Happy Ho Ho!

We went and cut down our Christmas tree this afternoon. Hopefully decorating it and the house will happen this weekend!

Another tool run

Jim went on another tool run today - to Washington, PA, this time!  He had sold the bucket on the Bobcat Skid Steer on Craig's List.  It had come with the Bobcat when he bought it from Oklahoma.  But it was an after-market bucket and wasn't the right size for the Bobcat.  He thought it would be an easy find to get a used bucket, but soon learned that a 61" bucket is hard to find.  He searched everywhere for months and no one had one.  We need one now because Jim uses it to plow the driveway in the winter.  We had just talked about it and he was pretty much convinced that he was going to have to buy a new one from the Bobcat dealer.  Then just the next day, he found a bucket listed on Craig's List!  Crazy timing yet again.  He called the guy, negotiated a price, talked to Bryan about a road trip, and they set off today about 1:00.

When I talked to Jim this afternoon, he sounded a bit discouraged about the shape the bucket was in - not as nice as he was led to believe.  He thinks it sat out in the weather for a couple years and was pretty rusty.  But he still felt it was a reasonable bucket - so he negotiated a better price and is pretty happy with the sale. 

They just got home a bit ago and are getting the bucket out of the back of Bryan's truck as we speak.  It's too dark to take good pictures but here's one!

House work still needs done...

So we're home from New York and now the motivation is even higher to get things done around here to get the house ready to sell.  One of the big things that Jim wanted to get done this fall was to replace the chimney cap.  It had started leaking and Jim needs to remove all the old concrete, replace it, put new chimney cap on it (that needs to be fabricated) and probably lots more little steps that I don't know about!  But the bad weather moved in earlier than we liked - October turned out to be pretty cold.  So the fix til spring involved Jim getting up on the roof and putting a "shower bonnet" on the chimney to keep the water out. 

That's a long way up!

 

Happy Ho Ho!

We went and cut down our Christmas tree this afternoon. Hopefully decorating it and the house will happen this weekend!

Update...all decorated and shining beautifully in the library!

Leaving...

It's sad...we really start feeling so at home here that we hate to leave. I do miss our house and will be glad to see it but wish we could stay a little longer.

Courtyard Marriott - our home away from home!

We just finished breakfast and are heading out to wash the car. You can't get the full effect from this picture because it's 2 days later and most of the sawdust has blown off, but after the first day of chipping the car was encased with it!

Car...before, with a nice coating of sawdust!

After the car is clean, we're heading back to the lot. Jim wants to cut up a red oak tree that had fallen and we'll take the logs back for burning.

10:00...Okay, cut the wood, picked up the chipper, grabbed the sign and we're ready to hit the road.

6:30...Been a good trip back so far. Jim took the southern route back to avoid traffic and it was all good. Tried to follow the Browns/Steelers game - technical difficulties made it tough but the Browns won!! So all is well in the world. Just finished pancakes at Cracker Barrel - another 120 miles to go.

 

 

Second work day

The forecast for today was snow, wind and temps in the 30s.  After temps in the 50s yesterday, I think we were a little nervous about working outside.  We got started again after breakfast, a quick fill up of gas and buying s'more supplies.  When we first got to the lot, there was a Jeep parked in the driveway. We got out and realized it was the people leaving cat food, corn and water for the animals. She leaves kind of a mess and we don't want to actually encourage stray animals.  But what can you say?  She said she relocated baby squirrels to our property and then felt guilty so she fed them.  While we were talking, a deer crossed the driveway and on our way out last night, we saw the family of turkeys we saw last time we were here.

However, she did have some interesting history on our lot.  We had seen where it was called Bailey Hill for General Bailey of George Washington's Army.  She said her grandfather had once owned the land and that it had been owned by the Comstock's who fought in the war also.  She said she has pages of history that she would share with us.  So that's exciting.

Once we got up on the hill, we started a little campfire to help keep warm (and for those s'mores!).  But it was a little scary because of all the high grass and the windy conditions.  We kept a close eye on it but it felt good to warm up with.



