Latest From Living Large: Getting Back to Normal
Our washing machine has been going all day long for days.
During the flood, our crawl space flooded, and our water softener was floating down there. We got it cleaned and put back together this week. Because of the iron in our water, I had not washed white clothes, linens, towels, etc., for weeks. With 5 of us in the house (sometimes 6), I had countless sheets and towels.
I also have had to wash all the pillow covers, slipcovers, and drapes in the house. The chickens created so much dust that every surface needs to be cleaned. I’m working my way through all of that.
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What’s Been Happening This Week
I have been making a long to-do list every single day and accomplishing most of it. With things to do both inside and outside, I’ve been trying to do a bit of both each day so I can enjoy our weather, which has been lovely.
I haven’t been consistent with my newsletters, so I thought I would give a rundown of what we experienced in late March, April, and May:
- 3/30 Harrison (our 2 1/2-year-old grandson) stayed with us while Mom and Dad (Annie & Tommy) packed up the house in Dallas.
- 4/4 Picked up 10 baby (3 days old) chicks who we had in a pen in our dining room
- 4/11 Mom and Dad arrived with two cars full of stuff.
- 4/13 Annie started her new job, and Tommy started interviewing
- 4/19 We sandbagged our house because the river had overflowed its banks. At one point it was 21″ on our road. The only way in or out was to either walk with hip waders or row a boat in.
- 4/21 Tommy took Harrison to NYC to visit with his mom and get him away from the “puddles” that he wanted to play in.
- 4/29 Tommy came back from NYC
- 5/3 Annie & Tommy moved everything they had at our house into their new apartment
- 5/4 Movers finally showed up at the kids apartment (they were supposed to be there 5/1)
- 5/5 Helped Annie and Tommy get organized in their new apartment
- 5/6 Tommy picked Harrison up from our house, and he slept in his crib for the first time in over a month.
- 5/7 Set up a garage sale (village-wide sale) in our driveway
- 5/8 – 5/9 Garage Sale
- 5/10 Moved the chickens out of the house and into the coop (Oh Happy Days!)
- 5/16 Got rid of the stuff that didn’t sell in the garage sale and moved the sandbags away from the house.
- 5/17 (Today) Heading downtown to help the kids. There is some lighting that “Handy” needs to work on, a TV to hang on a wall, and we have to bring some things home and put them into storage.
It was a bit overwhelming. I’m so happy the kids are here and they are getting settled, but it’s been a lot.
I also finally hung my brass wall planter and shared where I got it in a very fun Splurge vs. Save post.
Blog Post This Week
What I’m Up to Next Week
The cleaning will continue this week. I’m also working on a project with Love vs. Design wallpaper company. I can’t wait to reveal it to you on the 29th of this month.
Friday (5/15) was our Zone 5b official day when we can safely start planting outside. I didn’t get many seeds started inside, so I’m going to have to buy more plants than I’d like. But there was only so much I could do. We also need to get our yard and beds ready for those plants. The flood did some damage. We are having landscapers come on Monday to help with the cleanup and prep. I’m pretty excited about that.
In between cleaning all my shelves and all the treasures that they hold, I will be buying and planting this week.
Good News I Want to Share
Some weeks are harder than others to find good news to share, but I’ve found a few good ones this week.
- I put out my oriole feeder last weekend, and within 1/2 hour I saw my first oriole of the year. You can read about attracting orioles to your yard in this blog post.
- Tyler Butterworth, who is @butterworthdasyrup on social media platforms, has an IG cooking show with his 77-year-old neighbor who wanted to learn to cook to give his wife, who is sick, better meals. You can read about it and also watch their funny video.
- I stumbled upon The Bright Side | Good News Podcast—I’m a new subscriber on YouTube!
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!
