Moving update and will we ever get away from fixer-uppers?

Friday, September 17

The day started out like any other with morning chores and relaxing with a cuppa coffee. Today was set aside for running errands. We unloaded a large bag of stained tee shirts onto my former coworker at the paper who would be able to get them to the intended recipient. After that we stopped at the bank then headed to the big city of Lexington. We are definitely NOT city people any more. If we could avoid ever going to one we’d be perfectly content. However, there are just some items and stores that aren’t in smaller towns or cities so we bite the bullet and just do it. The main store we were hitting was Best Buy. After struggling to look at some properties and just trying to open some web sites on our iPads but not being able to gain access we decided it might be time to upgrade. None were to be found locally so that’s when we decided it might behoove us to check out a store with lots of electronic devices. Believe it or not, they didn’t have the ones we wanted either (the cheaper ones!). They had the super fancy (and super expensive) ones but we don’t need fancy and we surely don’t need expensive. I also wanted to check out their Mac computers. I have been saving my tip money for well over a year and after doing some comparisons online and saw that they were marked down I decided it was time to break down and get a new MacBook Pro. With the markdown I had enough money to get the latest version of Photoshop & Elements which will allow me to edit and make videos. The fella behind the Geek Squad counter worked me in and was able to transfer my files and documents from my old MacBook to the new one which saved us a second trip back to the big city. whew! While we waited we went to Bonefish Grill (yum!) and I walked my lunch (& supper) off by walking around almost every store in the area looking for adjustable face masks to no avail (other than burning a few calories). We stopped at PetsMart and got LizzieBelle more treats. Can’t run out of treats! After that we went back to Best Buy to check on the progress and had to wait another thirty minutes or so before everything was finished. I thanked him over and over for working me in and saving us a second trip.

Upon coming home there was a message on the machine from the realtor saying we had an offer on the farm and it was from the family we were hoping would buy it. YAY!!! We don’t have anything in writing yet but that phone call was enough to keep us awake long after our usual bed time.

I also called one of the coordinators of the annual quilt retreat I used to attend before things got so busy and we talked about the possibility of me attending the upcoming retreat the end of February. So, in the far back reaches of our brains we are talking about the logistics of going down to Florida for the retreat. This time CountryBoy, LizzieBelle and myself will be going down since we won’t have any responsibilities to attend to. Won’t that be nice? I’m looking forward to it!

As mentioned before we were up late talking about the next step and knowing that we were getting close to the nitty gritty of packing and moving. The task is quite daunting but I think we’ve come up with the beginnings of a plan and from there things usually fall into place.

Saturday, September 18

We managed to get a few things done today. One of our neighbors came by this morning to help CountryBoy split the wood we brought home the day before his heart attack. The neighbor handled the heavy pieces and stacked the split wood in the log shed while CountryBoy manned the log splitter. Before they got started we all ate breakfast then the guys set up the pop-up camper. The neighbor was interested in buying it. They guys finished that entire PILE of wood by mid-afternoon then they folded up the camper and it went next door to its new home. One less thing to have move. We’re glad it will have a good home.

While they worked I soaked the mop heads then washed a load of rags. During that time I made a batch of watermelon soup and gave some of it to the neighbor to take home with him. I also cleaned my Singer Featherweight and wiped down the box and got it packed up. Then the realtor came by with the paperwork for the offer on the farm and we got that taken care of. They’re good potential buyers but like us, they need to sell their house first. Thankfully, the realtor doesn’t think it will be a problem because there’s a shortage of nice houses in good locations. It’s so comforting to know we have lots of people praying for the whole situation.

It’s been a productive day. Maybe we’ll get to bed at our normal hour tonight, ha.

Sunday, September 19

We did manage to get to bed at our normal time however both of us were awake at 2 o’clock. Me with an allergy attack that woke me up from a sound sleep. I struggled with that for over an hour before my sinuses calmed down enough where I could lay back down. An hour after finally falling asleep LizzieBelle stirred so I took her out. Both of us conked back out shortly after we laid back down. CountryBoy was awake at that time not from my nose blowing or sneezing fits but because he was woken out of a sound sleep with wondering how the sewage pump at the lake house worked and would we be able to use the toilet if the power was out. So, a restful night it was not. Maybe tonight?

Today was a fairly laid back day. Church then work for me and CountryBoy glued the bottom of one of my flip flops back on and he repaired the switch on my stained glass light. I went to turn it on last night and a thin stream of gray smoke came out of the switch. Well that’s not good so I quickly turned it off. I’m so thankful he knows how to fix all sorts of stuff. This evening we’re both fighting to stay awake so I’m sure it will be an early night. Here’s hoping we both sleep sound and fitful.

