In order to get a woodstove, though, we need more space in the trailer. Phil suggested we swap rooms. Although I liked the layout we had, the living area did feel a bit cramped, and the sleeping area had some wasted space. So we started to swap rooms.
Well, to be perfectly fair, I “helped,” but PHIL started to swap rooms. I thought I had a good idea of how everything would look. Good gracious, I had no CLUE. My mother has a good eye for packing boxes and spatial relations. Phil’s eye is UNBELIEVABLE. It turns out, he rearranged his room growing up every few months (and because he was military, he had different rooms available on a regular basis, too). I suppose some of his gift is just practice, but I think more truly, it is a gift. The one room we more-or-less finished is beautifully compact, completely useable—really perfect (or so it seems at the moment).
And I was so, so thankful to actually empty a room, and clear off all the chrome shelves. Those shelves have been the bane of my existence, having, as they did, cooking spices, gardening gloves, potatoes, keys, cast iron pots, papers and books to go to the office, unread magazines, sprouting seeds, all the bottles of condiments that would normally inhabit a refrigerator door, and some other sundry items. What a psychological horror! How to keep a shelving unit like that clean? It mixes kitchen, garden, basement, magazine rack and more. Ack!
I’m still not sure I know what I will do with all the kitchen stuff, but I will figure it out. I realized today, too, that I have had LOTS more counter space in my “kitchen,” but no cupboard space. No wonder cooking anything is a challenge! I have ingredients in different rooms of the trailer, and more on different tables outside. When I have washed our few dishes, they remain spread out on the table, for want of an orderly place to store them. Frustrating! Maybe craigslist will have some kitchen cabinets. That would be good.
As we gathered some linens from our (only) closet, the smell of cat pee overpowered our poor noses. Nasty cat! Tiger peed all over pillows, blankets, cloth diapers … disgusting. We’ll have to go to a laundrymat tomorrow. We have plenty of laundry to do. And Tiger just became an outdoor only cat.
We went to a new (to us) Costco, about 90 minutes away, then headed south. The trees have not changed color too much, although James Madison University had some stunning trees. The difference between naturally growing trees and the planned landscaped trees shocked me: the color difference between a muddy yellow and a fluorescent orange. Like the difference between a tasteless strawberry in a clamshell box at the grocery store and a fresh-picked strawberry from the garden. No comparison, really.
We drove almost to the border of Tennessee, and there we met my cousin Nathan and his 4-year-old daughter. Abigail is going to live with us for some little time. Birdlike, she has a sweet, chirping little voice, and unfailing politeness. She reminded me in the bathroom that “We should always wash our hands”and, later, “It is always polite to say, ‘Please.’” Clearly, she has been well trained.
To round out this blessed, blessed day, we are under contract on our house in Boulder. The purchase price was less than before, but (unsurprisingly), just about the same amount that we’ve saved from my projected budget thus far. We’ve saved money on our dwelling, on our minerals, on our tractor, on our move itself. We are completely, completely thankful. God has provided again.
thank you for sharing your grateful heart! and your testimony of the goodness of the lord :)
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