NEW LIVINGROOM 3/2013

 While Ann has been actively trying to put away all our stuff and make our house a home, Wayne has been putting our new house in order structurally.  He spent a couple weeks locating, removing and replacing sections of the outside of the house that had dry rot from the wet weather here.  Then he caulked and repainted all of the replaced wood.  No pictures of that process for some reason.  Then Wayne decided to mess up the living room before Ann's new carpet was installed.  First he removed all the carpet, pads and staples.  Here's the old carpet stored in the sunroom.  We will use it temporarily downstairs if we do a new addition.

The living room had received some water damage during the previous owners tenure here.  Some of the work was not done properly and it made some of the joists uneven and thus the sub-floor had some hills and valleys.  The two visible joists needed to be planed down between 1/8" - 3/4" to make things level before new sub-flooring was laid down.

 Once that portion of the floor was done, Wayne removed an extended raised hearth that had water damage underneath it and had not been addressed earlier by previous owners.  The hearth was built to withstand a nuclear blast with enough lumber to build 3 closets.  Some sheet rock needed removing also. But the joists were fine.

 A small area, but labor intensive.

 The pile of lumber is the second pile of that size that was removed from the hearth structure.

 New sub-floor minus the new sheet rock.

   The problem with remodels is that the thickness and sizes of lumber 20 years ago is not the same as the lumber today.  The replacement sub-floor was less than 1/8" thinner than the old stuff, so Wayne needed to mud the seams to remove the ridge. Next, the carpet.

The installer arrived the next morning!  Ended up the carpet installer was a former student of Wayne's.  Small world!

 In 2 hours they were gone and we had new carpet!  Ann is really excited about having her living room back in order.  We then moved in some of the furniture we had stored in the sunroom and the spare bedroom.

 Here it is at the end of the day!

 The next morning, we had our good friends from Medford, Mark and Dawn come for the weekend.  Things got done just in time.  

No pictures of the Gossons though.  Too busy having fun to take pictures!

NEW CAR 3/2013

Our youngest son and his wife have been looking for a more economical car that the old pickup they have been driving.  So, looking in their state of Idaho and us in Oregon we finally found one here.  It's a little 2007 Prius.  We were able to get a good price for them because it had been wrecked and the interior was in really bad shape. but.....from certain angles it doesn't look too bad.

 The front end had some cosmetic damage from someone backing into it with a big truck.

 I took it to a mechanic and he checked it out and found, minus all the wreck damage and the smell inside, it was in fairly good shape.

 A little bailing wire and twine was holding it together precariously.

There was a lot of garbage, dog accidents and such inside. The smell was horrendous, but I figured it was all fixable with a lot of time and elbow grease.

 After we purchased it and three solid days of cleaning and body repairs, it looks better but the smell is only down be about 50%.  More work needed there.

Ann and I will drive it out to Idaho soon to deliver it to #5 son.  Good excuse to see the two grand kids out there!

GATEWAYS TO THE FUTURE 2/7-20/2013

The gateways to the future are paved with the stones laid in the past.  As we wander through life, we gradually begin to see more clearly the future being filled by those of younger years.  Just as we earlier in our lives walked upon the roads laid by those before us, so we gradually see that path we laid being trod upon by those who will someday lay roads of their own.  Getting older and seeing our posterity grow is an interesting process.
 Ann and Wayne were invited to spend 10 days with four grand children, the brood belonging to our second son and his wife.

 For ten days they were ours to care for.  Blessed with sunny California weather, we basked in the warmth of little children's laughter as we were thrust into the once familiar role of caretakers of little ones.  Though the task was familiar from years past, the moves, thoughts and actions were rusty.  School, church, athletics, scouts, baths, laundry for more than 2, meal preparation, bed times, stubbornness all brought back memories of years past.

 Though defeat was not an option, we learned that de feet were all growing rapidly.  Feet preparing to trod down the path of life as we older ones step aside.  But before we step aside, we find there are many lessons to be taught and many to be learned, plus.....

 ...there's fun to be had....

 ....surprises to enjoy....

 ...sunshine to absorb.

 We found that we were so busy that we took very few pictures but our hearts are filled with memories.
Wayne remembers in 1963 being a brand new 11 year old boy scout, so in awe of those bigger scouts ahead of him and so proud of his new scout uniform.

Now, 50 years later it was fun for Wayne to take his grandson, a brand new 11 year old scout, with his new uniform, to his first scout meeting.....

 Where he too looked upon older scouts and said, "Grandpa, I want to be an Eagle Scout like Cory."  So Grandpa took a picture.  And the road continues on.

 The future is held in the hands of the younger generation.

Those of the past still walk down the road, only a little slower and with a few more aches and pains,

but the memories of the past linger on and we smile, pleased with where we have been.....

and satisfied with where we are headed and in whose hands the roads of the future will be built.
Spending a week with a few grand kids while their parents were back east on business was hard and we were happy when we could sleep in our own bed and wake up to the peaceful sounds of the ocean waves of the Pacific Ocean so near, but it was good fun and satisfying!  Life is good!

BEACHCOMBERS 2/2/2013

One of the things Ann loves about living on the beach is her walks out on the beautiful and numerous beaches near us.  Ann loves to walk slowly along, looking for agates, sea shells and whatever.  There is peace in her when she is doing this activity.  Wayne goes along sometimes.  He seems to not be the avid beach walker that Ann is.  Anyway, a few days ago we went for a couple hour walk.  We each found something we thought the other would like.  Below, you can see what Wayne found for Ann; a whole sand dollar, a unique piece of driftwood and a glass float.  The float: Gold Beach Chamber of Commerce does a neat activity each year about this time.  They hide a number of floats out along about 4 miles of beach up above the high tide zone in the driftwood and the beach grass.  People comb the beaches in hopes of finding one of these treasures.  Now Ann has one.

With all the work Wayne did in dismantling a shack for the gleaned lumber and plywood to build some garage shelves (see previous post) Ann was pleased with finding a good usable 2x4 for Wayne to add to his lumber pile.  It will be put to good use!  So, after a few hours, we took our treasures home and sat satisfied in our sun room and watched the sunset, eating our dinner of left overs.  Perfect day!

PROGRESS FROM CHAOS TO ORDER 2/3/2013

We have been busy, busy busy!  Ann has been working in the house, attempting to decide what kind and what color of carpet for the living room and changing rooms like our bedroom into something more like a bedroom than a storage unit.

Wayne has been tearing apart an old house at a neighbors place, gleaning lumber and plywood to make shelving in the garage.  Here's the gleaned for free lumber.  (Only cost was a sprained ankle from falling out of the old house while tearing it apart.)

 

While Wayne was mending his ankle, Ann was busy tackling rooms and putting more order in our lives.

 

Just one of her projects.

 And another one.....in the works.

 When Wayne finally got back to work he tore out all the old shelving that was inadequate and poorly constructed (not able to hold all he wanted to put on them) and replaced with a more sturdy design.

 Then he put things in better order and packed the shelves with all the much needed, important items that we just can't live without and seldom use.

Changed electrical stuff so we could have the garage refrigerator and freezer where he wanted them,

and got his tools in order....sort of.

Then we went to Wayne's brother's place to get more of our stuff.

 So, the house is moving in the direction of order, the garage is a work in progress and still as we unpack and reorganize, we find there are items that need to be moved elsewhere and we are waiting opportunities to store in someone else's home.  Hint, hint, hint.

 But still, the sunsets are awesome, the work is sweet and the rewards are coming