The Villagers are here

 I finally got my Christmas brewery village set up. 

My new apartment feels so cozy & festive.  

The forest at the edge of town.  The Northern Lights are in the lamp. 

The local musicians. 

Local artisan making ornaments.

Another artisan blowing glass and the Brewers are busy sampling.

The beer wagon on his way

Today when I got home, from a long day in Rice Lake (16 days to go), I found a gift made by my great-great niece Evelyn. It was the perfect addition to the village. 

 

The perfect finishing touch.

Snow ❄️ Day

 On Friday, I went over to my Rice Lake House and cranked up the heat, flushed the toilets, turned up the water heater a tiny bit & ran the water In all the sinks.  I also closed all the blinds in the house and closed the doors to the extra bedrooms, no need to heat those. 

I got a package 📦 from Laila too. I have been saying that this is my new ERA, a little bit like TS.  What a cool gift. 

Pretty much it snowed all day Saturday, both here in Luck and also in Rice Lake. 

I've been keeping an eye on both houses via my Wyze cams

Rice Lake

Luck

In the middle of this snow,  the FedEx truck pulled into the cul-de-sac.  I thought I wonder who's getting up FedEx package on a night like this? Of course, it turned out to be me. I had ordered a few things from Walgreens.com and they shipped FedEx, for unknown reasons. I'm certainly glad that the driver did not know what was in that box that he was delivering in the middle of such miserable weather! Two bottles of hairspray, one box of allergy nasal spray and 8 bags of candy.  (I ordered the bogo candy to hit the free shipping threshold.) Good grief.

❄️❄️❄️🚛❄️❄️❄️

Sitting here tonight, watching TV, enjoying my Christmas tree and my electric fireplace, I just suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of how lucky I am and how very happy I am to be living in this place.

Sn❄️w

 The first snow has arrived and it started with rain, so it's quite slippery under the snow. These are not good things for old people. The driveways here in Luck have been plowed and my entryway is shoveled.

This was one of the days I was looking forward to as a renter!  It will be even sweeter once the sale is final on my Rice Lake home.  We are getting closer. The inspector was there yesterday. I haven't heard any feedback yet.

You just never know

 I've been waiting to hear from the junkman but he's likely hunting.  So,  I've continued to purge the garage with the free table (which I am sure my neighbors are weary of), the garbage and Facebook Marketplace. 

I have had good luck with Marketplace,  so decided why not list a couple of things I thought I would have to pay to get rid of.

One was an antique door off a car,  it came out of Grandpa's barn.  I had dreams of using it in the yard somehow,  but there ya go. 

The other was a very old tire,  with wooden spokes, also from Grandpa's barn.  Again,  I had grand plans but it has been in my garage for 11 years. 

Yesterday, I posted both items on Facebook Marketplace for $10 each.  I had a bite on the car door right away.   I told the buyer that I would be at the house at 12 noon on Tuesday.  At about 11:30am, he messaged me that he was there early, & I was just minutes away.   He was so happy about the door, said he had a great use for it,  something about a campground he owns.  So I offered the wheel too, and he took it.  I told him to keep his $, I was glad to have it go to someone who will use it, rather than the junkyard. Saved me money actually.  

There was a second, very disappointed person, who also wanted the door. Go figure.

I'll go over again on Friday and fill up the garbage for the last time.   The service ends at the end of the month,  that worked out about perfect.  The garage is nearly empty. 

Predictions are for our first snowstorm to start tonight.  I'm prepared to hunker down for the next few days.   I have Thanksgiving fixings to make, if the turkey thaws in time.  

Happy 🦃 Thanksgiving

 

A few things

 I drove over to the Rice Lake House today, intending to work in the garage for a while. But it was cold, cloudy and windy and I was not in the right mood to deal with that.

While I considered not even getting out of the car & driving right back home, I actually did go in the house and grab just a few more things.  I brought home my vacuum cleaner, an old shelf that my grandfather Ansgar made and a large vintage picture that my grandparents got for their wedding in 1914 (111 years ago) and which hung in their living room in West Denmark.  Now I need to find a place of pride for it in my new apartment. I have had it for 50 years, since grandfather died.

The sun came out and warmed things up once I drove back to Luck. So I got busy and put some solar powered Christmas lights on the fence that holds the mailboxes for my cul-de-sac neighbors.

They look cute.  After I was done,  and back in my apartment,  I realized that I am the only tenant who can see those lights from my living room.  And,  most of my neighbors are not out and about at night very often.  But,  I will enjoy seeing the lights.  

That's it for today.  Hopefully tomorrow. Is a little more productive. 

Opening day of the hunt

 Gus loved this annual tradition and lived for it.  

I am secretly pulling for the deer but hope that the time spent in the woods and in the cabin creates lasting memories for all, young and old. 

Contingent

 Not a word that I use very often, until now. Today I signed a contract with an offer to buy my house with a seven day contingency for the buyer to get an offer on their house.  

For the next seven days, my house shows up as under contract and hopefully after seven days it shows up as being sold.

If not,  back to square one.

If it all goes as planned, I will have a closing before the end of 2025. 

I credit my agent for pulling together this deal.