Stage Freight

     My favorite singer, Barbra Streisand, suffers from stage fright, which kept her from performing in front of a live audience for 27 years.  The discovery of teleprompters got her back on stage.


      This is one of this week's beautiful sunsets.  It is said that life is like a play - we merely go through the stages of our life acting it out.  This idea was introduced by Shakespeare, in "As You Like It," where he wrote "All the world's a stage."  It frightens me to think that we're all just acting as we maneuver through life.  I hope it's not really true.

     Staging our house to sell, kind of feels like we are putting on an act.  Here is our refurbished down stairs bath.  You can see the new shower curtain and towels reflected in the mirror.  Staging, according to Wikipedia, is the act, process, or manner of presenting a play on the stage.  For anybody who hasn't had the distinct pleasure of trying to sell a home lately, staging is the practice of stripping down -- then gussying up -- a residence to make it look its most appealing to the broadest range of buyers.  Staging a house for selling involves removing all the clutter, junk, and loved possessions... and then somehow beautifying it.

     It was art critic John Ruskin who noted, "Every new possession loads us with new weariness," and to survey the boxes and papers being piled high in attics and the heaps of plastic toys, electronic gear, clothing and stuff spilling out of every closet and corner, you can't help feeling he was right.  This is some of Dan's possessions he was removing from his old room.  Luckily, we partially de-cluttered when moving here.  But there is plenty of stuff still lying around.  Deciding what has to go for staging purposes isn't hard... but whether to temporarily ditch it and put it into storage, or to get rid of it permanently, is the tough part.

     I hate house cleaning, so that part of staging has been arduous for me.  I am also really bad at interior design or decorating.  Valencia came to help two days this week and she even got Daniel scrubbing on the tile of his iron ridden shower/tub.  I read several pointers about staging each room, but one really needs to have an eye for it.


 "Draw attention to a dramatic item or make it pop"... What?  And what is "a splash of color, a focal point, a nice piece of art?"  How do I highlight our home's strengths, and downplay its weaknesses?  Experience is quite beneficial, but it also helps to have good taste and some extra money. 

     I was woken up quite early (4am) Saturday morning.  It was lightening and I could hear muffled dog barking.
I found Kaysha out in the garage.  She had pushed through the side door
                                                           and was "trapped" out there.  I
medicated her, but the storm was actually ending, so I took her for a walk before dawn.  An hour later when I did chores, I was glad to see that everything outside (especially the green vegetation) had been washed off and was no longer dusty.  The paddock was no longer a big dust bowl, but wasn't muddy either.  It had been just the right amount of rain at the optimal rate. 

     Joe, Britney and I left just before 9am, for Decatur, to go to the 236th summer picnic.  We met Dan and Valencia at the army base.  As what typically happens with the army, there were a lot of procedural things to take care of, resulting in plenty of waiting around.  In military terms, a Staging Area is a place where troops or equipment in transit are assembled or processed.  They are established as a temporary location in which personnel, supplies, and equipment can be housed or parked while awaiting operational assignment.


     The 63 soldiers had to report for formation at 10am, seen in above photo.  Once procedures for the up coming training camp were gone over, the day's agenda was given and we all drove to the near-by park for the picnic. 



     While waiting for the meat to be grilled, Joe, Brtiney and I took a walk down by Lake Decatur.  We enjoyed watching the water foul.




     These baby ducks were just coming out of the water and getting dried off.





      This group of older youngin's came over looking for a hand out. 

 


     There was a pretty flower garden we walked through, startling this squirrel who had just backed out of the chip bag.  He wasn't so frightened that he took time to sit and wash his face before hopping off.


Dan and Valencia waiting for lunch.















     Britney reading Colin Powell's bibliography in preparation to hear him speak, via pod-cast, at the Global Leadership Summit she will be attending in early August.



     After lunch there was a football and kickball game.  Dan participated in the later and we had fun resting in the shade, watching the game and cheering everyone on.



     Below, a home run hit is kicked.  The players all watched it sail over head as the crowd cheered wildly.





     The soldiers were called back into formation for more instructions and then some silly fun and games.  For a fund raiser, to help support these family outings, it was "pie-in-the-face" time.

