Federal Feet

I have not mentioned the sock knitting for awhile. It is not that I have stopped knitting, although the production has slowed due to many factors. I finished the Washington D.C. trip socks yesterday. I still have three pair on needles in various stages of completion. Have also been working on gift knitting, which is best not mentioned in the blog in the unlikely event that the intended recipient would be reading.

But the garden beckons....Or rather weed removal is required. Knitting will have to wait for evening.

Deana and Gerard

Live next door to 4. They moved in on their wedding day in 1956--50 years ago. We met them yesterday as we helped 4 start to move in and "fix" things. Deana had on the cutest little house dress, flowered, a little lace collar, pearl buttons and neatly pressed. Of course, she had an apron on to keep it clean. She was hanging out the wash. Gerard (you could call me Jerry, but I really don't like that name) was "puttering". He had embraced a more trendy fashion style, in cap, t-shirt and athletic shorts--a somewhat humorous outfit for someone his age, but perhaps cast offs from a college age grandson.

They had been friends of their neighbors, Helen and Leo. It will always be Helen and Leo's house to them. Deana pointed out what a great house it would be for 4..not too big to clean. I don't think that was one of the selection criteria, but 4 smiled and nodded. (She is very good with the elderly). They assumed she had a husband--she found that "cute".

After the intro's all around, and enough social conversation to convince them that the new neighbor was "worthy", they told 4 to come over if she needed any help. We were actually thinking the opposite.

Alice and Harold, Helen and Leo

The 1940's and 1950's. The American dream. Harold and Leo were Machinists. Alice and Helen "housewives". Harold and Leo made decent money for those days. Skilled and in demand. They bought "nice" houses for Alice and Helen to "keep" on opposite sides of the state.

Alice and Helen had clothes lines where the laundry dried in the breeze. They had plywood kitchen cupboards, tiled baths, and hardwood floors underfoot. The probably both had dust mops. Both "modernized" their bathroom sometime around the late 60's with a vanity.

Harold had a driveway poured, but never got around to building a garage. Leo never got around to the driveway, but had enough garage for 5 cars! Both Harold and Leo took care of things around the house the way a machinist would--- not at all the approach a carpenter would have had. Fortunately, both restricted these activities to areas where it doesn't matter. Thank you, Alice and Helen for making sure.

Alice died before Harold. Harold did nothing to the house..not even vacuum apparently...for years. 1 bought it from Harold. He left behind Alices "special" dresses--too grief stricken, or just to lazy to deal with them. We (really) shoveled the dirt out of the house that had accumulated under the carpet in the years since she stopped vacuuming.

Helen and Leo had more time. Both lived into their 90's. 4 bought their house from "the estate". If they had dirt under their carpets, we will never know, as the carpet had already been removed, but I somehow doubt it. Leo predeceased Helen. She probably continued to vacuum.

Somehow I have managed to raise two independent strong women. I am very proud of them. 1 and 4 both have homes of their own. Independently, their own achievement. They both bought homes from elderly couples who had lived in them a long time. They both have solid, good houses. Along the way, they are also learning to appreciate the history and charm of period homes.

4 has a coal bin, well pit and fruit cellar. Of course she did not know what they were, and even I was a little unsure. 1 has knotty pine and a grotto--basement finishing method of choice in the 50's. Both have unfinished attic space waiting to be turned into living space. Both (now) have day lilies. Both now know how to change out a lockset. Both have tool boxes.

I hope that Alice and Helen and Leo would have liked what 1 and 4 they are doing with their homes...Not that it matters. (I am sure Harold could care less.) But I think they would. I am so impressed.

"The Drawer"

I had forgotten about the drawer until S. mentioned it. It was the remaining part of a "finish it yourself" telephone stand from--1960 or 70 something. The telephone stand was replaced by a microwave cart--but the drawer was salvaged, as she needed the drawer for her "stuff".

Never mind that it was "blonde" and the microwave cart walnut. Never mind that there was no drawer space on the cart. It sat on the shelf for as long as I can remember--full of pens, pencils, rubberbands, miscellaneous scraps of paper, phone lists, and "stuff"--keys and thumbtacks, markers, paintbrushes, etc. It was the epicenter of planning for pot lucks, phone fan outs, notes to self (which were increasingly more important), and the calendars that chronicled the daily life. The microwave cart developed "groves".