We moved the chipper to another location and got back to work.  We worked til time for lunch - and finally the s'mores!

Sharon, Julia & Jim enjoying our s'mores!

Then it was back to work.  While it was certainly colder than yesterday, when you were busy working it was fine.  It was just when you stopped that the cold set in.  But the weather up on the hill was amazing - we had periods of snow swirling and then bright sunshine.  It was really beautiful!

Unfortunately, the day went by too quickly.  But it was incredible to look back and see how much we got accomplished in two days.  Things look so good!






We had to break early and come back to the hotel for showers and be at church at 4:00.  We went to St. Clements - there are 5 Catholic churches in a small radius from here - like that!

Kyle and Julia had to be back at the Casino to catch the bus at 7:00, so we went to eat at Hattie's in downtown Saratoga Springs.  It's a landmark restaurant know for their Louisiana-style fried chicken.  It was a fun little place and the food was great.  We have major food detox to go through next week but for now, it's been good eatin'!

Jim, Kyle and Julia at Hattie's

So then we dropped them off, stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream and are now back at the hotel relaxing.  Two fun days of being at the lot - it's going to be so hard to leave tomorrow!

First official day of work!

While many hit the stores today on Black Friday, we had our first official day of work on the lot! After breakfast and a stop at TSC for another pair of hearing protection, we headed to the land.  Jim and I had dropped the chipper off last night so we were able to just set it up and start chipping away!  Though Julia took a quick turn, Kyle was the chipper operator for the day.  We concentrated the work on the backside of the lot where they had taken a lot of trees down and left their mess.  Jim used the chainsaw when needed and handled all the muscle work as well as hauling branches; Julia and I picked up branches and carried them up to Kyle.  After a pb&j lunch break, we kind of switched strategies and Jim and I carried all the branches up and Julia fed everything to Kyle.  Quite the operation!  We had gorgeous weather all day until the sun started going down and it started raining. But what a great first day!  You can see a major improvement in how things look.  I'm really hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow so we can get some more work done.

Julia manning the chipper!

After a well-earned and needed shower, we headed to Village Pizza for dinner.  We ended the day with a stop at Ben & Jerry's.

We're back!!

What a gorgeous Thanksgiving morning on Angel Road! We came here after breakfast at the hotel and it's just breathtaking. We dropped off the chipper so we don't have to drag it around all day.





We have to pick Kyle and Julia up from the MegaBus soon - they come in at the casino racetrack. We've never seen that before so another new adventure.

We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel - a new tradition! It was very good and fun to catch up with Kyle and Julia. After dinner, we checked them into their room at the hotel and then headed to the land.



The first order of business was to take down the For Sale sign. Kyle and Julia even brought us champagne to mark the occasion! So after a few photo opportunities with the sign, Jim popped the cork and we toasted the official start to our new adventure of building our house!

 

 

 

We walked around the lot for a bit and got to see the sunset. So gorgeous!

We topped off the evening by going to see the new Bond movie, Skyfall. Julia posed by a sign in the lobby bearing her name.  Very good movie.

Off to bed...tomorrow we work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the road again!

10:00 am...We're just about ready to hit the road for our Thanksgiving break in New York!!  So excited to see the lot again.  This will actually be the first time we'll be there when it's really ours!  Poor Jim has been working all morning getting last things finished on the truck and chipper getting us ready to go.  Keeping fingers crossed for a safe journey.  I know Jim's nervous about pulling the chipper through the mountains and with all of the holiday traffic.

Welcome to New York!!!

It was a great trip.  Weather was beautiful and traffic wasn't bad at all.  But still a long day for Jim worrying about the chipper.  So once we checked into the hotel, we headed to Applebees for dinner and a beer.

Long Overdue Post!

Wow...Jim has been working so hard on a multitude of different fronts.  I'll try and summarize and add some pics.  Work has still been proceeding on the truck.  And the good news was that after totally tearing apart and rebuilding its innards, Jim started it up on Saturday!  He's still got some electrical work to do to get it running better but that was a huge step.

