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.

It looks good

 Tuesday was a lovely sunny day.  My pal Bruce came over and put a little brick hearth under my electric fireplace 🔥.  Not because it needed it for safety,  just for looks.  

And it looks good. 

I finally went grocery shopping today.  The store in town has a good selection and sometimes, a few good deals.  I bought some Thanksgiving stuff.  🦃 

I ran into a classmate from Luck who works there.  She asked me if I was here for a visit. And I said, "No, I live here now". She asked where and I told her in the duplexes off of first street.  She said "Those really nice ones?"  I told her yes. She said, "Oh, I think Mike and I should live there!"  

I'm so lucky to be here. 🍀

Junk man

 On Monday,  I loaded up a few last odds and ends out of the garage. Then I took photos of what is left and sent them along to the junkman to finish the job. I'm still waiting for his reply. 

When I got to the house,  the free table was sold out.  It never ceases to amaze me.  

I have grown quite fond of this table. Dad built it when he was making kitchen cabinets. Because he worked alone, he had to have a way to move heavy projects around his shop. So, this table has seen a lot. 🔨 🛠  🎨 🖌 I've had it in my garage for over ten years.  I have used it for many different projects. Thanks Dad. 

During this move, it has been a lifesaver as it was easy to roll down the driveway, full of stuff to give away, and then easy to roll back up to reload. 

I've decided I can fit it in my new garage.  I can't quite bear to leave it when I sell the house.

❤️ 💙 💜  ❤️ 

I got back to Luck on plenty of time to watch the middle school basketball games.  

Great nephew Ivan plays with the 7th graders. He enjoys being on the team and he scored a basket in this game.  👏 

Great nephew Jens plays on the 8th grade team. These kids are getting good and have skated past all their other opponents but not so this game.  They were down by 10 and came back and finally won by 5. It was not a sure thing until nearly the end. 

Great nephew Jude is one of the managers for the 8th grade team. 

It's a real treat to be so close to the school now. ❤️ 

Sunday organizing

 I stayed home in Luck today to watch football and do little projects. 

I assembled the TV stand for the living room.  Moved a couple of lamps around too.

Now I'm ready for Thanksgiving Day when I put up my Christmas Village on the entertainment center.

I also found the pendant light for the kitchen.  That's the look I like. 💡 There was a high intensity bulb in the can light above the sink. 

And I moved a bookcase to the kitchen beside the fridge.  This will help with storage of little used items.

Little by little,  it is coming together.  

❤️  Home 🏡 Sweet 🏡 Home ❤️  

We are happy 🐈 .

Better

 Amazing how much a night of rest helps adjust my attitude.  

There was a showing of my house last evening,  a young couple with a baby. It would be a good house for them if they have any money.  I haven't heard any feedback. 

Another showing is scheduled for Tuesday morning. 

Today,  I loaded up the free table with a few more things,  filled up a tote of the tools that I am bringing to Luck and decided I can now call the junk man to come and get the rest.  I'll go over on Monday to take down the trash and then I'll take photos of what needs to get hauled away.  Time to be done with that now. 

I left a note for the agents about my lights. 

When I got back to Luck I decided to hang my clothes up in the garage.  I didn't sort my clothes before packing them and I need to take a bunch to goodwill.  Now,  I can sort them in the garage and put the goodwill stuff right into the car. 

The garage is walkable again. Yay. 

Melting down

Well, it finally happened. I reached the limit. Today was my meltdown day

In our last episode, after 8 weeks in the market, we finally had 4 showings scheduled, but then 2 canceled,  one made an offer, which I was told about today. It was contingent on selling their house,  that they have not even put on the market yet.

So I declined that offer, but the agent was going to tell them get their house on the market. Get a buyer lined up and then make us another offer. Their offer was low.

The other showing was a couple that the agent said she has sold several houses to, every time his health gets better, they buy a different house. His health goes worse, they buy a different house.  And I watched him go up the steps into my house 📷 and thought he was not going to make it.They loved the house but thought it over, and decided it was too much yard, too much steps, too much everything for them, which I am fine with.  I kind of want to feel good about the new owners. 

The agent said she would call the two cancellations and tell them there was no offer accepted and encourage them to look at the house. I see there's a showing tonight and again, one on Tuesday. 

But I don't know, today was just the day. I thought I maybe would have a few tears on the way home.  But I didn't.  I don't know if it's a combination of the driving over there every day. The trying to clean that garage out, and some of it's probably that some of the stuff I'm getting rid of is still Dad's, I'm not sure, but anyway... 

It is getting more and more empty. 

