handled all of the Unemployment issues and other odd programs which escape me at the moment, Alicia did payroll processing and I was in charge of the Benefit programs for over approximately 650 employees.

We worked together for close to 12 years (I was there for 14 total years before I moved on after the bank was sold to Hudson Untied Bank) each taking a section of the department while still backing up each others positions.  We were friends.  We were a little family.  And we were colleagues who respected each ones talents.

Just as this was about to happen, the bank was sold.  I was offered a job by the company that did our payroll, so I was the first to leave.  I think the rest of them stayed to the bitter end.  Mary has been enjoying retirement. Alicia and Pam have moved on to other jobs.  We have stayed in touch and gotten together for dinner to catch up frequently.  We did it more often initially.  But it has been more than 2 years since we last got together.  When they learned I was moving, we managed to find a day to get together.

We met last night at The Thorndale Inn.  Alicia picked up Mary, who was walking gingerly with an injured foot. Mary had already picked out what she wanted to eat before she arrived so she could concentrate on our conversations.  Alicia and Pam do not seem to have aged at all and are busy in their lives with jobs and family.  We found out about Jefferson Bank folks who are working or not working or who have passed away.  We laughed about the "Christmas Pickle" radio show on WCOJ (way back in the day) that we had started on a question sent to the call in show hosted by Bill Gillan.  And we just found out what everyone has been up to.  We started at 6:00 PM and I got home around 8:30 PM.

I will miss seeing them.  Perhaps they might venture north to visit me in Fairbanks on one of their vacations.  I have plenty of room to let you stay.

In the meantime, I continue sorting and purging.  I am closer to being ready, but still have some things to accomplish.  Patches is coming tonight.  Sheila will be here tomorrow afternoon.  Patches is coming again on Friday evening.  Then I will be preparing the car for loading and the journey to Alaska. 

The movers/packers arrive on Tuesday, September 3rd.  They anticipate finishing the process on September 6th and I will drive away on September 7th.  If they finish early, I will head out sooner.  At that point a huge chapter in my life will end and a new one will begin.  I will stop to visit my cousin, Linda, in Lake Villa, IL before driving to Brian's home in Minneapolis.  There I will be joined by my son, Rob and the two of us will proceed on the trek to Fairbanks via Canada, with some of my more precious possessions in the car, including my two dogs.  I got all of their paperwork yesterday from the vet that should allow them to enter Canada and re-enter the USA when we get to the border of Alaska.

Lots of adventures ahead.  Keep watching!!!

Hard to say goodbye...

As if the stress of moving a long way across the country at the age of 72 was not enough... people seem to want to express their appreciation for the little things I have done over the years.  

I am touched beyond measure at this.  I am and have always been much more of a loner.  I do not get involved with a group just to stay busy.  And when I do join... and those of you who know me, please do not giggle at this... I try to just sit in the background and listen to others until I see how the group is run and what the core values of the group are before getting too involved.

But once I commit to any group, I am quite capable of doing a service or task well and contributing to the cause.  I am a good organizer (Thank you, Mom) and I have learned to search the Internet for information and ideas to promote any activity.

All of the farewells began last weekend, with my Quilty, Red Hat, Indian Acres ladies.  It was a delightful picnic and,  as I mentioned in a past blog, we laughed, shared memories and hugged.  

I got a couple of very thoughtful gifts from that group.  Debby Patton, with whom I have shared some really good and some really heart-wrenching times, gave me a beautiful silver bracelet.  It has some very special charms that will have me remembering her every time I wear it.

M A Carroll gifted me a very special item.  Her late husband, Billy, was a very talented artist and he loved painting the local Maryland wildlife on local mediums.  Before he died he had painted a darling Blue Heron on a small piece of slate.  I have already carefully bubble wrapped it for the journey.  It will bring me many, many memories of my times at Indian Acres.

Billy Carroll was such a talented man in so many ways.. and M A and I went on countless adventures that often turned out to be more than we expected.  Good memories.

Today was probably the hardest goodbye event I will have for this move.  Since 2012 I have been going to Parkesburg Mennonite Church either as a GriefShare participant, or as a guest to the church and finally as a member.  It is a small church, we are lucky if we have 30 people at Sunday School and church services.  But it is a dedicated membership who refuse to let the church die, even though we have not had a pastor for several years.  (We can only sustain a part-time pastor for now and they are hard to find.)

