Yes, the title we have been waiting for – moved!
Our house sold to some wonderful people who will likely be our friends. We have already met them for breakfast at the local diner once. They are enjoying that magnificent view, getting up early in the morning to see the fog over the river winding its way through the “mountains” of the Ozarks.
We now have no mortgage which was my number one reason to start this adventure.
That’s the good news. Now the bad news. The shop was not ready for us to move in. So life on the homestead has a bit more pioneering lifestyle for us than hoped. But only because we are modern, spoiled Americans.
Last Week
We have been ending our days with dinner at an air-conditioned restaurant and banana splits at home. When Noel retired, we were too busy to celebrate, so we only went to Sonic for ice cream. He was going to get a banana split to celebrate; they had none. So I told him when we got moved in, we would have banana splits. Ice cream with lots of fruit is a refreshing end to a hot, exhausting day.
The pups were not out here at all while we were moving. So the last time they were here before moving day, they had a wide-open large room to tear through chasing each other. So, when everything was moved here, I brought them out. I opened the door and they ran right in. I turned the light on, and they stopped dead in their tracks and backed out the door. They were in shock but have recovered. They are not enjoying this hot weather, but they love the mornings when they can run inside and outside, tracking mud and chasing each other.
So, while we are tired, we are happy. A week from now will find us with some of these “little” projects complete. Right now, we prioritize what is most important. A bedroom is more important to me than a stove because our bedroom furniture cannot get moved in until the drywall is up – not painted or taped – just up with the electrical done. I can’t get my house together until the bedroom furniture is out of the main area. Noel needs to have time to get his tools somewhat organized, so he isn’t digging through boxes for the tool he needs for his next urgent project. A shower is a top priority. By next week, those problems will be greatly improved. We will once again be clean and smell nice, living in an organized house. Looking forward to that day but enjoying being together in one location today.
Monday, August 2
Today, Monday, is just a bummer of a day all around, so maybe if I re-write this blog that I wrote last week but didn’t publish, I will be able to see all the progress that has been made. It has been a lot!
We moved into the shop/house with no running water, no internet, no air conditioner, and extension cords zig-zagging around the room. Some of those things are still true, but really so much progress has been made.
We have a flushing toilet. Woohoo! No more 5-gallon buckets being dumped into the tank so we can flush.
We have a shower. Woohoo says everyone who sat around us at church yesterday. It is wrapped in plastic so we don’t get the wallboard wet since it isn’t tiled, but it is good.
The wall that houses all my appliances has all the outlets, so I have a freezer, refrigerator, stove, microwave, and all the little things like air fryer. We still have extension cords in some places, but much less than previously.
It has been incredibly hot – 3 days in a row at or near 100 degrees. Air conditioning has been an issue. First we had none; now we have a window unit mounted in a unique way since we have no windows. It’s still very hot – around 87 in the house, but the humidity is down to 51%, so it is much improved. We can sleep comfortably at night. Our central air unit was backordered, but it has now arrived. Our friend, Aaron, with Noel as his sidekick, will complete installing it this coming Saturday. We are thankful for Aaron, a fan from my parents, and cooler temperatures this week.
Tuesday, August 3
We have a washer and dryer – but no water and wires are there yet. But the new set is beautiful – in its cardboard box. We will get the dryer running this afternoon, but the washer will probably be another week. So I am at the library using free wifi and then going next door to the laundromat next. (And now a few hours later, I have dried 2 loads in our newly installed dryer!)
We have a bedroom. I can’t say how exciting that is! The bedroom is drywalled – not taped and painted and probably won’t be until we move out into our new house. But all of the furniture is in place. You just don’t know how much you appreciate dressers until you don’t have them for a couple weeks. Yes, we share it with a hot water heater and softener, but I’m fine with that. This is temporary while we build, remember. Thank you to the Watsons who loaned us a portable hanging rod!
As of today, Tuesday, I feel settled. Our home and business belongings were dumped into one large (52’x40’) room. We had dried lumber, saws, furniture, too many belongings, all a bit jumbled together. But it is becoming a cozy living space.
I never realized how much I need everything to have its place. I can handle having to dust every day because we are living on concrete floors with a shop and 2 dogs. I can wheel my cart of dirty dishes outside to wash dishes with water from the hose. I can fill my toilet tank with a 5-gallon bucket. It’s all part of the adventure. But when everything has its place, I am content and relaxed. Didn’t even know that about myself until this week.
Noel is nearly able to organize his shop because I have all of our house things out of his half of the shop (we are living in the other half). It’s hard to build and create when your tools aren’t where they belong.
We have had some great help from family and friends over the last 2 weeks. It wasn’t just moving – it was trying to get the building ready to move into and then moving. It was also moving a business with lots of wood and heavy equipment. My mom was at our house every day packing and cleaning; she had to be exhausted. Our friend Elvis has been helping for months but never more than he has with the move. He brought his 12-year-old grandson along for 3 days last week. Luke moved so much scrap wood! Damon and Becky from our new church were an incredible help with moving, packing, and the use of their truck. Several years ago I taught Jason in Sunday School; since then he has grown up, gotten muscles, and was a huge help in moving Noel’s dried lumber and some of the equipment. We could not have done it without them.
Our biggest concern right now is our internet or lack thereof. We got a 2-year contract with Viasat, a satellite internet company. We have no signal and they can’t do a service call until August 13. And we can’t get out of our contract. So that was part of my bad Monday; again, a spoiled person who let such a trivial matter become a burden for the day. Never even prayed about it. So that part hopefully got fixed at least. We have a plan going forward tomorrow, so we will see what happens. It is an interesting quandry. I must have internet because although I’m semi-retired, I’m still teaching online at NorthStar. I’m speaking at a conference next week in the Philippines – virtually. But not having internet also makes me realize how dependent I am on it, and how it maybe doesn’t need to be such a big part of my life.
As always, we are still a work in progress, but progress continues at a fairly rapid rate, even if it doesn’t seem like it on a daily basis.