Downsized and Happy!

 

The title says it all!  It has been a heck of a ride but we did it!  Now we are beginning to enjoy our new home.  Phone photos are the best way to show our summer. 

June 8th, 2015, this is the depressing reality of our new outdoor space.

First splash of primer on the old kitchen walls.

The kitchen/living room wall comes down.

Bedroom floor after carpet is removed.

 Ceiling braced before header beam installed.

The beam is up…loving the open space!

    

Meanwhile, back at the old home, piles of unwanted stuff start accumulating. Our criteria for keeping something:

1. Do we love it?       2. Is it necessary?

Our first look at the new floors. Wow!

David removing hinges.

Rockers relocated from old porch to new porch.

The painting begins!

And ends.

The Escape finds new parking.

  Our furniture arrives.    Bellhops move us.

The new fridge arrives….now we can eat!

Princess moves with us…still looking for her new home.  Sheba, the Siamese, finds perfect loving new owners. Sylvester, the camping cat, adjusts to his new smaller space.

Small improvement to back yard.

Woods behind the house.

Our daily walk.

David enjoying our first outdoor meal. (Two days ago)

Before photo…spot for our storage building.

And now.  It is being built as I type this post.

We will resume camping soon!  Heading to Knoxville next week to get the Andersen WDH and hope to camp a few days before returning home. Rally time will start the end of September!

My goal for this post is to document our summer and to give hope and inspiration to those who are continuing to downsize.  We are living in 3 rooms plus a bath and utility room, less than 975 square feet, and I have never been happier!  There are absolutely NO REGRETS!

Yes, it has been a roller coaster of emotions…picking every object up and asking “do I love this?” But the rewards are huge! 

Good luck to all..go after those dreams!!

Home & the Green Eggs Rally!

 

We hit the ground running after arriving home less than three weeks ago.  It’s the price we pay for doing nothing all winter but sitting in the sun and enjoying the scenery!

The yard is showing signs of spring.

(All photos in this post are from the phone camera and unedited!)

We have a box with three months of mail to shred or file. (Will do mail forwarding next time!)  There’s the septic work that must be done immediately.  Income taxes to file.  Doctor appointments to be made.  A trailer to clean after 3 months of use.  And a house and yard to be made ready to sell! 

It feels like there are a dozen chores to do for every hour of the day!  And the blog update  keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

We have another rally coming up in 10 days.   Looking forward to seeing friends in the Great Smoky Mountains!

Speaking of rally's….the Green Eggs and Ham in Montgomery, Alabama was great fun.  It is right on our way home and a great way to transition from our time in the southwest to the southeast. 

We arrive two days earlier than planned which gives us 7 days to visit…enough time to get caught up with those we have not seen in a long time.

There is the traditional Dutch oven demonstration.

Great music each night!

An appreciative audience.

Friends with their dogs!

The lake is just across from our site.

It’s the relationship with other egg owners that makes this such a special time.  We feel blessed to be a part of so much love.

The new camping “must have” is the Clam.   They are scattered throughout the campground.

Hope this post is not confusing.  We were at this rally from March 8 to March 15, 2015. 

Today is April 4, 2015 and our yard is blooming….

and we are glad to be back in time to enjoy the redbud and dogwood blooms.

We are excited about our life and all the upcoming changes!  Lots of changes…..