This church is, however, a tight-knit family.  And even though I was a stranger, I immediately felt the warmth and caring from this church.  I helped them continue GriefShare for several years.  I was a leader... with two other capable ladies... in starting the Sew Much Love ministry where we create pillowcases for Children's hospitals, Dresses for Africa and prayer shawls for our Prayer Shawl Ministry as well as helping the Parkesburg Point with their new Prayer Shawl program.  I also had a great deal of fun running the simple Audio/Visual program for the Sunday services.

Today they had a Community meal for me following the church service.  They had a special reading and presentation during the service.  The church had commissioned a painting by one of our congregation so I could remember them.  Anita Palmer-Gordon painted a beautiful rendition of the church building.  It will be one of the first things I hang in my new home in Alaska.  I will look at it often and have wonderful memories of all of the people and activities there.

Denyce Tober stopped by Sew Much Love yesterday to give me a beautiful "Lemon" basket of kitchen things to brighten up my kitchen during the cold, dark winters.  And it certainly will.

Sheila Williamson, aside from hugs and tears of her own, presented me with a lovely Christmas ornament for my first Alaska Christmas Tree.  It is a Lenox ornament, wishing Blessings on my Home.  I have felt Sheila's blessings all the time I have been at the church, from the first bear hug at GriefShare to this morning and will continue them as she will be here this week to continue helping me get ready for the packers and movers to come after Labor Day.  You have been such a blessing to me!!!

Sheila, I hope that you will add Alaska to your bucket list after you have finished traveling Europe.

Finally, in addition to cards with gift cards and cash, I had a very unique gift from Patches DiGregorio.  She also gave me cash, but along with her card, she gave me a beautiful bouquet.  It was delightful dollar blossoms.  I loved it and will certainly find it handy during my journey from Parkesburg to Fairbanks.

Patches has also been a trooper by helping me on some evenings as I sort and pack up my sewing room.  Anytime you and your family want to come visit, there will be space for you.  Marina has already said that she will be coming to visit, so you might as well all come and we can all have a wonderful time together.

Lots of tears today.  But lots of love, too.  I know that we will be missing each other. but in today's age, we can always video call, email, text or just old-fashioned phone call.  So I will never be more than a couple of numbers away from my friends.  I will just be adding new ones to my circle.

Time marches on...

Lots of things happening here in Pennsylvania and in Alaska.  In Alaska, the window repair/replacement has finished.  The workers came back the next day, replaced the trim... inside and out.  Touched up whatever needed to be touched up and left.  (sorry, no pictures of the finished windows)  The day after, the owner was back for a final inspection and took some measurements for the future replacement of the double pane windows on the lower floor.

The pressure regulating valve on the line coming in from the street was replaced... and in short order, I might add.  That plumber looked at the connector feed for the refrigerator when we install an ice maker.  That feed line was installed prior to the remodel that was done in the lower level and is no longer easily accessible, so there will have to be an access panel put into the ceiling on the lower level.  It is either now or later, when the little valve that is in the ceiling begins to leak... and from the way it looks, it will be sooner than later.  Something for the future.

Yesterday, in addition to the window inspection, Rob & Kate had ordered carpet cleaning for the entire house.  The carpet looked either tan or grey on my little screens that I get to view my future home.  Rob told me it was actually white with flecks of color throughout.  So I mentioned it was too bad that we had not thought of getting the carpets cleaned earlier, just after settlement.  But they did make some calls and found someone who came yesterday afternoon.

It was one lone man, for the entire house (a tad more than 2100 square feet of living space).  He vacuumed all over, then pre-treated, the ran the shampoo machine, so it took a few hours, which Rob had not planned on.  Poor Rob, he has spent more time at the house than a normal resident might.  He was there all day on Monday, all day on Tuesday and then all day yesterday.  Kate might have spared him by taking turns... they are such a good team together, but she is in Seattle at a business conference, not due back until Sunday.  So anything that needs tending at the Waves house, he will need to do himself.  He says he will be happier once I am in the house, then I can take care of everything.

The carpets look lovely and Rob says the house smells fresher.  The sellers had left air fresheners in every room.  They were giving Rob a headache when he was there long, so he had begun moving them out of the rooms he was in.  He said when he did that, that he could smell the cat that had lived in the house.  If that is the case, then for sure my dogs would have smelled it.  Rob told me that the carpet guy had offered an enzyme treatment but Rob had declined.  I asked him to rethink that and have it done.... and he did.  Hopefully that will take care of the remnants of cat that were left when the sellers moved out.

