HELLO!!! I AM IN PHOENIX!!!!

not the south pole. People - 34 degrees with 25-30mph winds (feels like 26 degrees) is NOT, may I repeat, NOT Phoenix weather. I had to break out a heating pad to create a bed for the little Anza girl, and even give Misty extra blankets. The good thing is, it is sunny. So now that I finished my outside chores down at L's house with the goats and such it is time to focus inside. I am thinking I will work on unpacking and storing my Christmas stuff. Afterall it feels like Christmas weather. :)

We are truly getting settled in, bit by bit. I never imagined it would be such a slow process, but I am trying to be patient with myself. I must say though I have finally gotten my Treadmill mojo back and am trying to be very consistent with it. I really want to get back in shape, so my blood pressure and breathing/asthma are not hassling me so much.

It really has been quite busy with multiple trips back east since buying the house, but now we have actually been settled in for 3 consecutive weeks - I have this month yet, and then the visitors will start arriving. Looking forward to Mom & Dad coming out, Dad will definitely feel like he is back on the farm. There is more fencing to be done, and reworking of some doors and tables. By then there may even be some grass to mow.

Sorry I have been so off the grid lately, but hopefully I will soon be back into some sort of a routine that will help keep me doing what I like. Been also doing a lot of research on my future dye business and have started the process of gathering plants, ordering yarn, and experimenting with some small dye batches. We shall see.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and warm during this crazy, crazy weather.

And so it is Solstice

First let me wish all those who celebrate the Solstice and Yule a Blessed Holiday and hoping the start of the longer days brings you much joy and wonderful times with family and friends.

I must say this is probably the first time I have watched the sunrise on the shortest of days and have plans to watch the sun set as well. It really was quite a spectacular. I find I am enjoying getting into the rythm of life right now. I just take a break and walk out to the pasture and stand there with Fox and Spice and just pet them, and talk to them and marvel at them. I spend time just wandering around and looking at the sky and the mountains outside my kitchen window. I really enjoy learning about the goats, and the coyotes (although I must admit the latter still makes me quite nervous and jumpy when I hear them during the night).

I guess when it really comes down to it I am a country girl at heart, and while I always said that, I still found that being in the city was OK. After just a short time here on our big 2 acres, I just don't think city life can compare. I am sure I will continue to love to visit and marvel at all there is in the cities, but the rythm out here fits me so well.

Now, if I could just get the rythm going to get all these boxes unpacked and put away. Made the mistake of having 'unpackers' here for a couple hours the day after the household goods arrived. Eeeeekkkk!!! There are things unpacked that I would not have touched for at least a few weeks. Oh Well, it is done, and now I have to figure out how to deal with it.

Well, I just figured out that Rick downloaded all my pics onto his computer... hafrumphf!!! Once I get my pics I will post them and you can see my sunrise and sunset pics.

Blessings to you all and may you make the most of the shortest day of the year and be comforted to know that they will all be getting longer from here on out.

It feels so good

to know that the kitchen floor is clean enough to run in socks on (although too cold right now). See our tiles are pretty much the same color as the dust and dirt here in AZ - which if you think about it, is a good thing. It will be tougher to tell how dirty the floor is, unless of course you decide to go barefoot, or in socks. My goal is: Thursdays will be clean the kit floor, hallway, laundry room, and main bathroom, floors day.

I think this morning they may be some oatmeal cookies going in the oven... we shall see.

Change of subject, this morning I sat on the window seat of what will eventually be our Master Bedroom and watched to most beautiful sunrise. For me this is pretty impressive, as sunrise tends not to be my time of the day. Now I just have to figure out how I can set up the room to stay in bed where it is nice and comfy cozy and still watch the sunrise. Hmmmmm

I shall take the camera with me the next time I venture over to that part of the house for a sunrise. This house is definitely even more than we imagined it to be. Continuing to find out all kinds of neat little things about it...some good, some... well a bit more challenging. :)

We have internet - it must be official

So, not only did we make it to AZ, we now own our forever home in AZ AND have internet and phone service. What more could one ask for. Last night was officially our first night staying in the house (well the guest house anyway).

Bit by bit we are getting things done. I have been baking and doing laundry today, and will soon make a run to the grocery store. I have yet to thoroughly clean the kitchen floor so I think that is today's chore. Since it is the size of a one car garage, and there are multiple layers of dirt it will definitely be a process.

So I am off to vacuum, swiffer, wet swiffer, and then enviro steam.... what fun this afternoon will be. :) Pictures will come soon I assure you all!!

We Made It!!

Here we are in Sunny Phoenix, AZ!!! Only problem was, as we drove into Phoenix, it was raining! Although the folks here really don't mind the rain, since they don't get much of it. I personally think Rich brought it with him when we picked him up from the airport in Albuquerque to make the rest of the road trip with us.

There are definitely some challenges moving from a 2500sq ft house into a 1 bedroom hotel suite for temp housing. There are a number of things I did not take into consideration. Live and learn!

We are in escrow for the house here in AZ, but are still in limbo. We are suppose to have a closing date on or before Nov 19th, but we just have to wait and see about that one. I am hoping for 'before'.

Lots to do, but hoping to keep up on the blog for the next while at least.

I am sure there will be lots of pics as we make our way into the house and get it ready for us. There will also be lots of knitting pics, I have made some really good progress on my holiday knitting. Amazing how much progress you can make when riding cross country.

Knitting Pictures.... Finally!!

So here they are folks, my long awaited knitting pictures. I am making great progress on my 15 Stitch Blanket. I really enjoy working on it, especially when I am brain dead, watching TV, or want to be doing something while talking to other folks (even non-knitterly type folks).

The socks are a gift for my Mom for Christmas. No worries here, as she is a non-computer person, and will never see them before the big day. The funny thing is, she is on this road trip with us, but because I have been spending all my time either in the truck with Rick or by myself in the hotel room, I can work on them without her even suspecting.

The Concert Scarf is for Brittany (Josh's Girlfriend). I really hope she will like it. I think she will though, as she has mentioned that she likes working with fiber as an art medium. It will be fun to give hand made gifts this year.


I have a few other projects in mind to complete before the holidays, and with the remainder of this road trip, plus 2 other flights back east (one for T-giving and one for Christmas), I should be able to get all my project done in plenty of time.
Now if I could just get rid of the cold, I would be in prime knit mode.

Oh and we are officially going into Escrow on the house in AZ. Infact our realtor told us, the bank and owner are pushing for a closing date on or before Nov 19th. Woo Hooo!!! That means we would move in the weekend before the Tues we leave for PA for T-giving. Never a dull moment with us, that is for sure.

So Begins the Great New Adventure

I promise soon there will be pics. First I need to recover a bit from all the stress and insanity of getting us out of the VA house and on to the road for our trek cross country. It went relatively smoothly with some hiccups, but once we really got started things settled into a routine. Right now we are camped (in a Staybridge Suite) in Columbia, MO. Rick is doing some research for his historical biography that he has been working on for years. Mom has already done the laundry routine, and Dad is being really great about walking Misty. Me, well, the stress seems to have gotten the better of me, and what I thought was allergies from all the dirt and dust we kicked up while cleaning the house... now seems to have turned into a sinus cold. I am really hopping that with a couple good nights of sleep, and just a bit of relaxing I can kick it to the curb before we get back on the road. I have managed to do a fair amount of knitting already. Made some good progress on the Scarf for Brittany, started Mom's Christmas Socks, and even did a bit of the 15 Stitch Blanket.

Will post pics as soon as I am able, but for now it is off to bed for an afternoon nap. Sleep.... it does a body good (especially one that doesn't feel well).