Wednesday, January 16, 2019

It's About Time for an Update

We're two months in to our new home in Prescott. Furniture acquisition has been intense, lots of assembly required and cardboard to dispose of. We're pretty much done with that phase. There have been a few new appliances, lots of new blinds, a new roof is coming soon. Interior painting is ongoing.

We spent Christmas in San Diego and brought back a LOT of artwork that had been stored for over six years. We had way more art stored than we remembered...now the place really looks and feels like home.

Our yard is full of a variety of native oaks and young pinyon pine but had been neglected for some years. We've been tackling it in bits, hauling heavy loads of yard debris to the local transfer station. We're using muscles we haven't used in years!

We've got a lovely view out most of our windows overlooking a bird paradise where we've seen no less that a dozen types of birds passing through in waves all day.

Here's a few photos from the past couple of months.

From one phase to another.
The RV spent a week here for unloading and clean up.
Then the truck and the trailer were traded in for a new F150.

That's the old hot tub upside down, Hans is holding one of four gopher snakes that were living under the tub..
This will eventually be the site of a small veggie garden.

We had to end-over-end this beast to our haul away site.

Fellow RVers Dave and Shannon had the honor of being our first guests on Thanksgiving one week after we moved in.

We've managed a few hikes here and there. This is Granite Mountain from the NW side on a perfect winter day. 

We arrived home from San Diego the night before a good snow storm...5" in 24 hours. We were excited to be home for our first snow, it was awesome!

Our first snow storm!

Rosie does not like snow.

Completely unimpressed.

Snowy driveway looking out to the front gate.

Hans carried Rosie out into the white stuff and put her down.

Making a bee line back to the house.

Back yard boulders.



A pretty driveway in the neighborhood.

View of Granite Mountain as we walk the snowy neighborhood.

Before we picked up our stuff from San Diego we wondered how we would fill the shelves below and other built-in shelves in the house. It turned out not to be a problem...



We got in another hike before a second snow storm, this time among the boulders at Willow Lake.

Quail avoid the snow near Willow Lake.

Snow lingers on the Willow Lake trails.

Landscape projects will be ongoing for months. Fortunately decomposed granite is easy to dig.
This deep hole will hold grass that we are removing from the front yard and replacing with rock.

Walking through the neighborhood one afternoon we commented that we hadn't seen any javelina for weeks.
These three were hanging out in the very next yard we passed!

Big stretch!

We walk Rosie around the property every day...she loves it!

This transition from RV to house has felt more overwhelming than the previous move from house to RV. That's probably because we had no furniture and the place felt so big and empty when we first arrived. Now that it's full of new furniture and our personal items from storage it feels like home.

That's the latest from Prescott. Cheers!

21 comments:

  1. It all looks wonderful but the snow....

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    1. Ah, but this is Prescott where the snow doesn't last very long!

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  2. WOW - HOME & SNOW! So awesome you found what you wanted where you wanted.

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  3. Four equally divided Seasons in Prescott. A good choice :)
    Congrats and thanks for he update.
    mark

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    1. And fortunately, snow doesn't last very long in Prescott!

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  4. Good to hear you are settling in to your new digs! Your new home looks lovely. And isn't it fun to have some snow?

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  5. How fun to hear from you!! You guys have had a very busy two months—buying furniture, unpacking, decorating, digging ginormous holes, LOL! Your place looks beautiful. Seems like you're settling in wonderfully and making it 'home.' Maybe Rosie needs snow shoes. :-)

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    1. Rosie is pretty good a circumnavigating the house without touching snow if she stays under the eaves!

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  6. Can't believe Hans put poor Rosie down in the snow ;-)
    Sounds like a lot of work getting your new house in order. Hope to be in Prescott in early May. Look forward to seeing your place!

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  7. Thanks for the update Lisa. Your home is beautiful! Love, love the hardwood floors and the built in shelving, but especially love your yard...and the birds, flowers (the red leaves and berries on the nandina bush in the snow is gorgeous), and open space! We have no furniture either so in a couple of years, don’t be surprised if we holler “HELP!”.

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    1. Ha, ha, ha! It is amazing these days how much furniture must be assembled by the purchaser! Some pieces have been challenging!

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  8. I bet Ibuprofen is your best friend about now :-) The snow is just the right amount: it's enough to marvel at but not too much to sick of! It's quite the job but so worth it to be able to personalize the space to make it yours.

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    1. Yes, Aleve is our good buddy! We're enjoying the variety of workouts we're getting and all the results we are seeing!

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  9. Oh I love your house and the snow! It sounds like you had a frenetic two months settling in ! Birds, hiking trails and snow in the winter, makes for a almost perfect living :) Hope to see your new digs sometime this year.

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    1. Yes, I hope you guys come through this year! We're getting so much rain this year, the plants are loving it!

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  10. Sounds like you are truly settled in and I love seeing that big smile on Hans:) It certainly is a big transition from the RV to the big house and yard. While I do the love the small MH space, I love our yard and the privacy. We thank our lucky stars everyday that we bought a furnished house. We still wouldn't have furniture and be living in the MH...haha! I can't stand to shop and buying furniture for one bedroom that originally had twin beds was more than we could handle. You two have been working fanatics. Those muscle will be huge by the time we see you again! The snow is pretty in the photos but you can have it. Growing up in snow and cold has changed our feelings about being cold. I can understand your excitement though:) Thanks for the update!

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    1. Yes indeed, I love walking through my own yard and enjoy all the birds and the privacy.

      While furnishing the house was intense and a big expense I am really happy to have all my own stuff that is fresh and new...especially since the previous owners left dirt in the crevices that hadn't been cleaned for years...yuck!

      We are in great shape right now, our muscles needed the variety!

      I am grateful the snow doesn't linger here...it's pretty for a day or two, then it's gone!

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  11. Your home looks so lovely! I hope you two make many happy memories there!

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  12. So glad to see this post and your lovely new home. How wonderful to get real snow for your first winter!! I love that entry rug. The snow on the big boulders is great. I think you found a perfect spot!

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