Here’s what a TN “termite inspection” consists of:  the guy shows up hours late, bends over in the door of the crawl space, shines his light left and right, and leaves.  He’ll send the “paperwork” on to the parties.  Yep.  Works for us!  Maybe not so much for buyers, but that’s business as usual in TN.  I guess there was nothing to see here.

I will give Ohio that–within hours of filling out the realtor’s form re: house issues needing to be addressed before it’s safe and healthy to move in, all their various contractors started contacting us to arrange their repair work right away.  Yes, there were some concerning infrastructure issues, but they got right on it without hesitation.  One reason we’re moving back there.

We’re still in a holding pattern, waiting for news of the appraisal formality (apparently appraisals are all backed up), and for our scheduled moving day.  Moving trucks are in such short supply right now that we took what we could get months ahead.  I’m trying to think of any possible preps I may have neglected.  I think we’ll be beyond ready when the day finally dawns.

Meanwhile, the COVID Delta variant is raging across America, due to all the stupid/disinformed people refusing to get vaccinated and take precautions.  States like Florida are actually mandating against masking and precautions, while hospitals are again filled to overflowing, and cases and deaths are surging again.  TN is one of the worst holdouts against science.  Denial is dangerous.  It makes moving even more challenging, but all the more necessary.

Back to healthier topics, here are some flowers and pollinators happily carrying on.  I’m especially happy about my one native milkweed blooming in the “prairie”.  It may seem mundane, but it’s an accomplishment for me.  It’s my sneaky stealth way of injecting some science into an ignorant area.

Still waiting…there’s a routine termite inspection today, other formalities and business to wait on, until the big moving day in less than two weeks.  We’re literally living out of boxes.  Lots and lots of boxes.  Our agent looked at a closet stacked to the ceiling with boxes and quipped, “You call this downsizing?!”  At least the uncertainty of showing and selling is behind us, in record-breaking time no less.

Hopefully the reserved moving truck transaction will proceed without a hitch, no pun intended.  It’s hard to tell around here, where services are never guaranteed or reliable in normal times, only more so during the pandemic.  Tennessee’s response to COVID has been almost nonexistent, especially now when the variant spread is surging, so add risk of exposure to the list of unknowns.  All we can do is push ahead and hope to live through it!

Unconcerned with human foibles, the flower garden keeps on getting better, and the tomato patch keeps on exploding with tomatoes and peppers.  Even after dumping mountains of them on our neighbors, and filling the freezer, they just keep coming.  There are unripe passionfruit all over the massive vines, which I’ll never get to pick, but someone might.  Not that I’m complaining.  It’s gratifying to have finally wrested something from this concrete ground, and so abundantly, finally, at the end.  A fitting sendoff.  Think what I could do with actual soil.

Now we’re in pending mode, waiting to find out how the appraisal goes, and what happens next.  It’s like the eye of the storm; after the whirlwind, it’s deceptively non-eventful, but not for long.  We’ve had plenty to occupy ourselves, what with packing, mowing, and taking care of business.  Soon this chapter will be over.

I think I’m pretty much over this garden, as well.  I’ll miss it, but I know the next owners will appreciate it, and I won’t miss all the work of maintaining it.  I’m still enjoying it on borrowed time as it were, but with detachment.  Still, I’m gratified to see my one milkweed in the “prairie” flowering for the first time, and all the goldenrod starting to bloom.  It will put on a late summer show, with or without us.

I’m also glad to finally see some butterflies on all my cutting flowers, after their mysterious absence.  Pollinators and goldfinches are enjoying the sunflowers, and the passionflowers are covered with bumblebees.  I know they will get to carry on here after I’m gone.

Unheard of!  In one day, we had an excellent offer, which we grabbed!  This never happens, except in this housing market caused by the pandemic.  But it works for us.  The sale is in pending mode now, awaiting finalizing business.  No more showings, or solitary confinement for Misu, or killing time waiting in suspense.  We’re still sort of in shock at the speed.