So, today, Rob is actually working on his job!!  He had the ceiling fan running in the house upstairs to circulate the air.  He found a pedestal fan in the garage and set that running on the lower floor.  He said he had a couple of fans at home and would bring them in today to help the drying process in some of the closed off rooms.  I am sure they will be fine by the time furniture begins to arrive.

Rob was at the house while the carpets were being cleaned, but he could not be IN the house.  So he was relegated to the garage.  He decided that he was going to try to enlarge the area outside the door to the outside from the garage.  That is where the dogs will be let loose on their leads to wander and pee/poop.  In the picture, you can sort of see a line, where the normal yard ended at the edge of the wood shed and you can see that Rob pretty much doubled the area.  He used the lawn mower that was left by the sellers.  His comment was "The mower works!!"

He comments also that there are some stumps and roots he will have to work on.  I am hoping the poles and posts can be removed as well so the dogs do not wrap themselves around them each time they go outside.

Here in Pennsylvania I continue to sort and purge.  It has really gotten more intense.  I got the estimate of weight to be shipped to Alaska.  It is a BIG number and I cannot imagine that I actually have that much stuff.  But, just in case, I have gone into extreme removal of stuff mode.

Last night my friend, Danny Lantz, came up from Maryland and we dug through the workbench in the basement and the boxes of tools that had come up from Maryland.  He took boxes and bags and buckets of tools and screws and stuff out of the basement and into his truck.  Danny can always use tools.  He is one of the really good guys who helps out anyone who needs assistance.  He will lend tools to family and, quite often, does not get them back.  He will make good use of them all.  SO I have a few of the things that I tend to use and the screws that I like using, and the load of tools going to Alaska has been greatly lightened.

The last two days I have had my free table out front.  Yesterday I filled the table three times.  Today, I have already filled the table 4 times.  One time, as I was unloading my little red wagon, a car stopped and was taking things almost as quickly as I was putting them out.  Today it was basement stuff, office stuff, extra sewing stuff and kitchen stuff.  I really do not need to take 6 pie plates to Alaska!

What amazes me is how some of the things I think will never be picked up go really fast and how some things linger around the table for several days and suddenly disappear.  And it also makes me laugh to see how some folks look through the stuff, that will cost them NOTHING, and treat some of it like junk because it is not new.  But usually by the end of the time I have the table out, only one or two things will remain.

The last several days, there has been a Nikon digital camera out there in a Ziplock bag with the book and cords and charger along with a digital SD card, too.... and no one picked it up until today!!!  It was out there for three days.... a digital camera!

Work on the house in Alaska.....

Yesterday, there was some work done on the house in Alaska.  As any of you who have purchased homes recently know, the buying process includes all manner of disclosures and inspections.  Makes it difficult for folks in older homes to sell, sometimes, as these homes usually have a raft of things that need to be fixed or should have things fixed.

The house I am moving to was built in the 1980s.  It seemed to be well maintained and one of the big ticket items that usually come into play is the roof.  Well, the roof on this house was only 11 years old and yet it was flagged by our inspector for bubbling shingles due to excessive heat in the roof area that Alaska is not used to seeing.... thank you Global warming!

We had extraordinary sellers.  They took the entire list of 22 or 23 items and immediately agreed to fix them all.  Along with the roof, our inspector had noted that the newer windows on the upper floor bedrooms (that had already been replaced with triple pane glass), were not proper "Egress" windows.  Never hesitating, the seller had made arrangements to get those two windows replaced with the correct windows.

As I am learning, getting materials to Alaska is not as easy as moving things in the lower 48 states.  So the repair had to be scheduled for after settlement.  The windows were on their way, but had not yet left Seattle when settlement happened.  Shipping is slower and much more expensive when going to Alaska.

Yesterday was window replacement day #1.  Rob had to be at the house early and prepared to stay there all day long.  The main contractor arrived bright and early, followed shortly thereafter by a work truck and another worker.  And they began the task if carefully removing the old, illegal bedroom windows and preparing the opening for the new legal bedroom windows.

It took them an entire day, and they are still not finished.  The new windows are installed, but there is a sealer that has to be installed to help withstand the 40 to 50 BELOW winter temps, and that had to cure for a bit before the window trim and all could be put on inside and outside.  So, they will be coming back today to finish that up.

