Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Year

You all know how life gets in the way of posting sometimes. My Picasa isn't working so I have to figure out a way to post new pictures some other way and I have been very frustrated with this.

But in the large scheme of things it is a small thing. My oldest son had a house fire on Dec. 19. We are so blessed all four of them plus the two dogs escaped safely. One of the dogs started barking about midnight and wouldn't stop until my DIL got up to see what was the matter. The smoke alarms did not go of until they were all out of the house. We are so thankful for the dogs early warning. The fire started in the garage from unknown causes but the house and contents are badly smoked and water damaged. It will be five to six months before the house is livable again.

For now they are living with us and looking for a rental close to my granddaughter's school. This is rather hard for her as this is her senior year of high school.

We are hoping for a more uneventful year in 2011. I hope each of you had a blessed holiday season and wishing you the most wonderful New Year.

13 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

There you are! Yes, you have had a rough year - I agree!

SO HAPPY 2011 for you STELLA!

sandie

Stella Jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stella Jones said...

Oh no, no, no, how awful. Thank God they all got out ok in the end. That wonderful dog, he/she deserves a doggy medal.
I am hoping, hoping, hoping that 2011 will be a better year for you Stella.
Blessings from the other Stella,
Star

Unknown said...

Stella, Thank God your family is safe & sound. And, bless those beautiful dogs. So much to be grateful for on your end, for sure.

Pop over for our lovely CSN GIVEAWAY!

Have a beautiful New Year ~
TTFN ~
Hugs, Marydon

Lona said...

Oh my! Thank God they all made it out of the house in time. It is such a scary thing to have to go through. That dog is a wonderful friend.
Well I wishing Blessing upon your home and family this new year.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Stella -- wow! The good news of course is that all are safe. Thank heavens for the dogs. OUr daughter and sil had a similar house fire some years ago -- they stayed with us (with the three kids) while the smoke damage was repaired (gave them a leg up because they didn't have to spend the insurance money on lodging that way). The kids were much smaller though and I think they looked on it as an adventure ... not so much so for your granddaughter I'm sure!!

I'm thinking the best wish for y'all fror 2011 is 365 ordinary days as you've had enough adventure for a while. Hugs.

Sandi~A Cottage Muse said...

Goodness, so happy everyone is ok!

The script on the mirror is a stamp. Thanks so much for visiting!

❀~Myrna~❀ said...

I am glad everyone is OK. I will keep them in my prayers .
Wishing you a more peaceful 2011.
Blessings,
~Myrna

Aprons Gone Wild said...

Hello Stella,
Nice to meet you! So sorry about your family's fire.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll keep in touch.
Joanne

Mimi said...

HI STELLA!!!
Happy New Year and I Pray a very Blessed one too!!!
I am SOOO Happy your family escaped that fire, how awful for them, right at Christmas time too.
Did they lose everything??I am sure grateful for that dog barking. Praise God.
Do they have insurance to cover their loses????
Let us know.
hugs 2 U,
jamie

Merrie said...

Oh how awful for you and your sons family. And how forutnate that everyone is safe and unharmed.
I hope they are able to get back to "normal" soon and that the rebuilding of their lives goes quickly and smoothly. And as grateful as I am sure you are, it's not always easy to have family move in with you. I wish you peace.
As for the picassa issues...me too. I don't know what is up with it except they want me to purchase more space to continue posting pictures. Never saw that one coming. Good luck figuring it out for your blog. Right now I am experimenting with using flicker. It seems to have worked but has limited storage space as well. Good luck with all of it.

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

OH oh...think I lost my comment as I didn't check to see if there was word verification. If this comment doesn't get through then I know I needed to do that. Here goes.

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

Hi Stella!
I just wrote you a long post but it didn't show up so here goes again. Thanks for stopping by my blog today it was nice to 'meet' you. Your floors are beautiful! How lucky is that to find such beautiful floors in that kind of shape after so many years...pretty lucky I'd say ;) You asked what kind of wood stove we have...it's a Lopi Leyden and we LOVE it. For 30 years I burned with wood as being our primary source of heat (we had an oil forced air furnace too) for over 30 years and we had some good brand wood stoves over the years and this is probably the best one I've ever had. According to the Internet Lopi is #1 so you won't go wrong if you buy another one. Good luck! Now I'm going to go and look around on your blog...so have a wonderful day!
Maura :)