by Rita Davidson
It’s a dreary day so I’m decluttering my house instead of waiting for this dreary day to pass. This is my kitchen (AFTER I started decluttering!) ? I wish I was one of those clean, minimalists that we see all over social media (are you one? maybe you can help?!) LOL but I just don’t have that talent. But I do CRAVE clean surfaces and empty corners and that is SO hard when there are 7 of us living in this tiny space.
Take this kitchen. It’s just 7 feet wide and 9 feet long. That’s it. Take one person cooking, another doing dishes, and one making coffee and you are asking for a fighting match! This was just one of the many things we were hoping to improve by moving to a larger home. But as many of you heard we had to cancel those plans, when financing failed we were forced to remain here. Now begins the journey to repair and improve this place.
See this kitchen picture? You can barely see those drawers on the lower right…they are all broken…well the top one works. And all our canned goods are in that island to the left. That doesn’t include all our glutenfree flours that are in the dining room buffet. That leaves only two accessible cupboards along the lower right for pots, pans, baking dishes and everything else you keep in a kitchen. It’s a jumbled mess. Right before our fire, we had renovated our big country kitchen to an Ikea kitchen with modern pull out drawers and dishwasher. How I miss that kitchen! But what we truly need here is SPACE.
Right now, we have to store half our kitchen outside. Crock pot, toaster oven, large baking dishes, are all outside on our verandah. We have no pantry to store large purchases like extra coffee or cereal so those go in our front door closet. Granted these are ‘First World problems” but this is increased stress for our family with special needs. And all we need is what we lost in the first place. I’m always reminded of the dream God sent right after our fire…that we will “find what we NEED and not what we WANT”. So in talking to our traditional priest, he advised us that we are proper to continue to fight to replace what we had. That dream has been good guidance for us.
So while we are happy to not have the stress of moving, we have to rely on our local friend Earl, (71 years) to help us fix this place and expand it where needed, which we were hoping to avoid.
First, we have to fix the foundation walls that is allowing water into our basement and worsening our mold problem. So trees started being removed on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, July 13th, to begin those excavations.
36 feet of just one side is being cleared here by Mark. An EXCITING Day for all of us after waiting for sooooo very long!
You can see here the mold on this wall of the house. This was the second tree we took down, as we all watched.
Me and Liam watching those trees come down, I LOVE this pic….look at that toothy smile!?
Second tree coming down. Mark made quite a mess in the yard with all this. And today it looked like a logging yard. LOL He’s processing all the wood to make a sandbox for the boys, well Liam. And a fort for the boys. Should be fun!
And look at the new view I got today on my porch, isn’t it grand?
Next will come adding onto this side of the house, as our living room is only 8 feet wide. This odd shaped, narrow living room barely leaves us enough room to sit. My office has been taken over by my mother with dementia since 2015 and I’ve taken over one of the boys bedrooms for my temporary office, so we’ve been squeezing for way too long!
We are still homeschooling, have a 7 year old that LOVES toys, 3 boys with autism that need things “their way”, my moms needs with dementia, my needs for writing, shooting video classes and now Style appointments – I need my space (to keep it the boys out!) so we’ll expand the living room and add on my office.
Then comes replacing all the rotten windows (we can see a few for sure) and
adding a second bathroom, (so my mother can finally have a shower again – yes since she got here she hasnt had one! 🙁
We also have to add an HRV system, to help with our moisture problems, in hopes of removing the causes of our mold.
Lastly, we’d like to do something with that kitchen…to maximize the space in there. Any ideas? I’m thinking of adding a pantry beside the stove… maybe complete the island so it is full and possibly add a set of cupboards above the island? Any other ideas here I”d love to hear them?
I have some plans to paint some rooms and I’m sure more things will come up as we try to make this house a home. If anyone can lend a hammer, let me know? For anyone too far away you can support us by your donations at our fundraising site www.gofundme.com/davidson-family-trust
Another thought I was thinking is there is LOTS of ways to support us. Here are a few more you may not have thought about:
- You can purchase my book, Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue HERE (all the profits will go towards building materials)
- You can purchase Non-Toxic Nail Wraps from my Jamberry Store (and Hand and foot care too!) ritadavidsonLFFA.jamberry.com (all my commissions can go towards helping purchase building materials) For those that want to start a small home business and save 30% off your Nail Wraps SIGN UP with a Starter Kit and JOIN my Team HERE. I can’t WAIT to work with you!
- You can purchase Young Living products from my Young Livingstore Member #1460187 (NOW INCLUDES all Natural, Toxin-Free Savvy Minerals Make up and Baby Care which Ill be reviewing on the blog soon) Go HERE.
If I think of any more ways you can help…I”ll be sure to let you know… Please know your prayers mean the most to us and will help us find those that CAN help monetarilly. I SO pray 2017 brings an end to our asking you… (This isn’t easy you know).
For now, know, you are in our prayers here. God bless and keep you,
With much love,
Rita xxo 🙂
Rita is a Catholic wife, and mother of seven, with three autistic boys. Author, of “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) and speaker, she has a PASSION for making #realcatholicmodesty understood. She is a licensed Hairdresser, and Make Up Pro, Certified Christian Image Stylist. With a degree in Natural Health she enjoys essential oils & Jamberry Nail Wraps. She enjoys making people smile and sharing God’s love with anyone who will listen. After overcoming a stroke, disabilities, they lost everything in a devastating house fire that made them homeless for six months. She is determined to lead souls back to Christ by finding the #realcatholicbeauty in their lives by carrying their cross with JOY!
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