Palm Beach, Florida
I can’t believe I haven’t posted to this blog since September 9. Life’s been busy. We sold the house, the sale fell through on the day we were to move (grrrr!) We decided to take a road trip and avoid the long cold snowy Winter in Colville. We left home mid-December and towed the cold back east with us. Our first day in DC was beautiful, and the snow caught up to us the day after… the biggest snowstorm in DC in years, wouldn’t you know. Then around New Years, the cold followed us down to South Carolina, and on into Florida- “It never gets this cold, at least not for this many days in a row”. Yeah, but that’s because we’ve never been here in January. We take it with us everywhere we go. Actually, it has finally warmed up the past couple of weeks, and we’ve come close to 80 a couple of days. Yay!
We’ve been to see Chris and Allison in VA; Myrtle Beach, SC; Hilton Head, SC; St. Augustine, FL; Stuart to Palm Beach, FL; Ocala, FL; Carrabelle, FL; and now Pensacola, FL. Next up- New Orleans, LA; Jackson, MS; Mission, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Eureka, CA; and then home, some 3 1/2 to 4 months after leaving home. I love a good road trip!
For a look at more road trip photos, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawatha/
A beautiful (but stormy) day at the beach
Fall is definitely in the air. The swallows and bluebirds are long gone. The butterfly bush and black eyed susans are about the only flowers left blooming, and foliage is beginning to take on the hues of Autumn.
Summer came and went. It began with excitement- the happiness of selling our home in only 5 short days. In this economy, that was cause for celebration. Alas… after seemingly endless close of escrow date changes, our buyer backed out of the sale. The day we were moving to an interim apartment, the realtor called and said the deal was off, the buyer was “fed up” with waiting for his bank to fund the loan. WHAT? We paid first month’s rent and security deposit on the apartment, we paid for boxes and tape and travel to and from Liberty Lake several times, everything was boxed and sitting on the deck waiting to load into the truck… how could this happen? Talk about MAD. Wow. Madder than a wet hen, as the saying goes… that was me.
This morning I visited the blog of a sweet friend who has two very close family members battling cancer, as well as she herself battling stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer. Reading her update was a refresher on what real problems are. A reminder that no matter what happens with the house, whether it ever sells or not… it’s nothing compared to battling cancer. It’s nothing compared to facing the loss of a loved one. It’s nothing really compared to any REAL problem. Thank you for that reminder, Renee… somehow you always manage to put things in their proper perspective, without even trying.
Late August, 2009
The first signs of Fall are already appearing here on White Mud Lake (70 miles north of Spokane, WA). The shrubs are turning red, some of the leaves have a hint of color beginning to show. The nights are getting cooler- we already hit 39 degrees one morning last week. Before you know it the leaves will all turn color and fall to the ground- only to be buried in snow in December.
Where has the Summer gone? We’ve spent our Summer getting ready to sell the house, then when it sold in 5 days, we’ve spent the rest of the Summer in “hurry up and wait” mode, waiting for escrow to close. Our buyer has had one problem with banks after another (gotta love when the government shuts down a bank just a few days shy of closing!) First it was supposed to close July 30. Then September 7. Then August 15. Back to September 7. The latest update from the realtor is “It should be able to close next Friday”. That would be September 4. I’ll be happy if it closes on the 7th.
We’ve decided to postpone our plans to move to VA/WV. We’re still going to move there eventually, just not quite yet. We’ll make a little interim move to Liberty Lake, WA- which is just about 5 miles from my Mom’s house in Post Falls, ID. We may stay there another year or 2 or 3…. or we may decide to head East next Spring. We’ll see how we feel about it when the snow thaws.
In the meantime, I’m hoping for Summer to linger a little longer…
The pond - Now
When we first bought our home 4 years ago, there was a carved wooden sign stretched out between the driveway and the lake, that read “Lakeside Paradise”. I loved the sign and made sure it conveyed with the property but Bill thought the sign was a bit corny and he took it down as soon as we moved in.
This place really is paradise this time of year, no doubt about it. The flowers are all in bloom, the birds are nesting in the birdhouses around the property, the deer feed along the fenceline, wanting to come sample the lilies and stonecrop but not daring while the dogs are out. The grass is green, the rainbird sprinkler tick-tick-tick-ticking to keep it that way. The pond is beautiful and it’s the most calming thing to just take a walk around it or have a seat next to it and watch the fish swimming around, and listen to the water cascading down the little waterfall. I could sit out there for hours at a time- if it weren’t for the pesky mosquitoes. ; ) But really, it is a lakeside paradise. I’m going to miss it, at least the Summer version of it.
I don’t know where we’re going to end up- somewhere in VA or WV I’m pretty sure… but wherever we end up, guess who’s hoping to build another pond- another little bit of paradise?
Here’s what the pond looked like 4 years ago-
Before...
Oh my gosh- where did June go? Here it is the 26th already and 4th of July will be here before you know it. No, say it aint so! I’m not ready for this month to end yet. I’m still working on my “Pay it forward” gifts… I’m working on packing up the house and getting ready to move, I’m trying to enjoy the last few weeks that we’ll be here at the lake house (escrow is set to close July 30 barring any unforeseen circumstances). There’s so much to do and so little time, and what little time there is, is flying by.
Must get done what needs to be done, and then slowwwww down and enjoy this beautiful Summer- the last Summer on the lake for us.
Small little gazing ball in the flowerbed in our front yard- reflecting the world around me.
It’s a beautiful day here on White Mud Lake- not a cloud in sight and 79 degrees. Perfectly wonderful weather! I guess that sort of helps to make up for the miserably long and cold Winter we had.
Well, that didn’t take long! 10 days from when we put up the for sale sign until we have a deal… the 5 acres in Blanchard is sold! (Actually, he contacted us within 30 minutes of posting the for sale sign up and said “let’s see if we can’t work something out” so I guess it really sold in 30 minutes, but it took another 10 days to agree on a price after some offers and counter-offers.) Wow… I find that amazing in this economy. Strange enough, our home in Post Falls sold in 5 days 4 years ago. This parcel sold in 10 days. Are we on a roll? Does that mean we’ll sell our lake house in 15 days when we put it on the market next month? I certainly hope so- that would be exciting! I seriously doubt it will, but hey… you never know… all it takes is 1 person to fall in love with it and make an offer we can’t resist.
In the meantime, goodbye to Blanchard- our dream will now become someone else’s…
Here’s a shot Kevin (the soon to be new owner) took of our parcel from his ultralight aircraft… very cool!
Sold...
We’ve finally done it- we’ve taken the plunge and put up the for sale signs on our 5 acres in Blanchard, Idaho. Yes, our minds are made up. It’s time to let this dream become somebody else’s dream. If anybody out there is looking for a beautiful piece of property with gorgeous views of Mt. Spokane and only 45 minutes to Coeur d’Alene, ID or 1 hr to Spokane, Wa- and only 15 minutes to Newport, WA, here it is. A little piece of paradise. Live in the country yet be only a short drive to all the amenities of city life. If you’re interested in buying a piece of the North Idaho lifestyle- leave a comment or drop me a line for more information.
Spring is definitely in full swing. The days are warm, the nights are still cool (31 last night). It’s time to spend more time in the flowerbeds and less time online. That’s the theory, anyway… and easy to do on a beautiful day like today. I went out and took some pictures this morning, and then spend most of the day (so far) pulling weeds and putting down fresh bark. The flowerbeds are coming back to life- new flowers opening up everyday. I know I say this every season… but Spring really reallys my favorite season!