Here is a picture that Rob sent to me of one of the windows in place and ready to be finished off today.

Nice job, right??  Please note the thickness of the wall.  This house had double thick walls, one of the reasons we jumped on it when we saw it.  All of the walls are around 10" thick.  They should help keep me toasty warm in the winter.  And triple pane glass, this will work, too.  This room will be Rob and Kate's bedroom when they come down off their mountain to spend the night.

This is such a beautiful house.  I cannot believe that I will be making this my final home.  So blessed in so many ways.

Family....

The "farewell" parties have begun.  And while this weekend was a total bust as far as preparing for my move, it was a completely wonderful weekend for memories, love, laughter and being with the people who have meant the most to me in my years here in southern Pennsylvania.

Saturday I was with friends who are more like family.  Yesterday I was with family who are all my friends, as well.

I know that I have explained my move to Alaska was to be closer to family.  And, indeed, my son Rob and his wife, Kate, live in Fairbanks.  So what family am I leaving behind?

My late husband (Charles Rudewick) was from Hazelton/Freeland, PA.  He had moved to this area with his first wife.  His sister, Marcy (Rudewick) Boylan, was living just outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Al Boylan.  They had 5 children... Allan Boylan, Sharon (Boylan) Walters, Albert Boylan, Sharon (Boylan) Wallace and Ed Boylan.  

When Rudy was alive, we spent many a holiday, birthday, wedding, and weekend with Marcy and Al and the 'kids'.  Al and Marcy camped during the same time that Rudy and I camped, and there were times when we camped together.  By the time I joined the family, the 'kids' were getting out on their own, getting married or graduating from high school.  Lots of reasons to celebrate.

Sharon has moved to Oklahoma, so we do not get to see her as often as we would like.  The other 'kids' have remained in the area.  It has been fun to watch them grow into wonderful adults, most are married now and with families of their own.

Marcy died in 2006.  Rudy died in 2011 and Al died in 2016.  The 'kids'  have been busy tending to their own careers and families and activities.  But I have always been included on Easter dinners, Thanksgiving dinners, Graduation celebrations (even though I could not attend all of those) and helping me out when I needed assistance after my husband died.  So, even though I was not a blood relative, I never felt as though I was alone in this area.

Yesterday was no different.  Nancy, who seems to have replaced her mother as the organizer of family get-togethers, invited the local family members to gather at their house in Middletown, DE for a swim party and cookout so they could say farewell to their "crazy aunt" who is moving to Alaska.

It rained for the initial time, so Allan's grandchildren and nephews who had come to the party were having to fill in time watching TV and playing board games until the rain stopped.  The rest of us sat around the dining table and talked and shared stories and laughed.  There were a couple of stories that came out yesterday that others had not heard before.  (Trust me kids, what was said at Nancy's, stays at Nancy's.)  I will truly miss seeing them and watching their lives unfold.

I am hoping that one or more of them will make the trip to Alaska to visit me.  And I also hope that they will follow me, here on my blog.  And I hope that they might call from time to time just to catch up on things and say "hi".  They may not be family by 'blood' but they are friends from the heart.

Steven Wallace, enjoying dessert, Ed Boylan, Nancy Wallace and Jeff Wallace.

Albert Boylan, Nicole Boylan and Lisa Boylan

Nancy Wallace, Allan Boylan , Jeff Wallace and Steven Wallace in the background, looking for ice cream toppings.

Steven is enjoying his ice cream.  He is a recent high school graduate and begins college at Pittsburgh Technical College in October.  He is majoring in Business with an emphasis on Accounting.  His mother says he is really good with numbers.  Wishing Steven well in his new chapter of life.

So, on with moving prep.  I will be having feted at a community meal at church this coming Sunday and the 27th, I will meet with the old HR department ladies from Jefferson Bank for the last of the farewell events.

They days are moving fast and I still fell that I am not ready for this to happen.  No firm packing and moving dates, but the pressure is on!!!

Saying goodbye to dear friends...

Today began the farewells to many of the dear friends that I have made over the years of living here in southeast Pennsylvania and vacationing at our summer place in northern Maryland just off the Chesapeake Bay.  It is one of the saddest and most frightening part of making this move across the country.

