Odds & Ends...

The conservators have finally turned the whole estate over to me. Oh joy. I have expired checks to deal with. I have two brokerage firms to deal with. And I found more money. It was shockingly simple. It's a wonder the conservators didn't find it - it took 5 minutes on the computer. Heck, they could've billed us for an hour! There is a website within the WA DOR (dept of revenue) - am sure there's something similar in OR and ID (I did check) for unclaimed money. According to the nice lady at the bank, Grandma had a CD there. It had matured, so they sent her a letter. Then they wait a year. No response? Send another letter. WA state requires them to do this 3 successive years. If no response, the money is turned over to the state. Just another sign of how far grandma's mental health had slid. WA state is sending the estate a whopping $119,000 or so within the next two weeks. Too bad I can't have a finder's fee!!! Hmmm, what else? I am waiting on the two brokerage firms to assess the value of the accounts on the day of grandma's death. Then my attorney can set the value of estate - and see if it falls into any higher category of estate tax (hope not). Then, while my tax person files her income taxes - then I believe the monies can be distributed. Whew! Of course I'm also waiting for numerous checks to be reissued (the conservators let them expire - they were horrible!). Oh, the two safe deposit boxes in Long Beach? I had keys for both (thankgoodness!). Heh. Both were empty....?? And we did get to chat with the gal that lives across the street from our cabin. Apparently approx a year ago, there were some "squatters" who did, indeed break in through one of the windows. She had called the police. They were there only two days - maybe they were partially responsible for the mess inside?? We have secured the windows, so that won't be a future problem. And that old pillbox style toilet and corner sink? G-O-N-E, GONE!! Off the Portland with a very nice gal!! Woo-hoo!! Gotta love Craig's List!!!

Conquering the Kitchen

My grandmother liked to cook - up until she began struggling with poor health. I'm guessing there were at least 200 cookbooks at the beach cabin. Lucky for me, my brother-in-law is a major foodie and I let him have at the cookbook pile! He took what he wanted, I took a couple of the leftovers and the rest are in a couple of boxes, still at the cabin... When I think of weekend retreat, cabin-style, I'm not thinking of lots of creative cooking. Not.at.all! Yet I could, there are many unique, and rather dated pieces of equipment at our disposal - I'm especially fond of the food grinder... Not sure about the mixer, though....or the vintage corning warmer set.... Yet, amongst these old relics, we have a fairly new stove at the cabin. But it was a mess, and we were unsure about keeping it. (ok, someone at work told me a horror story about somebody fixing up an abandon cabin and used the oven. To their dismay, the mice had made a nest in the insulation in the oven walls....really, really smelled awful.....YUCK!). The oven itself inside was quite clean (don't think it got much use). The outside was a disaster and we both thought it was severely pitted with rust dots. Gary offered to attempt to clean it while I was cleaning another box of dishes. You can see towards the back of the photo, the stove is coming CLEAN! Hmmm, perhaps all that crap on the stove is food residue....eeeeewwwweee..... Just look at it now!!!! And we actually used it last weekend.....!!

Old Beach Photos...

We spent a day and a half at the beach during the 4th. I didn't have to work all weekend - just part of it and had to check-in semi-regularly. Ugh. Anyhow - we took the camper to the beach, set it up, and for once enjoyed being down there without working at a grinding pace. More about that in my next post. I remember being at the beach for the 4th of July one year - can't recall what year...1969? 1970? And I have few memories. I do remember it being quite fun. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves this year: two lawnchairs, a sleeping bag (it was COLD), some nice wine, sitting on the beach, enjoying everyone else's firework displays. It was awesome!! Then when we'd had enough, we picked up our stuff and toddled back to the camper. Perfect!! I found some old photos of a visit to the beach cabin labeled June 1970. I do remember being there when our cousins were there as well. Grandma had remarked on these photos - that this was the last time the whole family was together (except my cousin Lori). Loren and Leon weren't there, either, so not sure what she meant.... Anyhow! Here is my dad and grandpa Walt. These photos were taken at the cabin BEFORE the addition was put up. So...these two are standing in the front area between where the washer/dryer are now and the big stainless sink! The breaker panel is behind where my grandfather is standing... This next photo is of myself, my little sister Kris, and our two cousins, Gerry and Terry Lee. This is outside on the nw corner of the cabin. Wow! You can see the ground!!! No jungle yet!!! The last photo is of my other sister Michele. She is having her hair combed by aunt Millie. The really cool thing about this photo is that she is sitting at the tiled counter on one of the metal stools still at the cabin. But look behind her! You can see the old fireplace stand right in the middle of that area - and to the right of the photo, you see the wall - there is no opening to enter the fireplace area - because it hasn't been built yet!!!