Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be joyful with family and friends, delicious food, and God's richest blessings.

November Days

We are enjoying cooler (but still warm) days, and sometimes chilly nights. We've needed the electric blanket and the furnace at night for the last week.

Days are of course, getting shorter, but the light remains gorgeous. Thanksgiving will soon be here; we're gathering at MIL's this year. I've been nominated for Christmas, so that long table will def come in handy, lol.

Here's a couple pics around the place.

My new windchimes, Each tube says "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Because the tubes are large, the sound is deep and rich. I often wake up to them chiming. Lovely!

And a Little Pond sunset. The light is coming from the left, and you can just see the railing of our side porch in this pic. The barrel in the middle is our fire pit. We plan to surround it with curved brick, frame out a 'patio' with landscape timbers on the ground, and fill it with either wood chips or stone chips next year. A set of Adirondack chairs around it will complete this seating area. It's about halfway to the pond area, I'd say, and maybe 1/3 of the way to the pond (hidden down in a basin behind those two big pine trees).

Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Come sit a spell

In our new (to us) rockers! Aren't they pretty?
Found these beauties at a local furniture/junk resale shop.

There are 4 of them, and they are Cracker Barrel rockers! Each has the logo
on the back. Two of them have termite damage to the runners (one on each),
but I can get new runners for both for under $50. Easy fix!

I only paid $160 for all four. That's over $600 worth of rocking chairs (by brand)
for 1/3 the price (after repair). Pretty good deal, no?

You can see our lovely picture window that lets so much light flow in, and our
cat, Nita, as well. She had to photo-bomb! The little sign in the window says,
"Grateful, Thankful, Blessed". And we really are!

The weather has cooled a good bit, esp in the evenings, and we enjoy sitting on
the front porch and enjoying the breeze. I have a new set of wind chimes that
lend a melodic air to things, and it's just so relaxing!

I love our new home!

Morning has broken...

On Little Pond, and it is COLD!
66 in our house, so I think we'll be bringing the electric blankets out and
getting the furnace ready to go (well, it's a heat pump, but whatev).

Here's the pond this morning, from our back door.
Looks like a hot spring to me, but I'm not fooled, it's likely freezing in that basin!

 Zoomed in slightly above

Panoramic, for the full effect. Onsen, anyone? :D

New Additions

And I'm not referring to the band, lol.
Here's a few things that have changed at Little Pond, and we couldn't be more pleased.

New shop/barn for Dh, to store the mower, his go cart (huge), and tools.

Carport for us, to protect the G6. And the Avalanche, when we borrow it, lol.

That's our only side neighbor there behind the trees.

New to us dining table for 8. I'm in the party business now! It was bought used by a couple and brought from California to Georgia. I don't know anything about it, it has no brand name on it anywhere. Going to change the color to a dark stain (perhaps next year).

Big Bertha, our new frost free freezer. Now, if Dh brings down one of those deer we've been seeing, we'll have plenty of room for it. It's 20 cf, and HUGE. Has a seal on the door tighter than Fort Knox, too. :D

Boys are in the house!

At least one is.
This handsome fella showed up last night, a 7 pointer, best we can tell.
Let's hope he brings some (male) friends. Is this the mysterious monster
of the huge tracks?

This is my best side, lol.

Count closely, there are 7 points there that we are sure of. Come to dinner, big boy!

The wild life

Look closely, there are 4 does in that pic. Dh will be over the moon!

Or maybe not, b/c where is that monster buck that's been leaving the huge hoof prints
down at the pond?

Oh well, it's a start. Corn is indeed a good motivator for photo shoots, apparently. lol

Safe!

We made it through, and here at LittlePond, relatively unscathed.

The wind was awful, the worst I've seen, but we had NO trees down, just a few small pine boughs. Up the road towards town, two trees were down on power lines, one a huge oak. A neighbor the other way had a tree down at the highway, but not on the lines or road.

In town, WOW. It hit the city hard. Almost a dozen pine trees twisted and snapped at the local playground/park, and trees down all over the city, some on houses. No deaths, that I've heard, praise the Lord.