Then he decided to replace the clutch in the older 4Runner  it's been on the to-do list for awhile but since we are going to NY for Thanksgiving and wanted to tow the chipper, it bubbled up to the top of that list  But such a job.  The transmission is huge in these things.  And this car is more rusty than the other one which creates so many more issues.  But Jim persevered through finding other things wrong and a ticking clock and got it back on the road yesterday.  My hero.

Then he had to do chipper repair work too.  Since the return trip caused tire damage, he had to track down a new one.  Then when he got that off, he saw the hubs were leaking and in bad shape.  So that necessitated more parts and more work.  He didn't get that done til about 7:30 last night.

And we leave today for NY!  Very excited.  We'll stay in Saratoga Springs this time which will be nice.  Kyle and Julia are coming up tomorrow and leaving Saturday so that will be fun.

More posts will be coming about the trip!

The REAL Chipper Story!

Jim just made it in time to meet me at church last night for All Saints Day services.  It was so good to see him.  :o) 

 

But then he told me the story of his ride home.  He had told me on the phone that about 300 miles into the trip, just north of Charleston, WV, I-77 North was totally closed and all traffic had to exit and detour to side roads (narrow, two-lane, windy roads with ravines and ridges along the side).   All of a sudden, the right fender came off of the trailer.  The chipper ran it over and yanked it off completely, jerking the car backwards.  At first, Jim thought he had lost the whole trailer.  Becaue of the road conditions and traffic, he couldn't pull over for a quarter mile or so.  When he was able to, he looked all over to find the fender but couldn't - it must have gotten thrown down a ravine.

 

Apparently, the 4 bolts that fastened the fender to the mount vibrated loose.   Jim had even stopped and checked the hitch, the chains, kicked the tires and visually checked the machine every 50 miles or so for the first 200 miles.  He had no clue that the fender was loose.   It appeared that as the fender became loose, it rubbed against the tire because the inside of the tire was badly chafed.  He thinks that the fender pivoted forward when only one bolt remained.

 

I was able to nurse the chipper the rest of the way home.   He was worried that the shock of the event might have damaged the axle or hub since that is where the fender is connected.  So we are now in the market for a fender and tire.

But his guardian angel was certainly looking out for him.  After the event, you think of all the things that could have happened.  If he would have been traveling 70 mph on the highway and it came off, it could have flown back and hit cars behind him, the higher speed could have caused more damage to either the truck or the trailer or both, the list is too scary to think about.  He was only on that detour for about 8 miles and to think this happened then. 

All home...just missing a fender!

 

Thankfully he's home and with only a few minor issues.  It was still such a bargain - a new fender and tire won't change that.  Jim was showing me smaller models that are selling for thousands more!  He's going to contact Bearcat to see if they can help with the repair.

Homeward Bound

 

Jim is on his way home from Boone, NC, towing our new chipper.  But he wasn't real happy...he said he drove 450 miles south and ran into North Pole-type weather.  Anyone who knows Jim knows how much he HATES road salt and look what he's following!  Oh my.  I'm anxious for him to be home and to check out the new equipment!

 

Chipper Trip

Maybe that's a confusing post title - I don't think the trip has been real chipper but it is a trip to get a chipper.  Hmm...

Anyway, Jim decided to go ahead and go down to North Carolina to buy this chipper he found on Craig's List.  I was a little nervous because of all the strange weather happenings caused by the huge storm on Monday night.  In fact, in some parts of West Virginia and Virginia, Jim could see a foot of snow on the ground.  In October!  Makes me shudder or shiver or both.  But thankfully, even though he said the roads were very curvy through the mountains and he had one bad experience waiting too long to get gas and finding the power was out...he's there.  He called a bit ago and is probably meeting the guy as I write this.  Hopefully that goes okay and I'll have a picture to post of our pretty new chipper.  Then he'll find the hotel and rest up after a long day, I'm sure. 

 

This looks like a very big, intense chipper.  I'm not sure I'm worthy to use it. 

Kyle probably can't wait to try it out!

 

Super Storm Sandy

It was a scary night with the crazy big storm. But Kyle and Julia were fine thankfully. They didn't even lose power! There was a lot of damage in NYC as well as other parts of the country. Kyle said his work has no power and the subways are still flooded.

