Malden Updates - August 2011

Here we are with retirement fast approaching Norm & Jules go out and get "the" retirement property. Retirement, doesn't that mean kicking back, taking it easy? HA! There is more work to be done here than anywhere I have gone with those two!

Why is it that "southern" decorating/insulating usually involves lots of tape, cardboard and plastic? Do you see that porch? Like its hermetically sealed in plastic! Every window in the house had plastic taped and stapled over BOTH the inside & outside! Yeah, that's gotta go.

There wasn't a window in the place that could be opened without a knife and scraper! The things used by previous people living there amazes me still! A Kansas license plate covering a heater vent hole in the living room floor or how about the piece of a cardboard vacuum cleaner box with contact paper to "fix" a hole two feet wide in the panelling, now that is creative recycling. Newsflash - - - You're not in Kansas anymore.

We have received a great welcome from our new neighbors and many have stopped by to comment on how nice it is to see the changes that we are making to Ilean. That is what Jules has named the newest addition to the aluminum collection that Jules & Norm have. Notice how the mobile home LEANS to the right?

One of the first things we wanted to do was to air out the new digs. That meant opening ALL of the windows and unsealing the porch.



Hurry up and take the shot, my bottom is burning



Don't worry, its all old wood, like a giant campfire, its just that there was so much of it. I learned that old panelling burns REALLY HOT & REALLY FAST!





As I mentioned, the past residents sealed nearly every possible opening in the mobile home with plastic. The one thing that they forgot to seal were the openings where pipes and electrical cables came in. Once the people moved out, mice moved in.

Norm figured out where mouse headquarters was, the water heater room. The outside access door was, you guessed it, hermetically sealed with plastic, tape and styrofoam. 

However, since easy access was still needed to the water heater why not just cut a doorway through the bedroom wall? The ingenuity left us speechless! Who actually does that? The main highway from under the house to the inside was established with that move.

Something else that I learned from watching Norm's reactions, when dealing with mice they don't negotiate! It is their way or the highway. After the negotiations broke down Norm said no more Mr. Nice Guy. I didn't want to say it out loud but Mr. Nice Guy has never been Norm's strong point.

They may be small, but those little varmints have a noble and admirable spirit and they really didn't want to move out. Norm used some strange things to persuade them to move though that I still don't understand. Moth balls and dryer sheets, you know fabric softener sheets for the dryer! Norm says he doesn't know why they work either, but mice don't like either one, so he used both.

Norm thought he was being devious and ended up getting burned for being mean. While moving a big pile of plastic siding, that was piled up next to the house by the water heater door (creating a giant mouse condo) Norm met a snake in the yard.

Norm paid the snake to spy on the mouse headquarters from the rear and to scare them. The snake agreed and went UNDER the house. I think he is supposed to report back daily but I haven't seen the snake since. (But I'm not complaining!)

Norm's out a few bucks and mad now at the snake. He is such a chucklehead... Everyone knows you can't trust a snake in the grass.

I really like the porch now that it is opened up. I think it will be an especially nice place to sit on a warm rainy evening.

Jules did a lot of hard work after the porch was opened up.

She pulled all the weeds from the garden and made it look real nice.

I got to hang out with Jack for a few hours too. Unfortunately, while Jack and I were horsing around he tripped and fell. He is having surgery to put his ear back on but I didn't get hurt.

Of course since the Malden property is called Aluminum Acres it has to have a place for Bob and Walter and any other campers that stop by. Bob is where we stayed while we were there working on getting Ilean habitable.

I'm liking this place more and more with every visit. I just hope that we get all the work done soon so we can sit back and enjoy like retired people are said to do.

Until next time,

Travis

Do You Believe? - August 2011

Believe in what you may ask? Messages to the living from people that have died. Ghosts and all that stuff. I know it is an odd subject. But I just had to tell you about what happened.



Seriously?

 Norm and I were discussing different things a few days ago and this subject came up. I told him he was full of blue mud. I for one didn't believe it at all. Norm said its true, that it happens all the time, especially if you open your mind to it. Norm said animals are more in tune to visitors from the other side than people are.




Hip & in tune

 

He says his father-in-law rings bells to say hello. He said that his mom passed in February 2010 and that before she crossed over she said she would leave dimes as a way of saying hello. She also was a huge fan of mushrooms. I would have liked to have met her because I love mushrooms too.




Anyhow, the idea of finding a dime now and again is pure luck, right?! Mushrooms growing, of course. But when he started telling me about some of the strange things he has seen I started to think he had lost his marbles. He said that ever since his mom passed away mushrooms began growing in the backyard, where they had never grown before. He chops them down and they come back. I told him it was a tree root or something and that is why they were growing where they were. He asked me to explain why the dogs will sometimes just bark at the empty kitchen, but that they won't go in the kitchen. The dogs stay in the living room and whine. I told him the dogs were just as crazy as he is.

He said that his brothers and sisters houses have been getting mushrooms too since their mom crossed over. I told Norm he should tie the bag tighter that he keeps his marbles in. Then he told me to explain why his kid's houses were getting mushrooms. I told him the same thing, coincidence. Needless to say I was skeptical. Maybe he was sipping some cordial or something.