I brought home my Christmas tree today. It was in the closet all decorated,  I laid it down in the car and it did okay. And so now I have a Christmas tree in the living room. And that's cheerful, as all get out. 

I was gonna go to the school and watch basketball tonight, but I decided to stay home and watch it on the live stream. I'm a grub and I haven't had a shower yet. 

Trying to watch the kids play ball on TV with a cat that makes a better door than a window,  is fun. 

Dana's son plays in the big football tournament game tonight.  So I'll be watching that on YouTube later. If they win tonight,  it's on to the State Championship. 🤞🏻🏈💪🏼

In the old days I would have had a few drinks after a day like today.  I guess I'll make a cup of tea.  ☕️

I'm headed back over to the 'lake house' tomorrow.  I'm getting closer to calling the junk man and then will have him come and empty the garage. 

I feel a little better now that I'm home with the kitty.  

On the funny but annoying list.   

The real estate agents have been turning off all the lights in the house after they've shown it.  I have several lights turned on, to stay on, since I'm not living there anymore, time...the hall lights & the kitchen island lights, the garage lights and the outside garage lights/ motion sensors.  

So today, I used packaging tape to tape over the rocker switches that I want to stay on all the time...the hall lights & the kitchen island lights.

Tonight there was a showing.  The agent out witted me.  I forgot that the the hall lights have 2 switches, I only taped the switch near the front door.  Ugh. 

Then,  after they looked in the garage,  the interested buyer turned off the lights in the garage and the switch to the outside motion sensor lights.  Double ugh. 

I'm going over tomorrow again,  I'll be using more tape on the switches!

I really think the rule should be that you turn off what you turned on and leave the rest alone. 

💡💡💡

I printed a few of these notes to place around my house. 

Agents & Buyers,

Please, ONLY turn off any lights that YOU turn on.

Thank you,

Wanda

Finally

 Wednesday morning,  after 6 weeks without a showing &  a couple of days of thinking over my options on selling the house,  I dropped my price to $219k.

Within 30 minutes I had a showing,  the first since listing the house.  Before the day was over,  2 more showings are scheduled.  

Here is the comment card from the first showing. 

Of course,  I am anxious to see this offer. The next showings are Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. 

🤞🏻

The last

 Today, I hauled the last load of the moving bags that were packed for Luck.

There will be a few more things to come over from Rice Lake but they will be just some of the odds & ends out of the garage. 

So while the Rice Lake garage is getting more empty,  the Luck garage is a complete disaster. 

But,  I have all winter to clear out that mess.  And likely,  I'll get through quite a few of those bags this afternoon & this weekend. 

I'm taking tomorrow off,  I'll go back to Rice Lake on Friday and load up the FREE table again.  It was empty when I got there this morning.  Most of the good stuff is already gone, but the pickers do not seen to care.

❤️ 

Also,  got this message from my agent this morning...good morning! Just wanted to let you know that we did a paid boosting for better placement of your home on Realtor, Zillow, and Facebook!

🤞🏻

Some progress

 The moving bags are really handy but I can only haul about 8 or 9 in my car and still have rear visibility.  Once all the bags are over in my Luck garage,  the Rice Lake garage will start to look closer to done.  It looked a little never ending when I got there at noon. 

But after loading the car and piling up tomorrow's load,  I felt more optimistic.

I finally made the decision to get rid of my golf clubs today.  I hauled the bag to the free table and laid it down.  As I was wheeling the table down the driveway,  a field mouse 🐁 crawled out from inside the bag and sat up all proud for the ride.  I should have grabbed my phone for a pic. But believe me,  he looked like a Disney character, on a big adventure. 🐁  🐭 

Where he went after his ride,  I do not know.  But I'm very thankful that I did NOT give him a ride to Luck.

By the time I got back to Luck, I could see on the camera that the golf clubs were already gone.  👏 👏 👏 

I loved those clubs,  I hope that they get used again. ⛳️ 

An older man stopped while I was still there to ask if he could take a plastic tray of odds and ends that came off the work bench,  some sanding disks, screws,  nuts and what-have-yous.  I said,  yes please,  take anything but the table.  He left happy. 

My ride home was nice,  it was a perfect fall day,  only a light breeze. 

Still no showings on the house.  But,  I'm trying to stay hopeful. 

Another week of the move

 Another week has flown by.  I'm still moving stuff from Rice Lake to Luck, mostly clothes and odds&ends. 

Monday,  I loaded my car with all the Mary boxes and then met up with Casey for lunch.  We visited the afternoon away.  

Tuesday, I met my friends Mary & Sharon in Hayward for lunch. My car was packed full of boxes for the Dog Shop. Mary will deliver them and I'm hopeful some of this stuff will make money for the Humane Shelter in Ashland. 