     For a price, anyone could purchase a whip cream pie and put it in the face of any soldier, Sargent, or Captain they wanted.  The leader of Dan's unit called four of them up on stage.  Theses soldiers showed no stage fright as they got pied.

     We decided Dan was a chosen victim because of his nice shirt.





     The soldiers were not dismissed until after 3pm.  It was a very hot (93 degree) and tiring day, but a lot of fun, and there was tons of good food. 

     We followed Dan and Valencia part way home because Dan was having troubles with his car.  With the hour drive in each direction, it really was a long day.

     We didn't get home till 4:30, and I was too tired, full, and hot to do any work around the house or farm.


     I skipped dinner, but did go for a walk with Britney and the dog.  She wanted to get a picture of the corn to send to friends in Guatemala.

     The sky was pretty as the sun set on us and the corn.

     Joe, Britney and I went to second service Sunday.  Shortly after getting home I loaded Roni (with Joe's help because Roni did not want to get on the trailer for some reason) and drove to Moraine View.  I meet up with Lisa and Dayne and we rode around the lake.  It was a nice, two hour ride.

      I hosed Roni down when we got home at 4:30, because he was so hot and sweaty.  The day, and my energy were mostly shot.  I watched TV with Joe and Britney, fixed dinner, walked with Britney and Kaysha, and then read in bed (2 pages) before turning out the lights at 8:30pm.  Man, am I getting old. :-(

     Our hay field, along with the neighboring corn and beans, is growing very well.  It is about time to harvest hay again.  The trees in the middle of the right side photo, are of our farm.  Britney took this from the top of the hill by Brian's house.

     Monday morning I went for a ride with Lisa instead of going to Water Lilies.  I took Amiga this time.  She did very well, considering this is the first time she has been to a park and on a trail ride since she came up lame over two years ago.  She was a bit high strung to start out and would not stand still for me to get on her.

     Once we got going, she relaxed and settled right in.  The 80 minute ride and temperatures in the 80s might have been a bit much for her, but she held up well.  Her gait was very smooth and relaxed, a real joy to ride.  She was quite wet from sweat when we got back.  I let her graze as usual after taking off the saddle, and after a few minutes she started to walk off and when I went to catch her, then she trotted off into the woods and down the trail.  Luckily, Lisa with Leo was there to help me catch Amiga.

      Later in the afternoon I dropped Britney off in town to run with a group and I went on to Wal-Mart to shop.  We got a late night storm, and the barking dog had me up after midnight.  The dark clouds could be seen moving towards the moon, eventually obstructing all its light.  The wind was blowing at a good clip out of the north, with thunder and lightening not far off.  I ran out to the barn and shut the three big doors on the north side and made it back to the house as the first drops fell.  We got pelted for a bit and I worked here at my computer until the medicated dog fell asleep and then I did likewise.

     I was tired and groggy getting up later than usual Tuesday morning.  I went to Water Lilies while Britney did her typical run and weight lifting session.  Once home I went into cleaning mode, for staging purposes.  Getting the iron/rust deposits off the downstair's tub and shower were a huge challenge.  I tried a variety of cleaners from our arsenal, but none made it easy.  So I scrubbed until my fingers, wrist and back had enough... and I barely made a dent in the mess.

      A big branch full of peaches broke off the tree by the round pen.  I feared other branches might do likewise.  It was Britney's 25th birthday and her two siblings along with Valencia were coming for dinner.  So I was also in "party" preparation mode.  Britney and I started "celebrating" early, testing the brownies I made just after they came out of the oven.  I also took off time to go to the Replex with Britney and sun and swim.  After a late lunch we watched an episode of "Love It or List It".  Then I got to work on fixing food for the nights dinner.

     Saying hi to the horses.  It wasn't much of a party, but we enjoyed dinner and then Brownie Sundays.





     Three beautiful girls,
and three friendly horses.



     Daniel covering his car for temporary storage.  I feel bad that each of our children will be impacted with storage issues, by our move... if you can call relocating Zorro a storage issue.



     The city folk left to go watch Mike's softball game and I went back to cleaning up the kitchen while Britney tackled some more homework. 

