Full Time Lake Living

Hello my friends. What a whirlwind! We have the house completely empty and clean. The only thing to do now is keep up the yard until closing. We have been told the house is in underwriting now so hopefully it won’t be too much longer. We are moving from the lake to the RV park closer to town the middle of August. We need to be settled before winter because there are a lot of preparations that have to take place when you live in a travel trailer during the winter time. Especially when you get as much snow as we do. I hope we’re not crazy leaving our beautiful home for this adventure!  Just one more step toward retirement and being closer to family.  I have to keep remembering that. Remind me of that this winter, won’t you?

I finished Miss Piper‘s blanket and the two washcloths that she requested and I mailed them to her this morning. I really like how the blanket turned out. I was able to use up some scraps of yarn that I had and I didn’t have to buy anything. Woo hoo! My goal this year is to not buy any more yarn than I need for specific projects.

I did have to buy yarn for this. It is a prayer shawl for my good friend Debbie who is having surgery to remove a mass next week.  She has survived ovarian cancer before, 15 years ago.  

It’s hard to tell, but it’s actually a strand of yellow held with a strand of cream colored yarn. In the photos it looks like it’s just cream.  It is a time consuming stitch to be sure. But I do think it’s pretty.

These are the geraniums that I overwintered last year. Believe it or not they were both a deep red color.  When they bloomed this year one was white and the other one is more of a pinkish red.  The statue is one that I had in the front yard at the house.

I was sitting outside tonight watching the moon rise through the trees. I thought it was beautiful.

Watching the night fall at the lake is one of my favorite times of day. Especially when it’s as hot as it has been. Since our humidity is so low you can always open the windows at night and sleep with no air-conditioning. Tomorrow is supposed to be 102°F and Friday, even hotter. That is so unusual for us.

The lights on the right are next to my bright red geraniums planted along the bank behind the trailer. The lights you see on the left are strung through the trees down on the swimming beach.

I don’t know why I find these photos so pretty.

And one final photo looking across the lake.

Now that I have the house packed up, I have to work on packing up the trailer and getting ready to move. We have a lot of canned goods in here that will have to be taken to storage so there’s not so much weight in the trailer when it’s moved. If I had known we would be moving, I never would have stocked up so much before the virus hit.

I received a surprise in the mail today. I will be sharing it with you in my next post. Take care and stay healthy.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Busy Days

It’s the weekend! I hope everyone has had a good week and stayed healthy. We have had a busy, busy, busy week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at the house all day packing, cleaning and patching nail holes. Dennis had today off of work because we had originally planned to leave for Omaha today and he just kept this day as a vacation day. He and Larry moved all of the outside furniture and the few remaining things from the garage into storage. All that is left to do is wipe down the bathrooms one last time and vacuum and scrub the floors.  I cleaned everything very well before the house was shown and we haven’t stayed there since, so not a lot needs done. All of the curtains have been washed. 

I’m so pleased at how much the two of us old people have done. Until today we have moved virtually everything in our house by ourselves, besides the help from Alicia getting it ready to stage for showing. I never could have done this before the medication the neurologist gave me for my back. Had we decided to do this three months ago, I could never have begun to lift and carry boxes and furniture the way I’ve done in the past 2 1/2 weeks.

And the house appraised at the higher amount! This is such a blessing.  It is now in underwriting and if the bank approves the amount, we will get significantly more than we were asking for the house!  That will definitely help with the rent we have to pay monthly at the RV park. Our house has been paid for for many years and it will be a new experience to make a rent payment.

Miss Piper asked if I would make her a blanket for her babies. She would also like two washcloths. She was very specific in her colors. She wants a gray blanket and one gray and one blue washcloth. She takes very good care of her babies and I have made her lots of blankets in the past but she likes to have each of her babies have their own blanket.  Of course I said yes! When we were at storage Wednesday night, I located my totes of yarn and I found these partial skeins of gray yarn and the blue yarn too.  I sent this photo to her for her approval and Mandy said her answer was “yes, exactly!”  Now I really hope this is enough gray to make the entire blanket, because my goal is not to buy any more yarn until I use up what I have.  Maybe I could get away with a few stripes of white if I start running low.

Cindy of the “Delighted Hands” blog over on my side bar made these four beautiful masks for me.  They have this pretty gray floral print on one side.