Shelia Williamson came over around 10:30 AM and we drove down to Indian Acres together.  I had to double back when I realized, shortly after starting, that I had left a bag on the kitchen counter.  So, we started out a second time.  Took one route down and a different one home.  But it was fun to travel the roads I have not traveled in several years since selling my property at Indian Acres.

We pulled in just behind Mary Alice Carroll.  M A and I had met at Indian Acres and she and I had started the Flaming Roses of the Red Hat Society from friends at Indian Acres.  And the bright red hats and purple outfits made the entire group hard to miss.  It was a really fun thing that we did over many, many years of having weekends and vacations spent at Indian Acres.  She and I managed to get into some fun and interesting situations during those years.  I could always plan on some unexpected occurrences when the two of us were out on an adventure.  M A's late husband, Billy was also a dear friend of my late husband, Rudy, so we usually found ourselves together at some point on any given weekend.

As we headed to the door, Lovedy Berkley pulled in on her golf cart.  Lovedy was one of the original Red Hat Ladies in our group.  She was also part of the Glen 8 (Indian Acres) parties that Rudy and I would host during the year.  Lovedy founded a Red Hat chapter in her home area and many times her group and the Indian Acres group would have joint meetings where we ate and laughed and just had fun.  She and her husband, Emory were active in the Methodist Church and would often work at the delicious Roast Beef dinners at the church.  Yum.

Waiting in Sharon's trailer was Janet Flower.  Janet was also an active member in the Methodist Church in the area.  She and her husband, Ron, also lived at Indian Acres at the time (5 years ago they moved to Dover, DE to a lovely retirement neighborhood.).  Janet was an avid quilter.  She was also an original Red Hat member.  She was willing to do anything the chapter needed and I was hoping that she would teach me something about quilting... and... boy, did she.

Janet's best friend, Mary Davis, was also waiting at Sharon's trailer.  Mary had sucked Janet into the quilting additction that happens when a sewer gets her hands on fabric that she can cut into many pieces and sew them into beautiful designs.  But, in return, Janet brought Mary into the Red Hat fold.  Mary had been quiet for the first couple of years (she was a recent widow at the time) but over time, Mary had opened up and included me in her quilting life and we found we had mutual interests.

As Janet and Mary and I had gone to a couple of retreats and gotten into sewing and crafting more, we invited Sharon DeRicco (now DiNardo) to come to learn how to do some basic sewing and make table runners and then pillowcases.  I guess she enjoyed it and we began to have regular Friday night craft events where we learned to do little projects, getting more and more detailed and complicated.  Sharon had always said that she could probably not do anything.  But as she found she could, she began tackling more and more projects on her own until she was doing quilts and projects that none of the rest of us had tried.  It was a joy to watch her grow in her newly found skills.

Debby Patton, who arrived at the party after a two hour drive to make the hour trip, had been a part of a Red Hat group in Pennsylvania.  They had come to a couple of our craft days and luncheons.  We invited her to join our group and she did.  In time, she would come to Indian Acres with me to spend a weekend away from family and work stresses and drama.  She also watched as the Friday Night Craft/Sewing sessions started... stating that she could never do that.  Finally, she decided to come down and give the sewing thing a try.  She brought fabric to make 3 table runners.  She thought that she could not make them... and if she did... it would take her the entire weekend.  Before Saturday was finished, she had used all of her fabric and needed to go shopping for much more fabric.  She is a natural sewer, great with color selections and creative when she sets her mind to do that.

Sheila Williamson is a member of my church.  She was the voice on the phone to invite me to GriefShare at the Parkesburg Mennonite Church and gave me a huge bear hug when I appeared at the meeting.  I was drawn to the church by the feeling of family among the members and it was something I desperately needed.  Getting to know Sheila, I realized that she would make an excellent addition to the sewing/quilting friends who were now going to a quilting sewing retreat at least once a year.

And, so these were my dearest friends who had come into my circle as either Crazy Red Hat Ladies or fun loving crafting/sewing/quilting friends.  We had traveled together on bus trips, enjoyed craft days at the Club House at Indian Acres or had gone to quilting retreats in Lancaster County, PA, Black Mountain, NC or to the Outer Banks... sharing a house for a week of rest and relaxation as well as wonderful food, drink and creativity.

Today we shared stories, memories.  We hared laughter and tears.  We have been through wonderful times and incredibly sad times.  We know the love of beautiful friends and I am sure that we will be able to keep in touch even though there will be several 1,000s of miles between them and where I am going.

