some thoughts on downsizing

We're at Edisto Beach SC - during a very windy & rainy stretch of weather.  Spending far too much time inside, and trying to find things that I thought were carefully stored - somewhere.

No matter what compartment I open I find myself STILL DOWNSIZING!

Too many potato peelers, too many sweaters, too many cat towels, too many cat toys, too many shoes, too many books, too many art supplies  ----- does the paring down ever end??

So in the midst of bags of stuff, destined for places that take stuff, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on the process of downsizing...... just in case you have plans for a smaller home someday (or are considering a stretch of time in an RV)

 
*  It's never too soon to start - we've been at this for 5 years, and were astonished by how much stuff was still piled up for dispatch during the last week in the house!  Start now!

*  Be ruthless. Hand out the treasures you've been saving - and let a new generation enjoy them.

*  Visit family & friends - and leave stuff behind - books, clothes, shoes - kittens


*  Donate as much as you can, and challenge yourself to find small local charities, not just the big national ones.....especially charities that provide collection services.


*  buy an E-reader - and use it.



*  Plan on several LARGE yardsales,  and make those prices low !!  and if that doesn't work, try "FREE"

*  Make friends with a local handyman - he may be thrilled to make a home for the mountains of junk that accumulated in the workshop

* We finally decided to rent a VERY SMALL storage unit   (5x10)  for all the precious stuff that just can't be given away and couldn't be squeezed into the RV (and I tried really hard)

can this.......

equal this ????  We're still not sure..

...........plus this

the process felt a bit more like this,

 And, if it can't be given away, sold, trashed, donated, contributed or stored it may need to be released in  a bonfire - because sometimes burning something seems more respectful than just throwing it away...  and there is a great joy in watching your high school yearbooks go up in flames!

*  So take the Pledge that from now on you must make it your personal mission to avoid the occasion of sin - no matter how tempting, cute or well priced!  Or at least use the "one in- one out" rule.

and remember... Downsizing  is NEVER over!

Posted from our over-flowing and most certainly over-weight 30' RV.  with love to you all !!

Sampling Charleston Cuisine

Shem's Creek runs between Mt. Pleasant (where we're camping) and the City of Charleston.  This waterfront watering spot came highly recommended - and we can understand why.....

Great views, great oysters & great shrimp.  We'll be working our way through the menu!


Fred looks like he's planning his attack.

heading to Charleston

just a quick stop at our favorite one-night-stand:  South of the Border.  It's so tacky you can't help but laugh - and the campground is actually very nice!  what a surprise.

This was the perfect preparation for a visit to the elegant and genteel City of Charleston.

Can't believe that we've skipped over this stop on every trip to South Carolina (we get caught in the fabulous beach and go NOWHERE!).  This time we planned time to explore Charleston at leisure - and have loved our visit so far.   It is really a beautiful city with so much to see

 Loved this old, moldy cemetery   -

 and "rainbow row" of fancy painted in-town homes.

and the ever-present Palmetto palm does lend
a feeling of the tropics.  The weather has been
perfect....

As we walked we noticed that the houses started getting LARGER as we walked toward The Battery.

One house was more amazing then the next!

 There were "construction" permits everywhere -
pity the poor homeowner who has to perpetually maintain these mammoth homes!  It has to be endless!



Local realty offices had lots of homes to offer in the $1M to $9M range.

Probably not a likely match for us!  Especially since Fred has sworn off all renovations!

We left the Battery and wandered through the
 French Quarter  - smaller homes, but still amazing!


The city is famous for its wrought iron work - much of it is very old, and hand forged - and it's everywhere.

 Tiny courtyards - beautifully landscaped -  yards that run from one house right up to the wall of the next.


This is  a   "single" - with a door on the street, that
 opens onto a small foyer area and the classic southern side porch.  It's a style repeated over and over - in all sizes -  modest to massive.  The door looks like a normal "house" door, except there's no "house" behind it - just porch.

The Dash Trolley was a great way to hop around town - best of all it's free!


And in our travels we stumbled across "Hank's"  -  and couldn't resist taking this photo to share with our Portland / camping friends who love Charleston and seafood.... Hank & Cheryl!

And, there's lots more to explore!  I'll be back soon

contact information

While we wander around with no fixed address, we've hired a mail service to collect incoming mail, and send batches on to us - wherever we may be.

So for the next several months our official mailing address is

Anita & Fred Palsgrove

411 Walnut Street - # 7455

Green Cove Springs, Fl 32043

Anita: 207-677-3337

Fred: 207-592-5060

pemaquid373@gmail.com

We hope you'll stay in touch!

FINALLY - heading south

The dust is still settling  - and we're looking forward to some time to process the wild 60 days of September & October:

We listed the house for sale (after talking about it for several years).  Our trip to Northampton to celebrate the wedding of two wonderful young people was the perfect time to start showing the house.  Little did we suspect that the house would sell so quickly - that same weekend!

So on September 1st our house looked like this:



  

  but on October 20th it looked like this:

we sold what we could - donated what was left, and stashed a small amount of irreplaceable things (like rocks and rusty metal for some future assemblage art project, and, of course,  Fred's pottery) in the teeny tiny storage unit. Being "unfettered" means to leave nothing behind.  We got close.

So in a 60-day period we went from this:

to this :

.......... from a 1 cat household, to an 8 cat household (thanks to our rescue Siamese, Mishka, who came into our lives with a BIG secret)

Her babies arrived on September 3rd - on a camping trip.  These babies are destined to be good travelers.  We found homes for 5 babies in October (while we were finding homes for our furniture & personal belongings)  But one kitty stayed with us.  This is Sophie - truly born under a wandering star

 So after a brief visit in MA with friends, a brief visit in PA w/ Fred's family - and a brief visit in MD w/ my family, we are FINALLY headed to warmer climates to reflect on our new life choice as nomads -  

We look forward to planning our travels for the spring, toward sharing time in Florida with visiting friends & family, and we plan to be back in Maine for July, August and September -  but that's a long way off.  For now, we have no property responsibilities, no mortgage or obligations.  It's a strange feeling....  and our heads are still spinning.  But, we are finally Tumbleweeds.