     The temperature had dropped into the 50's overnight, and Britney took my car to Normal, to go run with her former high school cross country coaches and current team.  So I didn't go to the Replex for pool exercising.  I was glad to have an excuse to not go freeze.  My d-cluttering and cleaning was going on in three different rooms, so there was a big mess everywhere. 

     Valencia, who loves to clean, came out to the farm to help me.  I was busy trimming trees, so turned her lose in the bathroom. 





     Above is a before photo of Dan's shower/tub, that I had actually worked on for several hours already.  After hours of scrubbing and a trip to the store to get more cleaning products (and Dan's help the following day) here is what Valencia accomplished!  Amazing!!




     In the afternoon, I finally caught the Tom cat, not in the trap, but while he was eating in the tack room.  I closed him into the tack room and visited him a few times.



     I got him to warm up towards me.  Just before dark, I wrapped him in a blanket and took him for a drive in the country.  He never uttered a sound.  I found the perfect new location for him 8 miles away, opened the car door, and watched him scurry off into the encroaching night.  I had saved a few trimming jobs for Joe, that were too much for me, but he didn't get home until 10pm, putting in a 15 hour day.

     It was another cold night and cool morning.  I captured, on film, some upset barn swallows because our cats were near their nest.  The birds gang up on the cats and dive bomb them.  Occasionally, one is not so lucky, and gets caught, midflight, by a leaping feline.

     At sunrise, the loaded peach tree continued to struggle under its weight of peaches, never getting rest from the burden.  Britney took my car, to drive to Greenville, so I drove the SUV to LeRoy, with horse trailer still attached.  I took a bucket of peaches to divvy up among the Water Lilies and they were delighted to get them, even though the peaches were not quite ripe.

     Due to less sleep and motivation than needed, I ate an early lunch and read and napped in the sun on a lawn chair.  These cooler days have made sunning enjoyable, although I got too hot eventually.  So I went back to tree trimming.  To the left is part of the pile I have generated this week.  Dan and Valencia came to help with the d-cluttering and cleaning.  Dan had his room and closet to clean out and Valencia dusted the whole house for cobwebs and then reminisced with Dan about his childhood as he pulled out old photos, souvenirs and toys.

     Mike and Courtney came out to load his 4 wheeler that he had sold.  That was another thing that needed to get moved out of storage.  Dan and Valencia stayed for lamb stew, which was a little too heavy on the lamb, but satisfied our hunger.  

     I was up well past midnight researching more houses at Fairfield Glade.  Joe and I have been putting together a new list of houses we want to see.  The one below, which is at the top of our budget, is actually a 1,800 sq.ft. one story ranch with very tall, cathedral ceilings.

     It has a gorgeous back "yard" (seen below) that reminds me of some of Dad's rock work.  The breathtaking natural stone wall and additional rock work with small pond, brings nature to your door step.  So, how much weeding would this yard take?  What is the additional cost to heat and cool all that extra lofted area inside... and how would you keep it clean up there?

      It was a sleepless night with all sorts of questions and lists of things to do, running through my head.  I was hung over from lack of sleep, feeling rather raunchy at 6:00 Friday morning.  I was late doing chores and I told Britney to go workout without me.  Three cups of tea got me through the morning as I worked on this blog post.

     The soft, gentle, steady rain started mid-morning.  The horses were wet on their top side as displayed by Roni to the left.  I was hopeful the rain would assure house cleaning (in the full sense of the word) rather than tree trimming.  It did rain off and on all day, but was more successful at making me lethargic, unmotivated and sleepy.


       I must admit, that I am a little frightened by this next stage of life.  Retirement is great, but aging is the pits.  Moving to a nicer climate and lower cost of living is very inviting, but I fear I will really miss our children.  They enjoy coming out to the farm, and we love having them, but farm life has started taking its toll.  It's just too much work, for our aging bodies, and worry, for our frazzled minds.

     I don't like that we need to "stop living, in order to start selling."  Keeping this place looking spotless is going to be a challenge.  It reminds me of when our family arrives at our summer cabin or winter beach house.  The place looks gorgeous, until we start moving in and living the vacation life.  Then it looks "trashed."  And this only takes about 30 minutes to do.