We lost power about 10:30 last night. It came on a couple times in the night but didn't get restored until about 12:30 this afternoon. Jim got the stove cranking in the night so we were toasty warm. The biggest worry is always the frig and freezer as well as the fact that we lose water when the electricity goes out. Definitely will get a generator in the next house.

My school was canceled so I got to stay home in my jammies! Jim went into school to get some work time in since there wasn't much he could do here without power.

He's getting things ready to leave for NC tomorrow for the chipper, but watching the news has me a little nervous. The storm hit the south pretty hard. We'll see.

Updates

It's been a very busy few weeks for Jim.  He's spent a lot of time with the truck, really going over things and deciding what to replace, rebuild, etc.  The good part is that he's started putting parts back in the truck instead of taking them out!  He's hoping to have it running within a week.

But the main focus lately was on painting - the weather finally warmed up enough so that he could finish.  He still had much of the front side of the house to do as well as some trim and windows.  Check him out hanging off the scaffolding - sure makes me nervous!  He managed to get everything done except the back french door and the kitchen glider windows.  It all looks so good and is now all protected and in good shape.

But we went from 80 degrees last Thursday when Jim was painting in a tshirt to chilly temps in the 40s this weekend.  And right now we are bracing for Frankenstorm - a historical crazy storm that's bearing down on NYC (makes me scared for Kyle & Julia).  The winds are howling now and are supposed to get to around 70 mph when it peaks in the morning - along with probably 4-5" of rain.  I really hope we don't lose power.  Scary stuff.  But NYC is supposed to get hit with an 11' storm surge.  They shut the subways down last night so everything is at a standstill.  I just pray for all involved.

On to happier news - we may have another tool run in our future. Jim found a great deal on a chipper - but it's in North Carolina!  It sounds like it will be just perfect for us and it's towable.  If it all works out, we'll take it up to NY when we go for Thanksgiving and we can chip away!  That will be our first real "work" on the land.  Jim told the guy that he will wait until the storm passes and then make plans to go down and pick it up.  I was hoping it would work out that we would go this coming weekend because I have Monday and Tuesday off also, but he wants to go and get it before someone else shows up with cash.

Truck update and tool run

We're on our way home from Oxford where Jim found a great deal on a concrete vibrator. One of the items to mark off the tool list plus he can use it here when he fixes the chimney cap.



But meanwhile there have been a lot of truck repairs going on. Jim has already installed a new oil pan...we were so lucky to get it home like we did because it developed a really big leak. He got a new alternator and has been bending a whole lot of tubing to make new hydraulic lines. Some of the lines are so crazy complicated - I can't imagine trying to bend a straight piece of pipe into those twists and turns. We've cleaned out the cab a little too...the guy left a ton of trash in it. Jim is still cleaning out the box too - the previous owner used it for delivering baby furniture so it was full of cardboard boxes and more trash.



Wow - looks like spaghetti!  After Jim got some of the pieces bent, he painted them for extra protection and put some heat shrink on in certain places too. 

Jim's also almost got the log splitter Bobcat attachment ready to go too. Bryan gave him the log splitter sub- assembly and Jim has to design and make the steel frame and attachment. It's crazy heavy but he tried attaching it already and it hooked up perfectly. With 17 acres of woods, it will get a lot of use in NY plus we have logs ready to split here to use this winter.

 

Back to Kentucky!

It's about 9:30 and we are just about ready to get on the road heading back to Kentucky. Jim has some temporary hose fixes ready to go so hopefully he can swap those lines out and we will be able to drive it back home. Once it's home sitting in the driveway, things will be much better!

It's about 2:00 and we're back in Covington at the truck site. Jim's already under the truck starting work. Hmm...taking a hacksaw to the underneath just seems scary.

Okay, 3:00 and both lines off and repair pressure hoses on. That's some quick work! Yay!!! It started!! And both the lines seem to be holding with no leaks.

