EXTREME MAKEOVER

Do you watch Extreme Makeover? If you do or even if you don't, the start of the new beginning is when the contractor hands over the keys and Ty yells "People let's move the furniture in" or something like that.

WELL..... yesterday that happened for us! After 30 long months of renovation with much capital invested..... YES, we can begin "icing this cake".

I can not tell you how pleased we are with the quality of the work done by Kuenstler Construction, they researched and created as much as possible a restored, beautiful, "new" 1872 Italianate Victorian home. They should be very proud of what they have done!

It is now our responsibility to furnish and decorate this home as much as possible to that era in time. Of course there are modern updates, we will have a 50 gallon hot water heater, not a 5 gallon one; there will be electric lights, not gas, (although during the renovation the gas lines were located), there will be air conditioning and gas heat. Water pressure will be the best the city of Olney can provide, there are modern appliances in the kitchen and there are two full baths, TV and the Internet.

I believe we have created a home that you will be able to step back in time and enjoy, with modern day conveniences. We hope that our community will be glad we have preserved a bit of history and utilize it for overnight guests, and for functions. It is our pleasure to share it and open it to the public.

Oh my, it sure has been something to search these past few months for the many "old" furnishings we will put into the home. Yes, some will be authentic and some replicas but we are wanting to create a home that will be quite a bit as it was in the late 19Th Century.

Sometime soon we will reintroduce this home to Olney with a Victorian Tea Party, tours of the home and a power point of the renovation will be available at this function. In the future it is our intention, that we will have special events for the public such as tea parties and old time Ice cream socials as well as additional events for the community to enjoy.

We are excited with our EXTREME MAKEOVER and hope the community of Olney is too! Come and "Step back in time" when you did not have to live a constant "hustle bustle" life, where you could sit on the porch, enjoy a glass of lemonade, watch the world around you and enjoy all the gifts and blessings that you have been given. We are blessed and want to share these blessings!

Just Listen and Watch.....

I love to wake up early and just listen and watch as the day begins. The hush of night comes alive as the light breaks. We live on the lake and it is wonderful to begin my day here. Our living room is situated with windows on the east and the sun porch on the west. The lake is open on the west and through the fence row on the east. First, the hush is broken by frogs and other creature noises, then as the dawn breaks, oh my, the many beautiful songs of the birds begin. Robins, cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, red winged blackbirds, finches and many other types sing with joy as the day begins. Even woodpeckers break the silence. We have two woodpeckers close by and this year they have moved from the east side to the west side. And of course there are the geese and ducks sometimes quite noisy but as the spring turns to summer they are not as prominent, probably many have headed north.

As the sun rises the beauty of God's creation is revealed, the ripples on the lake, the dew drops on the leaves and grass, the beauty as the sun touches the tree tops, how can you have a bad day with such a lovely beginning? Even on cloudy mornings there is much beauty, in the spring, it is lush here and full of life with so much to appreciate. Yes, I thank God every day for this gift, just how can I have a bad day?

The McClure Guesthouse is about to be complete, as we walked through Thursday evening I looked at Mike and asked if he would move back in to our beautiful Victorian and he shook his head yes. But today as I sit here; I think that I do really love starting my days here in the natural beauty God created for us. So, I will share our beautiful vintage Victorian as a Guesthouse, with those who wish to step back in time for a moment.

I recommend that if you ever get the chance, don't sleep in, start your day with God's early morning gift, the beauty and sounds of nature.

SMILEY-GRUMPY-DOPEY

Words, descriptions, characters the above are all of these. Today they describe me and perhaps always are akin to me.

Smiles are essential in my line of business, in my attitude to the world, in my answer to unhappiness and "just because" I don't want too many wisdom lines (my name for wrinkles).

I hate to be Grumpy, but as many know, I can be and so can you, we all have "bad" moments and then it makes us this way, but experience a Smile during this time and voila being Grumpy can disappear!

Oh yes, I can feel really Dopey at times. And I am sure this is a way many of us have felt, however as a result of this I can feel Grumpy or I can Smile and it makes my Dopiness seem more acceptable.

I love the 7 Dwarfs and relate to them daily, as I am sure many of us do.

So don't be Bashful just ask Doc as you are being Sneezy, why you feel Grumpy and Dopey, perhaps he will advise that this is why you are Sleepy but take a nap and then you will be Happy.

Oh yes, and by the way SMILEY is my private dwarf, an essential part of my life. After all note my blog title. Hope this makes you Smile!!

It really is a SMALL WORLD!

When I was young, Europe, Africa and even Alaska were so very far away from my place in the "burbs" of Chicago. We learned about the "Wide World" from bits and pieces on the news at night or in the newspapers. Encyclopedias were important as well as the library to seek out countries in South America, info about the Arctic and even about New York or Washington DC. Now at the flick of a button we can really experience all of these pieces of the world via the Internet. I wonder now how it is for school children to really learn about the mysteries of these countries and places when it is so "easy" to "check it out". No more mystery and excitement of discovery, "just Google" it and there it is. Can you imagine what our world would have been like if Christopher Columbus "just Googled" our continent. Or the Pilgrims "just googled" the new world and decided "not for us". Part of the experience of learning for me, was always the search for the right information for the project I was working on, and I learned so much more with this way of searching versus "googling", because along the way different paths of information were there for my learning and discovery. Now children "google" and find ONLY the info they need, how sad.....and now yes, I do believe that it will be for them "a small world" because with the Internet, exact information is stored right there, and it can be limited to just what you want to know, no extra avenues or paths to experience and learn about [unless you "google" more], how sad for students these days and so very easy and small. Yes it is a "small world" don't you agree?