Someone once said all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy. I don't know about dull, but it surely makes for a very tired John and Nan. We finally have taken a day off from our labors and this is feeling as if it is a very good thing.
Two of the four columns have their first coat of paint. The other two are standing there patiently waiting for their turn.
"Stuff is stacked, on chairs, tables and sofa waiting patiently to be taken to the motorhome.
Paintings are ready to be hung, not by the chimney with care. The abstract on the left that looks blueish, but isn't goes into the dining room.
You can also see the cherry hardwood floors that John and I installed.
A lesson we have learned from this adventure is that we cannot take a twenty five year old house and make it new construction.
We are pleased with the way things are looking. If we hurried, we could have it on the market next week. You can see where the bulkhead is cut in at the end of the cabinets. The kitchen needs to be painted as well as the half bath just behind the unpainted columns. The stove needs to be installed and a plumbing leak needs to be tweaked.
Work is complete from where the carpeting begins (there's a gate to keep the fur kids out!) in the photo. The dining room is complete with the exception of light fixtures as is the entry and hall.
My weaving loom is in the family room awaiting the "right" new owner. I need to replace the reed and it will be ready to go. I am sad to see a good friend go, but I need a smaller loom that will be convenient in the motorhome.
John's wood turning tools that we listed on Craig's List have sold quickly and we have just a few left. Some buyers have traveled over one hundred miles to purchase them. It is fun to witness the excitement of these people when they know they have new "toys." You know what they say about the difference between men and boys.....BUT there are also women wood turners. I'll stick to my fiber.
The temperature today here in Indiana is fifty degrees. Tomorrow, it is to be fifty two and Wednesday, sixty! It looks as if we are going to be outside spiffing up things there so work inside will wait for colder temperatures or rain.
Yesterday, friends of ours from Michigan drove down are took home with them a garden tractor, a lawn vacuum, a chipper, a hand mower, fencing, and more things for their farm. Deb even took our old stove to use in her fiber dyeing! Now that is big time repurposeing! She also left with our antique wardrobe. It should be awesome in their antique age farm house.
Thinking back to this time last year......we were in Death Valley watching the sky at night and marveling at the vast number of stars visible to just the naked eye.
Thinking forward to our journey next year. It will be our first winter of fulltiming. We are eager to learn what God has planned for the journey.
To be able to start that journey.....we keep working. And working. And working.
Till next time,
God bless you and your travels, your visits, your daily activities - whatever they may be.
A night of not sleeping well and an early morning make for a slow working day / journey. After a visit from a sales person, (yuck) we tackled the painting of the last two beams and the fireplace in the family room. Actually, John tackled the beams and did a super job. I attacked the fireplace.
I am so pleased we decided to paint the fireplace brick again. It looks so fresh now. But that was all we completed today. I was able to finish between the mantle and the hearth. Below the hearth and above the mantle is on our to do list for tomorrow. How can such a simple project take two days to finish?
Tomorrow, the furniture is returned to the family room and we will start the kitchen painting. Not much there. Only the bulkhead and the space between the counter top and the underside of the cabinets. After that, only the guest bath remains! All should be completed by Saturday afternoon!
Oh my gosh, we are soooo close! I can hardly believe it.
Excuse me while I hyperventilate!
Wow!
Ohhhhhh, rats.......
We have the little barn (30' X 60') to empty! Hummmm, that has been used only for storage of "stuff." Stuff we have forgotten, lived without, forgot that existed.....
I think we have just decided to ditch everything! Of course we will ditch after we sell the antiques, weaving loom and send the best llama fiber to the mill to be processed into yarn. The "seconds" of the llama fiber will be sent to Texas to be woven into rugs to sell.
BUT the finish line is in sight!
Probably, tomorrow we will think of more things we want to do, but for tonight......we are encouraged.
Thanks for stopping by....
After you finish laughing at us, feel free to leave a comment.
God bless you on your journey!
Earlier, when we would begin our trips, I could hardly wait to arrive at our destination - so we could enjoy our vacation. We would drive "straight through" for sixteen or twenty hours - in order to be there sooner and start our vacation. We would arrive totally exhausted, but we were there, it was time to enjoy! (After we rested for a day.)
