Floor Fanatic Finds Fix for Filth

Somewhere in the course of my life, I have become fanatical about my floors. 

How could a person who lives alone with one almost-hairless cat, generate so much dirt? Things like cat sneezes, tiny chips of ice shooting out of the icemaker, or "cooking dropsies" leave dirt or smears.  Well......it's not really THAT bad but it does get dirty. 

I like hardwood floors but they take double work.  First, the floors must be vacuumed, then wet mopped, plus, I like them to be dried (to avoid streaks).    Oftentimes, if it's a small area I use paper towels to spot clean which necessitates standing on my head.

Then, one day………….  TA-DA!  

The BONA MOP entered my house! 

It is wonderful, fantastic, excellent, marvelous, superb, and more!!!!!!!! 

It's easy to pull it out of the pantry when I have only a small spot or two and makes quick work of a whole floor. It has a built in container for the liquid spray.  I press the button/knob and it sprays a mist.  Then, I mop that area.  

 It takes only a little spray now and then so the solution lasts for months.


To accomplish the drying, I stand on a large towel and "walk" it behind the area just washed.

My Bona model is specifically for wood floors.  One good thing is that it has a mop pad that can be washed instead of constantly buying disposable ones.  The spray mist is very fine so there's not much liquid on the wood. 
 

I wonder what it signifies in life when a person gets excited about finding a handy-dandy mop?

Nevertheless, for this floor fanatic, finding a fix for my filth is a true find!

Pepper Passes Peacefully

Pepper, my Cornish Rex kitty, crossed the Rainbow Bridge today.  She was over 18, which is 88 years in human years.  She had tumors in her tummy area, on her chin, and on her tail.  She was getting thinner and grayer and was sleeping 23 hours daily.  She had left little "calling cards" around the house for months but they were small and dry, so I just picked them up and flushed them. 

Then came the days that she started spraying in the laundry room rather than use the litterbox.  This went on for 5 nights in spite of my using cat enzymes and vinegar to kill the potent smell and to stop her from using that spot.  I knew the day was coming.....

Thankfully, Gary had told me the day before that if I decided to go through with it to call him.  I didn't think I needed to but I did and it was a good thing.  Emotions hit me suddenly and I would not have been able to drive.  They were very good at the vet's and Pepper passed peacefully into kitty heaven.  Jason, the farmer next door, came and dug a hole under a beech tree by the driveway.

Blanche Devereaux looked for Pepper and meowed all afternoon.  By evening, she stayed tightly curled in her bed.  She grew up in a cattery and moved to our home with Pepper so has never been alone.  I don't plan to get another cat but I realize I need to spend more time with Blanche.

Pepper was a well-traveled cat.  She went with Ed and me on our big RV trip out West. 

Pepper's eyes were green, but that never seemed to show in photos.

Take a moment to enjoy Pepper's blog entries. 

This first one is my favorite:  Pepper's Perceptions 

Pepper's Big Day

A Playmate for Pepper  

Pepper is Peeved 

Pepper was a good little cat who brought lots of love and entertainment to my home.  Have fun, Pepper, and enjoy all your new friends.  We already miss you and your unique scratchy meow.

My Sister, Anita May Krull, Visits (in 2018)

My sister, Anita May Krull, lives in Dayton, Ohio.  She comes for about a week every summer, always on the train as she hates flying.  She fills her days and evenings with visits with all sorts of people she wants to see.  This year she requested that I take pictures for her.

Karen and Dennis Donnovant come every summer to spend the day with Anita.  As usual, Blanche found a nice male lap and stuck with Dennis.

Anita and Karen used to carpool together to their respective schools. 
They have kept in touch all these years.

Sister-in-law Maribeth May is one of Anita's "almost sisters"

Anita stayed with me a few nights, then with Philip and Maribeth a few nights. 

Thelma Hollar was one of Mother's good friends. 
Anita adopted Thelma as her mom after Mother died.

The May girls.  Cousin Becky May, Anita May Krull, MaryMay Angelil, and Stashia May Kline.

The six of us were known as "The May Kids".  We had 2 girls and a boy, as did Uncle Bob.  So, Stashia and I were playmates, Anita and Patty were playmates, and William (now Bill) and Philip (now Phil) were best buds.  Our lives were very much like "The Waltons" on TV.

Anita May Krull and Patty May Golightly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellen Krull came with her mom this summer.

Ellen Rene Krull and Aunt MaryMay Angelil

 

 

 

Another visit that Anita enjoyed was with William (Bill) May and his daughter Kelly May Brown.

Kelly, Anita, and Bill

 

 

 

It's always a pleasure to have a visit with my dear sister, Anita.  Even though we live far apart in miles, we're still together in heart.

(I started this entry on August 14, 2018 and it is now August 26, 2020.  So, better late than never!)

Trip to Bobz and Marilyn Freeman in Asheville

Mother was from Dobson, North Carolina, which is 220 miles from home.  Every summer Mother, Anita, Philip, and I went to stay at Grandmama Freeman's for a week or two.  Daddy drove us down and came to get us as Mother didn't know how to drive back in those days.

Grandmama Freeman and Aunt Mary lived in the big family home.  They started to build it before the Civil WAr but didn't finish it until after the war about 1865.  It was one of those big old houses with the firplaces big rooms - Anita, Philip, and I called it The Mansion.

Mother's brother, Robert Freeman, lived just across the street.  Our 2 first cousins were Bobz and Bill.  They were several years older and we thought - we KNEW - that they were "all that."  