We lost power around 10pm last night, and just got it back at 10:30 tonight, so 24 full hours without. Our freezer stuff is still frozen, so no losses there. I cooked up the eggs and sausage in fridge this morning on the grill outside, and I had water for washing up (sponge baths). We used pond water to flush the toilets.

There is no bread and little meat to be found anywhere in our county. Ice is a foreign concept. The local Harvey's Supermarket is packed, as it has power, but Walmart is closed without it. Wendy's has been around the building and into Harvey's parking lot ALL DAY.

There are about 3 other restaurants and a few stores open as of 6pm today, but there are still traffic lights out in town and many still without power.

Pray for those still in the dark, those with damages and deaths, and those dealing with this mess now (in NC/VA as I speak).

Shelter in the storm

Matthew (hurricane) is on the way. We here in SE GA should feel it tonight and tomorrow.
This one is expected to be the worst in decades, and the coast is evacuating now.

Our town, on the main evac route, is running out of food and gas. We are expecting lots of wind
and rain, and power outages. We are prepped and ready here at Little Pond, but this storm gives me jitters. It's expected to loop around and come back!

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/hurricane-matthew-prompts-warning-many-us-residents-leave-161904850--abc-news-topstories.html

Pray for the SE (not just GA), and the emergency workers and linemen in harms way.
Lord, be merciful!

More fall decs

Slowly, but surely I'm getting my house ready for the season.
No mums yet, as we have Hurricane Matthew on the way,  but maybe afterwards...

Blogger is still giving me a fit about loading pics, so stay tuned, I have a LOT to share!

 Fall wreath on the big cabinet. Look closely and you can see the scarecrow head.

 Next to the cabinet, my quilt ladder, palm and pumpkins. Hate the light that makes my walls look white, ugh.

 Other side of the cabinet. If the broom fits, fly it!, with corn and pumpkins.

Remember that first near empty bookshelf? This is much better. The other one is fuller, too.

This weekend is Hurricane Matthew, but Sunday should be fair. We are far enough inland that we should get wind and rain but nothing major. Just the same, our county is one that has declared emergency, so we are being watchful as things progress.

If Sunday is fair (should be clear and 80's), we're having Ds's 8th birthday party, complete with
water slide. Prob the last of the year, too. Happy Fall, y'all

Fall things

Decorating at LittlePond!
Just a small glimpse of the overall picture, which is still taking shape.
My fall decs will be years in the making.

 This is our right bookshelf. Nothing fancy, just serviceable. The lantern is from Tractor Supply. It has LED lights inside (and only $20). Best deal I've found on one this size. The pumpkins are from Bealls, local to Ga and Fl.

This little critter makes me smile every time I see him! I found this at Cracker Barrel for $10.

Our quirky sense of humor, lol. Sign from Etsy. Pumpkin from our local women's shelter resale shop.

There's more, and more to come, so stay tuned. As fall unrolls, the decs will get bigger and better!

Piece by Piece

This house is becoming home.

It's been a busy and productive 4-day for Dh and I. Here's a few things that have come together
in the past few days. Enjoy!

 My mama's etagere is up and filled. The birds are from Dh's grandfather, the white tea set is all that remains (bar a few plates and saucers) of my Granny's German china set, the blue teapot was a gift from a beloved Aunt, and the couple is from my MIL, many years ago. All treasures to us.

Lots of blogging, or attempting to. Pics are giving me a fit, and several posts haven't loaded that should be here. Still working on that.

Cooler-living is over! Got to get this beauty back to our niece, because...

Behold, Leopold! Finally, FINALLY, Sears delivered our refrigerator. The manufacturer delayed shipment last week, but now we're in business, folks! Well, except that the water line to the ice maker isn't bringing water. Huh. Might be related to the faucet in the laundry room that won't run cold water, and the faucet outside on that side that won't run at all.  Got to see about that.

There's more, but that's enough for now. Soon, there'll be a birthday celebrated here, and friends and family will gather and our home will be filled with laughter and joy. I can't wait!

