Our last day in Wynne - Monday - was so busy I didn't have time to cry except when Beth and Zack stopped to say goodbye and she and I both teared up. Tommy, Matt and Jeremy were at our house at 7:00, began loading Tommy's 24-foot trailer and were finished by 1:30 I think. I cleaned each room behind them as they emptied it. At noon, Paul and I went to the bank to sign papers and that took about 15 minutes, tops. A few other people stopped by, some I knew, some I didn't. Lynn Blake came to tell us goodbye one last time. By 2:30 we had the truck and our small trailer loaded and were going "home" to Iuka.
Bitty was so good all day. We put her in Oscar's kennel - the big wire one - and she was fine except when the vacuum cleaner was on. We put her in the pet carrier and she was fine - never a mew. She rode perfectly the whole way. Once here, I put cat food under her nose for a good sniff so she'd know where it was, let her out of the kennel, and she strolled down the back yard into the woods. She's been gone 48 hours. I hope she is only exploring and isn't lost or some creature of the woods - an owl, coyote (are they around here?) or dog hasn't got her. She's so frail in the summer what with shedding and her age - what in animal years if she's 15. Really old. There was a beam of sunlight through the woods and I watched, calling her all the time, until she meandered on through the trees, seeming to just disappear into the sunlight. If she's not back in the morning I plan to visit neighbors to see if anyone has seen her. We can't see a single neighbor, but they are nearby.
We saw four of our neighbors walking yesterday evening with a large black dog below our driveway on the paved road. Oscar was outside and saw the dog, too. Oscar attacked, running all the way down the driveway and just tearing into the poor animal. It looked like Big Dog was subdued and had given up, trying to get away from Whirling Dervish, but Oscar was panting like a race horse, and one of the boys picked him up! I was walking as fast as I could (I can't/don't run any more) toward this scene and called out for him not to put O down because he might bite him! "Let me take him from you!" It worked, or else Oscar was so proud of himself he didn't know anyone had him.
Yesterday morning, I went into town to make a couple of address changes, check in at the post office, and get my library card! The librarian Fredda and I graduated same class and it was good to see her. I've seen her on visits, but it was especially nice to be an official card-holder and have her explain their internet access and book club meetings. I asked if they take donations (they do) and told her I had books to donate - my new mission. As if I haven't already cleaned out so many.
But we had more boxes than furniture and it seems the furniture multiplied once inside the house. Tommy Hess, Matt (his son, 12 years old - worked all day with them!), and Jeremy were in Iuka at 9:30 and worked until 5:30 with a short lunch break. The load in the 24-foot trailer was so heavy that Tommy couldn't back it up the driveway until some was unloaded. It's about a 50-foot driveway. They dollied and hauled (in Paul's small wagon attached to his riding mower) many loads, many trips up that driveway. It isn't steep, but it's a definite incline and it was hot! Thank goodness for a little cloud cover occasionally. I was so impressed with the way they worked - no one ever lost their temper, not one stressed out. They are excellent at their profession. Paul's brother Tommy came in the afternoon and helped some. By the afternoon, though, they had enough weight off the truck he could finally get it backed up closer to the house.
Nearing the end of the move. I was amazed how these guys were able to lift, carry and maneuver these big pieces of furniture.
Today Paul and I dove in and got some boxes unpacked, the den TV hooked up (another call to DirecTV - always nice assistants to talk with), because it was a different TV than the one we had there before. The Wild Blue tech came (actually DirecTV personnel do their installations for them), and we have internet and WiFi. I did have to call D-Link to get the WiFi set up, which was about the most stress I've had all day. I wasn't fast enough, or the tech was ready to go home. She finally slowed down long enough for me to find what she was telling me. But it's fine - we are "connected."
So I'm sitting in "my" room, the one with the hundred boxes in the middle of the sunken floor (which has to be jacked up - you can definitely see a downward slope), but I've learned other folks have had to do the same thing.
And last Saturday! We went to see our new grand-nephew Tyler! He was born July 12. This is Morgan and Steven's first baby, my brother Mike and his wife Marsha's first grandbaby. Just a doll.
Tonight we had squash and cucumbers from a neighbor's garden. Jeanette brought them by and that's exactly all what we had for supper, with biscuits.
The other two cats are fine; they know when someone is here and hide until "their people" are the only ones around. We have to tether Oscar when most people come. He just needs to destress. He's learning though.
There are more lightening bugs here that I've seen in half a century. They're beautiful! Talk about a fairyland down in the back yard!
I found a tick (unattached) on me last night... That's getting real personal. I check Oscar regularly. Now I'll start checking myself! Becky said ticks were bad around their house and they had to have their yard sprayed. We plan to, or sprinkled with granules, something... I can almost stand spiders more than ticks, and I hate spiders.
It seems strange to hear the TV from so far away at the other end of this house.
Meanwhile, these two don't seem to be on great terms... They at least should "face off!"
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