So Much to Do, So Much Heat to do it In

This will only be a short note so my readers will know I'm still here.  Last month we started getting some overly-warm days here.  We needed to take a car trip one afternoon and we discovered just how HOT the car can get on a sunny day.  We decided almost IMMEDIATELY that we do not want the car sitting out in the sun all day.  Therefore we went to talk to Janice about the wonderful carports she sells.  We selected one that will be 20 feet long, 7 feet high and 12 feet wide.  The only sad part is that it will take four to six weeks for it to get here.  I was waiting for it to get here to blog and include a picture, but alas, still not here.  In fairness, it won't be 30 days until the 21st, so I must be patient for a bit longer.  We are still sheltering in place, so we aren't going anywhere unless we really have to.  We haven't even gone to TorC to my favorite place for my Philly Cheese steak sandwich in a few weeks, maybe soon.  😊  

The second big piece of news is that our shed became unbelievably hot inside, despite the radiant heat barrier in the roof.  We talked to Guy about insulating it.  He suggested we use Owens Corning boards of insulation.  We decided each section, between the upright 2 by 4 boards, to put one 2 inch thick board of R10 and a one inch thick board of R5.  Since the upright boards are not exactly straight, or spaced evenly, each board of insulation have to be measured and cut to fit.  It is time-consuming work, and the shed gets hot inside while we work. 😓  We had to move things out of the shed to make room to work.  We have finished one 8 foot side wall, and most of the back 12 foot wall,and the front section where my craft table had been.  We work at it from 8 am until noon, then take a break until about 6:30 pm, when we start back for another two hours.  We have to cut and place 4 more of the one inch boards to finish the back wall.  Then tomorrow we will have to move the shelves back into place so we can unload and move Jim's work bench, so we can do the other 8 foot side wall and finish the front wall beside his work bench.  We decided against rolled fiberglass for insulating the roof because it is just too much work, and costly too.  We have ordered enough Reflectix to put a double layer across the whole ceiling boards.  That should be much better than it is now.  That can be stapled up in 2 foot wide sections, so we HOPE it won't be too awful to do.  At least this work has kept us off the streets during this "stay at home" period of time.  LOL.  I haven't done real labor in years. 😬 You can be sure that Jim is working harder than I am, but this is quite an ordeal for me too.  By night time, there is no part of me that doesn't hurt.  And the only good part so far is seeing how much we have gotten done!!! 😉  Hopefully our next blog will have pictures of the carport AND the fully insulated shed.

The last piece of news is a two-part item.  Since we won't be spending all summer in California, we decided to try to find someone to take over our membership at Silent Valley.  We really loved spending time there, when we were in CA, but it's too expensive to keep if we won't be using it.  I called there to find out how to go about it and the lady I spoke to said we would need to put a posting on the Silent Valley Facebook page.  Since I wasn't on Facebook, I asked Janice if she could place the posting for us.  She said yes, but it turned out that she had to request to join the Silent Valley page before she could post on it.  What a hassle, but she did it and this past Saturday I started getting calls from interested people.  If all goes as expected, we will know tomorrow if we have someone to take it over.  Once they qualify, and pay their fees, the paperwork will be mailed to us to sign and get it notarized and mail back to Silent  Valley, and it will be a done deal.  We will be sorry to give it up, but it is the right thing to do.  We are keeping our membership in Thousand Trails, at least for the time being.  We HOPE we might be able to get a tiny motorhome about 22 to 25 feet long) so we can still travel a bit.  We still have 7 states we haven't visited of the contiguous 48.  We shall see if that works out. The second part of this news is that I have signed onto Facebook.  However, I'm not good at it.  When I put my birthday into my profile, I didn't want to include the year of my birth, so I tried to leave it blank.   But instead it says 1995!!!  I don't know why.  Also, it asked if I wanted to update my relationship status, and I wanted to put "happily married since May 27, 1983"  It let me put in married.  Then I noticed it said "I got married".  Our friend Ric wrote back and asked me what Jim thought about that.  LOL and OMG.

 Tony sent me this and I just had to share it.  I hope everyone is staying home as much as possible and staying well.  One has to find new ways to amuse yourself.  Have you seen the ad on TV showing the infant being dragged by the robot vacuum?  Too cute.

I can't remember if I included the picture of our new seashell throne and seashell shaped bath rug.  I love it!  I'm pretty sure I posted the pictures of the rest of our redecorating.
But I don't think I posted a picture of our delightful glider swing.  After we work on the insulation in the shed, we sit back on this and relax with a cold can of diet Coke.  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the glider.

We know these weeks of self-quarantine are difficult and stressful for everyone.  Please remember that God is still in control and we will survive this and return to the lives we once knew.  Things may never be exactly the way they were.  Someone posted on Facebook that the big box stores like 
Wal-Mart and Target will get through this, but many small, local businesses will suffer terribly for what has been going on.  When the stay-at-home orders are eased or lifted in your areas, I hope you will do what you can to help small business to get going again.  Shop local stores, visit local restaurants, and return to your places of worship.  They need your support.  Check in on your neighbors too.  If you are going to the market, see if they need any supplies, or even want to go with you.  This is a time when we can make community a very powerful unit.  I'll close now and wish you all the best in the days and weeks ahead.  I'm praying for all of you, and your families, and your communities.  Stay strong in the knowledge that Jesus loves you.  Bye for now.