Little pond, late evening

There's deer in here!

Tracks at dusk around the pond.

What's happening today?

Laundry, in my new washer and new (to me, gifted by a friend) dryer!

Despite the stinky water (sulfur), our clothes come out sweet and clean. Love it!

Down Little Pond Lane...

It's where we live, YEAH!

We have permanently moved it, and it feels SO good. So, so good, y'all.
The light, I cannot say enough about it. It cheers me every day. I don't want to leave.

But I've had to. Back and forth from the old place to this, moving stuff. One load at a time,
but I'm done. We closed yesterday, and no longer own the soggy bottom singlewide. It's someone
else's problem now.

Dh got new steps for the front porch today, and we're putting them in this weekend. Also on the
agenda: ceiling fans (b/c coolness), shop foundation, curtain rods, picture hanging, mantel staining, and bed assembling (and mattress buying, for the boy). Thank goodness Dh is off the next four days!

It feels so, so good to focus on Little Pond now, and not be split b/t the new and old.
Sorry I've been missing, there was no internet or wifi out here until today. Expect better updating now.

Tv Buddies

in the new place. They both love it!

No more jungle

Bush hogging, it's all the rage!

Seriously, there's a pond back there (to the left a bit), you just can't tell.

Come to find out, there was also a mound of dirt under those dang vines, so now it's to have that graded out. Oh well, always a project!

Updated pond pics to come tomorrow, if I can find the time!

Let there be light

All the feels for this lamp, and its twin. Keep an eye out for them in future pics.

From the cheap seats

Okay, so they weren't really cheap, but a good price nonetheless!

Here, I'm sitting on the end of the couch, looking straight ahead to the kitchen.

Because we don't yet have lamps at the new house, we used the kitchen pendants. They worked nicely for lighting in real life, but for picture purposes, not so much. Please excuse the glare!

Look closely and you can see the vignette I created atop my built in bookcase. Fall themed, of course, because I cannot wait for it to be here!

Tonight, we are in our old house, sigh, but in the morning I will continue to move things to the new place. We plan to start staying there Sunday night, and living out of a cooler and with disposable plates and cups. We are just so DONE with this house here.

Stay tuned, I'll try to get pics of the front window, door/wreath, and a better view of my fall vignette.

First night in 2

Here, you can see my view of the family room. The cabinet is in place, and now, so is the treadmill and the Bowflex (although not yet put together). There is a quilt ladder leaning in the corner (Target, around $39) awaiting my fall throws, and I have my plants scattered about for warmth and greenery.

See that cute cat pillow? I got that through LTD commodities, and the boy loves it. Speaking of, you can see his arm making shadow puppets in the pic. He didn't want me to stop!

We watched movies and played games our first night in, and can't wait to do it again.

First night in

So, we spent our first night in our new home. We were facing a Cat 1 hurricane (Hermine) coming into Ga right across our county, and wanted to be safer than in our old, worn out home.

That idea worked quite well. We were dry and snug, and you couldn't hear a thing unless you were right near a window or in the laundry room. The storm, thankfully, proved to be less than expected in our area.

There were a few limbs down/messy yards, and a few power outages, but we were spared the latter. The former, well, we had one 5 foot pine limb break and fall into our driveway, but I pulled it aside on my own, so no biggie.

We are very grateful for God's mercy here, and are praying for those less fortunate, both then and in days to come as Hermine wears itself out along the US coast. Stay dry, folks!

As you can see, we have no curtains yet, tools still adorn the dining room, but it is HOME. I didn't want to leave this morning to come back to our old place.

Our first supper in our new home consisted of ham sandwiches, white cheddar cheese puffs, and craisins (me only). Our niece lent us her Yeti cooler so we were good to go with ice and cold foods.

The boy slept with us as he has no blinds or curtains, and didn't want to face a storm alone, and in a new/strange house to boot. I woke several times, but the rain was minimal, as was the wind, so far as I could tell.

It was a good night!

Little bit closer

So, carpet is done and looks lovely.
Paint is finished and made a world of difference.

