HOUSE FOR SALE-COME INSIDE- THIS IS THE FIRST FLOOR

Yesterday I left you at the front door.

Ready to go inside?

The door is open....

When you step in and look up you see

A BARREL BEADBOARD CEILING

with seeded glass fixture.

To the left- Grandmother Russel's gate-leg table

To the right a hinged bench to sit 

and change your shoes.

Step forward and you are in the main hall.

This is very dark because it is a dreary day

but from the front hall you can see

straightway out to the bay.

The backside of the house is mostly glass.

Step from the outer foyer into the main hall

and to the left is the front sitting room.

Looking in---

Looking out towards the hall...

Across the hall is a small area for the kids

The steps are on the other side of the

KIDS' CORNER 

and they lead upstairs.

We'll go there tomorrow.

The two little chairs are sewing chairs.

the pale yellow one was Gramma Russel's chair.

The wooden one belonged to my grandmother.

There is a powder room next to the 

KIDS' CORNER.

Outside below the window is 

an angel fountain

which I will get pictures of another day.

Continuing down the main hall is the

dining room on the left.

2nd shot looks towards the kitchen-

You can see the 

'coffee/drink' center with

the copper sink and seeded glass built-ins.

To the right of the entry hall is the library area.

OMGOSH-- I just saw that tangle of cords!

I meant to clean that up before the pictures...duh....

This is also part of the inner entry hall &

library area.

At the end of the hall is the 

KITCHEN/FAMILY ROOM AREA

Dinette Area with Bench Seat

Kitchen

Pantry in the back.

All Bosch appliances.

Jenn-Aire downdraft 6 burner range with grill..

To the left is the bar area with copper sink...

Not a good picture---sorry---

The coffee bar area would be to the far left

in the picture below--

with a wine cooler built in under the counter

next to the fridge.

You can see the bay in the background.

I am going to miss this view.

If you came in the kitchen door that you see

to the far left in the picture above

and look towards the front entry

this is the view.

The overhead gives access to the old roof area-

We built out over the old house

and needed access.

I had them do this rather than put

the access in the closet.

The little door is home to

GEORGE AND ETHEL GNOME

although I heard that they already 

packed up and moved.

Hope we can find them for the younger 

grandkids when we move.

So--there you have it--

that wraps up the first floor 

(I think).

I will be back with 

upstairs and downstairs next time.

MY HOUSE IS FOR SALE-PICTURES

Yep!

The HOUSE is for sale.

It is no longer HOME to me---

It now becomes a commodity--

It will be my loss but someone else's gain.

A home for them to love and live in.

I have never really shown a lot of pictures

of my house.

So-folks- today is the day.

I am going to break this up into a few

posts because I have about

fifty or more pictures.

Today I will do the outside.

Driving up you see this:

We sit below the main road a bit.

This was taken with a drone.

The main house is to the left.

To the right with the little 'porch'

is 1800 sq.ft. of heated garage

that can hold up to 6 or 7 cars.

This also backs up to a cul-de-sac

so that you can get a motorhome 

in and out of the garage easily.

If you were to come in from the water

the house looks like this-

taken with a drone:

You can see the beach---

A bit closer-

A little closer in-it looks like this--

also taken with the drone-

One of my little garden areas...

And, of course, the playhouse....

Walking up to the front door-

And that brings us to the front door...

which I will open for you in 

future post.

So, after the scrubbing and cleaning was done

I ran to WALLY WORLD to get

a couple of things....

It is always 

SUCH a treat to see what

WALLYWORLD

has to offer...

Like bananas and oranges--

ORANGE YOU GLAD I

DIDN'T SAY YELLOW?

seriously- someday SOMEONE is going

to get killed taking pictures like these

AND---

Let's not forget it is 

PACKER SEASON

in Wisconsin!

Everyone needs an outfit like this...

just sayin'....

Have a great day!

I'll be back with more pictures

of the house---

SEPTEMBER SONG----AN UPDATE on our lives

I know! I know!