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Driving to and from work and when running errands I find myself looking around at the countryside knowing that I am going to miss the beauty of the mountains. I know that water has the same effect but I’m just trying to absorb the beauty of eastern Kentucky for as long as we’re here.

Monday, September 20

We had some much-needed sleep last night. I stayed up a little later (probably due to the homemade iced coffee I took to work!) and got up a little earlier than usual but the hours in between were filled with restful sleep. CountryBoy fell asleep right away and slept fitfully all night.

This morning I tackled the closet and drawers in the guest room. It’s amazing how much stuff can be tucked away out of sight and veritably out of mind. I have put a lot of stuff in the yard sale pile. Meanwhile, CountryBoy made breakfast and tackled some of the paperwork in the desk. During that time we got a call from the realtor saying the potential buyer won’t be out to do his informal inspection until Friday after work. sigh. The ‘up in the air, waiting’ part is so difficult. The realtor said they’d continue to show the place as a backup plan even though we all feel that these buyers will work out. Besides, we were told they really want the place so that’s a plus.

Tuesday, September 21

Yesterday morning we both worked on different areas that needed some attention before we started packing those areas. My plan was to finish culling the closet in the guest room and CountryBoy began the arduous task that is/was his shop. I managed to get side-tracked (imagine that!) when I came across a bunch of those plastic zippered bags that sheets typically come in. I was going to take the zippers off then throw the bags away when it dawned on me that I could pack my fabric in those bags and the fabric would be protected from possibly getting dirty. Brilliant! Meanwhile, CountryBoy was busy cleaning out his shop and trying to decide what he should keep, what he might need, and what he could sell or toss. Why are those decisions SO exhausting?! Anyway, the guests were checking out so we chatted with them for a few minutes then they were on their way.

We’ve been searching Facebook Marketplace for a used and very reasonable small travel trailer and when I sat down to take a short break I saw one that was posted an hour prior. We both thought it was ideal so we contacted the seller who lived north of Cincinnati. As we discovered early in the week that if you don’t take action sooner rather than later you will miss out. We missed out on a great trailer at a great price because I was waiting for someone to get back to me. This time, however, we were free in the afternoon (and tired of making those difficult decisions, wink) so off we went heading north. We came home with a 20′ travel trailer in good shape and at a good price. We’re going to truly retire!!!

Wednesday, September 22

I had a difficult time falling asleep. I could not get comfortable – my neck and shoulders hurt no matter how I positioned myself. It was after midnight before sleep finally took over. Then at 5:30 LizzieBelle was stirring. She was needing to go out so I managed to ignore her for another 45 minutes then decided to just get up. It was a work day for me so I figured if I just got up I could get a cuppa coffee in before leaving.

It was a long day at work but not a very productive one for me. I tried but it was really out of my hands and just wasn’t meant to be today.

Meanwhile, CountryBoy went up to the cabin in the pouring rain to grab the dirty sheets and towels and make sure all the windows and door was closed. He was two feet from the back door when he slipped in the mud and went down on his right knee which folded up behind him – the one knee that halfway works. This evening he’s got it iced and elevated in hopes to get the swelling down. Of all the times for this to happen – not that any time is a good time, but now?!

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Two more days until we know if the farm is definitely under contract or not. We feel pretty good about it but the waiting to know one way or the other is a test of one’s faith and patience. Even though we’re trying to enjoy this whole process of selling and buying and packing and downsizing and so on I think we’re both just ready to be at the lake house already.

Thursday, September 23

I made some headway in the craft room this morning. I emptied one tote and filled it with batting and stabilizers. That emptied a little wooden cabinet I built a long time ago and I put it in the yard sale pile. I also put the finishing touches on a casserole carrier I had made several years ago. I had to unpack my sewing machine but it took me all of three minutes to run some stitches to hold the D rings in place and it was finished. Three minutes. sheesh. At any rate, I’m glad it’s finished. I also found another project I had intended to do and I got it done tonight. All I had to do was sew the binding on a small quilted mug rug. It took an hour to do that but it’s done. sheesh again. It’s amazing the motivation one can muster up when moving. I also think it’s a bit of procrastination as well… from culling, downsizing, packing, etc. In my mind, though, I’m thinking that it needs to be done because I’m either going to give it away or sell it and I surely don’t want to take it with me. So that’s my rationale and I’m sticking to it, ha!

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For some reason the camper had two levels of floor. It didn’t make sense and there was really no reason that we could figure as to why there were two levels.