Wednesday I was back in RL. There were a few things that we had not packed in the hutch and I loaded my car up again. I also put the FREE table out. 

Thursday, I pushed the FREE table back into the garage and then played cards with my group on Cameron. I followed that up with a haircut. 

I can't remember if I went over there on Friday. I do know that I lowered the price again after a sleepless night. $249K now.  Still not a single showing.  

It was Halloween, we had about 20 kids come for candy before I closed up to watch the high school football games.  Great nephew Anders team lost,  such a great season they had.  Great nephew Jake's team won big,  so they move on in the tournament bracket. 

Later Friday night,  I had one of the rapid heat beat episodes. I did all the drugs and eventually had to leave for the ER. Thankfully,  about 20 minutes or of town,  my heart rate returned to normal.  I was happy to avoid the ER on Halloween night.  🎃 

I stayed in Luck on Saturday.  I put away a few things and assembled another cube case. I'm pleased with this additional storage and display surface in my dining room. 

The red fabric cubes will store seldom used kitchen gadgets. 

I had thought about staying home in Sunday,  but I couldn't get the Packer game on TV so decided to recycle my carload of cardboard, then drive to RL, listen to the game on the radio,  and haul home a load of moving bags. 

The lumber company in Luck is adding a mural to the South side of their building.  It's a nice treat to see when visiting the recycling bin.

In RL, I reloaded the FREE table.  Hopefully, it does not pour rain overnight. 

I squeezed 8 moving bags into the car.  Some are clothes but some are other assorted belongings.  I'll start lining the edge of the garage with these bags,  no rush to unpack,  I'll have all winter for that. 

My plan is to head back over in the morning on Monday to get another load and to reload the FREE table.  Once all the moving bags are here,  I'll be able to see if I'm ready for the junk man to empty the garage.  

It's a marathon but I'm starting to see the end of the moving of stuff,  now,  the house needs to sell. 

🤞🏻🏠🤞🏻

Great niece Milena

 Today,  great niece Milena, married Carson Cross.  I didn't go to the wedding.  Originally, I would have been our of town at quilt camp, so had RSVP my regrets,  but then the move... but I still didn't go as I have yet to move my clothes to Luck.

Glenn sent a nice photo. 

Congratulations. 

Some assembly

 I ordered a cube-case unit, in black, to go in the dining room. I need some surface area to display photos and other memorabilia.

Today I assembled it. The instructions told me it would take 1 hour for 1 person and it took me right at 56 minutes, with only one mistake.

I like it well enough, that I already ordered another.  The next one will go vertical,  back in the corner. I'll get some cloth cubes to use for storage for some of the excess, seldom used, kitchen items.  My kitchen has minimal cupboard space, so this will solve that problem. 

That's my Grandpa Ansgar's rocker. I'm planning to have it refurbished, but in the meantime,  we can see it now.  (I also hung up the clock,  it was driving me nuts not to have a clock on the wall.) P

I also auditioned that cube-case as a divider.  I think it works and it gives me options for rearranging from time to time. 

It was a relatively easy put together and I think it looks good. 

☺️

Crutch power

 Cleaning out the closet in the guest room turned up a pair of forearm crutches that I had used while I recovered from having my ankle fused back in 2014.  

Recently, I had started to use one of Dad's old canes once in a while, whenever my knee was really in 'ouch' mode.  (This move has not been very kind to my knee.)

 Anyway, I picked up one of those crutches and tried it out, and much to my surprise, it was exactly what I needed.  It gives better support than a cane and really takes the pressure off my bad knee.  I feel much more confident walking with the crutch and I can manage steps and curbs with ease. I had started avoiding going anywhere involving much of a walk.  I was starting to fret about walking from the car into the school for ballgames, too.  Now,  I think I can start walking a bit for fitness.  I ordered a good tip for it and I am in business.   I can avoid that knee surgery a lot longer now. 

The crutch for the win 🏆. 

Since it was a pair,  I'll keep one in the car all the time and one in the house. 

🦾🩼🦾

Barley

 Today was sunny and nice outside.  I stayed home in Luck and unpacked a few things.  It's a nice feeling to find homes for my things.  And emptying boxes is gratifying ❤️. 

SIL Lois & I had our first ☕️ party as neighbors.

Barley continues to amuse me as she settles in.  The red chair that she never, ever laid on in RL, is now her go-to napping spot, every day. 

I brought over her cat cabin and put it in the corner of the living room, behind her red chair.  She seems to like it there.  🐈 

For those moments when she needs a more little solitude.