A GIFT OF LOVE

My Mother and Father in law went home yesterday after a three week visit. Now I know that many will think OMG, THREE WEEKS, but you know I am not thinking that at all, everyday was worth it.

We had a wonderful visit and I wish it could have been longer. They had to get back home to take care of business and health appointments. As it was, we got them to stay an extra week. Many days were spent getting The McClure Guesthouse ready to open. I am soooo glad they were here to help, who would ever be able to think of everything?? In a previous blog I talked about the shopping excursion that is a memory I will always treasure. Now I feel I need to call Nancy often for her thoughts and input and I will!

The McClure Guesthouse became A GIFT OF LOVE about 3 years ago when my husband agreed that we could restore the home and have this Guesthouse. When we purchased the home in 1990 it took us 20 minutes to decide, yes! It felt like the home I always wanted and I have lived in many since I left my home in Evanston for my freshman year in college, and that has been 14 homes to be exact!

When we left our 215 home (the McClure Home) in 2003 to live in our current Cypress home I was sad, so much so that I never really moved out totally. I just could not let go. There were a few people interested in "seeing" the house and thankfully that was all, they just "saw" it nothing else. I am sure it was overwhelming to think about restoring it. But it is now a beautifully restored home.

Once again I must mention Kuenstler Construction who did the renovation with such detail and I am sure now they must have a bit of love for this old gem.

I LOVE IT! And those that have had an early peek, say the love it too.

The McClure Guesthouse will be a home full of love for all who stay here and I think it is because everyone that has been involved (even just a little bit) in the restoration, Mike, my Mom, Mike's Parents, Kathy (my sister), Brad, Jeff, Reagan, Emery & Lynden, Bobbie, Judi Lippert, Jean, Laura & John, the Kuenstler's, Jon Racklin and of course even me, put a bit of love into it, to make it what it is today.

So, welcome to all who want a unique place to stay.

This home is a Gift Of Love! And I am so glad that we can share it! We are so blessed!

An Grand Opening will be held August 9th, and we will share this Love with all who attend!

The Angels Must Be Having A Bowling Tournament

When I was small and the thunderstorms rolled in I tended to be anxious and frightened. My Dad would sooth me by stating that "God's Angels are bowling". Well this would calm me down and pay attention to the Angels game, rather than fear the storm. I assume I accepted this statement as Dad was an avid bowler. He bowled on Monday evenings and then often Mom and Dad bowled on Saturday evenings. And he loved it! So much so that as I recall, he bowled up to when he became ill with cancer. Since he "knew" about and loved bowling I just took it for granted that he "knew" the Angels were bowling.

Now that I am older I seem to have forgotten about the Angels bowling and get very nervous and once again, I do not like thunderstorms. Lately we have had way too many thunderstorms, just the other evening one was occurring and Mike, his Parents and I along with our 4.8 lb. chihuahua Rico, were sitting in the living room in the early evening as one took over. We were noting just how nervous Rico was and a loud clap came and I jumped out of the chair, everyone laughed and Rico trembled! Then they blamed me for his fear. However since the earthquake last year Rico has been very nervous at rumblings, so it really was not me that made him tremble.

As I sit here jotting this down and waiting for dawn, it is once again thundering and Rico is on my lap trembling at each "strike the Angels are making". I guess the Angels must be having one huge, lengthy bowling tournament during these past couple of weeks.

I bet, my Dad is either rooting for, no "strike" that, I bet, that he is on a team. You know, thinking this way makes me realize that, yes, the Angels are bowling and in one heck of a tournament!

You go Dad and thanks for the reminder that yes, ........................... God's Angels are bowling and You are on their team!

SHOP UNTIL YOU DROP?????

Shopping, is the great American pastime and it is what keeps this country ticking. Although at times lately, the ticking is slow, it continues and perhaps as the batteries are replaced or recharged shopping will get back on track.

For me lately, I think I am helping to recharge the batteries. Furniture, curtains, linens, bedding, dishes, pots, pans, glasses, cutlery and so much more! Whew, I can not wait to stop! Sure wish when you opened a venue such as ours, we could have had a housewarming shower, I think opening gifts would be so much more fun than shopping day in and day out. I can not believe I feel this way, but I am ready for the Guesthouse to be complete, yet I keep thinking "oh, we need this or oh, we need that".

We have tried our best to shop locally to help our community's economy, but sometimes it just is not here, thus we have made trips to many antique stores throughout the area, looking for just the right piece for this room or just the perfect picture for that room.

This evening we took a quick trip to Vincennes, for fabric for some cushions Mike's Mother, Nancy is going to help with. Mike and Jim (his Father) went with and as we walked through the store the cashier commented that our "menfolk" looked as if they were tired of shopping and yes they were!

Last Saturday Nancy and I went shopping for bedding, linens, and kitchen things. We had a blast, however Nancy did comment that spending money was getting to her, tell me about it. We laughed, when we took our carts up to the front of the store and the clerks eyes about popped out, when we asked if we could leave the full carts up front and take additional carts to fill. They asked if were we opening up a hotel and we told them "uh, yes sort of". As we continued shopping I overheard one clerk say "well, I have made my quota for the day". So glad to help!!