It has been a while since

I posted here.

If you read my last post you know that

we have been in the process of

getting our house ready to sell.

It's ready!  I'm done-!

Well, except for the nit-picky

little crappy stuff that I can 

always see needs doing/fixing/touching up

I have been sorting and donating

and giving things to the kids.

Over the years if they told me they wanted

SOMETHING--SOMEDAY

well, they got it now instead of having to wait
until I die.

Let the bargaining begin--

fast and furious--

Daughter #1 would trade with Daughter #2-

Grandmother & Grandfather's portraits

for my mother's blue Aladdin teapot

and her miniature cedar chest.

DEAL-Agreed & Accepted!

Heavy gold plaster cherub lamps---

NO TAKERS?

Seriously?

However, there might have been 

some arm wrestling over the

Gold Flatware.

Mimi got it- it matches 

the gold on her Lenox Christmas dishes.

I have cleared out at least 50% of 

STUFF!

Some GOOD STUFF and

some JUST STUFF.

I have rearranged furniture,

painted things,

touched up paint,

scoured every surface within 

AN INCH OF ITS LIFE.

GUESS WHAT?

The listing has been signed and

the photographer was here

2-1/2 hours yesterday taking pictures

and videos and using a drone

to showcase the bay front.

We are told it could take 

A YEAR OR TWO 

to sell.

Things along the bay here do not

move quickly.

It is just as well because I have 

NO IDEA

where we would go should the house 

sell quickly.  

Probably into an apartment

until we could find a place.

It's a crazy life but someone has to 

live it!

Or maybe I could move into this

little number....

that would be just my luck

Hey!  At least it has a window!!!

or two?? or three???

And I can SEE that it is insulated!

MyHero is still struggling.

His weight has still not stabilized

and he suffers from continual exhaustion.

They discovered that his thyroid

has been destroyed by the radiation

to his neck.

He is on medication to counteract that.

He is still not able to eat and so he

continues with the tube feeding--

which is okay....

seriously---

THE BONUS?

Clean up is a breeze!

Rinse the syringe and tube and

DISHES ARE DONE!

Hmmm...

What else is going on here?

First day of school!

Here are just a few of the grands

headed off to school.

OH---AND---

Need school supplies?

Apparently they have them here!

TEACHERS?  WELCOME!

This one 

WILL NEVER 

drive her teacher to drink!

this year cuz she is only 

there for 2 hours a week

I'll be back with pictures of the house.

They should be ready in the next day or so.

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

What's Been Happening With Nana Diana-Update!

Lest you think I have

SAILED OFF INTO THE SUNSET

I have not---

Although sometimes I wish I could.

We have had some of the most 

spectacular sky shows this summer!

I have been getting our house ready to sell.

This was not an easy decision.

This was going to be our

'forever home'

but cancer changes everything-

from day-to-day living to long-term plans.

For those of you that don't know-

we have lived in 15 different houses

over the years-

bought and rehabbed  all of them.

We were 'flipping houses' long before

anyone knew what that meant.

That does not count the times we moved

and rented in between as we looked

for a house to rehab.

When I am done staging

(which is going to be soon)

I will post some pictures of our house-

No longer HOME-it is now a HOUSE.

But this is NOT a sad post-

Nope!

This is about overcoming and moving forward.

Here is MyHero with his two brothers,

Steve & Paul.

John used to be the BIGGEST ONE 

in the group.

He said the 

CANCER BONUS 

is that he lost weight.

I guess you gotta look for the 

GOOD THINGS THAT COME

AFTER CANCER.

I'll just keep my FAT-

thankyouverymuch!

MyHero continues to recover.

He is still not able to eat

but he has gone back to work

on a part time basis.

He still tires easily but his

spirits are good.

Sadly, his recovery has not included incentive to 

TAKE OUT THE TRASH

(which was always his only household job).

I have lots more to share-

things I have painted-

things I have changed around-

things that have happened-

but I don't want to make this too long.