Thank you, ladies, from the bottom of my heart, for a lovely day that is only adding to the many memories that I have of all of you.

Busy, busy,feeling icky and busy...

Time is getting compressed and the things left to be done, feel to me like they are just too much to overcome.

Over the last 10 days I have had help in the sewing room, I have been sorting through notebooks and pages of Embroidery Company sales books and recipes and craft patterns.  I have saved all of the page protecting pages from all of the books and it has filled up an Amazon box.  I may never have to buy another box of page protectors!!  That is the tedious part of going through things.  And it takes time away from larger tasks.

Last Friday I had dinner with Patches.  She invited several of the ladies from church and her work to come have dinner and just chill for the evening.  And I really needed it.

But, as I prepared for bed, I became chilled.  I did not feel badly, but I could not get warm.  I tossed and turned and pulled covers over me most of the night.  I was not running a fever... I took it a couple of times through the night... so I have no idea what was going on.  The next couple of days I just felt washed out and icky.  I continued to go though books, but I slowed down quite a bit.  It was not until Monday of this week that I felt like my "old" self.

But all of the lifting and bending and dragging of trash bags up steep basement stairs has taken it's toll on my back and knees and hands.  Thanks goodness for my knee surgeries or I might be terribly crippled.  But I keep going along and doing the best I can.

Sheila Williamson was over yesterday.  We worked from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PMish with a break for lunch.  We spent all of that time in the sewing room.  I have now gone through all of the boxes of specific projects and fabric and patterns.  There is a pile of fabric at the back of the room that needs to be sorted by colors/solids/prints and made ready for transport to Alaska.  I have been reading on people who moved to Alaska and many of them said that they wished they had kept a few more of the tings that they left behind.  Shopping in Alaska is not as plentiful as in the lower 48.  So I will be sorting the fabric with that thought in mind.  But I have come across fabric that has me scratching my head and wondering what ever was I thinking.

I made arrangements for Internet to be installed at the house.  It went in yesterday.  Rob was at house for the day.  The folks from GCI arrived earlier and got things set up.  But, in Alaska, they do things differently.  When Internet is connected, you get an Ethernet cable, but no modem or access point.  You have to provide that equipment.  Thank goodness Rob has some spares at his house, so today he was able to get a wireless signal set up in the house.  I am going to be learning a lot of new things about things being done... Alaskan-style.

Today I worked in the office.  I still had a great many things to sort through in that room.  So I started in the back corner and am working my way forward.  The Embroidery Company laptop has been carefully packed up for the trip in the moving van.  I went through all kinds of paperwork and shelves and bulletin boards and the like.  I think I have pictures of before I started today somewhere... and I grabbed some current views to document the progress.

Still no drop dead date as to when the packers come, but I will keep doing the best I can and just be as ready as I can when they come.  Anyone who wants to come help would be more than welcome for a couple of hours or a day or whatever.  It seems to go better when there is someone helping move the things across my hands.

Dottie was here today from the moving company locally.  She did not leave a card so I do not know the exact name.  She went room by room and surveyed what I am taking to come up with a truck big enough to handle my stuff and give me an estimate on cost.  Cannot wait to see that figure!!!!!!

So, off to bed.  Winston gets groomed tomorrow.  He is just so furry that he seems uncomfortable.  I was going to wait for the days the packers are here, but he is just heavy with fur, so he will get his haircut tomorrow.  I will try to get a before picture and then a snapshot after.

Here is an office before picture...

Happy Room view today...

** Note, Miles is under the table rolling around since there is now nothing under there to be in his way.**

Caddy Spare Tire

One of the things that Rob had discussed with me was the need to be prepared on the drive from Parkesburg to Fairbanks.  I had never really thought about what I might need to have to be prepared, but some of the roads, especially the AlCan Highway through western Canada into Alaska, are not the normal surfaced roads one usually sees in the more populated areas of the world.

So I began checking to see what was in my car... or better yet.... what was NOT in my car.  The biggest issue was the lack of a spare tire.  There was not even a little donut spare.  Just an air pump with some fix-a-flat goo inside.  So we began working on a solution.

My Caddy, a 2010 SRX, had the ability to have a hitch installed.  So I found one online that was just for my car, had it delivered and Hershey Motors (the dealer where I bought the car) installed it.  I also found a tire carrier that could be inserted into the receiver for secure travel.  I also ordered a 4 inch extension, hoping it would be just enough to allow the hatch to open with the tire in place.

