Author: LaRae

It’s rollin’ down the tracks………The main interruption to our peace and tranquility in Tupelo is the frequent sound of train whistles. I read online that there are between 20 and 25 trains daily traveling through Tupelo. The city needs approx 19 more intersections outfitted with safety crossing arms to cut down on noise. As it stands, the trains must blow their whistles or horns or whatever you call them, all the way through town as most intersections only have the flashing lights to warn traffic.

Honestly, the train whistle is not that unpleasant a sound, it has just become a background noise, much like the mockingbirds and other creatures that provide those signs of life so you don’t forget you are not the only living thing on the planet. Of course with that many trains, you are sure to get stopped at a crossing!

This intersection is where we get stopped occasionally just a few blocks from home. Some of the trains are very long too. I counted 75 one day before I nodded off and that particular train was all coal cars. Others are a mix of rail cars carrying who knows what but I sure wonder what all they are moving! Do you think these mandatory traffic stops are all part of the conspiracy to get us all to slow down? well, it does work for a short while. And I always hear that old Johnny Cash song in my head, so on the plus side, free entertainment all the way around!

Last Sunday we took the day off from projects and all work around the house. Instead we planned a trip to Goodwill and a couple other places. We started out at Goodwill since it was the farthest away and planned to stop at the other 2 on the way home. Well, by the time we loaded up our goodies from the first stop, we had to head for home and unload so we could go again! yep…a good time was had by all!

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This blanket chest was our big find at Goodwill. It appears to be brand new, no scratches, no scuffs. We plan to put this in the guest room and use for extra blankets etc. Pretty cool find, but Patti has nixed my suggestion to paint it!! For now, taking up space in the dining room! Looks like the guest room will be the next room for redo!

We also found these bar stools dirt cheap. On Monday Patti combined them with a piece of wood we had on hand and made a potting station. For now, I suspect it will be used as our project/work table. It also has a handy shelf made with more old wood and slid into place by removing some of the rungs on bar stools. Pretty fast project and something we really needed! We also sweated our butts off Monday and cleaned up the garage and work space, so now we are ready to roll! Oh…….and Monday afternoon we both went to the chiropractor! Oh our aching backs!! We are still working on that “you’all need to slow down thing”!!

We must have said- no fixer upper’s- at least 100 times while looking for a home in Tupelo. Well of course you know what we ended up with!

We couldn’t pass this one up—rooms are large, floor plan just what we wanted, the yard is huge, the neighborhood is quiet yet convenient to shopping, and yes the home is a constant challenge! The previous owners left behind all their heavy curtains and blinds covering dirty windows. We have filled quite a few garbage cans with their decor they left behind. I like to think that the home is happier now with sunlight streaming in thru cleaned windows! (thanks to Patti, chief window washer)!!

Another challenge has been to figure out which light switch does what…if anything. 2 days after closing, we were headed back to Missouri to get the rest of our stuff, planning on getting an early start when lo and behold, the garage door opener just would not work. We finally strong armed the door open so that we could get on the road and left that issue to deal with at a later date. Several days after that we were finally all moved in, but the electrician hadn’t gotten their yet to look at the door, when suddenly the garage door was working again. Patti had discovered that one of 2 switches by the back door to garage actually turned off power to the garage door opener. problem solved! Don’t touch that light switch please!!

We have painted rooms, tiled one bedroom floor, had ceiling fans installed and plug ins and outlets in some rooms replaced too. At some point someone had painted over some of the plugin and switches to the point where you could not even get anything plugged in because of all the paint- Uffda!

The kitchen is still an ongoing project, we cleaned cupboards and then painted the insides and tiled the bottoms and removed some of the cupboard doors for an open concept to see if we would like it (We do!) In the future we plan to sand the cupboards and then stain or repaint.

Yard work is still ongoing, we have trimmed hedges and hauled out trash left behind. Waiting for cooler weather for someone to come and pull out a whole mess of bushes in the front of the house and in the yard. Fall will be a break from inside work as we start to concentrate on the outside a little more. The big plan is to plant a Magnolia tree in the front yard, can’t believe this yard doesn’t have one!! We will fix that oversite!

Patti is the resident Tool lady! She has even learned to use a Skil Saw. Watch out world! Projects in process as of today are a rolling cart for the craft room, and a folding table for the laundry room made from iron sewing machine legs. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping in! Say hey by clicking on the page title (Fixer Upper)!

