It's Official!

No longer are we wanderers, as we have been for the last decade.  We are now officially settlers, because ten days ago we sold our wheels.

It had worn a "For Sale" sign since early September which had drawn some inquiries, but nothing serious.  Then, about a month ago Bruce had put up a listing -- including pictures -- for it on the Escapees on-line forum.  That generated a few phone calls but, when the callers heard that the fifth wheel was not "all seasons," equipped with freezeless water and waste tanks, they were not interested.

We had moved the rig to its storage spot on our son's property in Athens County, Ohio.  We were preparing to adorn it with the "For Sale" sign again when he had a better idea: Post the sign in front of the trailer in a more visible place at the roadside.   He even crafted us an eye-catching roadside notice.

Less than a week later, a call came from a woman who lives in his neighborhood, about four miles from his house.  She was seriously interested and was not discouraged when we told her about its seasonal limitations.  Her reply was, "Well, it can't be any worse than the one I'm living in now."

A few days later we met her at the trailer's resting place and gave her the complete tour, inside and outside.  She was obviously impressed and kept saying, over and over, "This is beautiful.  Those pictures (on the on-line listing) don't do it justice."  She bought it on the spot for only $1000 less than our asking price!  She was ecstatic and we were delighted that the RV dealer who offered us only $1000 was wrong!

She is retired from the police department of Toledo and has moved back to Athens County to help care for her father.  She was living in an old 27-foot trailer on her parents' farm.  The stove didn't work, there was no storage, and the roof leaked.  So our 32-foot New Horizons in excellent condition, and with lots of storage was a major upgrade in her housing.  She says her friends refer to it as "the castle."

Her purchase of our former "home on wheels" was a blessing for us, too.  It would not have to sit empty and untended thru the coming Ohio winter, and her check will help us with an upcoming bill for dental care.  Besides that, we were delighted to see it go to a good home where it would be thoroughly appreciated.

So, we are now officially settlers, dwellers in a fixed location, no longer wanderers or footloose.  But the transition has been fun, and is almost complete.  We are already well set up for guests and, being just a mile off the Columbus, Ohio beltway, we're hoping there will be many, including you.

As soon as we get the last of the pictures hung in our little home, we may take you on a virtual tour of it via blog.  Stay tuned.

Hanging Precious Memories

Six weeks we've been living in our new location and we're still trying to make a home out of a house.  The furniture is all moved in, most of the stuff has found storage (hiding) places and we're beginning to develop some routines that work well in these new digs.

We've made frequent use of the near-by bike trail and are really enjoying the brilliant colors of the approaching fall.  We've experienced our first taste of "cold" weather (cloudy, cool rain in the upper 40's) and it was enough to remind us that we don't own very many cold weather clothes!

So the new place is beginning to look and feel like home, except for one thing:  The walls of the new condo are all uniformly painted off-white.  That's an easy color to decorate with but unadorned they look like the walls of some kind of institution!  So, we had to fix that!

We remembered several quilts that had been made for us by special people in our lives but had been in storage for at least 30 years!  Why not use them as part of our decorating scheme and cover up portions of those large, off-white walls?

The first that came to mind was this "Flower Garden" pattern quilt.  We discovered that it just fits this wall in the study perfectly.  A note attached to the quilt said that it was made by my paternal grandmother in the 1940s (which means it is as old as I am!)  Grandma Bessie made a quilt for each of her grandchildren.  She had seven, of which I was the youngest.

Next , we remembered this beauty, made by Bruce's mother in the 1960s.  

It, too, was one of three quilts she made, one for each of her children.  It is quite large, but ios the perfect size for this wall in our dining room.  Our dear friend -- and expert quilter -- Jane Pronovost encouraged me to use a quilt sleeve to hang it which really enhances its beauty.

The quilt is lovely as a total work of art, but even the details are intricate.

Even the quilting stitches are patterned in a graceful way.

We were so pleased with the results of our "memory hangings" that we quickly hung one more quilt piece.

This quilt, wall hanging, and matching pillows were a retirement gift to us from the Greenville Church of the Brethren where Bruce had served as pastor for twenty years.   Each square includes the name -- and creative pattern -- of a family in the church.  It is as warm with memories as it is in weight.

So, finally, after many long years in storage, hidden from view, these gorgeous pieces of fabric art can be displayed and appreciated.  It's been a lot of work, but we are so glad that we have hung these precious memories.