Restoring Home: A Reverse Migration

Here is a link to a piece I just had published at NewWest.net. It is about the pending move to Bellevue. After some more time passes I can post the full thing on my blog but I think it needs to be exclusive content for awhile.
Hope you enjoy!

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/restoring_home_a_reverse_migration/C559/L559/

Boy have I been negligent

What sort of blogger only posts once every two or three months? Whatever type it is, that is the type I apparently am, sad to say. Soon I will be much more regular about it all.
Just a few points to update, I've learned from the former Kathleen Eggers that the family's name was actually spelled Setzepfandt. Minor problem, misspelling a name. I'm not the only one doing it that way, it seems, so I don't feel too badly. I plan to use the traditional German the spelling from now on.
Point two, I was able to publish a story about the Bellevue trains in a recent issue of DailyYonder.com. Here is the link, if you'd like to see it.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/getting-bellevue-iowa-track/2010/09/01/2919
Finally, Ron and I have been playing on a the remodeling website at cabinetstogo.com. The site has a great feature that allows you to place objects like doors, windows, cabinets and appliances in a room and view the design in 3D. Very helpful for letting us see how we plan to remodel our downstairs kitchen. For some reason, it doesn't have a bathroom remodel template. I plan to investigate another source that will let us do that.

Hello Bellevue

Ron and I just got back from spending several days camping on the floor of our home in Bellevue. Yes, the Setzephandt House will remain a rental until next year, as reported by Sara Millhouse in the Bellevue Herald-Leader (I love that we are the subject of an editorial!)But in between tenants in the downstairs apartments, we floor camped and met a succession of people we can't wait to call neighbors, this time next year. Steve Rollins from across the street who helped Ron repair a downspout; Deb and John Moellers from down the street who took us out on the river and then cooked us dinner; Butch & Carolyn Eggers who gave us a long history of the house where he was born; Dennis Kieffer who brought as a loaner window AC so we wouldn't completely melt in the 90 degree plus days of last week, Dan and Glen Sieverding; Michael Jackson; Travis and Trent Kemp; Randy Rodgers; Mike Marshall; Steve Nemmers ... I know I'm leaving people out. Then of course there is Sheila who found me later on Facebook, and the wonderful folks who are renting our apartments and taking great care of the house in our stead.

Restoring Home, introduction

July 27, 2010
My husband I bought a house in Bellevue, Iowa, 900 miles away from where we live. The house was 130 years old at the time of purchase. It stands two stories high with an attic tower and two gables. The paint is peeling on the outside, and the two detached garages, while ample, have sagging ceilings. A bare wooden stairway switchbacks up the back of the house to a small upper porch and the door to the upstairs apartment. The house was decommissioned as a single-family residence many years ago. First when the family that built it began taking in boarders. Then later, when the house was sold and it was converted into two apartments, with two layers like a cake. In order to do that conversion, the center stairway walled up, its condition reminding me of the Nancy Drew story The Mystery of the Hidden Staircase. The wiring of the house is ancient and unable to accommodate the running of more than a few modern appliances at a time. The original ceilings have been obscured by drop ceilings of the acoustical tile variety. The woodwork in the upstairs is still original except for the paint. The front porch sags. A giant long disused oil tank lurks in the stone-walled basement. The washing machine vents its sudsy water directly into the front lawn.
But I love it.

July 4 parade

Some of you reading this blog might wonder why I've not posted about the terrible accident involving the horses and carriage at the July 4 parade. One person was killed and dozens injured.
I wasn't there so I can't write about it first hand. However, we'll be headed to Bellevue for a week in August. I think I'll be able to write about the event much better with perspective and context. I'll be able to report a bit on how people are faring a month later, and how the fundraising efforts to help the victims are progressing. I'll write about those things a bit on this blog, and also on the Daily Yonder. Bellevue, I'll see you around August 10-15. As soon as I know the dates for sure I'll get ahold of some of my wonderful Bellevue friends and neighbors and hope to meet you in person this time!

Bellevue Herald-Leader

I had the brainstorm that we should probably subscribe to the Bellevue newspaper, the Herald-Leader. So that's what I did. Should be getting our first copy in the mail any day now. When I called the nice woman on the phone took my information and remarked that she didn't get many subscription requests from people in Wyoming. She asked if I knew their editor, Sara Millhouse, which I said yes (at least, virtually). Then I said we were planning to move to Bellevue next year, to which she replied - "oh, we know about you. We've been talking about you! It's a small town."
It is nice to feel so welcome. God, I hope we don't let people down...

Start of Wyoming farewell

We're about one year away from leaving Wyoming and moving to Bellevue. Never fully leaving Wyoming of course, but for the most part, moving toward being full residents of Iowa. It seems important to do some intentional leave taking of this state and record those events here in this blog. Today I leave for the first of two planned solo trips to far reaches of Wyoming. I'm leaving in a few hours to drive to Cody for a conference of Wyoming Writers. I'll stop tonight in Thermpolis and stay at the Days Inn, where they have good access to hot springs. This is a place I've stayed several times over the years. I'll be going this summer with Ron to several places in Wyoming, too, so I'll be able to write about those trips. But first, on to Thermop, dropping off Jukeboxes & Jackalopes photo companions to featured bars along the way.