It is Done

Thanksgiving in February

 As we prepare for the closing on the Yadkin house (just over 2 hours away) I want to officially give credit where credit is due...

Politically Correct Thanks

 I would like to thank my imaginary friend in the sky for assistance in finding the "right" house for us. Forces of nature aligned to energize karma and helped our eyes see and find the house in the country that so soothes our souls.

What I Really Mean

 I thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ first for saving my soul, for acting as a mediator for me to the almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Who has kept me safe and in good health (by my standards) and has answered our prayers to guide us in the search of and decisions of finding a new house. This was a 3 year process (of which we were in no hurry) life continued to "happen" and our "dream home" was almost laid in our lap when the time was right, with talks already to prospective buyers of the condo we will be leaving....

 Our "dream home" not only seems perfect for us, single level living, sunroom for plants, quiet country setting, privacy, slower paced lifestyle, but the house seems to soothe our souls....  there is a peacefulness there before we even take possession of the house.

One and a Half More Days!

One and a half more days!  (Not that I'm counting, ahem.)  I'm busy rearranging furniture on paper and figuring out what needs to be recovered, slipcovered, or given to Goodwill.  My trusty sister came by earlier and brought us more moving boxes and packing tape.  TheBoys cleared out one of the storage units today!  Well, almost.  There's a scooter still in there that will get moved to the new house on Wednesday.  Also Wednesday, TheBoys will clear out the other storage unit and take everything to the new house's garage until we get the go-ahead from the Radon Mitigation guy to move things into the house itself.  So yay no more storage unit fees!  Progress.  I am of course excited about the move, but mainly I am still just very peaceful.  This is so clearly the right step for me, and also for both of us.  Not to mention how happy the plants will be.  The Bonsai plants will get to spread out and show off.  The Jacaranda trees will have a better environment.  The pineapple plants will continue to flourish and we'll be able to see them, and all of the plants, much better with more room for them all.  African violets don't like to be moved, so they'll probably have a period of no blooms, but they'll get over it.  And I know all the palms will be beyond thrilled.  It will be really nice to see the palms throughout the house instead of bunched up in front of a few windows.  I'll try to write more about the Jacaranda trees in a later posting.  They grow to the size of a dogwood roughly (outside) and bloom purple!  So the countdown continues -- one and a half more days!

Four and a Half More Days

We're getting real close to owning the beautiful Yadkin County house.  I'm overcome with gratitude, anticipation, relief, and peace.  Also overwhelmed with the moving process!  That'll be a doozy.  Just gotta think of it as one of those take-a-day-at-a-time things.  But once we're all in there, I know the plants will be so happy, the two kitties will have a big time figuring everything out and then get to their patrolling duties :-) , and the two humans will be worn out but very happy.  This is a dream come true. That is not what either of us have come to expect from Life, so that makes it that much sweeter. The screen porch (pictured) will need to

have a few places patched before mosquito season hits, and I'd like to put more of a railing across the bottom part all the way around.  But TheSellers did such a great job on this porch.  It has a ceiling fan, a wooden floor, and is just a perfect size.  TheSellers are leaving the porch swing that was made by a family member of theirs.  You can't tell from this pic but the detail on it is amazing.  My grandma had a porch swing on her front porch.  It had a soft quilt on it and we would gather up some kittens (there were always kittens at her house) and swing and swing.  The kittens would go to sleep, of course, and often so would we.  Grandma had a white female cat named "Sambo" ;-) and another white feral cat named "Wildie" because she and her kittens were all wild and very skittish around us.  I had about fifteen cousins that would gather at Grandma's and we'd play Red Light, Green Light and Simon Says and Hide & Seek.  Those were great days.  This porch reminds me of those warm Alabama days with my cousins and the white kittens.  Four and a half more days!!!

Life Lessons

Life is always giving us a chance to learn.

 This is where one would insert a post of depth and insight of life-knowledge gained from a simple daily event. This life lesson isn't so deep, we learned of Radon Gas and Radon Mitigation. Our radon gas levels are high. EPA standards are 4 we tested 5.2  So we met with the alleged mitigation specialist and have made arrangements for installation after taking possession of the property. We will need to keep the house closed during a re-test to determine that levels come down to a "safe" level so our move-in may be pushed back a few days.

Valentines Toast

Not a toast like, Here's to our future", but kinda heart shaped Valentines French Toast someone had for breakfast...

Under Contract Sign

YAY!!!  Progress!  UNDER CONTRACT sign.  And daffodils too.....

City Pineapples And Coffee

We will also be moving our pineapple fields from the city to the country...





And Coffee......

RIP, Oscar

One member of our household won't get to move with us.  "Oscar", the fiery-orange tiger oscar cichlid fish, died overnight.  He was five years old.  A very smart, very very smart, fish.  He will be greatly missed.