Then last weekend we were in Malden doing some clean up work on the mobile home. If I didn't personally see what happened, with my own two eyes, I would still be a non-believer.

Norm was cleaning out the living room, kitchen and goiter area that had three large area rugs. (I should explain here; the goiter area is an addition that some carpenter wanna-be built on the side of the mobile home. Jules said it has to be removed!) The rugs were dirty and nasty like the rest of the house. Norm was going to just throw them away and Jules said they might be good for outside on the patio if they washed up ok. Norm vacuumed them and went outside for a smoke and was talking to Jules. Nobody else was at the house.

When we went back in to roll up the carpets there was a dime on the carpet he had just vacuumed! Nothing else was on the carpet, just the dime, right in the middle!! It stopped Norm in his tracks. Me too! He called Jules and showed it to her and said his mom was saying hello. They both just smiled.

I was worried I would have an accident! It really spooked me. I asked Norm if his mom was still there. He said he believes she stops in now and again but that he has not seen her, just the reminders that she was there and is thinking about him and the family.



Day 1



As if that wasn't enough to rock the foundation of my non-believer status, when we got back to DeKalb there were mushrooms growing in the backyard again.

I took that as a true sign that I should say hello when I see a mushroom or find a dime. Norm has a container that he puts those special dimes in.



Day 2

I considered not mentioning anything about this, but I can't get over it, I had to tell someone!

If you too are a non-believer, like I was, open your mind a little like I just did. You might be pleasantly surprised.



Day 3



You know... I wonder if these are edible? Maybe Norm's mom just wants us to have really good salads and sauteed mushrooms on our burgers.



Joni, Mom & Kate




Thanks Joanne and Hello back, we miss you!

Joni's Birthday Dinner - August 2, 2011

We finally got everyone together at the same time so we could celebrate Joni's birthday by going out for dinner. Normally we go out on the person's actual birthday but Norm & Jules were at the rally. Some parents huh? Instead of staying home and taking their daughter out for dinner ON her birthday they go partying and camping.

Brock of course was hamming it up with every opportunity,

and playing musical laps.




Joni & Jason (BEFORE Joni noticed Jason's broccoli joke)



Without broccoli or Norm III's rabbit ears.

This is how they are supposed to be.

This is how they really are!

I asked Norm III to give me a ride like Brock. He said he could make me fly. I thought that would be really cool, but Jules said no.

Norm III just chuckled that evil laugh of his and said OK, no flying today. I wasn't sure but it seemed that I had just saved one of my nine lives.

Again, how they are supposed to be...

     and how they really are.

Joni got some nice gifts from everyone,

including the big favorite, a Wii console.

Brock was more excited than Joni.

I couldn't tell which gift was Joni's favorite. Maybe she just liked them all equally.

I know that MY favorite was the birthday sundae that our waiter brought for her while she was opening gifts. While Joni was posing for this picture I was making my move on the sundae.

Norm III was completely stunned when he found out Joni got a gift card for $100.

He had actually gotten it for her but thought it was for $20. Wait until he gets his statement...



The haul



After dinner was a chance for all of Jules & Norm's kids to pose for a picture. Whodda thunk it?

Of course I had to get in on it too, especially since it was on Norm's bike.

Then Brock got his FIRST motorcycle ride, much to the chagrin of his dad.

 

This is a video of Brock's first ride. Everyone thought Joni would be the nervous parent. Ha! It turns out Jason talks about Brock riding motorcycles and such, but I think Norm III jumped Jason's timetable a little.

Well, that was about it. Until we have another event that I need to report on, keep having fun and remember that life is too short to always worry about tomorrow, live today.

Travis

The Property - Closing! August 2, 2011

Well we did it, all of the paperwork is complete and Jules and Norm (and me) now own the property in Malden.

This was just after we signed the paperwork. That is Mick, our attorney that handled the paperwork, with Norm & me.

I told Norm to take the picture since Jules is FAR MORE photogenic than Norm, but Jules just said she would take it.

This is Richard (or Rich or Dick depending on who you talk to). He is the person that we bought the property from.








After we closed we drove out to the property to get a real close look at the scary building. Richard said whatever is there, is yours. Norm decided it was a good idea to take pictures of everything that was still in there. I think we are going to need a BIG dumpster to haul away a lot of the stuff that was left behind.

Although some of the stuff in the building looks like we will be able to use it I still think the dumpster is needed.

We noticed something real icky in this corner. Since there were no lights we took this picture to try and see what was there. BIG flies were buzzing everywhere in this corner.

We have to go back next week and "dig" into this corner to find out what all the commotion is about but only with the aid of a very bright flashlight, or should I say torch for our overseas viewers. I think the best day will be when we tear down this building and start new.

Besides changing the locks on the house and checking out the scary building, one thing that we decided right away was that pushing a mower around on over two acres wasn't such a great idea. Jules told Norm that it was time to get a new mower.

When we got back to DeKalb Jules took me and Norm shopping. This was us figuring out our new toy. Isn't Jules the greatest?  Now we just need to go back and try it out.

Norm said I could ride, but I couldn't drive. I told him that since he was going to be all uppity & protective of the mower that I would just supervise from a distance with a cool drink in my hand. He warned me to stay up high while supervising.


Talk with you soon,

Travis