Oh, how we adored them!  There was lots of teasing and tormenting from both sides.  And the poor guys, we hung all over them with cries of, "Pick me  up, pick me up!" 

You can see Bill clowning around.  Philip was really tiny!  This was 1953?

Little Bill, Bobz, and Stashia (my cousin from VA) on their pony.

We were in awe of Bill's Tennessee walking horse named Saxon.

Bobz was famous for his "Monster Walk" and we begged him to do it again and again.  This was when they were visiting us in Virginia a few years back. 

Last summer Maribeth had the idea of us all going to visit Bobz and Marilyn in Ashville.  We did and we thank Maribeth profusely for staying on us and making it happen.

It turned into a mini-family reunion!  This is Marilyn, Bobz, and their baby.

Anita, Phil, Bobz, Marilyn, and Gary visiting in the living room. 

(I had to snap the picture fast because Philip couldn't hold in his stomach any longer!)

Maribeth May and Ellen Krull, my niece.

 Marilyn, Ellen and Anita putting supper together.

The Walker May children, Philip May, Anita May Krull, MaryMay Angelil

 Gary Suter and MaryMay Angelil.  Nice background for a photo.

Yep, he's still "got IT"!!!!!

What a fabulous evening and day, reminiscing, laughing, talking, looking at old photos, and the Southern activity - eating.

Thank you, Maribeth, Marilyn and Bobz.

Undertaking a Grave Retirement Project

It seems to me that men have a more difficult time adjusting to retirement than women do.  They need to have projects and goals. 

My brother, Philip Freeman May, has come up with a most unique undertaking for one of his first retirement projects.  

Philip served for 20 years in the Air Force, where he received his anesthesia education in the Air Force Nurse Anesthesia Program.   After his Air Force anesthesia work, he continued in private practice as a nurse anesthetist for 19 more years to date.

He and my dear sister-in-law, Maribeth, have returned to Singers Glen, Virginia where we were raised. They built a beautiful log home on a lot from our family farm.

Just down the hill from their home is a cemetery.  

 

It was the site of St. John Lutheran Church, which has been there since the 1700’s. The church building was last used in 1956. It was disassembled and reconstructed at the Lutheran retreat camp in Fort Valley, VA, in the 1980’s. 

Reconstructed St John’s Church in Fort Valley, VA     2018 photo

When Philip moved back to the Shenandoah Valley, he drove by the cemetery and noticed it needed care and attention.   He began with volunteering his time and effort to mow, edge, and clean up the site.  The cemetery had not had really attentive care since the 1950’s.

 

Philip got in touch with Mark Byerly, a Lutheran trustee of the cemetery.   Phil has since become a trustee himself.  He plans to be buried there when his day comes.  We have three generations of May’s buried there dating back to the early 1800’s, not including the two latest generations laid to rest in the Singers Glen cemetery.

So, after getting the mowing, weed-eating, and picking up debris processes in working order, he got some dead trees taken down, and had the fenced fixed.

Philip and his wife, Maribeth, redesigned and had a new sign made. 

 

  

There was more work to be done:

 Trash and Bush Removal

Overgrowth Removal

Fence Repair

Gravestones were found in one corner of the cemetery which was overgrown with weeds and vines.  They are displayed on the back of the church steps, which still remain on the cemetery property.

 Church Steps – This is all that is left of the church.

 

Some tombstones were broken and needed repair with glue, cement
and a splint till they were ready to stand on their own.

 

Next was one of the most dramatic and showy parts of his project.  He took on the job of cleaning all the black mold, green moss, and mildew off the tombstones!!!

He acquired a large tank, which you see below, hooks up his gas-powered power washer, and went to work.  Philip, Jim Bowman and others have spent countless hours doing this.

 

In true Tom Sawyer style, he lured his friends into doing the work for/with him. 

Note:  "Painting the fence with Tom Sawyer.   One of the most iconic scenes from Mark Twain's novels is when Tom Sawyer has to whitewash the fence. As we know, Tom manages to come up with a clever solution by luring his friends into doing the job for him."

He got cousins Jim Bowman, Bill May, and his son, Levi May to help.  Plus, he obtained support and help from Maribeth May and Jason Rohrer, a neighbor, along the way.  

One evening, Gary and I stopped by to see what was happening.  In his usual Tom Sawyer fashion, Philip handed the wand to Gary.  Meanwhile, he and Cousin Jim Bowman discussed "manly" topics.

One evening, Gary and I stopped by to see what was happening.  In his usual Tom Sawyer fashion, Philip handed the wand to Gary.  Meanwhile, he and Cousin Jim Bowman discussed "manly" topics off to the side. Gary got totally immersed - and I don’t mean in water.

(Gary in his glory!)

When he turned and saw a stone with a lamb on the top, he had to tackle it and was pleased with the results.

Mary Sheldon, Daughter of E.N. and E.F. Gowl,
Born Feb. 8, 1907, Died Aug. 8, 1910

I admire and commend my brother
for undertaking such a
Respectful Retirement Project.

Below are only a few of the sites I found about St. John's Cemetery.  It is all fascinating.

1.  Cemetery Index: 
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~varockin/HRHS/cem/stjohns.htm 
 2.  Cemetery list by Surname:  
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/M/may.html 

 3. Another Cemetery Index   
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/cem/cem37.html     

4.  Cemetery Index of many churches   
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/cemindex.html