I hate to leave it when we come back to our current house. :(
Starting Wednesday, we begin moving furniture in, woohoo!

That should take a day for the main stuff. The little things,
like kitchen stuff, books/movies, clothes, ect will be moved
Thurs and Fri.

BUT, sigh. We won't be able to move in till around the 12th,
b/c our master bedroom furniture won't be there til the 9th,
and the refrigerator until the 13th. We also have to have the
TV and Internet services moved over. Got to schedule them
maybe tomorrow.

Drake will likely be on a mattress on the floor, as the bedrails
for his bed (a 4 in one crib/bed) haven't shipped yet. Should
have ordered them when we bought the crib, sigh.

We'll be using our small, 4 person dining table until I can get
a 7' one built custom (sounds fancy, but it's only $400 for the
table and a bench to fit), and find chairs I like.

MIL's room (the third bedroom) is up to her to decorate and
furnish as she likes. I'll post pics once she starts. We have to
get the drains changed, the sink lines replaced, the tile that
fell put back.

And oh yes, that stinky water issue. Gonna get that filter
system asap!

Stain and hang the mantel for our fireplace, put up the shelves
in the second bathroom, and we'll be good inside. I think, lol.

Outside, we want to stain and paint the porch, and move the
steps to the front of the porch for a better look. My painter
guys gave me a great quote on that. We have to have Dh's
shop constructed, after we pour the concrete foundation, and
then get a carport for the end/side of the house.

Maybe, if we have any left over, we'll get a second way of
going and have some left over. Cross your fingers!

Dining room

Ready to dine! So clean and bright.love it.

Living room

Late evening, not complete.

Cabinet in place

Family room, not complete.

Crisis Averted

I hope.
I woke to a phone call this am, from a man who was to see about building a deck for us.
B/c of the water issue, that money is now allocated for water issues. The man was kind
enough, though, to share with me what to do.

He has, or had, stinky water as well. While a deep well will probably fix the smell, it is
costly, and fortunately, it seems there is an alternative.  Following his instructions, I took
a sample of the water straight from the well to our local plumbing and electrical supply
place.

They test the water for free and tell you what to do to improve it. We need a sulfur/iron
filter system. Cost? $575 plus tax. Sounds way better than $3700, right? Once we sell our
current home and have the money in hand,  I'm calling the installer guy to put this in place.

Say a prayer, folks!

Well water woes

Or...Timmy's in the Well! (at untanglingtheskein.blogspot.com)

Perhaps we should change this place's name from Little Pond, to Big Investment.
Or Money Pit. Sigh...

For the softer side of life

Carpet...its what's for dinner. Or flooring, if you will. Lol

Not welcome!

Lol

Our neighbors

Gopher Tortoise! I have a few more pics, but he/she wouldn't show their face, lol. It was the size of a dinner plate, I'd say. The painters said they've seen a deer crossing the driveway late in the evening, and we've seen tracks around the pond as well. This is a wildlife haven!

Another neighbor, much more friendly, is Juice. He's our next door neighbor's (the only one we have) dog. Goofy and silly and very affectionate, he hops the low fence and comes to see us each time we go out to the house. He's such a sweetie!

Pic of him here later, ugh.

Cool, but smelly

Fridge is ordered, after much angst (story on untanglingtheskein.blogspot.com), to be delivered Sept 1. However, the water has a bad (as in sewage) smell. Sigh.

Have a man coming to check it out, let's hope it's fixed soon. Problems, problems. The man did say that this was an issue all down the highway where we are going to live. Hopefully there's an easy fix. Online gives me several causes and solutions, so we'll see.

Painting continues. We go tomorrow to check on progress and see about the water at the pump/source. Once this is taken care of, we have to see about the kitchen sink leak (prob the lines, easy) and check the laundry sink as well.

B/c of an issue with our current house, it seems that mobile home manufacturers have difficulty with water lines. At least Fleetwood does (we had problems right away with ours). Carpet comes Thursday, and I can't wait to see it go down.

The snafu with selling our current place maybe resolved (or nearly so). I hope so, we have more projects to do!

