I know. I disappeared. For almost a year. But when the contractor shows up and you are desperately trying to stay one step ahead of workers, inside and out, and you're trying to work on your camper, too, and you have new kittens (of your own, plus fosters) and you're not young so there are these annoying medical issues that crop up, and there were the foundation issues that required holes six feet deep all along the side of the house, and the permit issues because two contractors didn't get them when they were supposed to and we had to apply for exceptions and ... We just got insanely busy and a few things had to give. One of them was my blog. Another was my sanity at times. Thank heaven for Len, my rock. When I lose it, he's always my island of calm.
He and I survived months of renovation on the house and yard (totally redoing our bathrooms was the biggest project, but there was also tons of painting and repairing while we were sorting and boxing and buying for the reno and ...). Suddenly the holidays were looming and we were totally overwhelmed, so we told Manny Melgar, our very understanding contractor, to go do another job that he'd said was waiting ...
Throughout this whole insanity, we've moved things we want to keep or will stage with into storage and have given away an amazing amount of STUFF, but still not enough, as the house is still not empty. How did we get here?! There's stuff I don't even recognize! (Note to self, going forward: If anything new comes in, something old has to leave. And paper? Scan it, recycle it.)
Anyway, the contractors come back next week, and I just found out I have tears in my rotator cuff, one of which is pretty bad ... which does not help since there is more STUFF to move before they come, but there it is. And we are already months past when we wanted to be gone. <sigh>
The good news is, since I last posted, we tore the carpet out of the bedroom in the camper and put down vinyl plank there and in the bathroom; painted the bedroom and bath; repainted the living area cabinetry; had a new toilet installed (the old one was high enough for kindergarteners); found a used washer/dryer combo and got that installed; found space for five litter boxes, a dog kennel and a guest bed; and installed a gorgeous, hand-painted Mexican sink on top of an antique sewing machine cabinet! We've replaced light fixtures, wallpapered, had new stairs put on (four steps in stead of three makes an amazing difference) and (drumroll, please) even had a solar system installed, so we can park pretty much anywhere (your driveway perhaps). And that's not all, so I have fodder for several new blogs--once we get the house emptied and are moved into our new house on wheels and I can breathe again. But to entice you, here are a few peeks:
Hope that was enough to interest you in more. Our little Cottage on Wheels is coming together so much better than I ever expected. And I promise more, truly. I just have to get this house cleared out ... But soon, honey, soon!