Moving Sale Starts Tomorrow

I can't believe I've "only" been preparing for this moving sale since last Saturday.  It feels like I've been at it forever.  Now I remember why I don't do this very often.  However, I'm hoping that I'll sell a lot, i.e., all of it. This is what it looks like in my garage...

There was an accumulation of stuff in the garage from years and years.  I think my dad liked tools and he had a lot of them.  So I had a lot of sorting to do, plus cleaning the garage.  

My friend Denny, who helps me with building projects around my house, came over today and I gave him first dibs on the tools that I'm getting rid of.  I unearthed a ladder that I had promised him and freaked when I finally got it out.  This is what I saw...

I called him and told him about the condition of the "feet" and he said not to worry that he could probably fix it.  He took off with the ladder and a bag full of tools and I put my first $50 in my moving sale kitty.  Not bad for a pre-sale sale.

I'm just taking a short break so that I can do a quick update.  The sale actually starts at 1 PM tomorrow.  Why 1 PM, you ask?  Friday morning is when I workout with my trainer and I don't want to miss.  She was in the Dominican Republic for a week so I missed a couple sessions and I'm feeling it.  Plus, I'm eating everything in sight.  Not good.

This is where I'll be for the next 2.5 days...

I think it's the perfect place for my computer when I'm not overrun with shoppers.  

Before I sign off I want to welcome a couple new followers:  Meadow House Musings and I don't think you have a blog.  Then there's BigAssBelle.  I tried to check out your blog but wasn't able to so I'll try again at a later date. Thanks for joining me on my journey as I getting closer to hitting the road.

Breaks over, I need to get back to work.  I've been dragging my feet about pricing stuff and now I need to get it done.

Loving the sunshine,

Jeana

Garage/Estate/Moving Sale Preparation Has Started

I started outside yesterday, cleaning out and sorting for a garage/estate/

moving sale.  I'm afraid it isn't going to be pretty.  Yesterday I felt really positive and raring to go.  Today, I'm kind of dragging.   Hence, writing on my blog.

You know how the more storage you have, the more stuff you have?  Well, there's a ton of storage at this house and it's pretty much filled. My dad had this added to the back of the garage...

This stuff...

came out of here...

The other half has the lawn mower, some yard tools and pots for plants.

A lot of it isn't mine, but my parents.  So far, I've focused mostly on the inside of the house and now I understand why.  Let me tell you about the tools.  Between my dad's and my tools I have so many duplicates that I'm going to have to line them all up and find out just how many I have and then decide how many I truly need.  Since I'm also downsizing I'm thinking one of each might be just about right.  

They were this close... 

The Blue Angels that is.  Our weather changed from 80s on Thursday to 60s on Friday with lots of clouds.  Therefore, the Blue Angels had to fly their low show and four of them were sideways on the other side of these trees in my backyard.  Notice, I didn't have my camera ready when they flew by.  When I did have my camera they became camera shy and I never saw them again.  


OK, enough lollygagging...I have to go sort and purge, etc.


I don't know if I'll have the energy to post anymore today.  


Missing the sunshine,


Jeana


PS:  If you're in the area and want to help, I'd really appreciate it.  I'm having trouble keeping on task.  

Blue Angels in Town

The Blue Angels are in town and they've done a couple practice flights today. There are so darn many trees around my house that I had a hard time seeing them, but, boy, could I hear them.  I love their noise so I don't have a problem with it.  In years past they've flown right over my house, but apparently not this year.

When my husband was alive and we had a boat, we'd go out on Lake Washington the day of the Seafair hydroplane races just to see the Blue Angels.  It was wonderfully loud and I really enjoyed it.  We didn't have any problems with trees out there, just drunks on other boats.

My husband worked at Flight Test for Boeing and I worked across the street. He'd let me know when the Blue Angels were getting ready to go fly and I'd go over and watch them.  They don't just walk up to their jets, they march and are very  precise.  It was impressive.

