Progress Report

We went out to the acreage in Mustang to evaluate the interior of the house and see what needs to be done there before we actually move in, and I have to say that while we knew it would be a big job, it looks to be a bigger job than I thought it would be. Fortunately I am married to Superman (sorry for blowing your cover, Dear), so we have accomplished an amazing amount of work this week. That is a good thing, because there is yet a good ten times that much more to be done!

I said in my last post that I would post pictures, and the picture I am posting with this entry is of the garden. This is in the same location we had the garden before, so even with seven years of overgrowth, it was relatively easy to till.

Okay, I know, it doesn't look like much right now, but wait 'til some of those plants fill out a little bit! I'll post follow-up photos to prove it later on.

Meanwhile, I'm working in the background to keep my Internet businesses EightSusquehanna.com and my eBay Store going until we can get the new studio set up and get me back to work making more lovingly handcrafted jewelry, so stay tuned, kids!

Temporary Digs

We have arrived to Oklahoma.

The house on our acreage in Mustang will be available the week of April 20, so we're trying to keep our hands and minds busy until then.

We have taken temporary lodging in a place called Candlewood Suites, a residential hotel. We expect to be here from one to three months while we whip the A-frame into shape.

We've been out there a few times to look around and I am happy to report that:
* The chicken house is intact and will only require some cleaning up and a little repair.
* Apparently no one ever harvested the garlic we planted the October before we moved to Cooperstown and it has naturalized, so with no effort on our part, we will get to harvest garlic this summer!

A LOT of work will be required to bring the rest of the place up to snuff. We'll know more once we can get inside and see what needs to be done there. I'll take pictures next time we go out there and post one or two.

Moving

In late January we met a lovely couple who were looking to move to Cooperstown. They had a solid list of what they wanted, and were having trouble finding exactly what they were looking for in a house. When they listed their requirements to my husband Steve, he said, "Gee, that sounds like our house."

"Is your house for sale?"

"Oh, no."

"Well, could we take a look at it anyway?"

So they came to our house one weekend just before the middle of February and we showed them around. They fell in love with our house, just like we fell in love with it when we looked at it almost exactly seven years earlier and asked if we would consider selling it to them. Long story short, we quoted them a price and ...

The closing was on Wednesday April 8 and on Thursday the 9th we left Cooperstown with two rented trucks, our van and a trailer, all packed outrageously full of our earthly possessions, on our way back to Oklahoma.

A good thing about our businesses, mine as an artisan with an Internet store, and Steve's as a carpenter, is that these businesses are so portable. I can make jewelry and Steve can "make sawdust" anywhere that we can set up workspace. We look forward to setting up shop on our acreage in Mustang, Oklahoma.

Over the last seven years we have made so many dear friends in Cooperstown, Otsego County, throughout Central New York, and even across the state, both with my jewelry making and Steve's carpentry. We have both been quite active in the community as well and are sad to leave our many New York friends, but be assured, they do have mail service, phones, computers, and even the Internet in Oklahoma, so there is no reason we can't stay in contact!

If you're on my Holiday Card List or Birthday Card List I will be sending you an Address Change Notice shortly. Otherwise, you can email a request to vicki@eightsusquehanna.com, including your contact information so I can send you the updated address notice, too.

Don't be shy about posting any comments or questions - you can do this by clicking the COMMENTS link following this message.

Thanks for reading!