Then I learned that the journey was part of the vacation and that I needed to be thankful, slow down and appreciate the drive.
Why am I talking about this now? Because I have learned another lesson in "enjoying the trip," the journey.
John and I have talked about selling the house and full timing for over a year. It was a dream in the distant future, something to chat about, to read information and blogs, to investigate.
As the last eighteen months have progressed, the talks were more frequent. We talked about traveling to the art and fiber shows as part of our full timing. We would just make our journey fit the show schedule.
Selling our house became part of those wishful discussions. We sure didn't want to full time and have a house back in Indiana. So we interviewed Realtors and set the plan in motion.
We decided, before listing the house, we wanted to do some work to increase the value and decrease the waiting time for the sale. The cherry hardwood floors were already down. That was one thing we had in our plan book from the day we moved in fourteen years ago.
We made a list of all the other things we wanted to do prior to the day of listing. We also set a goal, an unrealistic goal of January first. Now keep in mind that this goal was set the second week of November.
Today is January eighth and we are still working! Gee, what a surprise. Our second goal of January fifteenth is fast approaching. We will not meet that goal either.
Let me digress about ten days. John's health is not the best. He has emphysema. He is on three inhalers and oral medications. He has to stop and catch his breath often. To add to that, he has always been a slow worker / mover. It is just his nature. I have tried to challenge him to walk faster, work faster, think faster, drive faster. But that just isn't John. Finally, I have accepted it and am thankful for what he does in his own speed.
With his emphysema and my arthritis, setting up our sales booth has become a greater challenge at every show. We drive to the city where the show is located, unload, set up the booth, greet customers for two or three days. But we are exhausted.
When the show is over we are back to packing up, transporting merchandise back to the motorhome and reloading the basement with the shelves, displays and merchandise. All the time, I'm grouchy because I hurt all over and John is just trying to breathe. Now does any of this make sense to you? Not me, not John. I have had two huge meltdowns in the last few days. How ridiculous.
We have decided that we do not NEED this extra work. The money is not worth it. The work is hard on us physically and hurts our relationship. You just can't put a dollar amount on health and relationships.
I will continue my art work. I love my art work. It is part of me. I will sell on line ..... if and when I choose! I do need to work on an excellent website and establish an Etsy and Ebay outlet for my work.
Okay, back to the subject of enjoying the journey. Now that we have decided to withdraw from the shows, we do not have to be in Tennessee mid March! That means we do not have to "break our necks" to get the house ready to sell so fast in order to get out to southern California and back to Tennessee! Whew, what a relief.
Yesterday, we both worked outdoors. John installed new outdoor lighting. I mowed part of the pasture that needed some TLC. While mowing, it was so nice to look over the ground, at the trees, to watch the wild life even if it was voles and rabbits running from the tractor. I began to enjoy the journey to full timing.
We burned downed trees, branches, brush. I cleaned the chicken pen and around one of the barns. I enjoyed the journey a bit more.
Today, is a day of rest for us. We will enjoy this journey too. We are going to the motorhome to watch the New York Giants play Atlanta in their wild card game. We must support at least one Manning since our poor Colts did so miserably this season.
I have two more beams and the fireplace brick in the family room to paint. John has four columns to finish and to put baseboard down where we installed the new hardwood floors. (kitchen, front, family, dining rooms and the entry.) Now THAT was a journey! Oh yes, I must paint the columns and baseboard. Oops, there are windows to wash and cabinets and wood trim to polish. Oh oh, there is one closet left to empty. And my studio! Eeeek! We both know that there will be more tasks to raise their ugly heads, don't we.
Tomorrow, we continue the journey to clean the barns. Can anyone say dumpster? We continue to work outside as the weather allows. I am amazed that we are outdoors working in January. I am thankful for the Journey.
One thing we have continually asked ourselves during this journey is why didn't we do these tasks earlier for ourselves? Why didn't we get the new appliances so we could enjoy them? Why didn't we do .........Why?
Maybe the reason is to teach us to enjoy the journey. Every journey that God blesses us with.
"Stuff is stacked, on chairs, tables and sofa waiting patiently to be taken to the motorhome. 
