Saturday, August 3, 2013

Moving on out–Moving on in!


Whew, it has been a long hot summer! We have been busy packing up and moving out. We have sold a lot of stuff we will not need in the MotherShip… like a spare queen bed, a few recliners, medium format cameras, my collection of USA Pottery (all around circa 1950’s), gave away more than we sold. I gave away at least 100 empty picture frames all various sizes!  We both donated a lot of items to Paws and Claws, the local resale store that helps support the local Humane Society. Now it’s pretty much down to give away or throw away! We should be in the MotherShip in a couple of weeks and start the deep cleaning here so Emily will be moving into a new, clean home. For those of you who don’t know, Emily Ogle, a friend and fellow camper, has bought our home. She has lived in New Mexico before and her son lives in Socorro NM (about 100 miles north of here).
BOP JULY '12

This is one thing I will miss!  I started this SW Bird of Paradise from a seed.  Out of 12 seeds banged around in a jar 1/2 full of water and a handful of pebbles and shaking the holy heck out of that jar every time I passed by for about 2 weeks, one seed bloomed into a real plant!  Now, almost 2 years later, I rejoice at the beauty everyday!  But God one upped me!  I worked so hard to get this lady going and He gives me 2 wild ones almost as big and pretty as this one!  He gets that last laugh!

Cactus 2

Last summer, while RVSue was visiting us in Zion Utah where we were workamping, she gave me a small dish cactus garden!
Well, it outgrew that small dish! I put them in a big pot and they are loving stretching their roots and have grown even bigger since being planted a few months ago! Obviously, this is too big to come with us, so we will leave it here for Emily to enjoy!

Chuck's fire

Chuck has been busy too!  As you can see, we have no grass. Our yard is hardscape, all rocks and no mowing! But we have weeds that pop up anyway so Chuck takes his yard flame thrower and burns the weeds. Yep, that’s smoke you see on the left!  The baby yucca caught fire. First he took a pitcher of water over to it, nope! The he took a bucket of water over to it, nope! Finally he takes the hose over to it (5 feet to short) but yep, that does it! Fire out!

Radar

Radar pursues lizards into the bushes, his tail causing a mild breeze with it’s wild wagging in anticipation!  Of course he never catches one, but hope is still there!

Doogie bowser

DoogieBowser on the other hand looks at me like , “What the heck is that crazy Radar doing?  Nope not me! I’m staying on the porch in the SHADE!”
Moving is hard! I never want to do this again!  We have been packing, stacking, donating and tossing for at least 6 months now and Whew! I am ready to be done.  I would say that we are at least 90% empty in the mobile home and 90% full in the MotherShip!  We are down to the bare necessities here now. We have even sold our bed and sleeping on the 2 futons!
Parting with my “stuff” has been hard! I’m not gonna lie to you! Sometimes it even hurts real bad.  Al Bossence from The Bayfield Bunch blogged the other day that he was copying every slide he has ever made.  I considered that, heck I have done that in the past.  This time I just let myself get all melancholy as I sat and looked at each page of 20 slides and as a tears slid down my face, I tossed them, page after page until they were all in the trash! Same with old photographs. They all got tossed. I save some old family photos….  hard to let go of mom and dad even though they let go and passed on years ago. I have a small 3 ring notebook with a few plastic pages and my few photos I couldn’t let slip away.  Clothes too. Dang, I had 4 different sizes in my closet! After my lapband surgery I went from size 24 to size 16 before the band slipped and emergency surgery was needed to remove it!  So now I am back to size 24 with no effort on my part at all and a ton of smaller sizes I will never fit into again!  They left my closet easily! But even so….
 You know, once everything was in the trash and gone a few days, I was glad it was done and over with.

Gonna miss all the finches playing out front!
finches
I am gonna miss all the flowering cactus too in our yard!
cactus 1

  cactus 3
And I am gonna miss this beautiful purple flowering bush! Don’t know it’s name, but Oh My! It smells heavenly!

purple bush

We have cactus living the left side of our drive way that were full of yellow flowers a few days ago! OOPS! Missed those!

cactus 4

And we have what we jokingly call “Lake Hajek”

Lake Hajek

It sits beneath the water spout and catches all the Monsoon Rain!  Complete with wooden duck! I’m sure Emily and Jim will enjoy sitting out in front of Lake Hajek !!!!

Ann and Bill Condron bought a new RV. Ann designs and builds stained Glass windows for the doors of RV's. When they bought their new RV, Ann made a new window for it and sold us their old window! We had it installed last week! This is as seen from the outside....



This is from the inside looking out!
 
We love our new window, it helps to make our RV our home!
If you would like a window for the door to your RV, please contact Ann, she does beautiful work, here is her link:
 

Well, that’s it for now. We have 7 – 10 weeks left in New Mexico before Emily gets here to officially take over and we head to family and friends in Florida! Thanks for dropping by and sharing a moment of this moving moment!

P.S. WHOA !!! HOLD ON A SEC!

