norfolk – Own Less. Do More.

A few days ago, I added an event to our calendar because “Oh. We’re in town! We could go to that!”

Didn’t hit me until yesterday that San Antonio is not the town we’re in anymore.

It’s due to a combination of having so many places we think of as home, thanks to Tim’s military career, and the fact that the interior of our home no longer changes along with our location, so I sometimes forget where we are.

Also, I’ve been inhaling a lot of paint fumes, as we work on our S&B house (in Norfolk — I know we’re in Norfolk now), so that may be part of it too. But look at how much progress we’ve made!

FullSizeRender 2 — Those are cedar shake shingles. After priming and replacing them for nearly two weeks now? Only a mad man…

Just don’t remind me that this is Project 1 out of 5. Five big ones, most of which we are doing ourselves, before listing this house for sale with an agent. If you or someone you know wants to get in at a pre-listing price, please see this ad (link removed 6/11/16), and give us a holler! Our neighbors are so good, they are actually helping us get this done. Who wouldn’t want to live in a ‘hood like this one?

And speaking of homes, we’ll be leaving this one tomorrow, the Sea Mist RV Park at Dam Neck Annex, because our reservation expires. Wish we could have enjoyed more of the beach out our back door, but neither the weather nor our work schedule supported it. But we knew we were on a military base (again), when we were greeted by this sign:

and noted the following verbiage in our page of rules and regs:

“Surfing, fishing and sunbathing are allowed on the beach any time it is not secured for drone launching.”

Right, then.

~ ~ ~

A final heartbreaking note: if you’ve been following us on social media (all the links are over there on the left side), you already know that our home will never be the same. Due to advanced kidney disease, we had to say goodbye to our faithful RV dog, Lola, earlier this week. It was a comfort that we were here in Norfolk, where we adopted her nearly ten years ago, and could take her to her old veterinarian to ease her way out of this life. She came home to go home, and we will miss her terribly.

Lola. Oil on canvas by my sister-in-law, Whitney, who gifted us with this art for Christmas, before knowing of Lola's illness. It's even more of a treasure now, and displayed prominently here in this home. — Lola.
Oil on canvas by my sister-in-law, Whitney, who gifted us with this artwork for Christmas, before knowing of Lola’s illness. It’s even more of a treasure now, and displayed prominently, here in this home.

Other posts on this topic:

We were stationed in Norfolk, VA, from 2004-2010. Two years in, we bought a Craftsman-style bungalow built in 1912, and we learned that loving an old home means a lot of work — some of which we loved.

And the facts that the house is located in Larchmont, a neighborhood filled with charming older houses with wonderful families inside ’em, and that our boys did a lot of growing up there, make 1138 Manchester Avenue a place we’ll always cherish.

That said, after 6 years of playing long-distance landlords to three sets of tenants, we’re done. It’s time to own even less. I wrote about it here, and now we are here, and this is how we’ve spent our first few days:

Speaking of long distance, we're parked there at the blue dot, and our house is at the red dot. Pro: RV spot at the beach! Con: Loooong daily commute — Speaking of long distance landlords, we’re parked there at the blue dot, and our house is at the red dot. A shortage of RV parking in this area means taking what we can get, for the longest stretch possible.
Pro: RV spot at the beach
Con: Loooong daily commute

Lola was happy to sink her paws into the sand once again.

She became part of our family here, when she was just over a year old. Life is a little different for all of us, now that she's ten. — She became part of our family here, when she was just over a year old. Life is a little different for all of us, now that she’s ten.

Inside job: repairing drywall in the bathroom. Ceiling paint to follow... — Inside job: repairing drywall in the bathroom. Ceiling paint to follow…

Outside job: constructing a drying rack for cedar shake shingles. We've uh, we've got a few to replace. — Outside job: constructing a drying rack for cedar shake shingles. We’ve uh… we’ve got a few to replace.

Channels going in. Don't worry. You'll see. — Channels going in. Don’t worry. You’ll see. And remember what I said about the wonderful families here? It’s because of them that we’re able to borrow tools and garages and driveway space, and get this work *done*. Lifelong friends, y’all. Lifelong friends.

Before we hammer the shingles into place, they get the dip-and-stroke treatment. It's so time-consuming! — Before we hammer the shingles into place, they get the dip-and-stroke treatment in a 5-gallon bucket of paint. It’s very time-consuming, but I figured out a “fat end first” routine that worked quite well. No puns about fat ends, please. I was painting alone in that basement for nearly two hours, and I thought of *all* of them.

After the dip, they go in our homemade rack to dry. — After the dip, they go in our homemade racks to dry.

Tim got 'em started, but I took over so that he could go outside and start removing the deadbeats from the house. I did this many. — Tim got ’em started, but I took over so that he could go outside and begin removing the deadbeats from the house.
I did this many.

Weather permitting, we'll start making this wall look a lot better tomorrow. — Weather permitting, we’ll start making this wall look a lot better tomorrow.

But the weather might have other plans for us. The hail seems to have followed us from San Antonio, dammit! We made it through those storms with only minor damage. Dare we hope for the same here?

We're happy to see her so happy in her old back yard, but dang, we wish she had opposable thumbs. We could use more help! — We’re happy to see Lola so happy in her old back yard, but dang, we wish she had opposable thumbs. We could use more help!

Tag: norfolk

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