The uneven floor bothered CountryBoy so he started removing it this morning. When we were looking at the camper we asked the seller why the floor was two different levels. He said that when ‘his guy’ was putting down the new peel and stick tiles that there was too much glue from the old vinyl so he just put a 1/2 inch piece of plywood over it. CountryBoy asked why they needed to put down new tile but the question was ignored. The story didn’t make a lot of sense to us at the time and it should have been a red flag but from all outward appearances everything seemed to be fine. As he started pulling up the plywood it didn’t take him long to discover WHY the additional piece of plywood had been put down. The floor by the door was completely rotted…

…and the entire rest of the floor was soaking wet…

And I mean soaking.wet.

CountryBoy was pretty calm at the discovery but I was furious. I mean, how do some people sleep at night? Here we are trying to get AWAY from projects and now we’re right smack dab in a big one because someone lied. And to top it off, the seller of the camper we really wanted had contacted me last night and asked if we wanted to see it. The first people that looked at it said they would take it but wound up not being able to get financing so it was available again. Sigh, it is what it is but I wish I wouldn’t have jumped the gun and that we would have paid attention to the red flags. However, CountryBoy is going to replace the floor and we’re going to have to find the cause of all the water. The roof seems to be good as does all the caulk but we’re going to run a bead of caulk around everything and we’ll hook up the water to see if there’s any leaks in the piping. Maybe it wasn’t winterized and a line broke. At any rate, we had to go to Rural King (probably our last trip there to stock up on feed) so we stopped at Lowe’s for pressure treated plywood, trim and some caulk. We also picked up some cool waterproof vinyl flooring that snaps together like laminate. I’m kinda excited about that and think it will look good and be practical.

CountryBoy has been around travel trailers most of his life so these things don’t faze him and it’s kind of expected in older trailers. Seems to me that the manufacturers of RV’s, fifth wheels, travel trailers, etc. could have come up with a better solution by now when it comes to piecing together the exterior to avoid leaks. It seems that most all of them wind up having a leak at some point during the camper’s lifetime. He’s actually looking forward to the project. I teased him today about him being so gung-ho to work on it because it has nothing to do with culling, downsizing, or packing, hahaha! But, in a way it does have something to do with packing – as soon as he’s finished I’m going to start filling it up with canned goods, extra clothes, my craft stuff and books, some kitchen stuff, small tools, and so on. We’re going to use it as our U-Haul. The few pieces of furniture we are taking will go on our trailer as well as whatever else won’t fit in the camper or the truck. At least that’s the current plan.

The potential buyers are coming over tomorrow afternoon – finally. It’s been a long week but we still feel really good about it and… they’ve already had an offer on their house and, I believe, they are under contract so that bodes well for us, too. Thank you Lord!

Friday, September 24

It’s been a whirlwind of a day. I started the day with a load of laundry then headed up to the cabin to clean and get it ready for today’s guests. Once that was done I needed to tidy up the house a bit so that it looked halfway decent when the potential buyers came by this afternoon to do a walk through. After making us a quick bite to eat and cleaning up I drove the mower up to the cabin and mowed the yard. I did a few swipes around the garden then the buyers showed up. We spent two and half hours with them answering questions, walking the farm, and going over everything with them. They even got to feed Mabel and the youngest girl held Creamsicle. It was all very heartwarming. We feel good leaving the farm and our animals in their care. In fact, the youngest girl drew this picture and gave it to us…

How sweet is that?!

Speaking of the potential buyers, they put their house on the market a few days after looking at the farm and they accepted an offer two days later. It’s a crazy house market right now! They had missed out on two other houses in the area last year. I can’t help but think that God had them in mind for our farm knowing we would need to relocate and they felt the same. His timing is always perfect!

So, it’s time to knuckle down and pack some stuff. Of course, there’s still much to sort through and get rid of but I can do that as I pack. I tell ya’, the yard sale pile is growing!

CountryBoy spent the day working on the camper floor. He managed to cut out the rotted section by the door and all the way across; clean the rubbish up; and he cut a new piece of plywood and put it down. He needs to buy some special countersinking screws that screw into metal. Hopefully he can pick some up tomorrow. There’s a few more pieces he needs to cut and put down and then we wait for the remaining wood to completely dry out. It’s drying but since it was so saturated it’s taking a while. Once it’s all dry he can lay the waterproof vinyl down. I think it’s going to be a great improvement to the camper.

After such a non-stop day tonight is all about relaxing. Me – blogging and reading; CountryBoy – playing Plants vs. Zombies on his iPad, hahahaha!

