Bet it seemed as though I wasn't returning but we were a bit busy.  Had tons of pruning, prepping, and picking out of our new roofing.  Funny but we ended up with exactly what we had only years newer.  The old roofing had a 30 year lifespan and was put on 39 years ago!  Guess we got our money's worth out of it.  Fortunately we had no leaks in all those years.

One thing we couldn't get over was how MUCH roofing had to be done.  It was over 3,000 square feet.  We had the old roofing stripped off down to bare plywood and they said there wasn't even a bit of water staining after all those years.  So guess getting the same material again means the roof should stay in good shape for a few years.  They started stripping it just at 7:30am and were leaving at 3:30pm.  12 guys managed to strip and re-shingle the entire thing in just 7 hours!  They took a well earned 1 hour lunch break and it looked like we had "bodies" laying all over the lawn.  They just quickly ate then napped! LOL

Thank heavens for the motorhome!  I took the 3 cats and Cocoa (our chocolate lab) out before they came and it is a good thing I did.  The rat-a-tat tat of the nail guns was horrid even in the motorhome.  Can't imagine how bad it was in the house.  Cocoa was just so nervous the entire time she probably would have had a stroke if we hadn't been out there.  She is getting old (10) for such a big dog and we don't want to stress her.  She still misses her sister Lady who we lost unexpectedly in January and I have become her protector in Lady's absence.

The enforced relaxation was wonderful.  I read a while, knit while listening to music then knit some more.  Then got to spend the next 2 days double checking for roofing nails.  They had put up so many tarps to catch the debris I would never have believed that some nails had managed to escape but they did.  Luckily they registered on our metal detector so I swept around the house several times and think I got them all.

We have interior work to do over the winter, a bit of trim replacement outside in the spring and hopefully by this time next year the siding will be replaced.  Once that is done a bit more interior work and hopefully the house will go on the market. 

Well, back to clearing out a storage closet.  I want it completely empty so that as I work around the house if I come across something I am absolutely certain will go with us I can pack it in a box, log it in our "Arizona Packing" notebook and put the box in that closet.  Then I will go though each box again and hopefully downsize even more.  At least that's the plan!  I only want to move things we love, heirlooms or things that can't be replaced easily.

So, it might be a while before I post again but I WILL be back!

Sue 

The Beginning of my Journal

This blog is mainly to chronicle our efforts to clear out and downsize before retirement so we can follow our dream to move to our beautiful views in the valley.  The land is there just waiting for us to get off our duffs, pack the few treasures we plan to keep and dispose of the rest.  Waiting for us to finish up renovations, paint, clean (after the reno there will be LOTS of cleaning!), pack the treasures in a trailer, SELL the house, load the motorhome and wave goodbye to our old life.  See why we need to get off our duffs?  Just making lists of what needs to be done is exhausting so the doing of it is making us procrastinate just a bit.

We hope that having this journal will keep us motivated to just keep going until our "Valley Dreams" become a reality.  The carrot at the end of the stick is a brand new home with gorgeous views, wouldn't you think that would get us moving a bit faster?  I think we need to tackle this as we would eat an elephant, one bite at a time.

So although I won't post often I hope to be able to report progress as it happens.