August 30th

Wow! It's hard to believe we've been here for two months. I started work this past week at an engineering company. I really like the work. We use a 3D modeling program to create the drawings and it's really interesting work. The company is building modules and pressure vessels that will become an oil processing plant on site in Canada. It's a contract job that I got through Monster.com. I've been contacted five times by staffing agencies in the last week! Looks like Pete is going to be hired by South Carolina Dept of Natural Resources. They are looking for a maintenance mechanic and Pete is that!

Here is a picture of the new entertainment center we got two weeks ago. I haven't finished putting things on it yet. Haven't decided what to use where! This is just weird. We've gotten this leather furniture. Today, we picked some pillows to use with it and they changed the tone of the leather from brown to PLUM!!

So hope you are all happy and healthy. Would love to hear from you, doesn't need to be important, just let me know you're still there.

Love ya, Yvonne

The Attack on the Azaleas

Before I tell you about the Azaleas, allow me to show you the lovely paint in the living room and hall. I was very surprised by how much I LOVE this paint! We both do. It feels very different than before, roomier and brighter but more peaceful, too.

You've seen the first photo that I included of the front of the house. I'll take another shortly to show you how much we chopped off the azaleas. Kicker is that there is a VICIOUS, SKIN RIPPING, GLOVE TEARING VINE growing in the azaleas and up the walls. It's one of those awful things that has running roots underground. So it just pops up everywhere. Of course, the only way to get rid of it is to get all of the roots up. Since I am unwilling to dig up the entire area, I'll be happy to take suggestions on handling this problem. I'm only willing to ignore it for a short while and then I can't stand it anymore. Shoot, one of the azaleas is now HALF its previous width since I pulled all of the vine off it. Yes, Pete did help but I had on gloves and he didn't. I'm not at all sure which of us was smarter.... Next spring the azaleas will bloom beautifully and look Mah-ve-lous. All of a sudden I could hear Michael saying, "throw me into that Briar patch!" I'm sure the vine is one of those briars! Michael's reference was about the choir falling back into our familiar habits of singing less beautifully than we could. Just like Br'er Rabbit was comfortable in that briar patch. I guess you'd have to be a rabbit cause humans sure wouldn't be comforatble there!!

Well, I guess that's enough chatting for today. Though I do need to tell you about this biscuit recipe my Mother sent. Self rising flour, baking soda, vegetable oil and SOUR Cream! Less fat and tastes Great! I'll post the amounts later. I've got to get busy!

Painting Day

I am particularly hating this move today. We are patching, sanding and priming the walls today. I haven't done much painting so I'm not very good at it.

Say Good-Bye to the Cranberry walls! Soon they will be Peach Glow. Natural pine floors with trim and doors in a stained wood finish called Gunstock will look great with the new paint. The walls are definitely darker in person. I guess it's the flash. The begonia looks washed out too. It'll look good once I'm finished but that will take a while. We are painting the living room and hall first, then the master bedroom. I don't really care what order we use after that but everything needs a fresh coat of paint.

I am finding beautiful furniture available on craigslist from model homes and high end neighborhoods. We've got something functional for now but I'm going to find some really nice pieces later on.

We have gotten the kitchen and dining room in pretty good shape. There is actually room for the loveseat recliner in here! It doesn't fit in the living room anymore and I remembered Caroline Chisum's chair in the kitchen! We put both inserts into the dining table and suddenly it looks like a home! The china looks really nice in the hutch, too. It is so nice to be able to display it. If I could figure out how to get a second photo in this post, I would add a picture. I've tried and it always goes in beside the other photo. Strange, because I could insert photos wherever I needed to in the posts when I did this for my job!! Of course, that was a different program... I tried to upload a video of the dogs but couldn't get it to work.

Rambling on and on, Yvonne

July 06

We went to church this morning at St. Thomas in North Charleston. The rector is on vacation so one of the retired bishops was on hand, Bishop Bill Skilton. Very open and welcoming. Some praise music but I'm hoping their "winter" choir does a better job. They were few and quiet this morning.

I'm getting re-acclimated to the roads and learning where the stores are. I have to drive to get really used to it and Pete has been doing most of the driving!

Esther, St. Thomas Episcopal is right off Park Circle which, if you haven't been up the way lately is undergoing revitalization. The Winchester and Z-Bar (shipyard workers watering holes) are still open for business but the rest is pretty cleaned up! The Winchester is the bar where I met Pete! I was tending bar there in the summer 1982.

I know it may sound odd to look for furniture on Craigslist but the chances of a great deal are pretty good! And I don't want to buy anything "special" until we're in our own house. We've got the dining furniture in and the hutch works just right. I'm getting Mrs. Finnes' lovely Wedgewood displayed for the first time. And that makes me feel really good. We pick up the living room furniture tomorrow. A really great thing is that our old furniture was quickly snapped up by some of Jesse's friends!

Richard is 29 now. He has a full time job working for Arthur Cordray at the feed store on John's Island. His girlfriend Megan is really nice. She is a farm girl from Michigan and has been working as a wedding planner, which gives Richard a good way to meet more people for his business. Richard and Jesse purchased a business in December, 07. Charleston Coach is their venture; http://www.charlestoncoach.com/Contact.htm. They are staying pretty busy with events most weekends.

That takes care of half of Jesse's update! He moved to this area in December and is working for Island Fresh Seafood, an aquaculture farm owned by Bill Cox. ISF raises clams and oysters used to seed beds up and down the East Coast. Bill has several businesses and keeps Jesse very busy! He really misses his friends in MD but has invited them to visit and was up for a weekend just before I moved to Hanahan. Bill is a friend of Pete's from 1972!

Chris decided to stay in MD for job opportunities and to stay close to his friends. He went to Houston to study collision repair and graduated (top of his class) in September 2008. He worked for Tate BMW in Annapolis until just recently. Mr. Tate sold the dealership and Chris didn't like the new environment. He is working for Dwayne Crawford at Family Auto Care Mercedes Benz Specialist in Calvert County. He is considering some other job options right now, also. He is concerned about the economy's affect on the automotive business.

I've got to get busy with dinner, hope all is well with you.

July 02

I thought this might be a great time to learn how to manage a website blog. I can keep in touch with all of you and not need to write about a dozen emails a day.

Here is a photo of the house from the street. This way when you come to visit, you'll recognize it !! Pete just told me he'd like to paint the house a different color! It is french blue and the brick is dark. The shrubs are azaleas.

I am looking more toward painting the INSIDE first!

We've found living room furniture, sofa & love seat, off white with navy pineapple motifs. http://charleston.craigslist.org/fur/727526636.html Really good condition for 150 and a dining room suite WITH HUTCH for 350. http://charleston.craigslist.org/fur/737884034.html.

So we're getting it together and will be settled enough to be comfortable soon. We went to Carey Hilliards for dinner last night. Been around for almost 50 years and tastes the same as before!

Hope to hear from you soon!