And the other side is a surprise! Tie-dye and a nice blue print fabric. These came at the perfect time. Dennis only had one mask for work and I had to wash it every night. This way I have a little more time to get each one washed as he’ll have one to wear one day and another the next. Thank you so much Cindy. My sewing machine is all packed up and I was having difficulty finding elastic anywhere.

And this meme just plain cracked me up. Any husband worth his salt knows better than to answer the question like this.  😂😂😂

I did finish a baby blanket today to give to the hospital once they’re accepting donations again.  It’s not the greatest photo since I took it just now, well after dark, but it gives you the idea of what it looks like.  The angle is wonky but it’s actually square, 33 x 33 inches.

I have hung my crocheted summer flowers garland on the island in the trailer.  It makes it feel more like home.

I baked a coffee cake for breakfast today and we shared it with Larry and Nita.  I also baked from “scratch” some chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. I love the oven in my new trailer as it is easy to light and works great for a travel trailer.  I rarely used the one in the other trailer.

And now it’s 11:15 and I need to go to bed. Take care my friends and stay safe.

Blessings,

Betsy

So far, so good

Just popping in to let you know things are so far, so good with Dennis. It’s been eight days since his one on one meeting with the person who has tested positive. The bad news is, four more people have tested at his office and have not received their results yet. They were all in a meeting with the gentleman who tested positive and none of them had masks on at the time. Two of the four have been sick since Friday and two have had no symptoms as of yet.  Believe me, the rules have gotten much stricter now. Dennis was careful before, but now everyone is being especially careful and staying away from everyone else as much as possible.

Our house appraisal was this morning, so I drove into town about noon and started taking all of the pictures off the walls and patching holes. I have another load to take to the Goodwill tomorrow when I go back to the house to finish packing up the last of the pictures and the decorations that we had out for the appraisal. We took two loads of furniture to friends from church, plus our mattresses to storage after Dennis got off work. Tomorrow night we will take the kitchen table to some other people.  I have a few family pieces that I am planning to take to Mandy‘s house in Omaha that will go to Larry and Nita‘s house tomorrow evening for storage until we are able to travel.  The rest of the furniture will go to our neighbors from Afghanistan.

It has been so hot the past couple of days and tomorrow is supposed to be close to 100. We hope to be done with most things by the end of the week, although our closing isn’t for a couple of weeks yet. We just want to be done with most of our responsibilities.  Dennis will still be doing the lawn care, but hopefully the inside will be ready to go.

Sunday Dennis put a new kitchen faucet in our little trailer.  The old one was a cheap plastic.  Doesn’t this one look nice?  We’re planning to take this small camper to Omaha when we can travel, so we can avoid hotels and restaurants.

Chloe and Sophie were working on their suntans on Saturday. Sophie still thinks Chloe is her mama.  I love how she lays with her back legs out like frog legs!

And now I need to go to bed. It’s been a long, hot and busy day. Take care everyone and I’ll check back in with you in a few days. I think I was able to comment on everyone’s blogs tonight, but I was very late in doing so. I’ll do my best over the next couple of days.

I do want to thank you all for your wonderful comments and prayers and good wishes on my last post. I am continually amazed by the wonderful friends I’ve made here in blog land.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Busy Week and Disturbing News

We have had an amazingly busy week this week. Between Dennis working and us working at the house we will be very glad when the house is closed.  I have kitchen cabinets emptied and all washed out.  I try to do that every year or two so how do they get so dusty and crumbs in them with just the two of us? I still have to wash the refrigerator out. The only thing still in the cabinets are my cleaning products under the sink. They will be one of the last things to go after I know everything is done and clean. Tomorrow they are hopefully moving our freezer to Paul and Lori’s garage. They live on the way to the lake from Dennis’s work, so he will be able to stop and pick things up once a week or so. The home appraisal is on Tuesday and after that we can start giving the furniture away. We are scheduled to close August 13 but hopefully it will be sooner.

I finished Dennis‘s socks and he’s already worn them to work. They are made with Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in the Prussian Heather colorway. The pattern is Petty Harbour.

It has been an absolutely gorgeous week at the lake. Blue skies and warm temperatures. We even went for a boat ride tonight with Lori and Paul.

My flowers are doing beautifully.

