Robin's Nest

The kiddos put the brakes on any travel out east the last two days... well any travel with them together that is. They have been really in to playing with the neighbor kids here and traveling an hour each day to the new house cuts into the time they get with their friends. That has allowed me a little time to do a few things here in the little house. Not earth changing things but more "catch-up" things.  I put 3 boxes into the car for the trip out east. I will need to water what is left of my garden after the most recent hail storm. I also need to order a skylight for the camper, or I could just enjoy the free fall rain as a shower the next time it rains. It also damaged the awning material over the slide out section so there is a bit of repair needed there too. As far as progress on the house... there has been quite a bit. All that is left are the banisters to the second floor and backfilling of the dirt around the house and the downspouts to the gutters. Gutters were hu

Mornings are busy around here! Even with the 10 minute rule. What is the 10 minute rule? It is the old 15 minute rule... you know anyone can do anything thing for 15 minutes... well apparently not! So in comes the 10 minute rule. This leads me to believe that it may evolve further... Yesterday my DIL and I ventured out to the thrift stores. It was a very productive day for "sourcing". Mostly I was looking for canning supplies and I was able to find most of what I needed. We had a great time! After a pretty intense hail storm we called it a night and thought the next day would be better for outdoor work like the garden. Of course it was pretty well flattened by the hail. This will not put an end to my garden for this year but it certainly diminished the potential need for canning supplies! My battery was too low to take immediate pictures and I did not go out to survey the damage today. Falling back on the 10 minute rule... I am done with the blog for today. I have brown

It's seems like forever since I have written anything for the blog. It seems that way because it is that way. Summer is here and not much has been accomplished toward the move-in. I have discovered that it is not worth it to avoid getting a new phone. I was very upset at the loss of my other phone... and a watermelon. I found the watermelon but never the phone. But using an old phone has resulted in fairly poor service. I cannot get calls out east and numbers keep going to the spam folder. Not on purpose and without the help of small people. Back to catching up! Lots has happened, my friend came out to move another friend to Michigan and wound up getting married while here. My son and DIL came out and are still here helping us with all there is to do, and that is a ton of stuff. They have to go back in a week and help my folks with things around their house that had to be left alone because of the virus. Not to mention actual paying work that needs to be done. Saturday the 10

As early as today came so did the storms. My friends were still packing and loading the U-Haul when I arrived at their apartment this morning. They had made great progress the day before, but like any large move nothing gets done exactly as planned. Doing all this with 3 small children underfoot is even more fun. Their convoy is three vehicles long and they are taking the northern route.  Ideally they could get there in less than 36 hours, however, note the previous paragraph. Three of them, odds are in the adults favor by 2, but still there are 3 of those littles on board. Last check they are still in Colorado but at the northeast corner of it.  It was hard to see them go but things will be better for them in Michigan. They will have a house instead of an apartment for a third of the cost. They will have friends and family to lean on when needed and a support network for the 3 little ones. Makes me want to pack up and go too.  But not today, I have too much to leave behind, gran

Yesterday was another busy day where things did not go as planned. I loaded the car so I could have a few projects to work on while I waited for the contractor to arrive. My friend from Michigan was coming over with the kids of the person that she is helping move to Michigan.  Once everyone was in the house there was a round of "I'm hungry" that travelled in rotation through the ranks. Two of the 8 children present were able to feed themselves. But the chorus continued until each of the other children were served three times. As the fourth round began I kicked all the littles out of the house and said they would get more food later. I then realized in all the fuss my friend and I did not get anything to eat. (Hungry mama's are similar to bears on a springtime forage trek) It is unwise to cross a mama that hasn't eaten recently.  By 4pm the contractor had neither shown up nor called. Great another day slightly wasted. But I had good company and it turned out th

What a crazy day yesterday turned out to be! First I did not get started on time. Then things were a little chaotic with the kids swimming at my daughter's house. I forgot sunscreen and she had some but did not apply fast enough. Number 9 is second only to a cooked lobster and even then the comparison is a close call on who is redder. Then heading to Costco on the westside of town, the AC went out on the van. Thankfully it is one where all the windows come down. That caused a change in plans on taking the dogs out east as one thinks it's cool to jump out windows of the car. After leaving Costco with the desired item for the house out east I realized I forgot the bottled water request for the wedding.  So into the Costco on the eastside of the town for that and then home to check on pups before leaving to head east. The house was 95 degrees when I arrived so turning on the water to the cooler was a necessity even if it overflows. At that point it was starting to lightning an

We both had high hopes the first day of the week. A lot was hanging in the balance with that final inspection. With plans to move dashed for the moment by a negative report, the past two days have given a peek into how long this process might take.  On June 8th it will be 18 months since the fire. It seems like a very long time. We have been in the little in-town house for just over a year. Once in a great while it feels like home. Not every day, but once in a while. As we work on the property out east, I notice things here that need to be repaired or changed. The getting up and being out east by 7am is not as bad as I envisioned most days. Then there are the other days... This morning I get a break, sort of. With appointments looming and items being needed for out east, oh and a wedding to attend, I didn't head right out. Usually if I need to be there at 7 in the morning I load the car the night before. That allows me to gauge what can go and how many dogs make the first tri

Today was to be the big day. It turned out to be a big day alright... make that a big list day. There were at least 21 things on the list that the inspector said had to be done before an "occupancy certificate" could be issued. None of these things was ever mentioned by any inspector up to this point. Discouraging at best but we will get there. Part of the list is kind of stupid to me but it is "regulations" per the inspector. The handrails to the basement are one inch lower than the regulation height... hello I am short and they are perfect for me. Also, the step height is 2" shorter than "regulation" again, I have bad knees and this helps me tremendously. The second floor does not have a door. I guess he failed to notice that it also does not have walls. Or perhaps that is okay. Then again maybe they are waiting until the return inspection to complain about that. I digress, I really don't mean to be bitter but multiple times we requested a l