Why bore you all in one blog post?

So, I promise to not be gone

so long this next time-

I have missed you!

I will leave you with your smile for the day.

Looks like we have our own little 

MAD MAN

in the family.

Daddy took CJK to work and he fit right in.

HEY!  NO SMOKING

in the office!

Oh! It's a SUCKER, huh?

And--after a long, hard day at work

you need to eat a TWINKIE orange slice

while lounging ON with your cousin.

The funny thing is that-

neither one of them thought that

was weird....

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

I promise to be back soon

and will try to visit you even sooner!

BEST BANANA BREAD -- EVAH!!!

I wish I could take credit

for this recipe but it comes from

my sweet friend, Barb D.

She used to make it for her hubby,

our friend, Jeff, before he passed away.

It is, hands down,

THE BEST 

BANANA BREAD EVER~~

This time of year we have lots of

OVERRIPE bananas

and this is the perfect recipe 

to use them up.

Barb, I added a couple of things for our family---

Sugar and Vanilla-

You know me!

Here is some of what you will need--

Mixing-It looks like this:

Here you go!

Banana Bread- Barb's Recipe

1 Box KRUSTEAZ banana bread mix (or Duncan Hines/any brand)

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar*

1/2 cup nuts (or to taste)

3 small ripe bananas (DO NOT MASH)-quarter lengthwise and dice into small pieces (slightly larger than peas)

3 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon good vanilla*

In large bowl:  Combine mix, flour, sugar and nuts.  Toss diced bananas into dry mix and stir to coat.

In separate bowl: Whisk together- eggs, water, oil & vanilla. Add to dry mix.

Stir just until moist.  

Sprinkle extra nuts on top if desired.

I use two regular size loaf pans and make 2 loaves.  Barb uses a large loaf pan and makes one big loaf.

Bake @ 350° -about 45 minutes for small loaves-over an hour for large loaf-or until tester comes out clean.

Barb sometimes adds: peeled apple, pear, coconut, drained crushed pineapple.  If you add fruit cut back on water content.

*I added the sugar and vanilla-it was not part of Barb’s original recipe—but you know me!

My son is a banana bread NUT 

(little play on words there).  

He says this is the best he has ever had.

So- there you have it.

ALL the monkeys in my family

seem to like it....

Except for THIS ONE!

He seems to like his

BANANA BOTTLE

better than anything.

I guess it is better than drinking THIS---

which I may resort to if life doesn't 

settle down here soon.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER DAY!

I will be around to visit you soon!

HAPPY, BLESSED FOURTH OF JULY!!!

It is a day for celebration

for most of us.

We wave our flags 

and grill our burgers

and wolf down our hot dogs.

We stand in line for dripping

ice cream cones

and we stare at the sky

in awe as fireworks

feed us a feast for our eyes.

We are free.

What a blessing to be free.

But that freedom comes at a cost.

A big cost.

I see it every day I work at the VA.

I see the sacrifices made

 by men and women

to ensure our freedom.

So, take just a moment today

and whisper a

THANK YOU

to all those that fought for us

on this, and foreign, land.

Wing a prayer up 

for those families left behind

when their sons and daughters,

husbands and wives,

gave their lives for all of us.

Say a prayer, too,

for all those who served

and whose lives are forever altered.

Prayers, too, for those in

ACTIVE SERVICE.

I am so in debt to all of you!

I will leave you with one of my

very favorite photos

of SweetCheeks.

This was taken on our dock

about 4 years ago when the

fireworks were

bursting in the air over the bay.

THAT is 

WONDER & AWE

I hope I never lose that

WONDER & AWE

and I hope I never lose

my appreciation for this

GREAT COUNTRY.

GOD BLESS THE USA!

At 1pm today our

granddaughter, Lulu,

(Alana in real life)

will start the city festivities by singing

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER

and

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

We are so proud and so blessed!

Have a wonderful, safe

 4th of July!