the gifts of friendship

Deb was one of the first neighbors I met when we moved here almost 23 years

 ago. She and her husband and three little boys moved into their house soon

 after we moved into ours. Our boys all grew up together and Deb and I have

 always been close friends. She was one of the first persons to come

over when my son, Phil passed away 3-1/2 years ago. She sat with me and 

helped me breathe and not pass out or completely "lose it".

It has always been Deb's desire to move out west and live off

the grid. Her dream has finally come true. Her husband is retiring next year

and they have already bought a tiny house in the mountains of northern

Washington on five acres of land. Since they are moving to such a small

house, they are now greatly downsizing. Deb had a bunch of her girlfriends

over to her house the other night and we all got to choose some of Deb's 

personal belongings that she didn't want to sell to the general public when

she had an estate sale. Honestly, there was nothing I really wanted ~especially

since I'm purging things out of the house myself right now with cleaning up

after our basement flood.

However, I did want a couple of her larger plants. I'm in love with this

Christmas cactus. She said it flowers beautifully, and she basically left it alone.

 I'm hoping it will love my house as much as it loved hers!

 Brian carried home this very heavy pot of plants for me. There's a bunch of 

different plants in here including Mother-in-Law's Tongue, ivy, a spider plant,

a couple of others I'm not sure of...and then I added my  "shamrock" plant.

How gorgeous is this piece of furniture?! Deb had it marked at only $5

for her estate sale. I snatched it up immediately. When the weather is warmer

and the rain goes away (seems like I've been saying that all month), I'm taking

this baby outside and priming and painting it. Then she'll get new knobs.

Brian's currently using it as his nightstand.

 Today has been one of those l-a-z-y days. Cold, gray, and drizzling rain. Just

what we need here in Illinois - ha. The rivers are overflowing onto the sidewalks

and streets. Some towns have even been declared a state of emergency.

We feel a bit safer with our sump pump now, as Brian went out and bought and

installed a battery back-up sump pump. Even the cats haven't gotten out of bed

all day except to eat. Monkey has been curled up in front of Brian's pillow all

day. I normally make my bed every day, but if the cats take over, I let them be.

 I'm off to bake some banana bread now. Cooking Light has a fantastic recipe.