The tire carrier did not come with any hardware, so the folks at Hershey became very creative and managed to weld wheel studs to the carrier so the tire could be mounted.  They also found a used wheel and mounted a new tire on it, so I will have a full-sized spare available, just in case.  The hope is that I will have spent well over $600.00 to have a spare tire and never have to use it.  But if I do experience a flat tire on my travels, it will be money well spent.

I have a Ryobi cordless impact wrench and lug sockets, so a lug wrench will not be needed.  Also have a bottle jack and some jack stands that will make the trip as well.  I am adding a custom lug nut so theft should not happen as well as locking hitch pins.  Today I ordered a white wheel cover to protect the new tire from sun and rain and make the tire sticking out the back of my white car look better.

I am just going to have to be careful when I back out of a parking space, as I now have a good foot or more of stuff sticking out behind me.

Here are some pictures of the new unit.

As Rob said, it will keep tailgaters farther back as I drive.

What a weekend.....

As much as I would like to have some extra time to get ready for what lies ahead, things, the events just keep moving forward.

A sad day on Friday.  I sold the blue pickup truck that was Rudy's one and only new vehicle he ever bought.  That Ford had kept me cleaned out in the eight winters since Rudy died.  I did not drive it nearly enough, so it was a 14 year old truck with just a little over 50,000 miles.  My neighbor... the same man who is buying my house... bought the truck.  He came over around 2:30 PM, picked up the keys and the title and gave me an envelope full of cash.  Yikes... I expected a check.  I have never had that much money in cash.  I felt much better when I got it deposited into the bank today.

Along with the continual purging and sorting which seems never ending, I started another project to assist with the move.  I had done a similar thing, but on a smaller scale, when my father moved from Tennessee to Pennsylvania after my mother had passed away.  We made a scale model graph with scale models of furniture.  We had eliminated anything that would not fit and already had the furniture arranged before the movers arrived.  It had the move done in a very efficient manner.  Since I have not really seen my new house in person, I decided to create scale models and measured all of the furniture I plan to bring from here, so I could make sure that I am not bringing anything that will not have a place in the new house.

I started out by finding graphs that were large enough to show each floor of the house.  I had thought that the graph I bought was two-sided, but it was not, so I had to get a second one.

So, I took a sketch made for the appraisal and used that to draw the rooms.  I think it is pretty close.  But next week, when Rob has time to get to the house, I will verify the numbers and add the locations of windows and size of doors and cabinets.  I made the furniture models out of graph paper so I could cut out the individual pieces and taped it to the graph.  This was the result...

It seemed like the best idea, but the furniture seemed to melt into the background, so it was hard to see if it was the proper arrangement in each room.  So I headed for bed to put it in the background to come up with something different.

This morning I had to go to Hershey Motors.  We are getting really close to having the things ready to carry a spare tire behind the car on a hitch stand.  Then into Downingtown and Exton to get to the bank to deposit the money from the truck sale, BJ's for dog supplies for the trip to Alaska, then a quick stop in a Dollar Tree before heading to White Glove to get the car washed.

Once home, I pulled out some colored card stock that I had, I used the small white representations of furniture and cut out colorful replacements and returned them to the big graphs.  I think it has worked very well.  I have already rearranged a couple of things and assume I will continue to try new arrangements until I have one that I like for each room  There is still a table that may not make the trip to Alaska.  Still need to decide on a dining room table, but that will happen after I arrive.  Also have to find a couch for the living room and perhaps a new way for the small bedroom.  Looking at a Murphy Bed that has a TV stand that moves off to the side when the bed needs to come down.  What a wonderful use of space... a small den/TV room that can be a very nice guest room when needed.

Here are some closeups....

I managed to get my second Shingles shot today.  I had the first one earlier in the summer and had to wait a couple of months and then hoped the pharmacy would have enough vaccine for the second shot.  They had it today, so I am finally as immune as I can be to Shingles.  Did not want to have to finish finding the second dose for after I arrived in Alaska.  I will have enough to do before the snow flies.

So, I am keeping on with the purging and sorting.  I need to have as much done as possible by the 14th which is when pre-move survey happens.  Not sure I will be totally ready, but I will keep working to the best of my ability.

I am so ready for this part to be over.....