Light! Renewed hope!

Greetings from the laundromat today!
Yes, I see light at the end of this tunnel.  Let me explain...






With all that's been going on the last few months, there have been some days, lately, in which we've questioned if we really bought the right property for us.  Seems like we may have bitten off more than we could chew in one moment, then the next I'm reminded how much I love this little horse farm and how it felt like we were supposed to be here right from the beginning, despite the condition of the house...

I finally captured the twins in a photo!

 ....Tall, graceful trees, colorful wildflowers, earthy stone, green pastures, sweet songbirds, noisy nighttime critters, a wide array of interesting wildlife...I mean, how many people have a gorgeous peacock visit them randomly!

...And, yesterday, as I strolled around our field I discovered another thing I love here...



LOTS of butterflies!

Monarchs,
Swallowtails,
yellow ones, white ones, blue ones!


Butterflies carry special meaning for me and my family.  They are a beautiful, powerful symbol of rebirth and new life.  Endurance and transformation.  Hope.

After sinking into the deep pit of clinical depression for a time in my life a number of years ago, I experienced breaking free, rebirth...through faith, endurance and perseverance.




Each member of this family has experienced a host of life's challenges, big and small.  Yet rather than being defeated by them, Don, Will, Nate, Grace and Rosie were transformed by them, experiencing  new life in Christ, through faith, and have been baptized in the last decade.

My own family of "butterflies".







In several ancient cultures, the butterfly represents the soul of a loved one who has passed on.  My grandmother left me a delicate, gold butterfly pendant when she passed away....Butterflies remind me of her.


A single, tiger swallowtail graced us with its presence during Isaac's birth...and continued to hang around the barn for a day or so afterwards.  This had special meaning to us because Don's grandmother loved both butterflies AND Pop's standardbred horses.  It was as if she were part of the whole crazy experience, laughing about it with us!




This place used to be called, "Echo Acres" because once upon a time, Mr. M explained, you could shout from almost any spot on the property and hear an echo.  So much woodland and vegetation has grown and so many more houses stand nearby that there isn't much of an echo anymore.

Besides, the property is undergoing its own transformation... resurrection, if you will.  It just needs a new name.




In light of all this, we're re-naming the farm.  We want to include "butterfly" into it because of the multi-faceted meaning that would hold, but "Butterfly Farm" or "Monarch Farm" just doesn't sound right!  Grace and Rosie looked for other languages...Papillon, Schmetterling, Mariposa... none seem to fit.



 Don and Grace like "Dealan Dé" .  Dealan Dé is the ancient Irish word for "butterfly".  Irish folklore and ancient culture fascinate these two, so when they saw this Celtic word for butterfly, the name seemed appropriate.  The jury's still out, but we're all leaning towards this one!

After much research, discussion and prayer, weighing the pros and cons of the options...we've made the decision to build a modular home.  With the help of Leon at Patriot Homes in Kinzers, PA  we found a cape cod modular that is nearly identical to the plans Don had originally drawn.  All the details still need to be hashed out, but at least we have a direction, a heading, now.

We initiated our new plan last night, signing some papers and making a deposit.  God-willing, if all goes fairly smoothly, the house will be ready for us right around Thanksgiving....possibly sooner if the bank can get us to closing before mid-August. 🙏 Phew!  I can finally see light at the end of this tunnel. 😎

Don will begin his part this weekend...clean-up of the old materials, , submitting the plans to the township, taking down about eight trees so they can get the house where it needs to be come November and finally, replacing the current foundation.

That's the news for now!

A Big "Uh-Oh"

"Even the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Don had the excavator here for a couple days, thinking he was just going to "wrap up" the demo on this house.  Then, as soon as the money becomes available, he could start in on the reconstruction.   Our hope being if we can just keep this project moving, now, we can still have the house "move-in ready" sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.





But, the further Don got into it, the more he felt that sinking feeling...


...Once he got through the multiple layers of flooring laid on top of one another over the years, he discovered issues with the foundation. Two of the corners are pretty solid, but the others?  Well, Don described them as "crumbly".


Oh, no.

This changes the project significantly...less of a "remodel" and more of a "new construction".  Even if he started the stick-framing process today, it would likely be another eight months before we have a house.