It moved with the cart to the apartment, to the house, and then got left behind when we took her to the "home", as she had no more need for pencils, phone lists, planning, or rubber bands. Calendars were of no use. There were no pot lucks or phone fanouts to be done. It was "inherited" by the "keepers" of "the house".

It held phone books, pizza coupons, and pens. I cleaned it out once. Other stuff, important to the keepers found a home in the drawer. We all knew what one would find in the drawer, and what to put in the drawer, although we had never had lessons. It just "was".

E left. D moved in with his boys. Various comings and goings. The drawer had staying power. The microwave stopped working, or moved, or something. There was no need for the cart. D probably moved it to make way for other furniture when the households were combined and S became his wife. I think it went to the garage. Maybe (?) "the drawer" went with it. No one seems to know.

The drawer is only important for what it was. A depository of the stuff that was important in a life that has left us...twice. First in memory, and finally in body.
The drawer is like my friend Judy's daughter's nana's monkey. An item that no one except those who loved the owner would think was anything other than junk.

It is not about the drawer. It is about the memories! (and knowing where to get a rubber band when you need it!)

Hyperopia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'Hyperopia, also known as hypermetropia or colloquially as farsightedness or longsightedness, is a defect of vision caused by an imperfection in the eye (often when the eyeball is too short or when the lens cannot become round enough), causing inability to focus on near objects, and in extreme cases causing a sufferer to be unable to focus on objects at any distance. As an object moves towards the eye, the eye must increase its power to keep the image on the retina. If the power of the cornea and lens is insufficient, as in hypermetropia, the image will appear blurred.

People with hyperopia may experience blurred vision, asthenopia, accommodative dysfunction, binocular dysfunction, amblyopia, and strabismus.[1]'


In other words...they only see the Forest, not the trees.

Vision, and seeing are important things. Seeing things as they really are is very important. If you cannot see accurately upclose, then you need to do something to correct your vision. It is not as difficult as it seems. Good vision is available if people make the effort.

Remember your first pair of glasses, and how exciting it was to see things clearly? Everyone should remember to change their prescriptions as needed to see clearly that which is around them. Sometimes we get too busy or too distracted or too wrapped up in our projects, but that is not good. It can lead to deterioration. If our vision is not as sharp as it should be we can make mistakes and be disappointed.

Furniture Agnst!

4 admitted that she has furniture agnst. That uncertainty between "oh joy, I bought a house"and "wow,this is perfect". She does not know where the sofa will go. Never mind that she has lived in three apartments and it has always worked out. Must be because this is more permanent....It matters more.

1 has relationship agnst. The uncertainty between the first meeting and sifting through all the meetings to find the right kind to keep. She does not know where she is going to find the keeper....And it also matters more.

I have no agnst. The flowers are planted (sort of), the laundry is not done (who cares, it can wait), and I have the sheet cake for work tomorrow---bringing me full circle to the second blog entry of last year...I have no agnst about seeing the foot Dr. again about my plantar facia, no angst about the big project I have at work, as it is currently going well ahead of schedule, and no agnst about anything, except maybe not taking enough time to knit this weekend.

If you average the agnst, it probably works out to be manageable...Probably doesn't seem like it to 1 and 4. Hopefully next year when it is my turn for the birthday cake at work again, their problems will be worked out.

4 and me

Today 4 came home. We had things to do. It was fun. We did some browsing of stores that we've not shopped together before. She got a doormat for her new back door. We talked of all the things she will need in her new house. Such fun. For me is like having a doll house. Must show restraint--it is her house. Will save it for future grandchildren--the buying because I want to.

So we looked at rugs and curtain rods, and bedsteads, curtains, and "stuff". Browsed the plants at the garden center. We talked about the things that she will inherit. We had lunch, invited 1 (who is still recovering from the fun fair fun) who couldn't come, and then 4 went shopping with Mr. Cp while I took a nap.

Fun was had by all. I like having "quality time" now and then. She found a "treasure" on sale for her living room. The moving starts Thursday.

She can't believe she is buying a house! I can't believe that I have another doll house to play in! I am glad that she is old enough now to appreciate how much little things like curtain rods cost. I am also glad that she will finally have "roots" in a house of her own that she can love. Will be fun to visit, and shop at the kinds of stores that we have not shopped at together before.

Time to plant some flowers

It is that time in the spring that I must find some annuals that the critters won't eat! The perennials have filled in nicely. In several years will not need the annuals, but have big pots.

Need something very distasteful for the deer. Adventures in the flower vendor tomorrow!