Sleep Shirts by Janice

While I was on my last trip to North Idaho for the family reunion I found myself in a creative dilemma: I had not brought one single thing to do creatively. No paint, no paper, not even a Crayola. So, in desperation, I decided it was a good time to try out the sleep shirt idea I had been playing around with.

I went into the Shopko across from my hotel and found the neatest new thing. I had been thinking of the tie dye stuff we used to do, but all one color and so random wasn’t what I wanted to do, but right there on the shelf was a whole box of ready to use genius. I was tickled. All I would have to do is draw on the design and it’s a done deal. Perfect for hotel down time.

So I got the box of felt type pens, dug out a t-shirt I had, and went to work. The first one I did I showed off at the reunion in the auction, sold a “to be done later” version, then wound up selling my own shirt as well. That made me have to do another one for me, and naturally I had to buy more pens to do these.

Now the thing I guess I need to let you know if you decide to do any of these is to watch out when you buy the pens. Some are heat set, which means you have to either iron them or put them in a hot dryer, and some are simply a permanent marker. I am not sure how they are different from a Sharpie, but I guess the lines are easier to change from broad to narrow depending on the design you are trying to do.

You will probably want to get all of one type, not like I did: which was buy them, get home and read the box later. Anyway, I had fun with them and thought I would show them to all of you.

Renovation Begins

Renovation has begun! After I talked to the realtor I made my plan of attack and have begun the work. Some of it will be expensive from my point of view, but a lot of it will be just plain hard work. 

For my first project I pulled out the cabinet in the library on my own. It took nearly a day as it was built in place and in a method my Jake would have been proud of. In other words: hell for stout. It was nailed to the wall and the floor and as I was trying to do as little damage to the floor and walls as possible I was being extremely careful. I got more bruises than the structure of my house did. I got it out, though, and now that it’s done I have a pile of usable furniture grade plywood, with a lot of nails in it, 3 very heavy duty drawers for some other use, and a fire safe that closes but has no key to lock it. That is ok, I guess, because I don’t think a fire would care if it is locked or not. I have moved the bookcase to the dining room in order to be able to work on the library. 

In the course of tearing out the cabinet I have to report both good news and bad news. The good news is that there is a solid wood floor underneath and it looks like good tight pine boards. The bad news is it is under two layers of vinyl flooring, instead of just one, with the attendant adhesive which will have to be removed. It will almost surely be a real mess to clean it up. I plan to check what is under the carpet in the living room before I make that final decision. If there is glue under the carpet I may have to go with a plan B which I haven’t concocted yet. The realtor assures me, and I know it’s true, that people really like wood floors. I personally like carpet, but this house is not for me.

For now I have the room empty enough to wash down the walls, paint the ceiling and use it as a staging area while I get rid of a few pieces of excess furniture. At least now I know where all my demolition tools are at.

I should note that the name “Library” is my own for the tiny room that is actually a converted carport. My daughter calls it “the mud room”. I figure with a fireplace, internet cable, a bookcase and a couple of comfortable chairs it makes a good library. 

 Desk/Cabinet as it started out.

  Pile of goods after it was disassembled.

The floor underneath the cabinet gives me hope.

Starting Over - Again!

Alright; I admit it has been a minute or two since I started this blog and I haven’t been back.

But I have an excuse. Yes, that’s all it is: an excuse. You see, I just got so busy starting over that I forgot all about the blog. Then a good friend suggested I better get back to it. So here I am again.

There are so many parts of “starting over” that once you commit to it the whole thing simply seems to take over.

First there are the other people you must consider. In my case I needed to make sure the house I was left was to be cared for and done with as my husband would have wanted.

I believe I have done that, although it required me to go to another state to work in a field I knew nothing about. More on that later.

Having made enough money to put the house in good condition I made the next move: to get it into good hands. Five acres was too much for me, so I’ve put it into our sons’ hands. It was to go to him on my death anyway; we are just cheating a little bit so he can have it now. No need for him to wait another 50 years and inherit a rundown hovel. He and his wife are doing an awesome job of taking good care of it and we are all happy with the arrangement.

Of course, all that passing on part caused me to need a new place to live. My mother passed away and I was in Arkansas for that and after many conversations with family and friends I decided I should move “home”.

So I did! Once in Arkansas I found a house with only 2 acres, nicely located and with all my requirements. I bought it and moved all my stuff to Arkansas.

And let me tell you, I have a lot of stuff!

Now here I am, in Arkansas and I have made the decision to start over again. I am now going to go “home” again, this time to Idaho. I found out that after 30 years of doing, loving, and being in a place does make it home.

So for me to move back to Idaho I will need to sell my Arkansas house, pack or sell all my stuff again, and buy another house in Idaho.

No, it wasn’t a wasted 2 or 3 years: I learned so much and the awesome deal on my property would not have been possible in Idaho. Through pure luck I am doing it the only way I can see that it would have worked.

But this time I intend to take you with me, if you want to come along. I will be redoing my fifty-plus year old house for resale, trying out some moneymaking ideas online, and doing some arts, and some crafts and taking a few little mini trips around this area before I leave. I plan to share these ideas and experiences with you through my blog.

So for now all I can do is promise not to forget you again and to ask you to follow me as I start over once again. So let’s get busy!