Life As a Single Woman

Today is closing on my new house. Yesterday I bought a refrigerator off of FB Marketplace, because the opening space was too small for my very large current fridge. I am happy to have been 'forced' to find this smaller fridge, as it is in keeping with the new Life of a Single Woman that I am entering. 

The other day I was hungry and didn't want to cook anything as my stove is now pristine (like it was brand new) and I didn't want to mess it up. Nuttiness has set in. I got a rotisserie chicken and will eat that for days in various concotions. Cleaning the microwave will happen next month. 

I have scheduled and then postponed movers and then rescheduled them to come January 5. In the meantime I will do as I have done before, and move in small carloads and find places for things slowly over the next few weeks. I plan to have the current house ready to list by January 15, which is probably a fantasy. Unfortunatly it has turned cold (for Chattanooga) this week. 

While I am still in mourning, it is not for the husband that recently passed, but for the guy he was 20 years ago, before the Parkinson's ravaged his brain. Memories spring up and knock me for a loop and I break down and then make myself stop, because crying hurts my eyes for hours after and I am just tired of that. 

I am loving the freedom and mental clarity that has returned after having been focused on living with a dying person, with all the caregivers in the house and the mess and laundry and medicines. It is lovely to have nothing going on, and having one load of laundry a week. 

My wonderful handy and clever brother in law will be my fix it man for the new house, and I will have him move and install that new fridge this week, and maybe start painting out the beige rooms into white. 

I am still figuring out where to put the litter box. There is no utility room. In fact, the washer and dryer have to go in the garage, which is not my fave, but plans are afoot to make that nicer than it currently is. 

Yesterday I broke down and bought a trio of bins to move and store the many artworks that currently fill the ledges in my living rooms. 

There are no built in ledges in the new house, which is OK, as I am thinking about hanging quilts and larger paintings in the future. In fact I am daydreaming quite a bit about being creative again. Guilt-free creative time in the studio. O my. 

The master bedroom faces east with a view of the backyard and all the trees that surround it. 

 These are listing photos. 

I will have birdsong to wake me, as if Pineapple didn't already demand breakfast at 4am.  It'll be grand.

It Worked!

My gas stove was disgusting, with baked on grease from all the times I baked bacon in it. Let that be a lesson.

And now that I am preparing to move, I knew I had to address the mess. 

First I ran the self cleaning cycle and that worked OK. I still had to chisel off the window grease, which took major effort, but that is why I saved a small metal pancake turner to use as a scraper. I knew I had one of those razor blades in a holder...somewhere...and I found it AFTER the window was cleaned. arrghh.

The oven had a sensor that would prevent self cleaning if I left the oven racks in place, so I dutifly removed them. That's when I saw the undersides which is where the baked on grease really lived.  O dear.

I googled for help. Someone suggested soaking the racks in hot water with Dawn. Obviously. I do have a deep laundry sink, and the racks fit in half way, so at the least one half would be soaking. Then I happened upon a Pinterest site which said to use the bathtub (Duh!) and hot water again but this time with dishwasher pods, and leave them overnight. OK! It also suggested putting down a towel to prevent scratching the tub, which I thought couldn't hurt. 

O I should mention that I did all this at 1:30 am, when I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. 

This morning the water in the tub had 'self drained' and I refilled it for another 3 hours of soaking, this time adding Dawn, which I thought couldn't hurt.

When I finally I got my loins girded to attack the racks, I was surprised how I could just wipe off 80% of the grease with just a dishcloth! The rest required a Brillo pad, but even that was minor. What a relief!

Dots and Dashes Cowl #37

 The Last Cowl of 2025! It is made from KnitPicks Chroma, a blend of wool and nylon and Noro Taiyo, which is cotton, silk, wool, and nylon, and is squishy, cozy and warm. Both of these yarns are spun graduated color, which is super fun to knit, as you find yourself surprised by the color combinations as you knit. 

