The Homestretch, Yet? Almost...

I say "almost" because, in my mind, when I see the professional mason out there, building the new foundation, that's when we will truly be in the homestretch...the final countdown to our new abode. 





Fall has been pleasant and mild for us, thus far.  And, now the leaves are changing to bright gold, burnt orange, and various lovely shades of red.  Praying fervently that it stays that way for a few more weeks...like five, maybe?

The leaves above our camper look beautiful!

I hope that's not asking for too much.  We've been hanging in, probably living more comfortably than 85% of the people in this world, in our little campers.  We've had lots of ups and downs, emotionally, mentally, physically...even spiritually.







  The path between ours and our daughters' camper, now VERY well-worn (and kinda muddy), is evidence   that we've been here for several months...5 months and 16 days to be exact.

Don, with our son, Nate's help, has the site of our new house almost completely prepped, and we should have more concrete dates for everything by early next week.

One little snafu that I did not mention to you previously...the house cannot be brought in the main entrance to our property because the humongous rig simply cannot turn into our narrow driveway from the narrow road on which we live.










We share a driveway with a couple of neighbors, as we have a sort of "flag lot", I guess you'd call it....our property is kinda sandwiched in between two other properties and two country roads.  Fortunately, the road on the other side is wider and our neighbor is going to allow us to bring the house up his private drive and down to our property...on one condition:  Don has to chop down and mill several pine trees for him.



Good thing we still have that sawmill he bought a couple years ago! 

In fact, the rig cannot get in here UNTIL those pines are removed, so I guess Don still has some significant prep-work to do afterall!  Oye!  Gonna be a busy 5 or 6 weeks around here.

Our goats are fat and fuzzy for winter!

Despite my initial protests, I admit - they are entertaining!  And, they ARE doing a great job at clearing the property of the weeds and brush.  We move their pen every 4 or 5 days to graze off an area.

As soon as we can permanently-fence the lower pasture with "goat-proof" fencing, they'll go out there with the horses.









Blogging about all of this...this whole, crazy, sometimes obnoxious, often challenging adventure...has helped me to maintain some semblance of sanity and perspective.  To "vent" on occasion... and rejoice. (I own that I can be snarky sometimes- where do ya think Grace gets it!)  Some days, I have a fairly positive attitude towards the whole thing.  Some days, my mantra is "Fake it 'til ya make it!"  

Thanks for following my posts through our highs and lows!




Some of you have asked about coming over to watch how they get the house in place.  I'm told that it is going to take an entire, tedious, 8-hour workday just to get it from the road to our home site, so you'd likely be bored to tears!  In fact, I'm not even planning to take off from work that day.



However, the following several days will be a bit more exciting, so I'll post some photos and videos....and, a few of you may be able to come out and witness some of the live event.  I'll let ya know!









So, in my next blog post, I hope to be able to share a more fixed timeline with you, as well as a few more pics of the prep-work "in-progress" !

Impromptu Field Trip!

In my last blog post, I mentioned that Rosie and I, along with Tig and Penny planned to enjoy the beautiful October afternoon with a hike at French Creek State Park, a place I haven't visited since I was in high school!  In fact, Don and I went canoeing there on a date in the spring of my senior year! 

I had forgotten that in the heart of that 7,500+ acres is the national historic site, Hopewell Furnace, an early American "iron plantation" which operated from 1771 to 1883.  

I had visited this national park many...many...years ago in my childhood, and I recall picking apples in the orchard nestled into this 800+ acre national park site.

When we arrived at French Creek, Google Maps took us to the parking lot of Hopewell Furnace Visitor's Center.  Rosie and I were pleasantly surprised to find that dogs on leashes are welcome on the plantation, so we decided to explore a bit!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day....

What a gorgeous fall day!  We had such a nice afternoon together - one I will cherish for years to come.  Since French Creek and Hopewell Furnace are just a 25-minute drive from us AND dogs are welcome, we'll be hiking here regularly!  I love the history AND the surrounding natural beauty of Pennsylvania.  Hiking is good for body and soul...

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar.  I love not Man the less, but nature more."  Lord Byron 

Next blog post:  An update on our preparations for our new house.  Watch for it in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, get out and enjoy nature!

A SERIOUS Test of Endurance

I forgot how much later the trees in PA bare their colors versus central NY....

Oct. 12, 2015 in NY

Oct. 10th, 2017 in PA.  Just a touch of color so far!

                                                               















Enduring...That's where we're at, Folks.  We moved to PA, into our mini-campground on May 10th thinking we'd be moving into our HOUSE come early-October...

And, about a week ago we learned that our "move-in" date will actually be early-December.

We must, quite literally, take one day at a time.

Some days, tension between the four of us runs high in our tiny living space, especially the times when all four of us are home!

We had a couple of weeks recently in which the gnats and biting insects made it impossible to use our outdoor living space for more than a few minutes, so you can imagine how it went when Don wanted to chill out and watch a movie, I wanted to clean and organize our indoor space and one of the girls wanted to fix a snack in our itty-bitty kitchen space...  Add two dogs sprawled out on the floor, and things get pretty dicey around here!




Thankfully, the bugs are dying off with these cool nights and drier weather.






I've had a few folks express concerns about us being warm enough in the campers - not to worry - both have good heaters, and we'll be just fine as long as it stays above 30 degrees for the next 7 weeks or so!









We've been trying to enjoy each other's company with meals out, hikes, shopping expeditions and even a beautiful wedding recently!  We've also spent some afternoons and evenings with good friends.

My struggles with PMDD do flare up at times despite the medication, but we joined a gym a few weeks ago and we're all working on developing healthier eating habits as best we can under the circumstances.

The trainers at the gym are very helpful, and I've been able to join a couple of yoga classes, too.  But, hands down, the best part of the gym is the nice, big, bright, clean showers!  Now, we can take long, hot showers a few times a week after our workout - It's heavenly!

Don has begun the excavation work in preparation for the new foundation.  The mason will be coming in another week to lay it all out. Yay! Progress I can actually see!  Some days it is really hard for me to trust that somewhere construction folks are already actively building my house...I kinda wish I could just drive out to that big warehouse (not even sure where it is!)  just to prove to my concrete brain that it IS really happening.

I am so glad I have the opportunity to be a professional hair stylist!  I really enjoy my work.  I'm actually taking on some extra hours, at least for the holiday season...we need to purchase some furniture for the new house. 

Also, Grace and I are hoping to participate in a missions trip to Guatemala with our Timberline Church family in 2018, so some extra income will be very useful.





Today is Wednesday, and my day off.  So, enough is enough from me today - Rosie and I are taking the dogs down to French Creek State Park for a vigorous hike and, hopefully, some nice photos, so stay tuned for those, Friends!  And, watch for updates as we prep for our new house!