What concerns me is that camper-trailers are not really designed to be lived in full-time for months and months, and the ones we purchased are already older and well-used, so what happens when things start wearing out or breaking?  And, what happens when it begins to get cold...like in the 20's and low 30's?

So, we are currently considering all options from building a pole barn house or buying a modular/pre-fab house (these options would have us in the house before Christmas) to purchasing a used single-wide, something a bit more substantial..."house-like"... to live in through this winter into next summer, giving us extra time to stick-frame our new house.  If we can use the same footprint of the current house, that would help tremendously with cost and time, but can we?  Not sure, yet.

At any rate,  we've got lots to think about right now...tons of research to do this week.

We found a few more interesting items in the demo this week:

Oye!  2017 has been fraught with tough challenges for our family, quite literally from day 1 when we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to put down Ginger, our dog of 13 years, followed by Mac a week later.  Just about every aspect of this move back to PA has presented us with unexpected, "testing"challenges.  I know we'll get through it, though, sanity somewhat intact.  Haven't lost our faith, yet.  We know that our God is for us, not against us.

Like a friend recently shared with me: We could be in his neighbor's shoes - have a big, beautiful house in Lancaster County, but our teenage child diagnosed with an inoperable, fatal brain tumor.  

Life is full of difficulties, but that makes the good moments even more precious.  Like all the opportunities we've had to spend time with our family and our special friends.  I was blessed to worship with our Timberline family and witness the baptism of some special young friends yesterday!

But, we all are feeling a bit weary at the moment.  And, a bit on edge.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
And, I am holding on to the hope that 2017 is going to end on a high note - maybe, celebrating Christmas in our new house?


In the meantime, I will continue posting updates as I can, so keep an eye out!

Getting Ready to Roll

Ahhh, Summertime!  We're nearly halfway through it already....Oye!











My new favorite TV show, thanks to our Hulu subscription?

                      "Fixer-Upper", of course!

We don't do cable (haven't had it for several years), and so, while I'd heard of Chip and Johanna Gaines, I'd never seen their show...until two weeks ago.  Last week, while "lying low", I binged on the first season!

Even Don has joined me, so we can discuss our likes and dislikes...what we envision for our own fixer-upper project.  Watching "Fixer-Upper" has helped to make this whole thing a bit more concrete for me...shown me the possibilities.  Plus, the Gaines' are quite entertaining!

Our financing seems to be worked out...a couple more t's to cross and i's to dot - next week, God-willing, we'll be ready to truly DIG IN.  After a number of delays, challenges, and frustrations, this home resurrection is about to get rolling!

So, here's where the house is right now:

I admit - I'm nervous about the whole thing.  I've heard a few horror stories of home remodels gone wrong...taking 10 months instead of  3 or 4, building materials not delivered in a timely fashion, contractors not showing up when scheduled...Yikes!  Well, here's hoping for relatively smooth sailing over these next few months. 🙏




While the remodel will be completed with brand new materials, Don is trying to recycle as many materials as possible from this house.

We hope to use some of what we have to build a couple of run-in sheds for the horses and a shop for Don's tools and equipment.












In fact, Don and Rosie re-purposed some of the old framing wood to build jump standards for Rosie.

She and Lexie need some new challenges to jump around the property!

They built enough standards for a complete jump course.  Now, we just need the cross rails to go with them!













Grace and I have been exploring the trails near us, during Rosie's convalescence from not just swimmer's ear, but an inner ear infection as well.  A 2-mile drive gets us to one of four beautiful trailheads. Love it!

As pretty as the area is now, I know it's going to be gorgeous in the fall with the changing foliage. We're looking forward to it!


In the next few weeks, so much will be happening with our house.  I'll keep posting our progress as time allows.  I begin next week as a part-time stylist at the Holiday Hair salon near me, but I still plan to take as many pictures of this project as I can - I'm sure the transformation will be amazing!  I'll share as much as I'm able!

"Lying Low" For a Moment or So

These dogs have THE life!

That's what we're doing today...in fact, for the last few...

And, on through this week, too, thanks to a couple of us feeling a tad under the weather.



Don's been very busy at work, even throughout the weekend because he's been "on call" and problems arose in which clients needed immediate assistance...There are things one can do without, but a functioning septic system is NOT one of them!

Penny's a good distraction from her pain!

