Date:
November 24, 2014
Location:
Blacksburg, VA
We
moved back into our house in Blacksburg last week for the winter.
It's in the mountains of SW Virginia at 2,000+ ft elevation. The day
after we got our furniture moved from a friend's house we had a hard
frost and snow flurries! We looked out the window and then at each
other - no words were necessary. So far this winter has been a far
cry from the last 7 we spent on Rachel. No, instead of balmy it's
going to be COLD....freezing cold, not the 70 degrees F cold that we
whined about when a cold front came through the Bahamas. No, this is
the real thing – 15 degrees F during the day!! Sheesh! What were
we thinking???
Even
though it's only been a week we are already enjoying hanging out with
family and friends here. We are also enjoying being at home again,
although it does still feel weird, especially being here and not
going to work every day.
And
it is so big, compared to Rachel. We open the fridge, “Oooo this
is SO big”; we lay in our king size bed, “Oooo this is SO
luxurious”; we turn on a tap, “Oooo on demand hot water”; we
turn on a light, “Oooo we don't need to check the batteries”; we
fill the dishwasher, “Oooo”. We feel so decadent.
The
house is in great shape to say it has been rented for so long. We've
had the same family here the whole time we've been gone and they
cared for it as if it were their own - we are very lucky. Now we
have lots of jobs to do over the winter, both deferred and regular
maintenance. Nothing too major, just lots of little things that need
doing to keep things up. Today, for example. Winter took a little
break and it was a balmy 60 degrees F (!!) so we donned our shorts,
went outside, and got everything out of the shed and onto the lawn.
Then we gave the shed a good cleaning and inspection, then sorted
through the stuff, some of which got put back in. Then we made a
pile for the dump, a pile for donations, and a pile of stuff we've
never seen before to see if it belongs to any of our current tenants.
Awesome, that's one thing crossed off our list!
What
are our plans you may ask? Well, we're not sure, but we'll probably
figure it out over the winter, sitting in front of the fireplace with
our mugs of hot chocolate. Now, where are our slippers and woolly jumpers?
