There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...

Well no, not really swallowed - but pretty close!  I spat it out - EeWwww!

I was working in the bathroom peeling icky caulk outta joints and crevices and scrapping drywall wall mud offa the walls (whacky repair job by previous owners).  I had taken my cup of coffee with me and stuck a loosely balled up paper towel in the top to keep dust from settling in it.  I hadn't however thought about flies... being all clever and such (we have lots of OPEN windows while we are working on the house to improve air flow).  I bet he was surprised when he landed in coffee after wiggling into that crevice... not as surprised as I was when I took a swig of coffee... did I say EeWwww?

I wonder... Can you OD on mouthwash??

She must love me more...

On the day when we emptied the PODS...

The day that was well into the 90's...

The day that was humid... icky, sticky, humid...

The day after we had already spent days and days and days cleaning... in the heat and humidity...

On that day - as my sister Darlin and I were shoving the boxes and bins and other such nonsense around in the heat of the third floor attic storage room...

I told her that I thought she must love me more than I love her...

...because I wasn't all that sure I'd be able to do all the same stuff for her if she ever moved that she'd done for me during the previous couple weeks...

In the heat and humidity - through the dust and the dirt...

I'm pretty sure she must love me more...

Itty Bitty has left the Stone House...

We knew this day would come...

The day when her booster seat at the table would remain empty...

and she would not join us on the side porch and enjoy the breeze...

that there would be nary a ripple in the pool that Pop's got for them to enjoy...

there will be reminders in little places...

 

her little duck friend would have to play by himself...

and her bed would be empty... oh so empty...

She will be back...

with her Momma and Step-dad... and a new baby brother due in November.  Maybe next summer they will be back.

So over the next couple days I'll put away her things and wipe away my tears.  Because I'd much rather see...

her playing in the water by the pond...

or napping on the porch...

playing in the cool breeze...

helping Pops with his chores...

I'm sure going to miss her sweet face!

My how times flies...

when you are buying a house, cleaning, moving, cleaning, buying new appliances, cleaning, calling contractors, cleaning, talking with contractors, cleaning the rental unit, returning equipment to Comcast, cleaning, hiring contractors, cleaning... oh and then of course there's all the silly things we need to be doing like eating and sleeping and washing clothes and of course all those cleaning cloths we've been using.

There is no easy or quick way to tell y'all about the adventures the past month - so for now I'll just say the Stone House is ours! 

We love it - which is good because although she was beautifully built and renovated in the past - she has not been cared for properly the past few years and is a bit dirty behind the ears.  Nothing we can't handle with some good old fashion elbow grease which we have been slinging around here with abandon (oh and a boatload of money would help too).

I'll be back when I'm not so darn busy, and dirty, and sweaty, and tired...

I'm looking forward to sharing my new Old House with ya!