Two Lives

     Owning two different homes, and "living" in two different states I feel like we have two different lives.  We arrived home from Tennessee late Monday evening and I rushed off to Growth Group.  Joe stayed home to unpack the SUV, take care of farm chores, and get some rest after the long drive.

     I have started a new Blog for our next phase of life down in TN.  This link takes you to the first post, about our weekend we just spent there.

     By 9am Tuesday I was helping the Septic inspectors find where to dig to get to our tank.  I was glad memory served me correctly and they hit it the first try, because it was 14" under ground.  I was also glad to hear that it all looked good.

     Britney had encouraging words for me Tuesday morning while AIMing with her about my purchase fears.   
"You just have to get it all figured out.  Transitions are difficult, but once you are settled in, you will love it.  Imagine yourself sitting on that back deck with Brother.  You're just overwhelmed right now."  Cathy and Carol were also very supportive and full of great suggestions.

   I worked on floor plans (seen left) for a long time Tuesday, and was able to get most of the furniture that I want to keep, to work.  There is some old junkie stuff I am ready to pitch and replace with smaller items anyway.  If I remove a leaf from the table, it fits quite nicely... I'll just have to wait and see how the china hutch looks in it's spot.  I decided to squeeze the two bunk beds in the guest room, but then no other furniture will fit.  So, it will be for sleeping only.  I have decided to rip out the wet bar since it won't be used and is in such bad shape. (The lower cabinet has a lot of water damage and the shelves are gross and there is mold/mildew all over the walls and door.)  I'll have it converted into a closet or a place for the roll top desk.  We will also add an outside door in the garage.  Because we saved a fair amount of money on the purchase price of the new house, we feel we can put a fair amount back into fixing it up.  I am feeling better about it and getting excited again about the possibilities.

     I went out to catch the horses before a new farrier came, but they would not let me near them.  He ended up having to help me.  He was coming to fit Amiga with trail boots, to avoid having to shoe her, but because she and Roni were both about due for a trim, I had him do that too.  In the right photo he is fitting the boots on Amiga. 

     The farrier then had me walk Amiga around to see how the boots fit.  At first she would step real high with each foot, but she was very quick to get used to them.  She is such a calm, patient horse... unless she is backing off the trailer.  I am still working on that with her.

     I ended Tuesday with a trail ride at Moraine View with Lisa.  I rode Roni.  We didn't get started until 5:30ish, so it was dark by the time we got back to the camp ground.  The setting sun seems to drop out of sight so quickly.  As it was going down, we encounter tons of deer moving through the woods and meadows.  We also saw some deer hunters.

     Stew continues to dump the water tub, presenting problems for Courtney and getting on our nerves.

     It was good to be back with the Water Lilies Wednesday.  The remainder of the morning I did a lot of reading, some fun (my novel) and some not so fun (the covenants and restrictions for Fairfield Glade).

     Becks, and all our neighbors, were busy bringing in the corn and beans.  The termite inspector arrived just as I was finishing a late lunch.  I ended up walking around with him part of the time.  He was a very talkative fellow.  He did not see any evidence of termites, but couldn't see into the crawl space much at all.


     With the termite guy finally done and gone,  I got Amiga ready to ride, putting on her new boots.  We didn't go far.  The farrier said they need to be broken in like a new pair of leather shoes.  During our 20 minutes of walking, she did great with the new objects strapped to her feet.  But, she kept wanting to turn for home, where Roni was.





     Joe did some mowing when he got home, and I worked on my new blog post, with great frustration.  I ended up feeling very unproductive, so gave up and instead,  enjoyed watching Survivor with Joe.

     The farmers worked late into the afternoon and evening. 

     Thursday morning I continued to struggle as I tried to get my new blog finished.  I finally gave it up and went out to work on cleaning out the garden shed.  I am debating taking the 50 gallon fish pond to TN... seems silly being as we have a real pond just beyond our back yard.  It may also be difficult to put the plastic pond into the ground since there is so much rock just beneath the soil.  But having it up near the house out front, with the fountain running, would be a nice attraction, especially for the birds.  I also refurbished house plants and sorted
through pots, setting most aside to sell.  Joe and I have been putting the odds and ends for the sale in the garage shed, seen right.

     Mid afternoon I went to B/N to get my hair cut and then do some shopping.  I had plenty of time left before my AT&T appointment, so bought a bag of popcorn and sat on a bench by a fountain and read my novel.  Courtney and I met at the phone place, and after a half hour, both sales reps. admitted they had no idea why Courtney's phone could not get my text messages, but she could get my phone calls and she could text me.  This was my third time to the store with this problem... finally taking Courtney's phone to let them see for themselves.  After a call to Verizon
                                             (Courtney's carrier) it appears that it is a
common problem... a glitch in the new i-phone update.  Hum.  To the left is an attempt at a self photo to show my hair cut.  Man do I look old.

      Next we went to Courtney's house where she worked with me for well over an hour trying to figure out how to better edit with the new blog provider I have switched to.  She almost had me convinced to go back to Blogger, but had given me enough tools to dink around with, to take care of some of the issues.  I really didn't want to have to up-load all the photos from the weekend onto a different blog site. 

     I picked pears and tomatoes Friday morning and took them to Water Lilies.  Then I worked all morning and into the afternoon on this blog and my "New Leaf" blog.  By 1:30, I went out to ride Amiga.  She did well again in her new boots.  We even gaited quite often.  Amiga is so much calmer than Roni, but like Wednesday, she kept trying to turn for home. 

     Above you can see lime ready to be spread on the field near Brian's.  To the left you can see a contrast in the horizon between how it looks with corn verses without corn.  Click on photo to see it better.  Illinois takes on a whole different look this time of year.


     Riding at Beck's along I-74, I thought it interesting that the farmer across the highway had parked all his equipment there.

     Joe had golfed with our insurance sales man and then came home by 2:00 to nap.  Then he helped with dinner preparation.

     We had Dan and Valencia over for dinner.  They didn't stay very long.  We get tired and aren't very exciting I am afraid.  I bet it is two completely different worlds for them or feels like two different lives when comparing living in Down's to living in Aurora.  I imagine each place, with its surroundings and group of family and friends, is a nice change in pace from the other.