I am so happy that Nancy & Jim have come up from Dallas, but two weeks is not enough time. They have some pretty good ideas for bits and pieces to add to the house. And Nancy knows her antiques! They will head back home on Monday. Sunday is Father's Day and we will have the first dinner at the McClure Guesthouse. I can not wait and it will be, just one more lovely memory we have in this very special home of ours. And soon, we will share this home with many, so they too can have good memories.

The McClure Guesthouse is almost complete, we will have our Grand Opening in July. The OLNEY ARTS COUNCIL is going to help us as we host an Ice Cream Social on the Lawn along with tours and a bit of the history of the 1872 McClure Home, given by Arts Council Members. Watch for the announcement and come and make your own special step back in time, memory!

FAMILY

Family is an essential part of my life. I am blessed to have 5 great siblings. Tim is my favorite brother and KathyPattiMaureenBetsey is (are) my favorite sister(s). [How would you really choose just one to be your favorite, when they all are really special and unique to me]

I have also been blessed in my life to have 21 great aunts and uncles and 30 pretty neat cousins. Then there are 12 really wonderful nieces and nephews. And of course 4 wonderful grandparents and then my own very special parents. And in heaven now are, all of my grandparents, eight of my aunts and/or uncles, two of my cousins and my very special heavenly angel, my Dad. They reside there and watch out for all of us still here on earth. And I have no doubt that they all are in heaven!

Now to my Spieth side, besides my wonderful husband, there are two step sons,one step daughter in law, two step grandsons, two brother in laws, one sister in law and one nephew. Along with my great mother in law and father in law. The men on this side rule as you can tell! And all of these Spieth's are blessings and still here on earth.

So as you can tell Family is an essential part of my life.

But you must never (and I don't) take them for granted, because in the blink of an eye they may be gone from this earth never to be an earthly being in my life. To me it is important to reach out and touch base with them to let them know how much they mean to you! It only takes a minute and in this day and age with land lines, cell phones and Internet my family is just a "touch pad" away.

So as was a saying when I was young be sure to "reach out, just reach out and touch someone" special [a Family member, perhaps] to you today. After all Family is what you are blessed with no matter how large or small it is. And I am so very thankful for my family! I just may reach out and touch them today!

You Gotta Have FAITH!

It rained today and got chilly. I suppose that would have been okay, but this was our final day of GIRL SCOUT It's Your Planet-Save It, Day Camp. Our plans included fire safety and fire building. In addition we had an outdoor Ecology exercise planned, as well as many other outdoor activities; including a cookout.

My phone rang early this AM around 7-7:30ish and the voice said "Do you think we should cancel or postpone the event?" I had put RAIN or SHINE on the permission slip, so this was not an option.

The Girl Scouts here in Richland County have been fortunate, our city has allowed us to utilize the Musgrove property for many Scouting programs. It has a house that we use for meetings and activities, so the Day Camp was moved indoors, sort of. We were learning about Ecology today, had a craft project, songs and then the fire building/safety activity which we had out in the garage, out of the rain and wind. Around noon it became chilly and many of the girls were not prepared with coats and they were cold! So again being indoors helped. Our cookout became an indoor meal prepared by the leaders and we were lucky to have a cooker and microwave.....clearly not camping gear but if you can't pass you gotta punt! The girls were able to eat in the garage area (it is more of an attached carport) and be "outdoors" and then we began the ecology lessons and crafts.

You never know what will happen with such a big change in plans, but you "gotta have faith" that it will work out. Youngsters are very adaptable and being inside, having to take off your shoes and sit in a circle to "learn" about ecology and not being outside, experiencing the lesson did work. Playing Little Sally Walker was one game they really wanted to play, but alas it really is not an indoor game because it is so loud and needs much room. Yet they had fun, of course songs always help, and we had such fun with them, I was able to recall many songs that I had learned at camp. I was able to share them and it did not matter if I had the greatest voice, we had fun and sang loud!!

One of our leaders passed away this year and in her memory we gave the Poison Ivy Spirit Memorial Award, to a girl in each age group that really followed the Girl Scout Laws in all that we did this week; it was interesting to see how the girls worked for this, it was hard to decide just who deserved it, but we chose two good girls.

We also had a "time out" room, just in case any girl needed to get back in control and although some did have to be reigned in, not one girl sat in the time out room. My husband thought this was quite liberal of me....NOT!

Many of my friends and family are surprised I am so involved in Girl Scouts since I have no children. I love it and I love all that it means. In this day children need the "basics" that Girl Scouts can bring to them. I also want to get past the "it is not cool to be a Girl Scout" once you get in Middle School, I "Gotta Have Faith" that perhaps what I am doing may bring girls with me in Scouts through Middle & High School, some of my former "girls" have followed me and even those that have not, do still keep in touch and seem to live the Girl Scout way that has been instilled in them. Perhaps with the way things are in the world today, being a Girl Scout will help them to better the world tomorrow. And yes, I do "HAVE FAITH" that they will.

Think about this; the children today will be at the helm tomorrow and if we get involved with them in positive ways now, our world will be a better place tomorrow!

Remember "YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH"!

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.