 I was recently at the post office and the sign on the door said December 17 (tomorrow) is officially the last day to mail a Christmas item and expect it to arrive by Christmas Day. So it is not too late. I will gladly mail this to your favorite person (even if that person is YOU) by tomorrow. PayPal, Venmo or Zelle accepted. Available for $50 with free shipping! Email me. SOLD

Collector or Obsessive?

 

   

I've emptied my drawers and utensil holder and realized I have not been living a minimalistic life after all. Hmmm. NOT by a long shot. 

My niece is moving into her first no-roommate apartment at the end of the month and so I thought I might give her my extras. 

But what do I keep?

So first I sorted them by color, as it musta been color that made me buy them in the first place. Sucker!

 Well, obviously they saw me coming. How could I resist red? And from the old Dollar Tree, when they were all just $1. I do use all of those, with the exception of a pancake turner, or two, one large and burnt at the edge and one little slotted one, which I don't think I ever needed. 

 And then they came out with lime green and turquoise. Never used the pale aqua one, and while that snaller brush is cute,  I didn't even remember I had it and use the red one instead. Rubber spoons? I'll keep the ones whose edges aren't crumbling. 

 Why keep wooden spoons when you don't have any kids who misbehave? That's what I remember about dear old Mom. These are all practically brand new and even in this small bunch I have doubles. Argggh.

 These two gray (!!!) Ikea flippers are in constant use and I did have three but one got burned and had to go. The hamburger masher is a one task item, and I might have to keep it. 

 Then I have a complete set of black utensils. Why did I have to buy these? Slotted spoon? Another ladle? More spatulas? Not gonna keep them. And the garlic press, was more trouble than it was worth. Adios a todo.

These are all the true essentials. Somewhere along the line I lost the 1/3 cup measure in that set. But I have two other sets that are complete. Looking at these, I know I have to keep all of them. 

OK. So I lied. 

I am not doing this to help out my niece, who no doubt already has all the utensils she needs and many extras/cast offs from her mom too. 

I'm starting to pack up to move at the end of the month. Don't choke. You should know me by now. 

Here's the short version:

I bought this little house to be close to the facility where I was moving Dave.  That only lasted three weeks.  It originally had a kitchen with only one working drawer, doors that stuck open, shelves that were useless etc.And worst of all the hated black/white/speckled granite counter tops, which conveniently hid the ant invasion.  So I put in a brand new fabulous kitchen. The two doors to the house had shrunk and had to be replaced, as rain and snow kept flowing in. Then the electric system kept shorting out, and I needed to rewire the whole house. Shortly thereafter, a totally corroded water pipe broke apart and all of the water lines had to be replaced. The front porch steps were a lawsuit waiting to happen, so I had my brother in law John, build me a new porch and steps and that solved that. But in only 2 years and five months, the "luxury vinyl flooring" has cracked  and needed to be replaced, only to crack again, as the floor is so uneven and slanted that all the wheeled equipment like chairs, sewing machines and even Dave's hospital bed, rolls away from where it is placed. 

I had my car stolen right out of my driveway.

The flood caused me to install an entirely new HVAC system. 

And the highway construction never ends, causing dust and noise and more dust to be part of every breath I take and covering every interior surface. 

I've tried to have a postive outlook, and now that Dave has passed, I really have no reason to stay. 

And God  provided this new place for me, and I fell in love. The closing is December 30, but I am having the interior painted white (it's currently BEIGE!!!!)  and a half dozen interior doors replaced, and a ceiling installed in the garage, and more insulation put in the attic. I'll move in when all that work is done. Then I will get this current house ready to put on the market, featuring All New Everything!

++++

The new to me house will have a shade garden filled with my beloved hostas, heucheras, elephant ears, ferns, begonias, and other shade thriving plants. I love that I have both a front porch and a huge back deck. And it is still so close to my church and all the shopping I am used to having. The primary bedroom has a walk in closet and en suite, and no one but me to use it. Sigh. I have a lot to look forward to enjoying in the new year. Yay!!!