When I was visiting my son in Las Vegas a few years ago, he palled around with some guys that worked with the Air Force Thunderbirds so I was able to go to their hangar and even got to meet a few of the pilots.  That was the first time I'd seen the Thunderbirds and being an Air Force brat and Air Force mom, it was a special day.  What struck me was how immaculate their hangar was.  

I went and checked out another consignment store after I went to Silver Sneakers this morning and sent an email later, with pictures.  I'm hoping she'll be interested in my furniture and will accept it for consignment.  

I think I'm supposed to be sorting through stuff for a garage/moving sale, but I'm not.  I'm also supposed to be sanding and painting baseboards in my living room and dining room, but I'm not.  What I am doing is reading blogs and getting caught up.  I've mentioned that before in previous posts.  I'm also getting itchy feet with all my reading and I want to get out on the road!!  

Not that I have to, but I can justify not working on the baseboards.  My living room and dining room get the afternoon sun.  My house is not air conditioned and even with the drapes closed, the heat accumulates. Fortunately, we're staying in the 70s so my house isn't unbearable. Besides, I'm enjoying being out on my patio in the backyard where it's a perfect temperature.

There is a problem when I'm on my computer outside.  I can't stand the mouse pads on laptops so I have a separate mouse but I leave it in the house.  I'm not sure how I do it, but the font size changes and sometimes it's small, then it's larger.  Right now it's small, the paragraph above, it was larger.  Now it's larger.  I'm trying to figure out where on the mouse I'm able to do that but I'm not having any luck.  I don't want to get too curious because I don't want to do anything that would cause me to lose  my post. I've lost too many in the past and that isn't fun.

I guess I've rambled enough for now.  I'm going to go back and read more blogs.

Still loving the sunshine,

Jeana

Olivia Went to the Dodge Dealer Today

Even though Olivia is a Winnebago, I had to take her to the Dodge dealer  to have the parking brake and battery problem checked out because she's built on a Dodge Sprinter chassis.  Everything is fine.  The emergency brake was loosened a tad bit so it should be easier to release it.  However, when I got back to Public Storage, after I entered my code and tried to release the emergency brake, the light remained on.  I'm hoping that was just a fluke. As for the battery, I learned something new.  Underneath the driver's dash is a plug.  If I'm not going to be driving Olivia for a week or longer, I'm supposed to pull that plug and it separates the motorhome from the battery.  After I did  that, locking the doors became a challenge because the remote wouldn't work.  So I plugged the plug back in, went inside and closed the door so that the steps would retract and then I locked the doors.  I exited through the motorhome door and not the cab and ended up locking that door with a key.  Whew.

I got some rather disturbing news from a friend yesterday.  She had offered to drive my Volvo down to Tucson while I drove Olivia and now she won't be able to. It's not an insurmountable problem because I could drive either one down, fly back and then drive the other one down.  But, I'd rather not have to do that.  So I have to rethink how to get two vehicles down since my Volvo is too heavy to be pulled behind Olivia.  

I'm outside again with my Mifi.  When I was outside yesterday I had a slight recollection that if I plugged my Mifi into my computer with a USB cord that it would charge the Mifi.  I went looking for the USB cord, found the box and it wasn't in there.  Two days after I bought it I took it back to the Verizon store for help and I'm thinking that it was accidentally not repacked into my box before I left.  The lady who helped me was not working today but the other lady must have believed me and gave me a USB cord.  That was good.

I have a HUGE personal challenge coming up on August 21st.  I'm going to an RV maintenance boot camp that RVing Women is offering.  Originally, we were supposed to be boondocking but that got changed recently.  Now we're going to go to Riverbend Resort in Harrisburg, OR.  I understand it's next to the Willamette River so that should be lovely.  Here's my challenge...driving I-5.  I do not like I-5,  I like I-90, but that won't work for this trip.  

