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| A little hint... |
Hello my book friends! I know it has been quite a while since I checked in with all of you. I am glad to be here for a bit to give an update and share a few things. I was going to talk a little about books, but I think I will do that in a separate post perhaps tomorrow or this weekend.
When last we 'talked' I shared that my husband and I had decided to sell our house outside the Austin area and perhaps buy or build one further out into the Texas Hill Country. We have done that! My husband's company will be doing a hybrid sort of work situation starting in the fall - 2 days in the office and 3 days working from home. We have an apartment in Austin that we are currently staying in. We have also bought a house in Kerrville. Our plan is to spend part of the week in Austin and part in Kerrville. You can search 'Kerrville' in the sidebar on the right here and see other posts where I mentioned this lovely town that we have visited many times.
We're still in the process of getting a few things updated for our new house. Did you know that it's a little tough to schedule home renovation right now? Well, between materials shortages and labor issues and lots and lots of people wanting to 'fix' things, it's been a challenge indeed. We are going to have to be patient, but I'm sure we will eventually cross all the items off our list. Even new furniture is tough to acquire - as I said, patience is called for.
A happy thing is that we are going to be taking a vacation early next month - a trip that was planned for last year and postponed. It's to lovely places in Oregon that I've talked about before and I'm sure I'll have new pictures to share after that time.
My reading has been challenging as well - just getting through a book. I have been distracted and kind of grumpy about reading at all. My count of 'books completed' for this year is about half of my normal, if it's even that. However, I do have a couple of books that I want to share about in my next post. I've gotten back to my walking routine and have now caught up on some podcasts that I enjoy. Hopefully, audiobooks will be next.
Hope all of you are well. I'm gradually coming back around and posting a few comments on your blogs. The picture at the top of this post was one I took a couple of years ago at the Kerrville Chalk Festival. It's planned again for this fall. Hope I get to attend. The picture below is on the grounds of the Kerrville Library. Yes, I'll likely be checking into volunteer opportunities there as we spend more time in that location. It's good to be back to this blog. As I said, hope you're all well and will have a peaceful, joyful, restful summer season.
Good to see you sticking your head above the parapet for a minute or two! Denis and I have been wanting to remodel one of our bathrooms and have been putting it off for the same reasons as you've just described. I hope we can get it done before Daisy comes for another visit.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sticking my head out like a little prairie dog. I wish you luck with thinking about a remodel. I know all this will solve itself as time passes, but it would have been nice to get all the things done that we wanted to before having to 'move in'. Ah well.
DeleteSounds like you have some great things to look forward to, Kay! Good luck with the renovations and have a great time in Oregon! I can relate to being in a bit of a reading slump, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angela. One thing I do know about our Oregon trip - it will be cooler temps than we are having here. I'll enjoy my walking up there.
DeleteKay, Happy to see you post and your brief update sounds encouraging. I'm happy you were able to sell and found a place you want to be as well. Moving is always stressful. It seems since the pandemic there is a shortage of : new cars, appliances and yes furniture backlog as well. Hopefully manufacturing will be able to rebound. Take care.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I think things will rebound and return to 'normal' with manufacturing, etc. However, it may take a while. I just need to work more on my 'zen' thinking and yoga. Patience....
DeleteKay, very glad to hear some news from you. The new place in Kerrville sounds exciting. I had not heard of the shortages in materials, etc. but I have heard of other shortages, so not surprised. I look forward to hearing more from you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tracy. My plan is to be more 'present' here on the blog. Now I just need to read more books so I have something to talk about. LOL
DeleteYou know, I am having a hard time even getting canned cat food and litter. Gosh. Shelves are bare, online "out of stock". The aluminum thing. Just when we thought we were out of the woods, not we can't get "stuff". Will be glad to see some of your book posts. :)
ReplyDeleteI know every time I go in the store something seems to be 'missing'. One day, I suppose.
DeleteHonestly, I think some businesses use COVID as an excuse for their shortages. Or... many of these things came from overseas and that was greatly affected by COVID. I have friends who are waiting for furniture they ordered 18 months ago. I Googled Kerrville and it's a pretty town. I can't wait for you to share more.
ReplyDeleteTi, I think that a lot of products were affected by components or ingredients that we never thought about. As to Kerrville, I'm hoping we will like it as much as we think.
DeleteI'm sure you will enjoy your new home, but I can certainly understand that you have been very busy with so many changes in progress!
ReplyDeleteSo, so busy. Lots of things that we either forgot about or didn't think about or that work differently since the last time we moved. Or we're getting 'old' - maybe the last one. LOL
DeleteKay! It's good to hear from you... sounds like lots of exciting changes are happening in you life now. Congrats on selling your home so quickly. The real estate market it on fire here in FL and I imagine it's much the same there. We finished our remodel during the height of the pandemic, but prices seem to be going up still! We had to wait months before the washer and dryer I selected could be delivered and now, since we're fully vaccinated, have discovered that the same situation exists for furniture.
