And So It Began

Well did ya think we could just plunk ourselves on our new summer spot and settle in.....HA.  We've been, too busy, but things need to be done.  After it is all said and done the bob, truck and trailer will be sold which means there will be no more machines to do a lot of work with and then we rest and enjoy.


As David 'built' our motorhome pad He, yes he, cleared two areas for gardens.  I enlisted Mary's help and up we went to the northland.  A four hour drive up to work work work

Mary dug hostas while I mowed

Pixie, the magnolia bush, got dug up as well.  That bush took us more time to dig out than all of the hostas combined.  It is with great pride that Mary stands in this 3 foot deep hole holding the extracted bush.

Let me see

I wonder what Mary was doing

While I was taking these very pretty butterfly pictures

This may give you some idea.  The hostas and a few other plants ready for the four hour trip back to their new home.  That may not look like many plants but....

Putting them all in  my Honda

Was quite the task.  Mary and I together is a dangerous venture.  Usually lots of laughs, things done in a backwards manner and slower than most people would do them but we always get er done.

Trying to squeeze a hoe in there somewhere

And yes the Menopausal Maiden will have a special place in our new garden

Four hours up, four hours of work and four hours back and here they are hostas, magnolia and more.

The site of the new hosta glad which is located at the edge of the woods behind the motorhome pad

And the garden to the side of the pad where the magnolia, hydrangea and annuals will go as well as the Menopausal Maiden.

Not finished in this picture but this is the new 'pad'

Julia getting an early start taught by the best, my gardening friend Mary.  Poor Shelby is in the background too shy to get too close to a new person.  When did our shy girl become more outgoing and our outgoing girl become so shy? 

We are, today, headed to Mystic Lake for a few days and then off to Canada to visit friends that we meet this past winter.  Look our Canada here we come.

Saying Goodbye

The fountain is quiet and planting pots empty

 Hostas are opening

 The trees they are budding

 Beautiful colors are beginning

 Cedar chips have been spread

 The vehicles are loaded

 The gardens were work

 Work that I loved

 And David and Peeko patiently wait

 While I took one last look around

 We then head out for the next new chapter in our lives

 

Last Saturday (May 14th) was moving day.  A day of excitement as well as a feeling of bittersweet.  We purchased our little slice of heaven 3 months after my  mom passed and always felt as if it was something she would had wanted us to do.  The day of the auction-the auction that we purchased the property at-we could feel her presence.

For the first few years we spent weekends in our camper 'up north' and then of course came the cabin which turned into a home.  David always credited the cabin remodel for keeping him sane after my breast cancer diagnosis and through my chemotherapy treatments.  It gave him something to do other than to worry about me constantly.

We loved it 'up north' and always hoped to share it with our family but alas that did not happen as much as we would had liked.  Families with children have busy lives and ours are no exception.  We cherish the times that they were able to come and appreciate the many trips that friends made to our slice of heaven, we loved sharing it with you all.

Someone will love it and appreciate the work we have done to it.  They will love the gardens and attention to detail that we put into the house.  The deer, the ducks, the eagles and bear, someone will love it of that we are sure. 

Although we will miss it we are not sad.  It was a chapter in our book and each chapter leads us to where we are today. 

It's Not Where We Start It's Where We End Up

As I was contemplating about what to title this post, wanting it to be auction based, I asked Chrissy (whose family has an auctioning business) who she suggested the above.  She pointed out that not only is it what auctioneers frequently say when starting out a bid but it applies to our situation (moving from the Northland back to the StPeter area) as well. 

It was an interesting, busy fun filled weekend.  Mother Nature was good to us considering Saturday was the only day that it did not rain, it was cool but dry.  Our friends Chrissy and Jess came up to offer emotional support and help us in anyway that they could.  Good friends are hard to come by and we cherish the ones that we have.

Jess, Chrissy and David relaxing as the bidding wars continue

We ended up with three jam packed stuffed hay wagons of 'to be sold'

As well as a full car garage

A full back garage

And items lined up and down the property

People...there were people

With cars lining one side of the road

And the other

And parked on our lower field

There were a few kids

Who soon tired out

And after 7 hours of fresh air needed some real shut eye

And hopeful bidders found lawn chairs to sit on for a few minutes prior to being sold

Our Realtors held an open house while the auction was going on

Lotsa lookers, all impressed and we have our fingers crossed.  It is nice to hear that people appreciate the work that we have put into our property.

Food was provided by Karen's Fry Bread and Cafe and it was pretty darned good

The auctioneers found interesting ways to display our wares-as Jimmy did with a blanket

Tod keep folks bidding-and a colander

The auction started at 10am with some people arriving at 7am to preview items.  I am sure that they never imagined it would last until 7pm.

It was a long day and even Gary (of Daudt Auctions ) took a bit of a break before this couch was sold off

David started out the day nervously watching his tools be sold

But by afternoon he was able to relax and yak with the auction goers

If you look at the hands in this picture you can just imagine them saying, "Yep" "Yep" and "Yep"

The big talk of the day was our brown couch that we had in the new living room.  The people that wanted it to be theirs staked their claim by sitting on it the entire day until it came time to auction it off.  One person actually complained to someone that she wanted to sit on the couch to see if it was one she wanted to bid on but no one would give up their spot.  It was a long day of sitting given the auction started at 10 and the couch went at about 4pm.

Here the hopefuls are

Number 23 not only got the coveted couch but the sleep number bed as well

And a happy bidder carting her winnings to her vehicle

The menopausal maiden

And Peeko and I

Were happy when the day was done and everything but three small items out of all of that stuff was sold.

Thanks to Chrissy and Jess, David was able to forget about the auction and celebrate his birthday on Friday with a carrot cake
 

Whose candles would not blow out

And a great breakfast

Of Jessica's Huevos Rancheros

To top it all off we took Chrissy down to see the bear who seems to have adopted the road about 2 miles from us.

He apparently showed up a couple of weeks ago

And people have been feeding him

Which is unfortunate for many reasons.  He had probably just come out of hibernation and because he is so small (perhaps 200 pounds) his mother may have just booted him from the den which means he needs to learn to fend for himself.  And he could become dependent on humans, unafraid of them and may in time have to be put down if he turns into a nuisance bear.

Or he could get hit by a car given that the minute you stop to look at him he comes right up to the window looking for food.  I did not zoom in on this picture he was that close to the Honda.

He really was fun to watch and it has been on my bucket list to get up close and personal with a bear in the wild.  I do hope this youngun learns to be the wild bear that he was intended to be.

We have appointments this week and on Sunday or Monday we plan to move to our summer spot, can't wait.