You’re all invited! Ginnie and I were married here, we added on here and we want you here. We’re having a housewarming/open house from noon until 4 p.m. Sunday. Lunch will be provided. We intend to feed you, not fatten you up. The address is 2471 Marsh Ave., Mt. Pleasant. It’s about two miles east of Mt. Pleasant on Highway 34. You can’t miss it. Look for the junk, I mean sculptures, and the “Empty Nest Art” sign.
Ginnie is having a conniption fit trying to get ready, don’t know if she’ll live or not, but Buddy and I will be here, for sure. That’s right, you’ll get to meet Buddy. I might even give him a B-A-T-H. Darn dog can spell.
We’ve been intending to have a housewarming ever since we moved in, so Ginnie can invite her Ottumwa friends, and I can invite my cronies. The reason it’s taken us so long to invite y’all is because we’ve added on in a big way. We only had a one-car garage, and Ginnie claimed that right pronto to make her commute to Ottumwa easier — no scraping windows early in the morning. We added on three more garage spaces, right where we were married. It includes an exercise room and because we didn’t have a basement, a storm-shelter underneath, and an attic overhead for storage. I’ve always maintained, figure out what you need, then double it. A year later it won’t be enough.
We closed on our little 2.5 acre geezer farm on Sept. 28 last year. Then we got married in the back yard on Oct. 10. So, one day after the housewarming, is our one-year anniversary. I better not blow this and forget to get Ginnie a little something — like a post-hole digger for the John Deere. Gotta build some fence.
I know Sundays are big football days. So, for you NFL fanatics, I promise to have the games on in various rooms of the house and garage. In case of rain, we’ll be eating in the garage, so no problem there. I may ask you to help clear the garden for fall plowing, so bring gloves and work boots.
I worked real hard getting the exercise room ready for the housewarming. I installed a TV, painted the room, and laid down carpet tile. That’s about the limits of my handyman abilities. While I was doing all this, I got to thinking. “Hmm, instead of an exercise room for the treadmill and elliptical machine, how ‘bout a man cave?” When I broached the subject to Ginnie, she took umbrage and pointed out that I already had the barn. Dang it.
I was looking at the tarp I laid down to protect the floor while I was painting. It reminds me a lot of what you might call “modern art.” In fact, I think I just might frame a chunk and put it on display. I’ll call it, “Drop Cloth.”
Gotta go now. There’s always something to do on the farm.
See you on the 9th.
This house will serve the Lord.
Contact Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526
or curtswarm@yahoo.com