That celebration was a bit premature. The power steering line didn't hold and blew. So Jim put 3 clamps on each side and we were heading to the store for another set of clamps and power steering fluid. But our buddy here that helped us last weekend came through again and gave us both. So Jim will try again.

Well, adding another 2 sets of clamps didn't help and the power steering hose still blew.  Scott (okay, now we are on a first name basis with these service station guys!) recommended a place up the street that could make him a hose.  So off we went in search of this place.  After a few miscues, we found the place but they couldn't make a flexible pressure hose like Jim was hoping for.  They sold him a steel line with connectors that he could hopefully make work.

But, when we got back to the truck, the connectors weren't the same size as the line already on the truck that he needed to tie into - a metric vs English issue.  Then came the fun part.  For probably at least 3 hours, Jim tried various filing methods to reduce the size of the truck's line to fit the connectors.  One end of the line was already off but the other was still attached which just added to the fun.  Scott gave us various files in not so great condition (Jim said my fingernail file might have worked just as well!) and tough grid sandpaper.  Imagine doing that for 3 hours.  I felt so bad for Jim.  All I could do was try to hold the lines while he filed away.  But eventually he got all to mate up and connected everything.  He started it and the line held - success!  Then it was just a matter of putting power steering fluid in and getting the air out of the line.

But here's proof that we got it running - check out this video! 

Then we had to check out some basic driving things - do we have lights that work? Windshield wiper blades? That would be a big no, so thankfully no rain.

By this time though, it's 8:00 and getting dark and we had a 4 hour ride home - that's with good vehicles going the speed limit.  Jim ventured nervously up the street to the gas station.  At first, there was a ton of smoke but it got better and better as he drove off.  We got some diesel fuel and decided to try heading home.  For the most part, the truck did really well - much better than our nerves probably did!  However, he discovered that the oil pan was leaking so we stopped every hour or so and put more oil in it.  One bad part of that was that since I was following him and oil was dripping out, oil was making it back to my car and soon my windshield was all freckled with oil.  I wasn't smart enough to figure that out at first...it looked like slight rain drops and I tried cleaning the windshield with my blades and the wiper fluid.  A nice smeary windshield was the result of that.  So then we had to clean my windshield at each stop too.

However, it was considered a major success because the truck is now sitting in our driveway (well, the gravel turnaround so the oil doesn't ruin the driveway!).  We stopped once to eat too about 10:00 and got home around 2:00.  Tired but happy.  No more trips to Kentucky!

Big truck week continues!

11:00 am...We're on our way to KY to see if Jim can get the box truck running. We're listening to the Browns play the Bengals on a Cinci station no less. Go Browns!

3:00 pm...We're here now...here's the pretty new turbo that Jim's getting ready to put in. Fingers and toes crossed (except for the pinky toe I broke this week running into Jim's scaffolding) that all goes smoothly!

5:40...Oh my gosh ... Things were going well (except the Browns lost) and then the hose clamp Jim brought wasn't big enough. We needed a bathroom break anyway so we got in the car and went searching ... To no avail. So we get back here and we're thinking we are going to have to knock on neighbors' doors. All of a sudden a couple of guys who work at this car place where the truck is pull in. They open the shop to get Jim a hose clamp. Goes back to our discussion of God's will on our way down. (Fr John's homily yesterday was on how we usually pray for what we want - we should be praying for what God wants on the way down i told Jim that i hoped it was God's will that we got the trunk running!) Amazing. One clamp was perfect but he didn't have one big enough for the other side but Jim is trying to put two together.

7:30 pm....whew - this has been scary! Once Jim got everything hooked back up, he tried to start it. No luck. He had charged the batteries at home (yes, there are 2) but they didn't seem to be holding. This guy from the shop let us borrow jumper cables which we hooked up to my car. Still no luck. Then we thought maybe it needed more diesel fuel. Again this guy came through and let us borrow a gas can and we went and got some diesel. He even hooked the jumper cables up to his truck while we were gone. So when we got back and started it, we were thrilled when it started up! Until it started accelerating on its own and even when Jim turned it off! The smoke it was spewing was unbelievable! I would have taken a picture but was sort of busy fearing for our lives! But check out the oil slick left behind...