ReplyDeleteI know you've posted before about Kerrville before and am happy you will get to live there now. How long of a drive will it be to Austin? Best of luck settling into this new lifestyle!
JoAnn, I totally understand about your remodel and furniture purchase woes. We did order some new couches and I think the manufacturer has them in their warehouse. Hope to get them in a few weeks, but if they would have had to be 'custom' created, we were told it would be November or December. Crazy!
DeleteKerrville is about 2 hours from Austin and is not a bad drive at all. Not that we'd want to commute daily, but it will be OK for a weekly back and forth. It's a pretty drive that take you through Johnson City (where LBJ was from and where his family's home/ranch is located) and through Fredericksburg (great shopping and wine country). I'll try to share more as we get settled in and I have time.
Kay so excited to hear your news! That's wonderful that your husband can do a hybrid work plan and you can spend time in both places. I've been to several places in the hill country but haven't had a chance to visit Kerrville but so excited for you. I'm sure you are going to love. Fingers crossed all goes well with getting your new home set up. It'll be so fun to read about your adventures in Kerrville!
ReplyDeleteIliana, I think you'd really enjoy a visit to Kerrville. They have a number of festivals connected with the arts. The chalk festival that I have mentioned in the past is scheduled for October this year. I'm looking forward to going again.
DeleteGood to see you Kay! With all the house stuff going on I'm not surprised you're having some trouble with your reading! I think when we moved I took 2 months off from reading just because things were so chaotic and my brain was pulled in about 30 different ways. I hope you find your reading flow soon. It does get kind of frustrating when you can't get sucked into a book!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, thanks for stopping by! Yes, I think that my reading will eventually recover. Hope so anyway. Always nice to see a comment from you and also always know that I'm thinking about your sweet little guy and your family. :-)
DeleteIt's great to read your update! I understand about not feeling like yourself if you're not reading. I can really tell I'm anxious/thinking about other things if I can't get into reading anything. I hope you're enjoying your summer!
ReplyDeleteTina, yes, reading is a must-do for me. I suspect I will eventually recover. I'm enjoying most things about the summer, though I think that fall will be welcome.
DeleteSo glad to read your update! Congratulations on buying a home! We are starting a kitchen renovation at home and oh boy, the delays in the schedule are simply insane! I'm sure we will all be glad once it is over.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more posts from you, but in the meantime, welcome back and relax!
Athira, my sympathies as you try to redo your kitchen. I've decided that all this patience-testing must be good for us. We're certainly experiencing enough of it. Ha! Good luck and I know your new kitchen will be lovely - one day....
DeleteI'm glad to hear things are good with you! Moving is so stressful, but I know you'll enjoy your new home once things settle down. How exciting! Reading has been a challenge for me too lately, and writing reviews, especially! So much going on.
ReplyDeleteMoving is indeed stressful, but I think that things will improve as time goes on. Maybe by fall...I'm hoping for October for many of the things that we want done or shipped or whatever. LOL
DeleteIt's so great to see your post, Kay! I hope the moving and the renovation of your new house will be a smooth one. It's especially hard and challenging to get things fixed these days with our current situation, but as you said, patience is called for.
ReplyDeleteI've been slow with my reading lately... too many distractions and it's school holidays too! Anyways, the children will be back to school in July so hopefully I'll find back my normalcy then.
Melody, I can understand reading being slower when your kids are home. Yes, patience. I'm working on it. Ha!
DeleteSo, so, so nice to see you back!! You can talk about anything and I'll read it! I am also trying to "get back" to my blog, and blog reading. It does me good. I was surprised to read that litter and cat food are scarce. I haven't found any shortages. We aren't buying furniture or remodeling, but all grocery items are available. I wonder if it is certain parts of the country. Anyhow, welcome, welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI think the shortages are sometimes actually shortages and sometimes just difficulty keeping things in stock. I suspect that certain parts of the country is exactly right. Anyway, as I said, patience, and also maybe flexibility.
DeleteI'm glad you are back to blogging, but understand how busy and stressful this time is for you. Been there, done that (several times)! It won't be long before you're settled and back in your groove. Reading will always be there waiting patiently for you, as will we. :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteYes, reading will always be there.
DeleteCongrats on the new house! Sorry everything home related is taking so long right now. We're planning to downsize when the people in our rental house move out in October, but we want to do some remodeling first. We'll see how that goes...
ReplyDeleteSusan, hope you guys are able to move forward with your plans for downsizing and remodeling. Just remember that if things take a little longer, well, patience....
DeleteCongratulations on the move and I hope that you can get it all taken care of without too much more trouble!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to see that you are back to blogging. I have missed seeing you here!
ReplyDelete