Latest From Living Large: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
I didn’t send an email last week because our lives have been turned upside down, to say the least. Annie and Tommy were here, and she took the train to work every day the first week, and Tommy had interviews on most days. Harrison and I spent another week together during the days.
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What’s Been Happening This Week
It was crowded in the house with everyone and some of their belongings, but we were making do.
I don’t talk about it a lot, but those of you who have been around for a while know that we live on a river. Our river, the Fox River, is a 202-mile-long tributary of the Illinois River. If you want to read more about it, you can find it HERE.
We’ve had a lot of rain in the Midwest, but Wisconsin has been hit especially hard, and all that water has to go somewhere. Well, all that water has to flow south, and boy has it been flowing. By Sunday of last weekend we were sandbagging our home. By Monday we could no longer get cars down our street. Yesterday was the first day I had left the house in a week, and it was by walking in hip waders quite a way to my car.
The water is finally going down, but we are expecting more rain tomorrow night, so we are praying it’s not much or misses us completely. While our house is dry, it’s only because we have quite a system of plastic and sandbags that surround our home. We also have deep pits dug between the house and the sandbag line. They normally are covered but can be opened, and sump pumps are dropped into them to pump the water that seeps under the bags back out and away from our home. It’s a system that needs continual attention. We’ve had pumps go out. We had sump pumps in our crawl space that had an issue, and “Handy” had to spend a full day down there re-routing and creating a new system of pipes.
The most heartbreaking part for me is my gardens. They’ve been underwater for 8 days today. Many of my plants won’t survive this. Roses don’t like to have wet roots, and I planted 5 new bushes last year. They, along with the ones I already had, probably won’t make it. My lilac bush that I planted three years ago and was finally flowering most likely won’t survive. There will be more casualties as well. I’ll just have to wait and see.
Some people wonder why we live here! It’s because 99% of the time, it’s a beautiful, idyllic location. Keith is the mayor of our little village, and he was interviewed by all the news outlets in Chicago. You can catch him on ABC HERE.
What Happened to the Kids
Annie is already working in the city, and she is staying with her younger sister Emma downtown. Tommy took Harrison to NYC to visit with his mom. Harrison is having the time of his life. They are visiting museums, and Nana (Tommy’s mom) lives in Manhattan, so just walking around and seeing buses, trucks, ambulances, and police cars is heaven for the little guy. They will be coming back here on Wednesday.
The little family is supposed to move into their apartment on Friday (5/1), but the owner was putting in a new kitchen, and it might not be ready. I’ll keep you posted. 🤪
Our 10 Dirty, Messy Houseguests
As if we weren’t already a bit overcrowded, you might remember we picked up 10 newborn chicks the first week of April. They are now healthy and growing into quite large and loud chicks. They have feathered-out, so technically they could go into the coop if it wasn’t underwater. We also need to work on the coop before it’s ready for them to live in, and that’s all been pushed back.
Blog Posts This Week
What I’m Up to Next Week
We are hoping that the water goes down and we can get the kids moved into their new apartment. I will be busy this week, with Tommy, trying to entertain Harrison because all he wants to do is go in the water (he calls it a puddle 😂).
I have some home projects in the works. I’m wallpapering our small entryway, and I’m very excited about that. We also bought a toddler bed for Harry, and I’m going to make the room he sleeps in a nice little retreat for him and/or other guests.
A peek into my life
Lynn’s Recollections & Reflections
I have a little series that started out as a journal of sorts for my kids to have about my life. It became something more.
It’s a place where I share a very personal look into my life and believe it or not have helped some people get out of unhealthy situations.
It’s a work of fiction as it relates to others as it is my recollections of events. I hope you enjoy!
I am so sad for you about your gardens. Praying they recover more than you expect. But the lilacs and tulips you rescued are stunning!
Thank you, my friend, for the prayers! It does break my heart but it will be fixed eventually! I’m trying to stay positive.
Lovely lilacs – looks like sensation. I had a row of them at my last home. I have been wondering how you were doing. My daughter lives near you, but the river is not an issue for her. I feel bad for the Broken Oar, but weekend evening will be quiet for a while for my daughter.
Hi Linda—The Broken Oar has lots of water, and of course, when the river is closed, they lose all the boating business. The same for all the businesses on the lakes north of us. The water was going down, but it’s raining again today. I hope this is it for a while. Today is day 10 that my gardens have been underwater, and that breaks my heart. Thanks for checking in.
Goodness – you do have a lot on your plate right now! I hope the rain slows down and the waters recede soon! The area you live in is beautiful!
It’s crazy how much we have going on. The water was dropping but it’s raining again today so only time will tell. Thanks for checking in Laura