Not only that, but the buyers are perfect.  They were sold partly by all the landscape work (they want to garden!), which is a big relief. They were impressed by the well-maintained house, and the location, just right for their needs.  All our efforts paid off and didn’t go to waste.  Now, if our good neighbors can manage to buy their house before their landlord sells, everyone will be happy.

And now finally, the promised Fen photos, thanks to my tech support son.

Well that was fun NOT.  But the final outcome will be worth the “ordeal” we (mostly Misu) went through yesterday.

We had house showings back-to-back all day and evening.  Which is highly unusual, but not during the pandemic, when housing is scarce, prices are hugely inflated, and people are grabbing up homes wherever they can find them.  Misu couldn’t be left in the house all that time, even caged, for reasons, so we had to lock her in her cage in the warm shed for the duration, not ideal.  Meanwhile, we had to wander around boring stores for hours, and just when we thought it was over, more showings would post!  But as I said, the goal of selling sooner outweighs the discomfort and inconvenience.  Our agent Tracy  is awesome.  And even Misu did surprisingly well out in the hot, dark shed.

The upshot (and upside) is that one day later, we may have an offer!  If it’s even near what our agent listed it for, we’ll be able to pay everything off and still have some left.  We’re waiting nervously to find out if in fact this chapter will resolve earlier than expected, and we can move ahead on the next phase.  It would certainly simplify matters and relieve some uncertainty and expense, as we’re temporarily paying for two homes, utilities, etc.

WP is being glitchy right now, so I’ll try to post more later, including those Fen photos I mentioned.

Where’ve we been, you don’t ask?  Well, for starters, to Ohio and back with our first load of stuff, and our first time seeing the house.  We got our internet, water, etc. set up, dropped off paperwork at the realty office, and arranged for their contractors to repair some major concerns.  Ah, the convenience of other people fixing stuff!  As expected, they were much more accommodating and expeditious about the repairs than anyone in TN ever was.  The house is bigger than our present one, but with a much more manageable (i.e. tiny) yard.  Of course I already have evil plans for it, pending approval of course.

The round trip was smooth and uneventful, other than an even worse traffic jam than usual at the Cinci bridge.  Already an ancient infrastructure nightmare, it seems there was an explosion and fire on it recently, and it was draped in spooky shrouds over the construction site.  Now it’s like a surreal tunnel.  I’ve included some photos both ways.  I had plenty of time to snap them, as it was a long parking lot.

We did take a break and make a long-overdue pilgrimage to Siebenthaler Fen, one of our favorite parks in OH.  It’s a combination of wetlands and prairie, which is typical of that part of Ohio.  It has grown up dramatically since our last visit, making the boardwalk a stunning green tunnel.  It was like a family reunion.  We even saw baby turtles, which is a good sign.  I’ll include some photos of some favorite native wildflowers and trees in the next post.

Once back in TN, it was time to clean up for the professional staging photos and vids, including a drone!  They made our humble place look like an estate!  Then our RE agent Tracy officially listed it and put up the signs.  Then we waited for the showings to start coming in.

Which they did with a vengeance!  I suspected it would be fast, but this was furious!  Today we’ve had nonstop showings lined up, wherein we left Misu in her cage and vacated for the duration.  Apparently Misu was beyond not amused, like a crazed maniac trying to escape prison, tearing everything up within reach.  I had to put her (in the cage) out in the shed for hours of back-to-back showings all evening.  Poor thing, but it will all be worthwhile.  We could get more than double what we paid for the house, thanks to the pandemic, and much sooner than expected.

This is a new learning experience for all of us, so we adapt and modify our techniques accordingly.  Today we learned don’t bother cooking a meal in between showings, just make sandwiches!  At least we’re able to take care of business while evacuated.  It’s an exhausting process, but eventually we’ll get to the other side.