Last week was the longest 4th of July week in history!  It was a great week, but with the 4th falling mid-week the public celebrated from June 29-July 8th!  It seemed someone grabbed the fireworks opportunity every night!

Since our building permit is still under review, we took the opportunity to take a mini-cation and do a little research.  We located a fly-in Bed & Breakfast in northern Pennsylvania right next to the NY border.  Oz’s Homestay is in the middle of no where but they run a sky diving school and have a wonderful 3000 foot grass strip.

We flew in our RV-4.  It only took 2 hours to get there from SML.  Take a look at the website and you will see the beds that Ash has hand made.  He is a native Australian (thus “Oz) and also is a wonderful cook!  We picked his brain about the operation.  Planning to spend two night and without wheels, we decided to fly somewhere on day 2.

Jack and I flew to Buffalo, NY where Rob and Kathy (Pietenpol buddies) picked us up and we all toured Niagara Falls. I had been there in 1976 but is still always powerfully amazing!

We arrived back safely to a much cooler temperature in Virginia!  This week, I have a job interview and we are completing the roof of the shed.  We are gathering estimates on excavation, foundation work, and HVAC systems.  I am keeping a large easel pad with notes (how like me) to keep up!  Jack has it all detailed in a “Project Management” software but it is 135 pages so we haven’t printed it.

Today, I travel to Blacksburg to pick-up Mom and wrestle her to the dentist.  Oh, Joy!  Stay tuned and stay cool!

 

So this week, indeed I got the shed painted and straightened up for my sister’s visit.  It still needs trim and to be finished out along the top but you can get an idea from the photo of what it will look like.  It already is enjoyable to sit there and feel the cool air that a good rainstorm brings!  We transferred Jack’s tools into the storage area and we can move about much easier in the hangar now!

We took a little break to have burgers on the 4th of July on Nancy’s dock.  Did you see the beautiful orange moon that night?  Wish I had a camera that could have captured the fireworks against the backdrop of the moon!  Instead I got these 3 fellas (Tommy, John and Jack).

Yesterday, Jack and I went to Bedford to the Building Inspector’s office and applied for the building permit for the BIG HOUSE!  Yea!  They will review it and we hope to get it within a week or two.

We have enjoyed our visit with my sister this week.  Her house footers have been dug and they have a hole about 15 feet deep on their severely sloped lot!  Since they live in Florida and can’t monitor the build, this week, she and John have already selected siding, roofing, carpet, flooring, and cabinets. , 

We are headed to see Mom today (always an adventure!) and to float in the New River with my brother in Floyd.  Then, Jack and I are going to do a little research next week by flying to a B & B in Pennsylvania. It is a fly-in B & B…so we will report back!

We have been bearing heat over 100 degrees and storms without rain. So many lost power this week due to an effect called a derecho.  That was a new term for me!  It was so hot, we had the air conditioning on in the travel trailer the night of the damaging storm that caused the power outages.  The AC noise drowned out sound of the wind and we understand that we slept through quite a show.  The next morning, we could hear little voices saying, “Help me!  Help us!”

I found our bees all in a pile, protecting their queen but in distress.  We have two hives and each hive contains about 60,000 bees. Jack and I donned our white bee suits and went to save them.  You have to talk to bees so they become accustomed to your voice and we told them we were there to help!  We didn’t get stung.  Well, one stung Jack later in the day when he got a little close with a piece of shed siding.

With electricity still on, fortunately we were able to move ahead with our storage shed so we can finally get Jack’s power tools out of the hangar.  Today my goal is to paint at least one wall while Jack installs doors and locks so by the end of the day, we can move Jack’s tools inside the shed.  I have 3 gallons of stain.  In this photo, you can see the color by the double door opening at the front.  Jack has to cut specially sized pieces to finish the top edge as well.

Tomorrow is Independence Day and we will take a break when my sister and her husband arrive from Florida.  They are breaking ground on a home across the lake from us so they will be here to make some decisions about flooring, cabinets, etc. She has started a blog too. Plans are to visit our mom in Christiansburg, our brother in Floyd, VA and take a dinner cruise on the Virginia Dare!

On the 5th, we hope to go to Bedford to file for a building permit for the BIG HOUSE!  Stay tuned for a ground breaking!

The Mayflower crew (All American out of Raleigh) was outstanding.  They moved 17,260 pounds yesterday into storage.  We have 3 storage units (10 x 15, 10 x 10 and 10 x 10).  Gregory, the driver, masterfully packed the largest one to the max.  This photo shows it just starting to fill-up.

And this photo shows it packed full.  We have a climate controlled unit for mattresses, Jack’s record albums, the banjo, the dulcimer, Uncle Mac’s buffet, and glass framed pictures, sofa, and more.  At the end of the day, we had to rent another 10 x 10 for spill-over.

Jack stayed at the hangar building walls for the shed (so we can store some of his tools out of the hangar) and I drove five pick-up loads of things from the moving truck to the hangar.  At the end of the day, I asked Gregory where our file cabinet was.  He said it was one of the first things he put into storage.  That must have happened while I was between sites. There is NO WAY I can even sift through this unit to get anything but a gas can, a boat oar (which we should have left in Bonsal) or a bar stool (as seen in the photo).  Hopefully we won’t need it for tax audits of anything.  Many of my B & B ideas are in files in that cabinet, but oh well, I have Pinterest and HOUZZ now!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jack has erected 2 walls to the shed and at 9 am, it is already 95 degrees!

Today is the official closing on our house in NC but we have already signed the papers.  Hopefully the buyers (who are in Arizona) have signed as well and overnighted them back to the attorney!  Cuz, we can’t turn back now!!

So yesterday was moving day in Bonsal.  The movers arrived about 9:30.  Everything was packed and ready to go.  The 53-foot trailer on the moving truck could not fit down our driveway so the hard-working moving crew brought smaller trucks and shuttled our belongings about 1.5 miles up the road.  That took longer than expected with the crew of 4 from All American Moving (a branch of Mayflower out of Raleigh, NC).  I had packed my i-pad and camera so here is a phone photo of Jack in the empty great room.  He built this house and will build our next one!  Looks sorta sad, doesn’t he?  But he’s not–just tired!

A huge shout-out to our friend Lewanna who brought us KFC for lunch!  That’s about all we had all day and it gave us a break as well to enjoy a last meal on our screened porch.  By 9 pm, I had asked the movers to put everything that was left (10 items–mattresses, curio cabinet, dining table, etc) on the front porch so Jack and I could leave and head up to the lake with our loads.  The movers will finish loading today but the buyer’s realtor needs to do another walk through so I wanted the house cleaned up before we left.  

Poor Kramer (the dog) had been sitting in my car for 4 hours being sure we were not leaving him!  I didn’t make him stay there, it was clearly his choice!

By 1 am we collapsed in the bed in the hangar.  Today we unload our vehicles.  The moving truck should arrive to our storage unit tomorrow and we can see how professionally they can stack stuff that will live there for a year!  

Thanks to all our friends who had parties, gave us cards and gifts, and for your friendship!  We aren’t that far away and you can stay at the Pre- B & B anytime as long as you bring a hammer or paintbrush for admission!