Time drags slowly.

Will we ever get into our house???

One step closer...

So, over the last few days the painters have finished about 75% of priming our house. The laundry room, smaller bath, kitchen (tiny area) and dining room have yet to be started. They are trying to finish the 'carpeted' areas of the house before the carpet guys come Thursday. Then, they'll get the last of it.

Today we went out there to do some measuring for the new refrigerator, as well the porch height (we've decided to move the stairs to the front of the porch). All told, we were 'home' about 45 minutes around 6pm.

The sun was getting low and shining through the family room windows with a lovely glow. It landed on the primed wall of the family room and the color was a cheerful yellow. Over in the living room on the front of the house, away from direct light, it mellowed to soothing cream. So nice! I didn't plan on there being so much yellow in the paint (but it is GOLD coast white, after all), but I like it. Once we get the curtains and shades up it will all smooth out.

We picked up our Armoire (capital A b/c this thing is HUGE) in Savannah yesterday (at The Stuff Store). Not sure how old it is, but vintage at least. And big. It will go on the end wall of the family room (where we'll keep our gym equiptment). I hope it will warm up the space and keep it from being to techno/industrial, lol.

Told you it was big, lol. It stands nearly 8 feet tall! Took 4 grown men to lift it, just the TOP part, from the dolly to the trailer, and another 4 to get it on the porch at home for the dolly. Crazy, but I couldn't say no.

I am so, so ready to get to the 'fun part' of our new home. Buying curtains, a dining set, new towels, ect. But I must be patient. It will happen, and it will be worth it.

Repeat that, 10,000 times, lol.

What's happening today...

On Thursday, the painters dropped off the paint and began cutting in.

Here you can see the cut-ins next to the old wallboard/original color. Going to be quite the difference!

Yep, QUITE the difference! This is the corner of the master bedroom, with one coat of tinted

primer up. They've also got the Mbath, LR and FR cut in and primed, as well as the laundry/br vestibule as well.

For comparison, here's our current living room color, Jute. Not sure who makes this, but I think it might be Glidden? It's been up a few years, and I am SO ready for light, bright and airy. It's kind of like living in a cave!

Gold Coast White (Glidden) for the WIN!!

Our Namesake

Little Pond, in real life.

Or, A man and his dog.

Actually, the dog is the neighbor's, but the man is mine, lol.

As its name implies, it is indeed a 'little pond', but it is ours, and we love it!

Plans include someday widening and deepening the pond, adding more fish, a screened pond house, some Adirondack chairs, a fire pit, ect. I want to plant a Weeping Willow in one corner, if I can get one to grow in the sandy soil.  Someday!

The clean machine

Or, Laundry Room, part 2

This is taken from the far corner of the former laundry pic. The door to the interior of the house

is to the left. Ahead we see the back/side door that will lead to the yard and carport. The laundry area is to the left of that. The white cabinet is a built in ironing board. The bench seat is to the right of the door, and the long line of cabinets and shelving is as well.

This is looking from the back door. The laundry area is to the right. You can see here the door to the rest of the house, and the laundry drop cabinet that opens to the hall on the other side. There are shelves above the drop.

And that's my laundry room. Lots of cleaning going on in here (someday).

Everyone sees it and asks if it's a second kitchen, lol. It's big enough to be!

Bedroom, Part 2

Here's a few pics of things I didn't show, but mentioned earlier.

The triple windows in our master bedroom.

Sitting room. You can see the kitchen and edge of the dining area through the door.

Update on work: All carpet and padding is up and gone. All window hardware is gone.
To do: Pull/pound staples for padding, sweep and prep for painting next week.

Laundry, 5c

Remember how I told you that our laundry room was HUGE?
Here ya go!

This is HALF the room. To the left is a bench with shoe storage under and hooks above, as well as small cubbies above those. Behind me is the actual laundry area with washer/dryer space, a wall mount ironing board and the back door. to the right is the door to the main house and a pass through linen closet. Excuse the mess, this is how it was left.

Soon, we'll get in there and clean and paint and craft and homeschool and .....!