Category Archives: Life at Bass Lake Lot 205

Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, SOWER Projects 2018, The Adventure

Some Clarification

February 8, 2025 steph Leave a comment

After yesterday’s post about what I’ve been doing lately, I got asked the following question from a SOWER we’d worked with several years ago –
What are you doing with a fully furnished house? Is this your own home wherever your home is? And are you downsizing your rig? Are you preparing to retire?

So – since some of you who drop in here occasionally might have some of the same questions, here is my reply that sorta-kinda describes what these last months have been all about!

Hello! We are in ‘transition’ mode these days! We purchased a house in the sweet RV community behind the SOWER office in Lindale as we prepare for the inevitable ‘what’s next’ stage of our life! But while we’re on our way to retiring from being active SOWERs, we aren’t there yet! Our faithful rig is 22+ years old, and we think she’s ready for retirement even if we are not! So it’s a shift in ministry focus – but praying that the LORD will still use us wherever we might be!

And so this NEW adventure continues…

Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, SOWER Projects 2018, The Adventure

But what are YOU doing?

February 7, 2025 steph 2 Comments

While Gary’s been busy making trips to Lowes and renovating sewing rooms and building workspaces and redesigning walkways, I’ve been trying to figure out the interior of the house. Some of my angst comes from the fact that this sweet little house came completely furnished. Not just furniture (and there was a lot of that), but it also came with linens, towels, a fully outfitted kitchen, cleaning supplies, soaps, shampoos…you name it, and it was probably here! I do believe that if we had just come with our clothes, we wouldn’t have had to do anything but go grocery shopping to live here quite comfortably. But of course, we also had a motorhome that was full (and I mean 20 years of stuff full) of our life. It’s been hard for me to figure out how to mesh these two dwellings. Even now, after almost four months, I’m still trying to remember where I put something….or maybe it’s still in the rig?

So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to bring SOMETHING (or maybe many things) in from the rig, and then find a home for it (them) each day. Now, it might just be the earrings I wanted to wear that day, but it’s something!

And speaking of earrings – I cut down my earring solution from a couple of years ago to fit in my new space,

and let Amazon help me find a solution for my necklaces.

These are small things, but figuring these small things out has helped me get moving on this transition.

Today I brought in my box of Kosher salt.
It’s in the cupboard next to the sugar and flour.
No judging, please!
=)

I wonder what I’ll find to bring in tomorrow…

Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, The Adventure

But what is Dad going to do? Part II

February 6, 2025 steph Leave a comment

With the She Shed and the He Shed renovations just about wrapped up, Gary moved to the next phase – making his work area more useful! First he needed to make a solid work surface for his ongoing projects!

(That’s Lizzie parked outside of our RV cover. Our neighbor who owns the lot next to ours let us park Lizzie there while we were getting started on these renovations. We have the best neighbors!)
Next up he tackled the walkways – upgrading from concrete pavers

to a wooden walkway.

This also involved new steps –

And although I have used those stairs regularly for the last two months – I don’t seem to have taken any pictures. But they’ll show up in some future posts. Because you know he isn’t done yet!

The adventure continues…

Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, The Adventure

And just like that – it’s February!!

February 1, 2025 steph 1 Comment

Whew! Where did January go? I’ve been thinking that this is the first February in twenty years that we haven’t been working at a SOWER project, but when I did a little checking, turns out I was wrong! We were in Florida twenty years ago and we were about to have our long anticipated Disney World vacation with our whole family!!

We were a much smaller group those days! And while the memories are sweet, I don’t recommend taking a two year old on a Disney vacation! And that’s your travel tip for the month!

But here we are in East Texas, where it was in the 20’s last week and is expected to be in the 70’s the next two days (at least!). Our adjustment to house-life continues, so watch for more installments on the “What’s Dad going to do?” question and more musings on this new life of ours! And trying to figure out where this blog is going!

Have a blessed Lord’s Day tomorrow!

Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure, SOWER Projects 2018, SOWER Projects 2019, The Adventure

But what is Dad going to do? Part I

January 21, 2025 steph 5 Comments

Any time that we would talk about life “after SOWERs”, our kids would ask – “But what is Dad going to do?” Let’s face it – SOWERs is a perfect fit for Gary. He gets to work on a variety of projects, and even if that month’s assignment isn’t his most favorite type of project, he never complains – “You can do anything for three weeks!” he’d say. And it was a perfect fit for me too! I got to meet new people, see different areas of the country, watch God working in so many different ways, and as an added bonus – I had a very small house to keep clean! We always had at least a week off each month, a free place to park, and work that was (mostly) geared to our aging bones! Win-Win-Win.
But we knew it wasn’t forever. And the kids were concerned. I think they knew I’d be able to fill my days with computer work, sewing, and reading (and napping?), but Dad’s happy place is building, fixing, and helping (and maybe a bit of napping too?). Well, I’m happy to report that our Little Lindale House has been a pretty perfect fit for both of us! On the one hand, it’s in great shape! It’s keeping me busy just trying to figure out where things are going to go inside (I think I’ve finally got the peanut butter in its forever home), and Gary is busy with some improvements on the outside!
His first project was the shed!
This was pretty much how we found my side –

and despite finding termites and all of the fun stuff that went along with that –

I’m happy to report my “Studio” is mostly outfitted and ready to go!

I haven’t moved all my sewing from Lizzie to its new spot yet – but I’m sure I’ll be tackling those UFO’s (UnFinished Objects) soon! No excuses now!
When Gary needed a break from the sewing room project, he’d work on his side – The Workshop! It also was pretty full when we moved in –

but pictures taken today show that he’s been busy channeling his organizational alter-ego!

(Now that I’m looking at His side – I’m kinda embarrassed about the general disarray on my side! All in good time, I suppose!)
Of course, that just scratches the surface of the “What’s Dad going to do?” answer. But this is long enough, so I’ll save that for Part II!
Stay warm my friends – it’s crazy cold here in Texas, so I know many of you are in a deep freeze! Thanks for stopping by!