Settling in and Making Changes

 

Blairsville, GA (high 82, low 60)

 

We have been pretty busy moving into our new “home” and trying to organize.  We brought a lot of stuff with us from Tampa that will be permanent in the Cameo, like extra dishes, towels, blankets, sheets, etc.  We want to be able to come up here at a moments notice and have pretty much everything we need.  It was a good chance to clean out some of the excess stuff we kept in the motorhome and didn’t really need.

A few months ago I ordered a set of the Magma Nesting cookware.  It’s very nice cookware but since I haven’t been cooking much in Tampa, I decided I would bring it and leave it in Georgia.

We got here and I started unpacking and darned it I didn’t forget them!   So, I have my Instant Pot power pressure cooker, one small fry pan, two cast iron pizza pans and nothing else to use for cooking.    I can’t even boil water to make hummingbird food.   I hate like hell to have to go out and buy other pans just for a few weeks of use, but I can’t even make a pot of soup. I’m hoping to find a garage sale and pick up a bargain or two.

 

One project we started on yesterday was to cover the rear windows.   

In the Cameo, there are windows along the whole back of the trailer.  They let in a lot of sun  and the day/night shades on the windows won’t allow you to see outside very well.  We would love to put in MCD Shades  but they are not in the budget.  I decided to put the same type of fabric that MCD uses over those windows.It blocks the sun and heat and gives you privacy during the daytime

Before we left Florida, we bought some fabric at Beasley Manufacturing in Center Hill, Florida.  It’s the same sort of fabric like we have on the motorhome front windshield and also the same type that MCD Shades uses for the day shade.

This is the same place where we bought the fabric to make a patio rug, and tire covers several years ago.  If you’re interested, you can click on the link here to see how I made them.

The link for the patio mat is here, if you’re interested.

 

Yesterday, with the help of Baxter and Al, we made shades for the rear windows in the cameo.

Things needed:

• fabric, we chose black but there are tons of colors
• suction cups and hooks
• scissors
• tape measure
• fat, furry cat  

 

The fabric is easy to cut and no sewing is required as it  doesn’t ravel

I laid the fabric on the floor to measure and cut, and of course I immediately got an unwanted helper.

 

He particularly liked to help measure.

 

The tip of the white disc in the following picture  goes through a small hole you put in the fabric, and then it attaches on the other side of the fabric where you attach the suction cup to the window.  All you see from the inside is the small disc.  We could paint them black, but they are out of the way where they aren’t seen, so we didn’t bother.

 

 

The following picture shows the middle window with the screen and the side windows without.  The pictures don’t really show how much sun it blocks, but trust me, it makes a huge difference.

 

 

Later in the day we went to town for groceries and decided to take the scenic route.   Isn’t it beautiful here?

 

The red barn made for a great photo opp.

I thought this house was in lovely setting with amazing views.

This place had beautiful and fragrant Christmas trees all along the slopes leading to the house.

As it turned out, we got to take this scenic drive again because Al forgot his wallet at home and we had no money to buy groceries. 

There is a new pharmacy opening soon.  Interesting name, huh?

 

It was closed but we now know the rules for entering the store. 

 

 

Today is Labor Day and there are some festivities in town we may go to.  This is the start of the big fall festival season here in the mountains.

Plan S Finally Came to Fruition

 

Blairsville, Ga  (high 78, low 58)

For the past 9 or 10 months, I have been working on a plan that would allow us to get away from the heat and storms in Florida in the summer and still care for my Mom.

As most of you know, we have been trying to help take care of my elderly mother. She cannot be left alone anymore. We prefer to keep her in her own home as long as possible, where we know she gets much better care than in an Assisted Living Facility.

My plan was for someone to move into the house to assist in her care, in exchange for free rent. I had someone I knew and trusted that was willing to do it, but she had some serious health issues which prevented the move.  I had to move on to “Plan B”.   I went down the alphabet from Plan B all the way down to what I dub “Plan S.”

One plan after the other failed, but a few weeks ago, my plan worked out and Stacy moved in with Mom.  She will assist my brother and the caregivers provided by her Long Term Care policy (thank God she bought that plan many years ago).

Stacy is a very nice lady who is good to Mom and we trust her.  She is taking our place so that Al and I could get out of town for awhile. 

So, on Tuesday, we headed north towing our little U-haul trailer.   The last time we were here, we purchased a used Fifth Wheel and set it up on our RV lot in Blairsville, GA.   The motorhome was left back in the Tampa area to fend for itself during the approaching hurricane Hermine.

We had serious reservations about leaving town right before a potential hurricane, but decided to go while we had the chance.  It’s a good thing we left when we did, because they got hammered with heavy rains for several days.

We arrived in Blairsville, Georgia on Wednesday.   It was sure good to see our mountains again.

It has been warmer than usual with some daytime temps getting up to 88 or so. Thankfully, it has been cooling down at night allowing for us to be able to turn off the AC for the first time in months!

We’ve been working hard to get this place set up with all the comforts of home.  We took our Directv Genie receivers from the motorhome and had them set up here, so all we have to do is grab the boxes and go.

Being in a small town sure has its advantages.  We went by the local Directv installer in the late morning and had service a few hours later.  We found a bargain on a 40 inch Samsung Smart Tv for $249, so it will live up here in the 5th wheel.

We’ve been busy working in the Cameo, setting up another “home.”  We have managed to squeeze in a few evening golf cart rides/bear hunting excursions.   We haven’t seen any bears, but there have been some pretty cloud formations.

 

We filled the hot tub and had a nice long soak last night.  Boy, did that feel good.  

Our project for yesterday was to attend the annual HOA meeting to elect new board members and then a dinner and bingo tonight.   We took a ride up to NC to the nearest Lowes to pick up a gas outdoor fireplace.

I have been searching online to find LED bulb replacements for the 8 million  “puc lights” we have in the Cameo.  If anyone has any online suggestions for reasonably priced LED lights, please let me know. 

I am sitting here typing this, in my robe and furry slippers.  We were able to turn the AC off for the first time since probably March.  It was wonderful sleeping with the windows open, although we all woke up chilly…..even the cats.

We are very, very glad to be back up in the mountains.  We hope we can stay.