After what felt like forever, the truck finally stopped but then Jim was afraid to try it again. He finally figured that when the turbo blew and it threw oil everywhere, it filled the coolant tank with oil too which was acting as a fuel. So after everyone's hearts were able to beat normally, Jim tried it again. It started right up and then shut down! Now it's purring like a good diesel should! The issue now is that Jim knew that the power steering line was leaking and it sure is. He is also looking into a possible oil leak right now. We were hoping to drive it home tonight but since it's almost 8:00 and getting dark, probably not going to happen.

Next day...We ended up not getting home til about 1:00 in the morning (poor Jim driving all that way after a stressful day!). But all in all, it was a good day. We feel very positive that the truck is going to be all that we hoped for. We plan on going back down hopefully Thursday - Jim will see if he can temporarily fix the leaking lines so that he can drive it home.

 

Big truck week part 2!

Yesterday, Jim and Bryan drove down to New Carlisle to pick up the Bobcat midi-excavator (aka No Sweat).  As with all projects, it took a lot to make the trip happen.  Jim had to buy a braking system, get chains and brakes for those, and then make the trip.  But all went okay - they took back roads back home so they didn't have to drive it on the highway.  They didn't get home until late.

 

 

 

Both Jim and the Bobcat look happy now that it's home!  It's in good shape and won't require "fixing," but only tweaking some things.  Jim is power washing it right now and will check all the levels and grease everything up.

 

 

Then the focus is on the trip back down to KY to see if he can get the box truck running.  He picked up the reconditioned turbo this morning.  I just pray that he can put it in and the truck will start and be okay to drive it home tomorrow. 

Big truck week!

Sounds kind of like Shark Week and right now Jim probably feels like he was wrestling with sharks. Today Jim drove down to Kentucky to finalize the deal on the box truck.  He met the owner, they exchanged money and got the title transferred.  Yay - we now officially own a box truck!  The next step was to see if he could get the turbo off of the truck.  Then the plan is to bring the turbo back, get a new one, and take it back, install it and hopefully be able to drive it home.  But easier said than done on a rusty truck, laying on your back in a parking lot with none of your good tools to help out that process.  But he finally did it - it's out!  So as we "speak," Jim is driving back home.

 

Then on Friday, the plan is to go back down to New Carlisle and pick up the excavator.  Bryan is going to help - he's getting a trailer from work - but Jim still has to figure out the details of that project - like chains to tie it down. 

 



The official deed is here!

Whew...the official signed copy of the deed came in the mail today.  Just makes it all the more real.  The journey officially begins!

Excavator search continues...

Jim thought he found two good mini-excavators lately - one was in Virginia and one was on eBay, located in Georgia. Unfortunately, even though Jim had been communicating with the owner in Virginia about the excavator, someone had contacted the guy first and ended up putting money down before Jim could. So we lost that one. Then the one on eBay came due and we bid with 20 seconds left but we were outbid.

So...the search goes on. We leave this morning to go look at a box truck in Kentucky and then back to the equipment place we went to a couple weeks ago in New Carlisle - the guy got another one in that Jim wants to look at. Hopefully we'll have time to see my mom in between too.

First up was the box truck in Kentucky - I was really surprised at how nice it was!  It was in really good shape - well, except that it doesn't run.  Which explains the really good deal that Jim is getting on it.  Small detail.  It apparently needs a new turbo - so Jim is going to buy one and replace it.  The question will be whether he will have the truck towed up here and do the work here or take the turbo down there and fix it there.  Option 2 doesn't sound as good to me - it would be much nicer if Jim could work on it here with all his tools and equipment available.  So we'll see.  Just one of the many, many decisions Jim is working on at the moment.