I don't know where the fear came from unless it was 10 years living in Tucson and rarely getting on the freeway.  If I did, then it was I-10 or I-19 and neither one of them is like I-5 in the Seattle/Tacoma area.  I've driven from Seattle to Tucson and vice versa many, many times without any fear so, again, I don't know where this came from.  

I've been practicing and I'm getting better.  I imagine when this trip is behind me I'll be a whole lot better.  As I sit here thinking it about I'm realizing that I think it's the speed.  As you know, probably the majority of the drivers are driving over the speed limit.  There seems to be a huge rush to get to wherever they're going and you'd better not get in their way.  I'm not in that kind of a hurry and I don't like to be pushed.  Now that I've shared my fear, I'm hoping that it will lessen because I'm no longer holding onto it.  

My husband and I lived in my parent's house (now my house) around 1974-1976.  I made these curtains for the garage door then...

I was sitting outside  looking at them a couple days ago and decided that they have to go, so I did this...

It's a spray that frosts the glass.  There are two doors leading into the garage, this one from outside and another from inside the house.  I removed wooden shades off the other window ages ago and frosted it and what a difference it made.  It really lightened the short hallway from the garage to the kitchen.  When I go out into the garage now, at first I think I've left the door open because it's so light in the corner where the door is.  

Last weekend there was a huge Arts and Crafts fair in the city I live in. Some of the ladies I met at Silver Sneakers were planning on going and invited me to go with them.  Because I do so many things alone I decided to go with them and ended up regretting that decision.  Not because I don't like them, not at all, but because we seemed to spend so much time looking for each other so that we could stay together.  I did accomplish what I wanted though.  I wanted glass balls that float in water...

Right now, mine are floating in air because I don't have a large enough fountain for all of them...

Unfortunately for me, these are hung right where my hose is and I usually hit my head on the holder when I come up from pulling out the hose.  Since we're having such lovely weather now I'm watering my plants every day. I've finally figured out how to not hit my head.

Before I sign off I want to mention that I'm catching up on all your blogs one at a time.  I'm really enjoying catching up but it's taking awhile because I've been gone longer than I realized.  I hope to never do that again.  The more I read the more anxious I am to get going.

Loving the sunshine,

Jeana

Taking a Much Needed Break

It's sunny out, 77〫, and I'm in Seattle!!! Hallelujah...summer's finally here. This is when I love that I live here.  Because of my new Mifi I'm out in my backyard because there's no way I want to be inside when it's like this.  I also want to get back into the groove of writing posts and catching up on what the rest of you are doing.  

After I removed the carpeting and the tacking I sanded the baseboards in my bedroom...then decided I needed to repaint it.  My gut was telling me that neutral walls would go over with potential leasors, better than plum and purple, so it went from this...

to this...

I think it looks sterile now and I'm not sure I care for it, but it isn't for me. I'm not planning on putting any pictures back up since I got all the holes covered so that probably contributes to the sterile look.

In between the removing and sanding, my helper, Denny, who built the bridge in my backyard, came over to help me with some surprises I uncovered after removing the carpeting.  He came with his power washer and I got busy.  I cleaned the sidewalk up to my front door and then my 20' x 40' patio.  The patio looks fantastic now.  I knew it needed cleaning but I didn't realize just how much cleaning it needed.  Fortunately, the sun was out so the temperature was comfortable while I was drenching myself.

I woke up this morning with the realization that I haven't sanded or painted the baseboards in the living room or dining room, so that's next.  

I recently emailed pictures of all the furniture I want to consign to a place I've used in the past.  Unfortunately for me, they don't have room so won't take the pieces.  Out of all that furniture that I want to consign, there were two pieces I'm inclined to hang onto and those were the only pieces the consignment shop was interested in.  Go figure.  Now I have to decide what's next because I don't want them either.  Having made the decision to consign  them, and it was a difficult decision, this frustrates me that I now have to come up with a different plan.  Some people have suggested CraigsList to me so I might check them out.

