Thankfulness is in the air! We always have so much to be thankful for but lately our transition from full-time RVing to part-time RVing is taking up all our time, $$ AND thankfulness. Yes, we are finding so many reasons to be thankful for this place we now call home! We closed on our North Carolina “home base” October 27 and it only took 4 truck loads to empty the RV into our new house. We had way more stuff than we realized. The good part is, when we do start to travel again, ALL of our earthly possessions won’t be crammed into Old Glory. We will be travelling much lighter and that’s good news for Old Glory.
As we furnish our new home, we have been blessed to find some great treasures through Facebook Marketplace, the local Goodwill and Restores.
A few MAJOR updates had to be made immediately after moving in. Elite Roofing was a great choice for the new roof install. They were punctual, professional and went above and beyond our expectations.
A little bathroom update was necessary as well. There is only one bathroom in the house and the tub was badly peeling so we called around to find a good tub Refinisher. When we lived full time in our RV, the one thing I missed was a bath tub. Professional Reglazing came out and made our tub shine like new! It went from this…
To this…
A BIG upcoming project will be our septic system. During the home inspection phase of purchasing this home, the integrity of the original septic tank (circa. 1950s) was brought into question. Although nothing is backing up or smelling funny, we knew a septic tank and perhaps a whole new septic system would be in our future.
The past few weeks have been spent investigating options. We now know that we cannot hook in to city sewer since we are outside the city limits. Caldwell county has been out to determine where we could put a new septic system if that is required. A & R septic services is coming out soon to thoroughly pump out the tank, run a camera through/ blow out the lines and remove any blockages. Then we will know if we just need a new tank or if we really need a whole new septic system. Either way, it will be good to know there won’t be any unfortunate surprises sewer-wise once that is all done.
So many details have fallen into place and yet we still have a lot of plans, Lord willing! There will be a bit of painting in our future, changing out a few doorknobs, another ceiling fan or 2 and the basement clean out is a continuing project.
When updating electrical things in a house that was built in 1954 you never know what you may find. It may or may not be grounded and it will probably have cloth wrapped electrical wiring. Mark found these ceramic wire nuts on the wires in the ceiling.
Mark is a handy guy and he has already installed some beautiful new storm doors!
The workshop has been a pleasant surprise – Babe the truck actually fits in it.
What else we find to put in that 3,000 + square foot workshop remains to be seen. That much extra space is a “problem” we have never had before.
If Mark isn’t doing upgrades to the house, I might find him “smoking” in the garage…
Several of our neighbors have introduced themselves. They seem really nice. The neighbors on either side of us were born and raised in the houses they are living in. We really are the new kids on the block!
Did you know, you might live in the country in NC if you hear a gun shot and your first reaction is to run to the neighbors house to see if you can help him skin a deer. Yep Mark was at the neighbor’s house (2 houses down from us) with his head lamp, filet knives and ziplock baggies one evening because the neighbor had promised him a shoulder if he would help skin his buck.
It’s true, you can’t make this stuff up!
Our Hickory, North Carolina family (Aunt, Uncles and cousins) had a little welcome to North Carolina and Happy Birthday Mark celebration one evening. We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have such amazing family nearby.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! We are thankful for each of you who are following along on this journey. It doesn’t quite look like we thought it would when we started out to RV full time in 2018. This has been a journey of exploration and discovery. Soon we will discover what it is like to be grandparents. The littlest Ballard will be joining our family in a few weeks. I guarantee there will be a blog post and lots of pictures to announce her arrival ; ) In the meantime, stay safe out there. If you must go out, wear a mask ???? and as always, be thankful!
Happy first Thanksgiving! So many new ‘firsts’ to celebrate! Take care.
Happy Thanksgiving to the two of you. Your new place is looking fantastic. Lots of changes going on here too. I sold the RV and moved back to the house last week. My son, his kids, and his cat are living here so I am social distancing till my surgery in 3 weeks. So excited for you all to become Grandparents. Praying for you all and for a safe and healthy birth for mom and baby.
Have a blessed Holiday season.
“7 male Cardinals” You all are Catholics now?”
Ha! Not too many down here!