The Heymann Family Journal

I bought an original print (one of 6000) by Marc CHAGALL " RACHEL ET JACOB". It came from an art dealer in Paris. It is 53 years old. And I wanted to cry when it came in the mail today. It's so exciting! I hung it next to 2 paintings Nicole painted.

She Yelled And Called Me Names

Oct 1st is next week. I'm not so worried about selling our house in Leimen. The renters move out this week. I'm thinking more about the garden and what I can do to improve it. We are having a gardener put in new grass (roll grass for instant effect). And we could put up a new fence, but I'm thinking about a hedge. The 30 year old hedge was cut down (it turns out by the neighbor not the renter). Why I do not know. But it looks really awful. But I'm thinking of replacing the hedge with a fast growing THUJA . And I don't know if the neighbor will like it, but it will be on my land. They never asked us if they could cut the hedge down. I thought it was our hedge, but I could not prove it. Anyway, I'm wondering if we should order a fence or a hedge this week. It will be our house again next week and we will have the freedom to renovate it, and show it. The renter has been very nice about letting us show the house, but they are moving and you don't w...

Happy Birthday DAD!

I wanted tomatoes this year, so I had 100 plants. The weather was not very good and I just didn't get much fruit. But I got flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. Every week I've picked fresh flowers for my living room and dinning room and hall. And the colors changed from week to week. So you could say it has not been at all what I wanted but it's been beautiful. And it is so much like my life. Not what I had planned, but very beautiful. Juergen shows the house in Leimen tonight. I hope it sells but I’m just grateful he is showing it. Another family wants to see it after the renter moves out. They say they are very interested but want to see it empty. I get the feeling they cannot afford it and are hoping we will drop the price in some dramatic way. That will not happen. But we do have a gardener scheduled to redo the back garden. And I guess it will get sold or rented in time. Perhaps even tonight?

I was spending allot of time looking on eBay for stuff to furnish the house in Leimen. I guess it was fun to think of just how I would furnish the house. What colors I would paint with, what pictures I would put on the walls. But it got really old, really fast. And the reality of just how much work it would take to furnish and decorate a 4 bedroom house was hitting me hard. And I felt sure I do not want to do this! But we may still need to do it. But I am praying for a buyer. And we have 2 families that want to see the house. One will look at it this week, and the other in 2 weeks after the renter moves out. We have a gardener coming next week to redo the back yard. He will put in roll grass. And we will put up a fence. And if we need to furnish it, we will. But I will deal with that in a few weeks if I need to. Instead I'm just working on my own house. I'm DE cluttering everything. And I'm putting up some fall decorations. I'm sadly saying goodbye to a...

Proverbs 23:4-5 New Living Translation (NLT) Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.

For my plant loving friends, these are the tomato seeds I ordered today. God willing we will sell some plants next year.

I do not know what will happen tomorrow but I know that God has blessed me with such a wonderful family. And I'm holding on to my peace! I hope you have a safe and blessed weekend.

The year started out very good. We had over 500 tomatoes plants. All Heirloom plants from seed we saved last year. And we sold and gave away 400 plants, saving 100 plants for ourselves. But the weather has not been good. And my plants have not given me much fruit. Nothing like last year. So we are trying to save seeds for next year. And I ordered a few hundred seeds from a grower in Italy. So I hope we will have a good number of plants next summer...and hope for better weather One man plants, another waters but God gives the increase!

I've been looking at stuff to furnish our house in Leimen, if we need to. There are allot of good deals. I most likely will not bid on any of these things. We want to wait a few more weeks before we decide to go in that direction. Hopefully we can sell the house before then. But if not, a furnished rental is probably what we will do. So for the Living room I found these leather sofas (2 of them) and a black and white chair. I want to use leather because it's easy to clean. Oh, I also like this chair and table both from the 70's. I think I will paint the room a baby blue with white curtains. Maybe find a glass coffee table and white TV cabinet. And for the dining room I found these chairs and table, and 2 china cabinets (one painted). If you know our house in Leimen, we want to use Philip and Thomas’s old room as the living room and the old living room as a big dining room. And we have 4 bedrooms. Here are some beds I like. I also need to add a desk. These ...