Last week we had the opportunity to go swimming a few times, which was delightful!  One unfortunate consequence - very painful swimmer's ear for Rosie.  Well, at least now we know where to find our local Urgent Care center.







This, along with some other family health concerns presently, prompted me to begin navigating the local health care system, which is quite different from our New York experience.  Many more choices and decisions.  Completely different health insurance.

Grace's oral surgery consultation for wisdom teeth extraction is scheduled and a tentative date for the procedure chosen - YIKES!  Only a few weeks away!












While we haven't chosen a church to attend near our new home, we did make the hour drive to our former PA church, Timberline, on Sunday.  We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and making a couple of new ones.  We hope to make it down there more regularly now that we're sorta settled in.

I've been reviewing for the PA cosmetology exam every spare moment these last few days...less than 48 hours to go!  I'm feeling fairly confident, but I'm not allowing myself to get overly confident...I'm gonna keep reviewing right up 'til I hop in the car on Thursday!  Don says I'm one of the nerdiest people he's ever known - I'll take that as a compliment!

Anyhow, I am inspired to pass it ASAP because I have been offered a stylist position at the Holiday Hair salon (Regis Corp., again) just under 5 miles from me!

An easy, short commute, part-time hours, the other stylists seem very nice...Yup...time to get back in the game...or rather, behind the chair.  If all goes well, I'll start before the end of this month.








I really do appreciate all your prayers and positive thoughts.  I'm feeling a bit like it's going to take a miracle to complete our house by Thanksgiving...



...But, my God IS a God of miracles, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities.  I choose (most days) to hold onto hope.  While my faith may sometimes waiver, though, God's character does not!  I'm sure HE has a provision, no matter how this thing goes.










Hope you enjoy viewing my blog pictures as much as I enjoy taking them!  Watch for an update on the house next week, Friends.

Take a Walk With Me

I was an avid horseback rider not so many years ago, as some of you know. I began as an adult trail rider at 28, and by 34 I was getting into dressage and jumping, along with the trail riding, thanks to my former neighbor and dear friend, Pam W.  I rode almost daily...many hours per week.

After about a year in New York, I began having some health issues.

Riding became increasingly uncomfortable for me.  I sold my horse.

As a person who enjoys the great outdoors, and likes...needs... to be moving and active for both physical and mental health, I had to find something else to do.  Yoga is great, but its not enough.


I turned to hiking with my dogs...long walks in the woods.  Well, only 2 to 5 miles, usually, but I still consider that a hike when I factor in the steep hills! Even in 10+ inches of snow, I'd strap on my snow-shoes and go.

Many days, we stayed on our own 23 acres and the connecting trails on either side of our property, but we also found game lands and parks in the area.  We avoided the busy road at the end of our driveway.

Here, our property is very different - 8 acres of open pasture and a hay field.  A long driveway, shared by five neighbors.




My daily hiking fell by the wayside when we moved.  For some reason, I kinda felt paralyzed.


Oh sure, after a few days here I walked the short, mowed loop the encircles about 6 of the 8 acres a couple times per week, but I'd become so accustomed to avoiding the busy road in front of my house in New York that it took me nearly 6 weeks here to finally realize how seldom-traveled are many of our nearby roads.  In fact, other than residents, I see very few cars on many of these good ole' PA back roads!

No, it's not the same as hiking in the woods, and I have to keep the dogs on leashes, but I have begun walking regularly again.  Phew!

And, the girls and I do still try to find new hiking trails within reasonable driving distance about once a week.







I took my camera with me the other day, so I could give you a glimpse of my "neighborhood":

Not sure exactly how far the dogs and I walked yesterday, but it had to be about two or three miles.  I'm re-building slowly.  The dogs were exhausted!

It feels great, physically, and it improves my mood and outlook immediately when I take the time to walk!






Not much happening on the house this week, though Don and Nate did finish disassembling the roof. Additionally, we submitted the paperwork necessary to secure financing on Friday.

I finally got my PA driver's license!  And, I'm in the process of finding a salon that fits our current needs and my career goals.  Less than 2 weeks until my PA cosmetology exam, so I continue reviewing my materials.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my neighborhood.  We're heading to the lake for a swim today! 

I hope you have a fantastic...or, at least a restful...Independence Day!