Thank YOU and some tops

Thank you dear readers, for all your lovely comments, and condolences. I am so appreciative. This was a long disease to witness and participate in, and some day I will tell a few stories that never made it to the blog but may be worth sharing. Since Dave's Parkinson's went undiagnosed for the first five or so years, the total time of his illness was about 35 years. We were married for 48 years (minus one day) so that means the first 13 were us just being newlyweds and growing into our marriage. I am so glad that we had that foundation, as it was essential for what was to come.

Now, I am feeling relief and peace and letting myself have time to mourn in all the ways that it presents itself.

 

There is a great joy too. I am excited about what is coming next, and of course I will share all those joys here. 

My sister mentioned that someone had a long arm quilting machine to sell...and we both went... Naaaaah. But it did remind me that I have a closet of tops that I haven't looked at in like 5-10 years. I thought I should look at them now, on the bed and see what I've got, some that I didn't remember even making!

 This is my twin bed, for size comparison. Postcards from Sweden was a popular quilt on Pinterest when I pieced this. It's all Waverly cottons from Walmart, which is a good thing if I wanted to make it larger. I think this would make a nice couch cover for my white sofa. And right in the center I see some blue blocks that form a blue blob, so I would fix that before I quilted it. If and when, I mean.

Scrappy Guilt Trip  Follow that link for the full story. Available unquilted, guilt not included, just for the postage. 59"x72"

  

Ooooh. Busy, busy, busy. But it could work on the wall, methinks. It was made for the wall originally, but something made me put it away and forget it, til now. This would be a quick one to quilt, since it would all be stitch in the ditch. feed dogs up. So I will put it in the maybe pile.

There was a time when I was traveling a lot that I stayed with a quilter who had a styled guest room all done up in 30's quilts. I loved it. So very cozy and later on I thought I could/should make some thirties style quilts. This is one of the three or four I made that got put away, right away. Available for just the postage, if you want it. It would work as a twin by adding a border. 

Email me. 

Half a Trip and no more. But I got it out of my system. Some quilters really enjoy the piecing part of the process. More power to them. Here it is in full.  I might finish it, as is, not bigger. At the moment I am not emotionally attached. 

 Now this one  Dots and Crosses,

I will quilt soon. I really still like it and now I have a place for it. Not for the bed, but for the wall. 

This wall

See all the possible walls here.

The End and a Glorious Beginning

David Brian Johnson 9/28/1954---12/8/25

I am so grateful for the life we shared and even more grateful that Dave is now with Jesus and out of his miserable body. 

Tomorrow would have been our 48th wedding anniversary. 

As he lay dying, I was holding his hand and reading from the Psalms and praying for his soul to be lifted. I sang Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us, Grant us your peace.

Telling him it was ok to let go and let the angels take him up to heaven, and to not be afraid, I removed his wedding ring and put it on my finger and will wear it til we meet again. Then I saw a tear roll down his cheek and it was just minutes later that he breathed his last. 

Then I washed his body and straigbtened  him out to wait for the hospice nurse to come and carry out the procedures.

We, meaning his sister Carol and brother -in-law Dan, completed the paperwork to donate his body to Restore Life in Elizabethton TN and they will be picking him up shortly. There will be no funeral or wake or any of that. That is how I want my end to be too. Our priests have been here regularly praying for Dave and giving him communion when he could participate, which has been a long time ago now. I am surrounded by the most fabulous people and they have all prayed for a peaceful end, which of course is just exactly as it happened. 

I have been weepy in the last few weeks but now I am rejoicing for his spirit and so glad that he is past from this life into eternal life. How do people do it who have no faith?

Oooh the sun just came out and my sister is on her way to bring me breakfast. What a glorious day.

Meow #7: Big Boy

Meow #7: Big Boy

Hand dyed cotton and silk, commercial cottons, fused, machine quilted. 18x24"

Now that I am a kitty mommy again, it only seems right to revisit the Meow series. My new big boy, who is gray and white, not orange and purple, is the inspiration anyway. He's not sure what he is doing here, but is more worried about when he can have more to eat. His whiskers were the finishing touch and are made from silk Charmeuse. So fancy. The meows in the background are the song of his people. Available for $250 plus shipping. Email me. Sold.