I have to take Olivia to the Dodge dealer tomorrow because I've had trouble getting the emergency brake light to go off.  It's been two weeks since I last drove her and when I went to start her a couple days ago, the batteries were dead.  I called my roadside emergency people this morning to come give me a jump and it took awhile to get her started and when I did, the engine light stayed on.  The man who jumped the batteries said that they should last longer than two weeks so there might be a problem.  I hope not. We've only been together since March 25th and this is way too soon for problems.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to start her in the morning.  This is the third time I've had to get the batteries jumped since I bought her, so that might be an indication something is wrong.  I hope not.

My dog is telling me that it's time to eat so I'm going to close for now.

Loving the sunshine,

Jeana

Gorgeous Weekend and I Spent it Inside

I have a new follower...jld52405 and it appears you don't have a blog. Thanks for joining me as I decide what's next and where.

Finally, finally, finally some gorgeous weather and I spent it inside.  We, the Seattle area, have experienced 351 minutes of summer.  Prior to this last weekend that number was 78 minutes, so the weekend really helped.  What do these numbers mean, you ask.  Summer = 80〫or higher.  Today we might break a low temperature record.  No wonder I've decided to move back to Tucson.  

It's because of that decision to move back to Tucson that I spent the weekend inside.  I mentioned in an earlier blog that I have to take up the rest of the carpeting in my house and that's what I was doing.

It took me most of Saturday to remove the carpeting in the master bedroom.  I was able to finish it Sunday morning then spent the rest of the day on the living room.  

With carpeting

Without carpeting

Removing the carpeting is easy, it's getting the tacking strip, nails and staples up that takes so much time.  I kept a large piece of carpeting to put down for my dog to walk on and be able to sleep on at night.  I'm kind of wishing I'd done this a long time ago since I really like how it looks without the carpet.  Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can.  The pictures make the room look long and skinny and it's actually quite large...almost twice as large as the pictures show.  

The "For Lease" sign isn't even up yet and I got a call for someone to look at the house today.  On one hand I was glad for the call, and on the other, I wasn't.  Because someone wanted to look at it, I had to stop what I was doing or going to do as I hadn't started yet on more carpet removal, and clean house.  

They were supposed to arrive at my house at 4:00 so I loaded my dog into my car and we took off.  We got back around 4:00 and parked across the street and by 4:20 nobody had shown up.  I called my property manager and she suggested I give it a few more minutes then go home.  I drove around the block, pulled into my garage and as soon as the door closed they arrived.  Believe it or not, they never looked in the garage so they had no idea we were there.  

Before I close and get back to carpet removal, I want to apologize for not commenting on your blogs.  I haven't even had time to read them let alone comment and I'm missing all of your adventures.  Bear with me and I'll have some time to get caught up one of these days.

Missing reading your blogs,


Jeana

My House is Available to Lease

Yes, I'm going to lease my house and then move back to Tucson.  I know that I'll do a lot more traveling in Olivia with my base of operations in the Southwest.  I won't have to worry about snow and ice and that's a real concern for me so I'm relieved to put that worry behind me.  I'm pretty excited and I'm letting all my friends down there know that I'm finally coming back.  

I started pulling up the rest of the carpet today that's left in the master bedroom and living room and dining room.  I've left it down because my dog has trouble walking on hardwood floors.  I plan on leaving strips of carpet down on the paths he walks the most.  

The realtor in Tucson who has shown me houses to buy off and on for a couple years has agreed to find me a house to rent.  I've been thinking that I might just live in Olivia instead and save a few bucks.  There are lots of RV parks in Tucson so I can go around checking each one out when I get tired of the one I'm at.

To say that I'm exhausted tonight would be an understatement.  But it's an "I accomplished something" exhausted.  It feels like the exhaustion is reaching my brain so I'm going to close for now.

Lots of sunshine today,


Jeana