We are pretty excited! We now have a signed contract for the purchase of our house in NJ.

There is good news and potentially "bad" news in this. The good is that we have a buyer who wants our house. More good news is that they have to sell their house first. This is good because, at this point in time, it is way too late to do an actual move to the cabin. We are not sufficiently prepared to winter there. We need more storage, wood for the fire, a washer, second fridge, etc. Plus, I've committed to continue working through mid-May 2016. So, them needing to sell first will buy us some time.

The bad news is that we may have no place to live if they sell their house quickly and want to close on ours and get moving. But, we'll take that chance and work through it if it happens because "a bird in the hand...." and all that.

Now, we are re-motivated to get back to work sorting and organizing around the house. We need to figure out a way to move when the time does come. (We did put a deposit on a climate-controlled 10x20 storage unit in Laramie recently, so we have that as a repository for all our stuff.) We are thinking of having a POD delivered to the house and each weekend move more stuff into it. Does anyone have experience with that type of move?

Lots to think about and do!

I posted a lengthy article about our off-the-grid utilities earlier. In that article I said we'd need to add some additional PV charging capacity in order to be able to live at the cabin full-time. 

It has been quite a journey and taken all summer long, but last week we made significant progress. (I say "we", but all the work is being done by Burnham & Sun, a PV specialist from Fort Collins.)

First, earlier this summer the new batteries did get installed. We now have 12 batteries instead of 8, and since they are new we should have significantly more storage capacity.

Our new solar panels are finally installed!

And, at the end of last week, the new PV panels were finally installed. It has been a nightmare trying to locate contractors to do the excavation work, trenching and concrete work needed. The front range of Colorado is undergoing a huge growth spurt and contractors are simply not interested in small jobs that are two hours away. Sam at Burham & Sun finally got some people to do the work and  the panels are mounted. This week, she will lay the conduit and cables, wire the panels into a charge controller and hook them up to the batteries.

The next step in our need for additional power is to re-install the wind turbine. I bet that will be an interesting adventure, too.

Yesterday, Lynne and I took a nice afternoon dip in the pool. And, later, after dark, swam a few laps in the wonderfully warm water. Tomorrow, the pool will be closed for the season. The pool heater has allowed us to swim earlier in the year and extend the season by a few weeks. The outside temperature was "cool", maybe in the mid-60s, and the pool was 84 degrees. It was like swimming in a bathtub. A fire in the firepit, some s'mores, lit tiki torches and a splash (or two) of rye whiskey also helped make it a great evening.

It is a bit sad to think that it may have been the last swim for us in the pool (the "bitter" part). With some luck, we'll get the house sold before opening the pool next year (sometime around Memorial Day). That's the "sweet" part. 

Lynne has characterized our lives together into several big chapters: the "Expat" chapter, the "Colorado/Cabin" chapter and the "New Jersey" Chapter. She may have different names, but I think she is right. We spent about 1/3 of our 30+ years together working in Europe. First in Germany, then The Netherlands, and finally in France. Then about 1/3 living and working in Northern Colorado where we enjoyed our mountain land and built our "off the grid" cabin. Finally, the past ten years in New Jersey, which has been a fun work and life experience. 

A subchapter of the New Jersey experience is having "Mia" our 2010 Mazda Miata. 

Mia is now gone. I sold her earlier this week. It was just not a practical car for the muddy, washboard roads we'll drive while living at the cabin. And, it sure didn't make sense to keep her in storage over another winter. So, while I got a bit less than I think she was worth, she is gone. 

I'm sad. I'll miss commuting to work on the winding NJ backroads, and weekend drives with Lynne. But, all chapters must end, and it was time. 

Well, it's official. We are taking the house off the market for the winter. We are resigned to staying here until spring arrives. It breaks our hearts, but we give up. We are now late enough into the year that it would compromise our winter at the cabin. We really don't want to make the move too late to have certain things in place (shed, all-terrain vehicle, possible winter mudroom, washer/dryer) and things that would need to be done such as creating a store of firewood and a myriad of other things. We don't want to go into our very first winter there unprepared, especially if it's going to be a snowy one.

We don't seem to have any luck selling anything. We've had Mia (our Miata) up for sale since the beginning of August. We had one taker but he backed out of the deal at the last minute. We think the wifey put her foot down and said no. We've had low-ball offers but don't feel the need to take them up.

So we'll hunker down and ride out the winter. In doing so we will have more money for retirement and the house mortgage will be paid down even more, allowing us to possibly lower the price even more to move it. We'll have more time to pack boxes. More time to think and plan. More time to dream.

Damn.