Apparently I have given the impression that I am sad about this move!  NOT!  Absolutely NOT SO! I am really excitedly looking forward to seeing family and friends and Chuck and I are going to spend time exploring the wonderful Florida State Parks and we want to visit and explore GA, NC, TN and AR!!!  
YES I was sad about the PURGING as my friend Fay Cope called it in her email to me, but I am not sad about moving into the MotherShip and sailing off to family, friends and new adventures!
So PLEASE don't think I am sad or upset because that ain't so!
"Nuff" said?????  OK then, I am ok, you are ok we are all OK!


crispy cat

21 comments:

  1. Hi Geri and Chuck!

    I like the way you photographed the things you will miss... your flowers, Lake Hajek . . .

    Boy, it must have taken a lot of willpower to let go of those slides and photos. Really tough, but you did it! There are great days ahead with wonderful memories to be made.

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  2. Take care you two. Thinking of you as you prepare for the move.

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  3. The Bird of Paradise is such a beauty. Our last year dissolving the home sure had its ups and downs...but I can say I've settled in and really not missing it TOO much. Glad you kept some photos...Emily is sure going to find such pleasure and can keep you undated on the lake :). We should hit the Panhandle by the end of Oct...early Nov., hope we catch up with you.

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    1. I hope we get to meet up also! Not sure where we will be in Nov., but probably with family from Thanksgiving until Christmas! Did you ever get your generator converted to propane???

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    2. Not yet...on our list. Anxious to get to TX and see Larry.

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  4. Oh geeze Geri, I had a lump in my throat. I have tried to "weed" out years of stuff too; but, have a feeling I will do some more when I get there. I am so 1) looking forward to seeing you two again; and, 2) keeping some contact with you guys through all the touches, including the plants, you have added to the place. I hope to add some myself - ya, I know gutters are not a big thing in TorC; so, Lake Hajek will have to do right? I may add some more BofP, plus my mom's favorite - lantanas.

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    1. Lantana does very well here, I just love flowers... where ever I am!

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    2. Emily! Don't be sad! I am so happy YOU are moving in! I know you and I both have a love of flowers and the southwest! We could not have a better person move in and take over where we left off! I really am not sad! (See PS above!) Purging was hard! But I survived!
      Now we are off the see the kids, grandkids and explore Florida State Parks!

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  5. It's never easy to get rid of stuff, but down the road you'll be happy to have lightened the load. Love your Lake.

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    1. Nothing like having Lake front property to increase property values!

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  6. Geri, I know how hard it is to get rid of things, what to keep what to give away. I went through a divorce recently and walked out with just some clothes in a suitcase, thinking I could go back and get the rest of my things. Unfortunately that didn't happen. My ex kept the house and everything in it (after 30 yrs of marriage). I am finding out I can get by without things although some things I really miss.

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    1. The main thing I am going to miss is closet space! Here we have a huge bedroom closet, in The Mothership we each have a 14" wide x18" deep and x 36" tall closet!!!And 2 small shelves! EEEEK! We have under the bed storage for winter clothes and under the couch storage for shoes. LOL!

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    2. I can understand that...I moved in with my son and daughter-in-law and I live in the casita. It's a separate space with my own entrance but attached by a wall to the house. I live in a big bedroom with a bathroom and small closet. Then it has a wet bar area. I bought a compact refrigerator to keep water and sodas in and of course a tv. Very little storage, so like you, I put things under the bed. But it's surprising what you can do when you have to. lol

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    3. oops, it sounds like I bought a tv to keep in the refrigerator. lol.

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  7. Once you hit the road, it will all fade into the past and the future will take over. Happy adventures.

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  8. Hi Chinle! Already the future is coming into focus as the move nears completion! I look forward to living in the MotherShip full time and writing about new adventure! Glad to hear you are writing again, we look forward to your next book! We love your blog as well! Welcome back!

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  9. I'm a little slow....and have put in minimal time on the web for the past two + months. Just figured out that it's your house that Emily is moving to!
    Loved all the pictures in this post. Love NM.

    We frequently have camped in Florida's Ocala National Forest in January and February. Great place, do check it out!

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    1. Thanks for the heads up on Ocala National Forest! Was there a particular favorite area where you liked to camp?

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    2. Salt Springs campground is our "home". It has full hookups but it's extremely popular in the winter months.
      And it's pricey at $16 per night with the senior pass. We enjoyed Lake Dorr in the southern end of Ocala last winter...nice bathhouse, no hookups and less than $10 per night.

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    3. Thank you Lynne! We may end up there! I'd like to recommend St Joseph Peninsular State Park, near Port St. Joe in the Florida Panhandle! Gulf beaches within walking distance or the bayside a short drive away and wonderful seafood mom and pops restaurants! Nice big roomy campsites also. Search my blog for a write up on it!

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  10. I met Emily when she visited Florida a few years ago. We became friends right away! Chuck and I visited Emily in Kansas several years later. Then Emily visited us here in NM and stayed at our place, so she has seen it but at the time she was here, none of s would have ever guessed that she would be moving here! Life is full of surprises!

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