We Sold Our House

Yesterday our next door neighbors (who are also the managers here at the RV resort) called to say that a woman came by to inquire about moving to the resort but wanted a park model.  They let her know that our place would be available.

We met with her this afternoon.  It took her about 20 minutes to say she wanted it.

Sooooooo, now we have to move.  We weren't expecting to sell the place this quickly!

This is what happens when you don't have any moving boxes - - -

More updates on the new house coming soon(ish).

Inside Pictures of New House

It's hard to take a picture that shows the whole room but you'll get the idea.

Bedroom #1 (Master Bedroom)

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3

Closet #1 (Master Bedroom)

Closet #2 (Master Bedroom)

Closet #3 (Master Bedroom)

Closet #4

Closet #5

Linen Closet

Pantry

Bathroom #1 (Master Bedroom)

Bathroom #2

Livingroom

Dining Room

Kitchen

There are still many projects on our list of things to do.  Bathroom #2 - remodel, replace kitchen sink, install water filtration system, seamless rain gutters will be installed in 2 weeks, etc.

The carpets were cleaned after these pictures were taken.  They did a great job.  

The rock guy is still working on the outside water feature.

We have started painting the inside of the garage.  Why is it builders never paint the inside of the garage? 

That's it for now.  We still have plenty of projects to complete.

Oh No!!

We were so pleased with our new fence, including the two gates that give us access on either side of the house.  The smaller gate would not fit under the eave of the house, so the fence builder worked out a solution to have it close just outside of the eave. Very nicely done, I thought...

The next day, Teri looks up there and says "There isn't enough room for the gutters.".  And sure enough, the gate is so close to the eave that the gutter crew (due in a couple of weeks) would not be able to install the gutter across this area. 

So now what?  I called the fence guy and explained the problem. He said that he'd look into returning the 8' tall gate and replacing it with a 6' tall gate, but the top hinge would have to be cut and re-welded, and it would look odd. And, it would be a couple of weeks until he could get back. 

Teri suggested just cutting off the corner of the gate, but I was concerned that the gate wouldn't remain square. Eventually I decided to see if there was a welding shop nearby that would take this on as a project. I found a couple of candidates, and the closest guy simply texted me back and said "bring it in.". So I did. 

This guy is one of those country fellows in a dim old machine shop built by his grandfather during WWII. Equipment and steel and parts all over the place.  Had a big ol' dog that came out to play and he just gave you the right feeling. 

I was going on and on with my explanation and plan to cut the corner off and weld in a new piece of pipe on a diagonal, when he suggested simply cutting the corner out and "flipping it over". Yep, sounded like a good idea. Took him about 5 seconds to come up with it...

I dropped the gate off at 4:30, and he texted me at 11:00 the next morning to come and pick it up. 

So, for the princely sum of $60 we have a new customized gate, still 8' tall, with plenty of room for a gutter. And I now have "a guy" to go to for this kind of fabrication in the future.

Mark

No More Mr. Nice Guy!

It’s a good thing we have a lot of parking space because things are hopping at the new house!

Sometimes you just have to put your foot down to get your point across. After getting some work done on Saturday, the painters slacked off again, leading to another very stern discussion on Monday. 

So, after a couple of VERY long nights (the painters, not us), the inside painting is finally coming along.  The first coat is almost complete, some of the trim has been painted, and the second coat should be started today.  We have been promised that they will be painting late every night and will finish this week. 

The fencing was finished Wednesday.  There is not a deer in Texas that can jump that high! 

The fence guy has been very efficient and does wonderful work.  The corner bracings were welded on site and (tediously) painted. 

It might look like we have a pet giraffe but this high fence is needed to keep the deer out.  We have a very long list of landscape plants to be purchased.  This area is going to be planted for birds. 

The rock guy has started and should be finished next week. He specializes in meticulously dry-stacked rock. Everything is carefully fitted and no mortar is used. It is quite a process!

This water feature will have cascading water pooling on these large rocks that will provide plenty of space for birds to bathe and drink.  It will look awesome when finished. 

There are still a few things we need to do before moving in but it is good to see progress!

New House Update

Things are moving along with our new house. 

The previous owner of the house was a single male.  Apparently, he wasn’t a big fan of cleaning and told his realtor that he wasn’t going to clean the house before showing it.  So, the first thing we did was hire a cleaning crew.

The cleaning ladies (and man) did an amazing job inside the house and today they are finishing up the outside windows.

We are having the entire inside painted.  This task is not going as quickly as we had hoped.  After one and a half days of painting then taking 3 days off, they received a few carefully worded phone conversations with Mark.  But, three guys showed up today and were busy painting so, hopefully, things will progress. 

The fence guy started today - a day early - yea!  We are having part of the back area fenced.    

Fencing is mandatory if you want any landscaping.  

We’re having an 8’ tall fence installed because of these bad boys ---

Blackbuck Antelope (native of India, Nepal, and Pakistan - NOT native of Texas!).  Males are about 33” at the shoulder and weigh an average of 84 pounds.  Females average about 60 pounds.  Their long, ringed horns (not antlers) can be up to 30” long and are usually only on the males although the females may develop horns.

We also have Axis Deer (native of Southern Asia - NOT native of Texas!).  Males are about 35” at the shoulder and females are about 28”. Males weigh 66-165 pounds while the females are 55-100 pounds. Antlers (not horns) are only on the males. 

And last, we have White-tailed Deer.  Texas is home to the most white-tailed deer of any U.S. State or Canadian province.

Our realtor gave us a little gift after signing.  A pretty fall silk flower arrangement and a large gift card to a local Mexican food restaurant.

We have a couple more projects that are supposed to be started next week.  

Stay tuned for more updates. 

Una Casa Nueva

Front of house.

Back area. (5 acres)

This has been an interesting year for us (and everyone else).  With a surgery for each of us and being off of the road for all of 2020 with COVID, we were finding that our 400 sf park-model home was feeling a little cramped. Plus, our RV park is up for sale, and who knows what the future will bring with regards to that. 

We started looking at homes in this area (on the internet), and found a perfect home on a 5-acre wooded tract, about two miles from where we are now! We looked at it a couple of times, made an offer, and closed this morning.

We are scheduled to volunteer again in November and are looking forward to that, and we hope to resume our "typical" travels when things return to normal. But when the time comes to throttle our RV travels back, we've got our next place all worked out. 

A New Visitor to the Game Cam

We still run the game cam every night, but things have gotten predictable.  A ridiculous number of deer, a few mischievous raccoons, and a rabbit or armadillo once in a while.  

But last night we got our very first coyote. We know that they are around because we hear them yipping and yapping at night. But they don't seem to come into the immediate area of the houses very often. 

We see foxes more regularly. Teri saw a couple of kits (baby foxes) earlier this summer, but all we've  had at the game cam is adults. Check out that 64 degree temperature. Brrrr!!

We think that this Armadillo has taken up residence under our back deck. It enjoys digging around the backyard area for grubs and other treats. They don't see well and often we "surprise" each other in the evening when I take down the bird feeders. 

Our bucks are really growing their antlers out, and should be shedding their velvet soon.  

Occasionally they step on the birdbath and spill all of the water out. 

And we have more than enough raccoons!  They seem to specialize in tearing things up.  Last night, they managed to crack the Rubbermaid pitcher that we use to fill the birdbath. 

A couple of adults had a spat the other night. The result was an empty birdbath with the fountain lying in the dirt. Great...

We hope that our friends are staying safe and happy. Fall is on the way!!