Inspiring Women (and now Men) in my neighborhood

I decided it was time to talk about other people and things beside Madrigal, although connected. So how about these two amazing women who are my neighbors. I met Jean, first, she is the women on the left. She is 88 years young and always on the move. I met her not too long after her husband died and we became friends. The women to the right, Vangie, 90 years , is a quilt artist, and a very good. She was the one that first told me that I was a “Folk artist”. I didn’t even understand that until I started to read about Folk Art and visited her home with her beautiful quilts and her collections of Folk Art.  Love these women. Great example of Aging Well for me. Jean does water aerobics every day, involved in her church and always working on her big home across the street from me. Vangie seems to be more of a home body and enjoys working in her beautiful garden and on her quilts. She has a beautiful artistic fork art home that is really something to see. Both women do inspire me.

My 97 year old father moved in with me the beginning of July 2014.  Up to this point, he was living in his home on the banks of the Oswego River in a small town of less than 14,000 people. He grew up in this town, and raised his family there, and he never wanted to leave. But the time finally came when he needed help, and since he didn’t want anyone in his house, he decided he wanted to come live at Madrigal which I of course said yes. I had been trying to get him to come here now for a long time. I knew when he finally called that he knew he needed help, although he wouldn’t admit it, but when he got here he wanted me to do a lot for him, to include being his total entertainment  committee. He also didn’t like it when I went out and left him alone, and he never seemed to want to eat what ever I made him, even when I asked him ahead of time what he wanted. He also began to expect more than one choice of what to eat, plus be began to want to go out to eat almost every other day. It was getting to be too much trying to please him and I told him we needed to find a way to make it work for both of us.

After discussing it all with my siblings I decided to get him a driver/companion so that he had more freedom, but he didn’t like that either. In fact one day he just called a taxi without telling me and took off. I had no idea where he was. Did he decide he wanted to go back to home ( which he told my brother and I over and over again). “I never wanted to come to Madrigal.” So I called the local police who found him in the village not far from my place. When the officer asked him why he left he said I wasn’t feeding him. I guess he was embarrassed and needed to say something.  He just doesn’t understand why he just can’t come and go like he use too, to include having over $200 cash on him and to call a taxi and go where ever he wanted to. So after much debate and phone calls and trips to Madrigal by my siblings. Dad moved to his own studio apartment, at a senior facility with acreage of trees, flowers and grass.

They clean his place every two weeks, he goes into the dinning room to eat ( where he can makes choices on what he would like to eat) , and having other people around his age. And he began to thrive there. He isn’t alone anymore, having to do everything for himself, with no one close by. It has worked out for the best so far. And it is nice to have him so close. However, that lasted around 4 months and then Dad decided the facility was costing too much money and that he couldn’t afford it ( which is somewhat true) and he wanted to move to the VA where “his buddies were”. So Dec. 10 I moved Dad into the Chula Vista VA. Another new transition for him. It is a new journey for not only Dad but for me too. For now he will be around 20 minutes away without traffic. Dad is thriving at the VA and I am so happy for him and for all of us. He is safe, feels safe, and has people around him for help if he needs it. And I can breath again. You go Dad.       

2017- My father who now was 100 died in his sleep just the way we hoped he would, and just one week earlier he was taking his daily walk and I took a picutre of him waving to his children. Who would have know at the time that was would be his last good-by. I think of you always dear Daddy and all the fond memories that you left behind.

Another Year at Madrigal

I love John Lennon’s saying -”Life is What Happens When You Are Making Other Plans”. So true, so true.

So much going on. Young couple are living here at Madrigal now, and they are having their first child. How exciting. My Dad was here for his 95th birthday celebration, and all my siblings were in town.  William was also here due to his AVID work in Australia.

Had a wonderful art event put on by a young artist by the name of Hearth.

As to Madrigal, it has come out of adolescents and doesn’t need me as much now, so I get to PLAY more.

Hope you too are playing more!

And the Journey Continues… one step at a time

Well after what seemed like a very long time, the upstairs of Madrigal is finally done and updated within my ability at this time. And the next day after it was finally done the place was rented and we now have a new housemate that will be moving in next week.

Year 2011 is coming to an end and I am in Australia spending it with my son and will be welcoming 2012 at Sydney Harbor. So it has been almost one year since my last entry. Time does move quickly!

The upstairs is vacated once again, this time only after one year so now a new search  to fill that space has begun. What will the universe provide this time?

Intentional Community Next Phase

What the kitchen looked like when I began.

It is now January 2011 and a new phase of Madrigal has begun. Richard, who has been living upstairs for the last 8 years has moved on ( there has only been one other family who lived upstairs since I took over the place). So for the last few months I have been remodeling this area to make it more compatible to the rest of the property.

And now, I can finally feel like Madrigal has passed it’s adolescence phase and it doesn’t really need me as much.  This is a good thing!

Here is the first ad that was placed on Craig's list expressing my dream-"Community living”.  An artist ~ writer ~ retreat with ample of privacy.  Surrounded by beautiful gardens, panoramic views of the hillsides and night lights, walking paths with lush landscaping within the compound, and a pool with spa.  Covered parking. The main level of this two story house  offers approx. 2200 sq. feet, 2 bedrooms with an office/den, and 2 bathrooms.  A formal dining room, spacious living room with fireplace and vaulted ceilings.  Walking distance to the Village, and easy access to three major freeways, the trolly, and close to Grossmont shopping mall. You'll be inspired by the beautiful surrounding known as "Madrigal."  A peaceful place to reside.

The Day I Made my Decision

Back area of house/my front porch. This area had to be completely rebuilt due to termites and water damage.

The land, although overgrown and neglected, didn’t bother me at all. It fact it just looked like the land I knew in my youth. There were around 150 big old trees with exotic plants and flowers, and what we many times call weeds. I used to walk with my Dad and my siblings on land that looked like this. A land at rest, that didn’t get a lot of people pulling and changing it. So I saw nothing unusual about its dress. The house, however, was so different from what I knew. It was a total mess as far as I was concerned. Old, outdated and dull with no character. However, once I walked in the backyard and planted my feet on the dirt I could see nothing but its beauty. I also liked the fact that the house had two kitchens, one upstairs and one downstairs, which meant I could rent a portion of the house to bring in income. Plus, there were six detached buildings that would be fun to develop and make into useable structures. Of course little did I know at the time that these kitchens and the building would become a problem for me. Nor did I have a good understanding of the amount of work that the place needed.

I can still clearly remember the realtor’s response when I told her that this was it and I was willing to pay the full asking price.

“Are you sure? You never mentioned you wanted a fixer upper, an acre of land, to be on top of a hill with a view, a pool, four greenhouses, or a house with 3500 square feet.”

She was so right! Now it made perfect sense why I had looked at so many properties and worked with so many realtors. How could I ask someone to help me find something if I didn’t know what it was I was looking for myself? Of course I didn’t know it then, but it wasn’t a house I was really looking for, it was the space surrounding the house that I was in search of and I had now found it. I had no second thoughts regarding my decision. The only thing I was afraid of was someone else might also want this place and I didn’t want to lose it. After all this time I had finally found my home. In fact, thinking back now, I think I had been looking for this place ever since I moved to the West Coast.

Escrow closed December 1999.