Saturday, September 25

First thing this morning CountryBoy headed to our local hardware store for the special screws. While he was gone I washed a couple days worth of eggs and got them in the egg fridge just in case someone dropped by for eggs. He screwed the first piece of plywood onto the metal frame and got another piece put down and secured. Only two more small pieces to go beside the bed and we’ll have a nice, sturdy and DRY subfloor with no rot. The piece of flooring that was still in good shape but is just wet is still drying. Hopefully it will be completely dry in a day or two. We need to replace the shower head and the outdoor shower but we didn’t find any leaks in the water lines so that’s good. We’re also going to check the slide-out and make sure that it’s level. It looks like it’s leaning in at the top which may have contributed to all the water on the floor. We think it can be adjusted underneath.

While he worked on the camper I dusted and vacuumed the truck then wiped the interior with Thieves Cleaner and a wet rag. I couldn’t help but think about the way I took care of my vehicles in the past. All my vehicles were pert near spit shined and spotless inside at all times. I guess all the years of living in the country relaxed my need for a clean car. That and just sheer lack of time. Maybe now I’ll stay on top of it. However, the truck will still be a former farm truck – dents, dog hair, dust and all – no matter what I do to it.

This afternoon we met some friends from church for an early supper. We spent three hours chit-chatting and catching up since we hadn’t seen a few of them in quite a while. It was nice to do something other than thinking about and prepping for the move.

Sunday, September 26

The early part of the morning was nice and relaxing.

As soon as we headed to church my day escalated until the evening hours when I finally put on my warm bathrobe and sat on the couch. It was a good day. A few more people are attending church each Sunday and it’s so good to see, especially during these crazy times. Work was busy but I managed to get all the sheets laundered, ironed, and made into sheet sets and put on the shelves in four hours. I came home and made supper and after that I was able to sit down and relax.

While I was at work CountryBoy stayed busy working ’round here. First, the cabin needed to be stripped, cleaned and readied for tonight’s guest. Then he installed the final two pieces of the subfloor in the camper. After that he mowed. He had just finished right before I got home. Needless to say, we both sat on the couch this evening and relaxed.

Monday, September 27

First thing this morning I threw the cabin sheets and towels in the wash and managed to get them washed, dried, folded and put on the shelf before we started on today’s project. Yep, selling the farm and we’re still working on projects, ha! This project, however, is the camper. We set about the task of installing the waterproof vinyl floor which are 4 foot x 8 inch padded planks that lock together like laminate. We ran into a few tricky spots but overall they went down fairly easy. We also put down as much quarter-round trim as we had. We need to pick up one, maybe two more pieces to finish it out. I washed the curtains and before hanging them back up I cleaned the window frames. I also cleaned and disinfected the fridge and freezer. It’s coming along and looking pretty good. I really like the layout. It feels pretty roomy for a 20′ camper.

It was after 4 o’clock when we called it quits. We sat on the porch for a while then I made fish tacos for supper.

Tuesday, September 28

It’s been an odd and grumpy sort of day. Our guest left while I was still in my bathrobe drinking coffee. Thankfully our guest was a girl so I went out to greet her anyway and say goodbye. She is a repeat guest so I told her that we were moving but the new owners were going to continue running the Airbnb. I had contacted Airbnb with some questions regarding transfer of ownership but it is not allowed. The new owners will have to create a new name and a new listing. It’s a shame that our return guests will have to do a new search and hopefully find the cabin they have come to know and enjoy visiting. I said as much to Airbnb when giving feedback. Maybe some day they will change the policy on transfers of ownership. Anyway, I told her she would have to do a new search if she wanted to come again.

Since our guest was already gone we went up and got the cabin ready for tonight’s guests right after we finished our coffee. We brought the one set of dirty sheets down and threw them in the wash and CountryBoy washed the dirty dishes. We had to run to town to sign some papers (non-house related); we filled three propane bottles (one for the cabin’s grill and two for the camper); we stopped at our local hardware store; then we headed home.

Once home we finished the cabin. But, before we headed up I went to back the buggy up to load the propane bottle in the back. The buggy lurched when I stepped on the gas and the basket of dishes and sheets fell off the seat and onto the floorboard breaking the glass spout on the French Press and chipping one of the coffee mugs. I have to say that I got very angry. At that moment I was never more ready to be at the lake house; to be done with the cabin; and to be done with the move. However, I managed to get over it and we finished up the cabin and started work on the camper. Working on the camper was not a good idea. It was not going well so we stopped. I did manage to clean some drawers and put down some non-skid shelf liner. I also put a few dishes in a cabinet and got some towels ready to put in there. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day to get some work done on it. As a friend of mine said just this morning, maybe I’ll be in a better mood at the bright and cheery lake house! That and with no job responsibilities OR (I’m thinking) fixer upper projects I had to agree, ha.

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Our guests arrived mid-afternoon so we relaxed the rest of the day.