It's rained allot, and it's been cold. Most of my tomatoes have not produced much fruit. It's sad. But I've had really beautiful flowers. And the house in Leimen has no renters or buyers. And I’m trying hard not to worry. Instead I’m listening to sermons on the Sovereignty of God. What I need is the assurance that this is in God’s hands. He will do what He wills. I don’t know what we should do, but I know God will show us. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the flowers. And I’ll wait for the answer.

I don't know if we will manage to sell the house in Leimen. I hope we do. But if we don't we are considering renting it as a furnished house for (I guess you would call it) corporate housing. We would rent to business people, computer scientist, or visiting professors. A furnished house gets about 600 Euros more per month then an unfurnished house. It isn't what I want to do, but it maybe what we need to do for a few years. And I am looking at what I can buy on eBay. Today I bought 6 rattan wicker chairs and 2 footstools. I figure I can use the chairs with our old dining room table, and the stools in a living room. I'll use them for a rental, or for our own house. No loss. I like them and the price was very good. I do pray we sell. Anything else would be a distraction. Jessica had a very nice day. Juergen and I took her for a two hour drive, then out to dinner. The kids go back to school tomorrow. The summer went by very fast. This entire year has been...

Today Nicole and I took Jessica shopping. She turns 22 years old tomorrow. She has grown over the past year. She now likes her disabled workshop. And she has begun to learn to write again on the computer. It is a slow process, but maybe she can write independently in the next 5 years. Her teacher is wonderful. We are very blessed to have her help! If I stopped and thought about what Jessica might be doing if she was healthy, it could break my heart. Birthdays should be happy, but when your child is disabled it's always bitter sweet. Bitter because of the milestones that were never met, and sweet because of the person that is still very valuable and wonderful. But I'm sure everyone feels bitter sweet about something in your life. Life is never only sweet. For me it is much better to fix my eyes on what is there and let go of what I hoped for...what every parent hopes for. Jess bought a new book, 3 DVD's and a Fanta. I also took her to McDonalds because that is ...

Today Thomas is 16 years old. We have had the family party today. Tomorrow is a big group party with bike riding (he got a new bike for his birthday) and a BBQ. As I type this, Juergen is showing the house again. I have little hope we will find a renter or buyer today. I've lost all hope. Actually that is not really true. I'm sure we will either sell or rent it in time.. I just don't expect it to happen any time soon. The renter moves out at the end of the month. Then we will redo the grass, put up a new fence and touch up paint. I'm just expecting it to take some more months and I'm not holding my breath. I imagine it will get at least rented eventually. But I get too emotional if I am hoping too hard. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. I'll let you know if we found a buyer or renter. Juergen said it was "depressing". There was some guy that showed up 20 mins late and he looked and acted like he was a gang member. A real disrespec...

Juergen has had to spend allot of time contacting people who have requested to see our house in Leimen. Most want to rent, but a few want to buy. Unfortunately none seem like the sort of folks we want to have as renters. Are there no employed “normal” people left in this world? We have had some pretty questionable single men who have asked to see the house. Why would a single man want a 5 bedroom house? I do not want to know. And then there is the other extreme. Families with 10 people and no income. We had a request from a nice couple last Friday. But Juergen was at his dad’s house this weekend. They signed a rental agreement with someone else on Saturday. Our loss. I’ve gotten over the idea of finding someone for Oct 1st. I feel like we will just need to pay the mortgage a few more months. It’s a sad waste of time and money, but I’m remarkably calm about it. I was feeling so desperate until I turned down the couple that smoked. They would have paid the mortgage Oct 1...

Summer camp is over. The kids had a great time! Thomas worked at the camp as a jumper (someone who does whatever is needed). Sarah was a camper. Philip actually spent a week helping to set the camp up, and 2 days helping to clean up afterwards. And Nicole helped with the decorations this year. Now we have one more week of vacation. Thomas has a big birthday party on Friday. He turns 16 this week! Sadly the weather has gotten cold. My tomatoes have already started to die. We had 100 beautiful plants, but just a handful of tomatoes. It's been a good year for flowers and pumpkins. An awful year for most everything else! Juergen is up North with his dad. His father’s health is not very good. He will most likely be traveling up to see his dad (Richard) at least once a month. We have 2 requests to rent our house, and 2 more to maybe buy the house. I guess people have returned from summer vacation and are now ready to consider house hunting. I'm h...