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Lots of projects going on in Tupelo–One that has finally been completed started out with 4 legs that were found at an estate sale here in Tupelo. They were joined with a wooden wall hanging that I drug along from Missouri (another junque store treasure) .

The legs were originally primary colors and were fastened to square blocks of wood. They were free standing and had been used as candle holders, judging from the amount of dripped wax on them. Blocks were taken off, legs cleaned up and then fastened to a piece of plywood. The plywood was then glued to the wall hanging (now the tabletop!)

It has found a happy home next to the front door below an old picture of the 2 yankees in Tupelo taken quite a number of years ago….1957 to be exact! What cha think??

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The 2nd question we are asked, after “Where ya’all from” is why did you move to Tupelo?

Patti and I did a tour of most of the state of Mississippi and part of Alabama. When we got to Tupelo it just seemed like a good fit. People were friendly, town size was good (population around 38 thousand) , crime rate low, affordable housing. It just ticked off a lot of boxes that we were considering. And of course, it is the birthplace of ELVIS, need I say more? His birthplace is a museum/tourist attraction that we haven’t gotten to yet, but we will! The downtown features a bunch of guitar decorations and music note light ups, murals of the town and Elvis. Very cool area to explore. Also it is the First TVA city. I had to google what that meant (first city to receive power from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933). Also has a Buffalo park, Confederate Battle Field, assorted monuments and other places to explore when we find the time.

Shopping is good and plentiful, from little shops and restaurants in the downtown area, to the local mall shopping area where you can find everything from Lowes, Home Depot , Kohls, Wallyworld, Penneys, and it has a Hobby Lobby and Joanne Fabrics! Tons of eating places, some chains and lots of locals too. Our favorite local place is called Chicken Salad Chick, every kind of chicken salad that you can imagine and so good! And we have a big antique mall, monthly flea market that is huge and several resale thrift stores ( translate that to projects!)

We chuckle almost daily over the Police Report in the local rag. Some examples would be “so and so lent their car to some guy they only knew by first name and now 2 weeks later they still hadn’t brought it back, so they were reporting it may be stolen. Or the 2 sisters that lived next door to each other and fighting over property line and the tree that one sister had taken out that the other sister said belonged to her….well you get the idea, mostly non violent (unless you were the tree) and a very nice change of pace from the police reports I was used to reading in St Louis newspaper.

Unemployment is low with lots of businesses in Tupelo and a big Toyota plant not far outside of town. Not that we are looking for jobs! But it is a good thing. Also, Tupelo is located just 2 to 3 hours from many other larger cities, like Memphis, Columbus and Nashville, so easy to get to a larger airport to fly off somewhere. There is an airport in Tupelo, but only a couple of flights a day to Nashville I think.

All in all, a nice sized city with everything that we are looking for! So Why not Tupelo Indeed!

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We aren’t hearing the Uffda comment much these days, usually only in the privacy of our own home. You tend to get strange looks if you say this in public around here! The Tupelo version of Uffda seems to be “Bless your heart”. We have also learned that this little catch phrase isn’t always meant literally or kindly for that matter. Oh yes, many do really mean Bless your heart, but on occasion you get this, “well, Bless your heart” and it more literally translates to “well, aren’t you a hot mess” ! The natives have been kind and friendly for the most part but many times they just don’t understand our funny talk or sense of humor!

I made a little trip to the local hardware store to get some finish nails for one of our many projects. The nice lady in the store said “What are you looking for today?” My answer was nails…….and she gave me this blank look and said “excuse me?” I repeated my request for nails…..and then the light bulb came on over her head and she said “Oh, Nay als” And I said Yep….Nay als! Uffda ! So glad I didn’t have to call in the translator! I am still learning how to stretch one little word into 2 syllables , but grateful that at least I can understand what they are saying, even if they don’t understand me or recognize Uffda as a word!

I think the first advice we got down south was- you’all need to slow down. This seems to apply to everything from speed of talking to walking to waiting for delivery or repair persons. I have taken this to heart…..a couple weeks ago on one of my many trips to Lowes, I was slowly ambling down the aisle pushing my cart, headed for the nether regions which is where every single thing I could want is always located. Anyway, I was moving slowly due to aching body parts and this black lady cruises up along side me and says “you know from way you were walking I thought you were an old black woman until I looked down and saw your white legs” I surely didn’t know quite what to say, so I just responded..”well, thank you I guess”. She slowed her pace and we visited for a bit, sweet as pie she was, then she sped back up to her running walk and off she went on her mission. Of course by that time I realized what I should have said to her was “YOU’ALL NEED TO SLOW DOWN” !!