I have several pots around the campsite.  Look at all of the buds on this plant.

I also have geraniums planted all along this embankment.

The flowers make me smile whenever I see them and the hummingbirds and bees that buzz around them.

Miss Piper had a haircut this week. She looks pretty happy with it doesn’t she?

We had some disturbing news today. Dennis was in a meeting with a coworker in his office on Monday. They both had face masks on and were about 3 feet apart and were exchanging paperwork. Tuesday morning the coworker woke up with a fever and was tested for COVID-19. Today the test came back positive. I’ve talked to Mandy about it and she says it means that Dennis is a low risk for exposure since they both had masks on and were 3 feet apart. I’m still worried sick. Today would be the fourth day since he was exposed. They say he does not need to quarantine because it is low risk of exposure, but I’m still worried. 

We’re taking extra precautions here at the lake and not getting close to anyone. Even on the boat ride tonight we sat way in the front of the boat while Paul and Lori were in the back and then Paul water skied. We are being very careful not to touch anything anyone else is touching.  The thought is that if he has been exposed and has contracted it, I’ve already been with him for the past four days and I’ve been exposed too. They say he does not need to quarantine because it is low risk but I’m still worried. I would sure appreciate prayers that this turns out to be a false alarm for us. I have to tell you it is scary.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay safe. The numbers out there seem to be terrifying virtually everywhere.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:4-7

This verse means so much to me in these difficult days we’re living in.  I know I shared it in my last post but I think it’s worth sharing again. I tend to be a person who suffers with anxiety and I’m leaning on this verse more and more every day. Especially with the news that we received today. I hope it gives you comfort too,

Blessings,

Betsy

This and that and a book winner!

Happy Monday everyone.  I’m at the lake today, cleaning and doing laundry. I love cleaning my little house.  We spent yesterday afternoon at the house.  I cleaned out the pantry and boxed up Alex’s few remaining things he had at home.  Dennis did the yard work and some garage packing.  Another load went to the thrift store.  We found out today that the appraisal is scheduled for next Tuesday.  Things are moving right along.

Dennis’s socks are almost finished. One sock has only the kitchener stitch left to do and the other one is about halfway through the toe decreases. I should finish those this afternoon.

I had several photos for you today and I have been fighting with blogger for the last hour and a half trying to get them to upload. I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m still going to put this post out because we have some exciting news! 

We have a winner for Cheryl‘s new book “Biblical Minimalism-Following Jesus From a Life of Abundance to a More Abundance Life.”  The winner is Kathyb!  Congratulations Kathy.  I think you’re going to love the book. For anyone else that would like to have the book you can contact Cheryl at Homespun Devotions or purchase the book at Amazon for your Kindle or paperback copy.  Kathy, I will send Cheryl your mailing address and she will send you a copy herself.

I hope all is well with you.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:4-7

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Book Talk and House Sale

It’s Wednesday! I have no idea where the past week has gone, but it has been a whirlwind. We accepted an offer on our house.  I’ve been back every day until today, packing up some of the closets and the office desk. And the file cabinet.  It’s amazing how long it takes to go through those things. You definitely don’t want to get rid of important papers by accident. The biggest headache? My craft closet. I was ruthless my friends.  I got a day off because today was the house inspection. We have no idea how it went. Apparently it usually takes a few days for the seller to get the results.

I don’t remember if I told you we ended up going with the first offer. It’s a lovely family with five children who wrote us the sweetest letter and emailed us photos of their family. I would love to think of a family living in the house again.

We ended up taking 18 full loads between the truck and the car, packed to the roof to the thrift  store. We have new neighbors in the house next-door and we’re going to give them a lot of our furniture as they don’t have much. They are refugees from Afghanistan and have been wonderful neighbors in the few months we have known them. She was crying yesterday when I told her yes, we were really moving.  The poor lady thought it was because they had moved in next-door. I assured her very quickly that that was not the reason and that they are welcome to any of our furniture they would like to have. They have been a delight to have next door.

