FD, IA - Luggage, Hankies and Colorful Bathrooms

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It is now April and most of the work is done in Lug and Darlene’s home. I was just reviewing some of the pictures I had taken of the process and thought I’d included them here.

Gary and I have spent many days here in Fort Dodge and, of course, we needed lots to make our time comfortable and worth while. Here is a picture of our ‘life’ in Fort Dodge all packed up and waiting in the kitchen for us to pack it into the Jeep and leave for Des Moines. Note the coffee maker - gotta have coffee in the morning. We’ve got luggage (a suitcase apiece), laptops (one for each of us), a printer, several miscellaneous bags for dirty clothes, toiletries, extra shoes, Etc. And then there is the food. Even though I have left some food in the refrigerator and a cupboard, we still need to bring fresh fruit and vegetables, milk and bread. Luckily we take much less back with us. But, all that is done, we might spend a day up there but will go home to Des Moines at night. No more 5-day stays.

Here’s a picture of us three women sitting down amidst the linens that Darlene and Lug had in a photo Gary snapped with his I Phone. Not only were there lots of towels, sheets, handmade quilts (almost one for each member of the family) and pillows but there was a large carefully folded and packed cache of aprons (one for each time Darlene had served at the Church for weddings, funerals and other occasions) and lots of scarfs and hankies, all carefully cleaned, folded and preserved for whenever she might need them again. But she was like all of us: she saved things for ‘good’ and never used them. Here are Cathy in a babushka scarf, Dawn and I sitting on the living room floor sorting through all these linens. Note the sorted piles around us. If your eyes are really sharp, you’ll notice the money in front of us. We were terribly afraid, as many are, of tossing or donating something before we had examined it thoroughly - for fear that we might miss some hidden money or ring or whatever. Sure enough, we found 2 $1 dollar bills and a $2 bill carefully folded into some hankies. But that was all we found.

Sometime in the long ago past, when bright colors were in fashion (probably in the 70’s,) Darlene and Lug had finished off the basement and had made a bathroom with a sink, a toilet and a shower mainly for Lug. Here’s the paint job. Whoo-eee. Sure would wake you up in the morning when you got down here to shave.

And, finally, here’s what Gary and spend our winters avoiding. This is from Gary’s I Phone where we check temps.