Plain and Practical

What Does Valerie Want Santa To Bring?

An orbital sander.  Actually, I'm going to help out Santa and go shopping at some pawn shops this weekend.

Life is gloriously busy and I am stimulated and excited about all the reparis to make and the plaster, painting, wood floor rebuilding, I love that sort of work and didn't realize how I missed it.  Taking something ugly and making it purposeful again applies not only to old shirts becoming quilts and rugs, but also scratched and damaged doors and floors becoming lovely and clean and useful again; when cracked and missing plaster is repaired and painted with new curtains made and hung, it is all good for me inside and out.

The malls can go hang, I've got my eyes on sanding equipment and a decent stepladder and a five gallon bucket of paint and some wood floor sealer, all of which I can get through secondhand sources.

I keep reminding myself Cleansliness is next to Godliness, and I have one bleached-lighter hand to prove it.  I feel very, very happy and blessed!

Jus' A Little Cleaning to Do

  So here's a before-and-after pic for you, the top of the range has been cleaned and I'm working on the surface!  Just to show there's lots of good wholesome work to tackle.  The new apartment was swept, inventoried, and the toilet made to work, mousetraps put about, and next time up there we'll check the traps, see about the bathroom sink, measure and clean the windows for coverings, and finish the stove--I left the knobs in a bucket in the sink to soak, wowsa!  Love that soaking method for cleaning things.  The refrigerator and freezer got wiped out and ready to turn on, and I cleaned out the bottom of the new-looking dishwasher so it's ready to test.  We removed all the old furniture and six bags of trash and it already looks just a tiny bit better!

Today we travel to Columbus, Ohio, for Craig's interview tomorrow morning, and if they say "start Monday" we're going to do our prayerful best to hook him up with a place to stay for 4-6 weeks there, and have him come home on weekends.  I'll take over the Mt. Clemens apartment and do the repairs and painting and finish moving everything, then in a few weeks we'll have the money to go rental-house hunting around Columbus.  If he isn't hired--we'll work on everything together until he is.  It's a win-win either way.  God seems to be giving us two plans--but it was actually one really big one!

We Are Thankful Yet Again

An Open Letter to my Friends:

 

Do spread the word that prayers have been answered in God's usual,

wonderfully woven way.

 

We have disabled friends in Mt. Clemens, Michigan whose last renter in

their upstairs flat, destroyed the unit upon moving out.  One of them can not

even get up the stairs.  We have worked out an agreement to stay there

and make repairs in return for part of the rent, so that when we move on after

Craig finds a new job, they will have a fixed up apartment to help them with

their income.

 

Thursday we are going to replace windows and stop up the windy gaps,

remove all the trash, and make a list of what repairs in what order (toilet first)

and heave out the mouse-house furniture and sweep the floors clear and take a

good solid inventory of the damage and the costs of repairs bit by bit. 

We'll have to move into the first room we can clean up, as we have to be

out of the Detroit apartment by Dec. 1st.

 

So God not only found us a place we can afford, but gave me some wonderful

tasks to do, and granted our friends the repairs they could not do themselves

or afford to have done by hired help.  We are being given a very large space in

a safe place, there's a garden outside if we are still there in spring, and best of

all, I counted six thrift stores within three miles, and two nice food markets with

healthy discount food supplies. Boo will like the trees, and we are hoping, will

do his job on the mice.

 

I remember fondly making drywall repairs and painting and trimming window

frames using my handy miter saw.  As long as Good Husband deals with the

Plumbing Situations, all the rest is possible, familiar, and a pleasure to tackle.

 

Prayer is once again shown to be the Way to Peace, and trusting in His

wonderful ability to plan and provide has come true again for us.

 

Please share in my happiness,

valerie hibbard

p.s. I'll take a couple of pics on Thursday to post for you to share.

Running Around Like A Chicken . . .

 

been making my little "woodies," from naturecrafts, onto recycled picture frames, for wreathes and table decorations, and also I've been . . . 

 packing to move because Craig was pink-slipped a week ago.  We don't know where we are moving to, but we've given notice and we are hoping a job comes through quickly so we only have to move once--it's a physical burden as well as a financial one, to move twice, especially since we are looking at all out-of-state-options.  We have been prayerful and know that God will see us through.  I'm even hoping (as I always do) that the next place can have a clothesline billowing with sheets and dresses, with chickens running underneath it, and a garden nearby.  My idea of high living runs pretty cheap, actually!

The new Plain And Practical newspaper, the two-month Holiday Edition, is finished and online at the web site for you to enjoy for free.  Copies are also available through Etsy.