Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Just a fact of life!
Forty years later )it was 1989) after Dad has passed and Mom had a stroke, I got a call saying, “David, I need a little help!”. She never asked for help so I dropped everything. Sue and I jumped in the car and went to Santa Monica. There, in the middle of the living room, was Mom sitting on the ground with her feet against the wall and her back against a massive console radio/record player attempting to move it across the room. She had it halfway across the room and had been working on it for three days! We laughed and finished the move for her.
Well, I remember Mom bugging Dad to remove the wall between the dining doom and the family room so the house would be more open. I do not know why Dad did not do it. Mom was adamant and that only means one thing, it will get done!
I came home from school, I think it was the sixth grade, and walked into the house. There is my dear Mother and the wall was gone; kaput! The lumber, plaster, and stucco (yes, it was originally an outside wall) was lying in the driveway. Mom had her hair up in a bandana and was swinging at the last vestiges of stucco. With a mighty WHACK, the wall was gone.
Dad came home and thought something was suspicious since he could not get into the garage because of the piles of debris. I do remember him saying something about a “load-bearing wall” but he knew his work was cut out for him and no amount of arguing would change a thing.
Mom and Dad worked that weekend to frame the new opening which was about 10 ten feet wide and four feet tall. Mom left four feet of wall between the rooms because the family room was down two stairs and she needed something to hold her flowers. Dad installed a header to take the load and by Sunday it almost look presentable.
Mom designed a long flower container and sent the plans to Knute, our friend down the street. Two days later she go the plant container and within a week the house was put back together. Mom had a good idea.
Today was musical chairs day! We moved two older patio chairs/table sets to new locations and the new set was put on the nation adjacent to the kitchen. Below is MAry’s set from the old house; still in great condition and we ordered new chair pads and covers for the chairs and table.
Away with you11
We can now sit out front and watch the neighbors go by! We like our neighbors and they always stop and look at the front yard garden.
We love to sit and rock! Maybe we need to learn how to knit. Mary can teach me.
The set below is from my old house and they are fifteen years old but they have always been covered with a high-quality waterproof canvas cover.
The set is quite comfortable!
The guys were very helpful in moving everything around.
They made it look easy!
They like their new home; now we can rock, enjoy a glass of wine, and keep warm by the heat lamp which is gas-powered.
It pays to take care of things!
While all the moving was going on, Mary went to PT. Upon her return, we had the dish washer repair man here as well as Len, our IT wizard.
It was decided MAry would make a pie from her stash of genuine Oregon blackberries. It was absolutely wonderful!
The crust was made for “mini-pies” but it worked out fine.
Late in the afternoon, we took another stroll and the red roses were preeminent almost reflecting the sunlight like a strop sign.
They seemed to have grown up almost overnight.
They needed s closeup!
Just laying back and being admired.
We sat and enjoyed a wine and a beer in our new chairs; they are so comfortable. All we needed was a “blankie” and we would have drifted off to sleep1
Enjoying life!
Mary fixed an amazing dinner with 80% coming directly form the garden! We watched “Virgin River” until about 9:00 pm when we went to bed. Perhaps the trip the Reagan Library did us in; too much driving.