 

 

 

Next stop was a very brief visit to my mom before heading to Jim's Equipment.  I knew this was good karma...this is the dealer that is literally around the corner from where Jim built his first house.  And it's named Jim so it has to be the right place to buy!  Equipment Jim had gotten this midi-excavator in and hadn't taken it in for service so the price was lower than the first one we looked at.  But as Jim was trying it out, he noticed that one of the rods was bent and causing some issues.  Equipment Jim agreed and is supposed to be calling the Bobcat dealer to see how much it would cost to repair.  Jim wants to negotiate on price and he will fix it himself.  He's supposed to call once he figures that out and they'll talk.  But this appears to be the one!  I like the 1-800-NO SWEAT sticker on it too.   





 

 

So it was a very productive day and we appear to have found 2 big pieces of equipment to check off our list!  Plus these two pieces need to be in place when Jim heads up to the land this fall to get things started.  Of course, in the meantime, he has to finish the outside things here like painting and the chimney work, get the truck running, get the equipment up to the land, design the pole barn he'd like to put up while he's there...my brain hurts just thinking about all of that.  But Jim's still smiling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally...the deed!

We finally got at least a pdf copy of our recorded deed - hopefully the original will come in the mail any day now.

But we love the wording...."To have and to hold the premises herein granted unto the Parties of the Second Part [that's us!], their heirs, distributees and assigns forever."  Sounds like wedding vows to the land...love it.  Then it goes on to say..."That the Parties of the Second Part shall quietly enjoy the said premises."  So no loud enjoyment is allowed.  Makes me smile.

Back on Angel!!

We got up this morning and this was our first stop. It's so gorgeous up here - always gets us excited about getting started. Our champagne bottle remains as evidence of our closing celebration. And Jim looks so happy up here on his new home turf.

 

And Jim looks so happy up here on his new home turf!

We did a few things in the little time we had...went back to the Bobcat store for Jim to order a couple things he will need. We even stopped at a little motel to see about rates for Jim staying about a month.

One of the strangest things happened as we were leaving the lot. We had hoped to find a new State Farm agent in the area - Jim had found 4 in the area. We were literally stopped at a stop sign discussing which agent might be best based on their online profiles. We look up and this sort of obnoxious looking totally decorated State Farm SUV drives by advertising one of the agents! Jim and I just looked at each other and started laughing - can't get much of a bigger sign than that!

Then it was on to pick up the car. We decided not to leave the Honda on the lot - just didn't feel right. So we'll dive both cars back.

All of the car transactions went really well and I'm thrilled with my new car. It's just perfect for me as far as size - I feel really comfortable in it. The 6 speed is a little different to get used to.

We took our time driving it back - took some back roads which were really pretty. Stayed overnight again in Owego - had pizza and beer at The Dugout again. Then drove it slowly home.

So all in all it was a quick but very worthwhile trip.

 

 

Back to New York!

Call us crazy but we're on our way back to NY! Part of the plan for moving is that I would need an AWD vehicle for the weather there, the driveway and even for this winter here in Ohio. We had thought we would get a used CR-V since those are the only manuals available any more. But after the heater core started leaking into the passenger compartment of my 14 year old Honda and it was a very time-consuming repair for Jim, we started thinking a new one would be smarter. I didn't think paying $30,000 for a car we'd be using during the messy building project sounded too smart. We started looking at Suzuki SX4s. They really aren't much bigger than my Honda which I like but they have AWD. Plus they really seem to offer a lot of value for the money. Of course the manuals are hard to find and we wanted the technology package. We test drove one in Cleveland, but they couldn't find exactly what we were looking for in their first 150 mile radius sweep. But it just so happens that there is a dealer real close to our land - and they has just the car we wanted and we got a good deal. So here we are on the road to go pick it up! I'm really excited.

It will be so good to see the land again. Jim still hasn't decided if we are going to leave my Honda there or drive both cars home. Either way we'll take it slow on the way back. We have reservations in Albany tonight and at a hotel we've stayed at before a few hours into the ride back on Monday.

Shopping for excavators!

Now that we have land, one of the next steps is to buy a mini or midi excavator. So today was our first adventure. We started the shopping in Sidney where Jim got to test out the 3 they had for sale. Then it was onto a place only a couple of miles from where Jim built his first house! I think that has good karma. They had a nice midi so we'll see what he can do on price. A fun day!