That isn’t to say that getting rid of so many things hasn’t been a struggle. My friend Cheryl had the most impeccable timing. She wrote a book called “Biblical Minimalism, Following Jesus from a life of Abundance to a More Abundant Life” and she sent me a copy. Oh. My. Goodness. I had only read the first half of the book when we decided to sell our house. Her book is what gave me the strength to get through the past week. She was able to put onto the printed page the same feelings and thoughts that I was having about letting go of “things“. She included lots of Bible verses and I am just so grateful to her for sending this book to me when I needed it the most.  I finished it today. Just when my spirit was feeling a bit wounded and raw from the process of letting go of so many things so quickly, the last half of her book provided a balm to my soul. I have no doubt what we are doing is the right thing and it is what God would have us to do at this time in our lives.

She also spent some time on the subject of being debt-free. This is something that both Dennis and I feel very strongly about. We taught the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class at our church for many, many years. It is such a wonderful feeling to not owe anyone a debt of money.

I honestly don’t believe you have to be contemplating a move to receive a lot of beneficial and healing information that Cheryl provides. It was as if she were talking directly to me and I think it would be the same for each of you if you were to read it. Please visit Cheryl‘s blog if you were interested in getting a copy of your own. I’ve provided a link for you.

In addition, Cheryl has also generously offered to give one of my blog readers her book for free. If you are interested, please mention it in your comment below.  I will be having a drawing this coming Sunday evening, July 12th at 6 PM Pacific time.

http://www.homespundevotions.com

I’m hoping each of you are having a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Betsy

Exciting Weekend!

Whoo Hoo!  We have officially accepted an offer on our house as of this evening.  Our realtor held all offers until tonight and we had several to choose from.  This particular couple looked at it just 2 hours after it was put on the MLS.  Now we just have to get through the inspection and appraisal.   This is all so nerve-wracking.

One fun thing Dennis did this weekend?

He upgraded the toilet in the RV we’ll be living in for a couple of years.  It’s amazing how much nice it is.  Who would have thought a toilet could be so nice? lol

There were lots of amazing fireworks around the lake that we were able to enjoy from the wonderful social distancing safe spot of our own RV spot. Others in the resort we’re not being so smart. There were literally hundreds of people on the beach watching the fireworks that were set off around the lake. I can only imagine the thousands of dollars that went up in smoke last night. And I can also only imagine the number of COVID-19 cases that will be popping up in two weeks. After watching the news tonight for the first time in almost a week, to say this is terrifying to me would be an understatement. When will this all end?

To end this post on a positive note, I’ll leave a picture of my beautiful Miss Piper. She always cheers me up and is very excited Papa and Grandma will be moving closer to her before too much longer.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend too and are staying nice and safe. 

Much love and Blessings, 

Betsy

Our new home!

A short post today. Sorry I have been missing in action the past three days but, drumroll please, our house is ready and will hit the market tomorrow. Three days. Well, actually 2 1/2 days. 17 loads to the Goodwill. My car was filled to the brim with the seats down and the passenger seat in the front was filled too. We got rid of virtually everything. Our house is empty except for furniture and a few little things.  Of course, I didn’t get rid of any gifts that I have received from any of you, or any of my yarn except some really, really old acrylic I had.  I haven’t done much with the kitchen cabinets either.

Alicia and her two boys came over Monday and Tuesday and helped me throw the few things in boxes that we were keeping and the boys loaded my car and Alicia’s car over and over for goodwill runs. They worked so hard. Not even teenagers yet and they have an amazing work ethic. If it hadn’t been for Alicia and them I would’ve never been able to do this.   They also helped clean for me too.  Actually, they did most of the cleaning.

Our realtor expects us to have multiple offers and has said in the listing that we will review all offers Monday at 6 in the evening. I’m kind of glad I haven’t had time to think about this. If I did I think it would really upset me but there hasn’t been any time. I’ve been up till between one and two every night and back awake at six. I have been amazed that my back has not given me one iota of problems, however, there’s something wrong with my right leg and I don’t know what.  I don’t remember hitting it, but about 3 inches above my ankle it hurts so bad I can barely walk now. That started last night. It’s not bruised or red. Oh well, hopefully that will go away quickly. I’ll try to rest more the next couple of days.

I’ll keep you all updated. You have no idea how much I appreciated all of your wonderful comments on my last post.   And guess what? There’s room in our storage facility for my Hoosier cabinet! I don’t have to get rid of it after all. Yippee! Take care and I’ll check in again as soon as I can. 

Our “new” old home.

Blessings, Betsy