Faced with the daunting process of trying to downsize a multi-generational home, I broke the process down into a series of manageable steps!
would you like to start at Part 1:
Thyme to Let Go – Part 5
Back to Illinois
Knowing there were a number of boxes of family papers as well as pictures, I had planned on going back to Illinois in the spring to finish clearing out the buildings and the rest of the stuff upstairs in the farmhouse. There were also still a number of boxes at the pizzeria/flower shop.
Because of Covid-19, I couldn’t get back to Illinois until late May. When I left Florida on May 29, I truly thought I would be back in Punta Gorda by June 13th. I had a list of what I was going to accomplish each day. I was ready to get it done!
Except when I got back to Illinois, there was so much more stuff than I remembered! I kept telling people that someone had broken in and left more stuff! There was a lot more stuff at the pizzeria than I remembered. More family papers than I remembered. Just more stuff overall. I was defeated before I even started! And it was hot! I don’t do well in the hot weather which makes you wonder why I agreed to move to Florida where it is hot and humid most of the time! Especially humid…
I split my time between the pizzeria and the houses. If you are just joining my journey, I was a florist for 14 years before purchasing a pizzeria. I had downsized the florist shop and moved it into the back of the pizzeria. I had two rooms full of things and also had items stored in the upstairs of the pizzeria. It was so blasted hot upstairs at the pizzeria. I finally gave up trying to work up there during the week. It worked out better to wait until the weekend because the ovens don’t get turned on until later in the day, so it wasn’t quite as beastly hot up there.
Extra Hands
My friend, Glo Ann stepped up and really helped me. She was very good at keeping me on task and worked very hard alongside me almost every day that I was back in Illinois. A few times, she almost pushed a little too hard, but we got thru it and I am grateful for her help. I probably would still be wandering around the property trying to figure out where to start!
One of my cousins came to help and a childhood friend came to help also. They each spent a full day helping me sort and pack things at the farm. They were a tremendous help also!
More Decisions
Before I left Florida, I had made a list of what pieces were left in Illinois. Calculating their measurements, I thought a U Box from U Haul would work. I arranged for 2 U Boxes to be delivered to the farm in early June. But when I got to the farm, I found even more things I wanted to take back to Florida. I was originally going to leave this piece for the potential new owners but once I got back to the farmhouse, I realized just how much it would hold at the Florida house. It would be a great storage piece! But it probably wasn’t going to fit in a U Haul Box! Well, it might fit but I sure couldn’t get it in there by myself. This piece is 7 ft tall and 4 1/2 ft wide. There is a cool story behind it that you can read about here:
Once I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to take back to Florida, I contacted one of the moving companies I had talked to in February of 2019. Their price was only about $200.00 more than the price I would have paid for the U Boxes, and they would do all the hard work! I ended up having to change the pick-up date twice. I was hopeful that this move would be more successful than the one in February 2019. You can find out more about that one here:
Tackling the Dirty Jobs
Knowing that cleaning out the barn and the crib would be really dirty jobs; I found a couple of young guys that were willing to get dirty. I also knew there was probably a lot of metal that could be recycled in the barn and around the property. I had a 40-yard metal recycling dumpster and a 20 yd roll off garbage dumpster delivered to the property. We also started a new burn pile. The burn pile with the Santa house in it was burned the previous July.
We found some amazing pieces of gingerbread in the barn and you can read about that here:
This gingerbread was also the inspiration for some holiday decorations. All of the details can be found in this post: A Very Merry & Unique Style of Gingerbread!
Living Estate Sale
After working with the items at the pizzeria and the farm, l finally decided that I would have an estate sale at the farm, and I would operate it myself. With a lot of help from Glo Ann of course! I managed to get organized enough that we held a 3-day sale at the end of June. We sold an amazing amount of stuff. There was still quite a bit left over and I hadn’t quite finished at the pizzeria. I decided to extend my stay and try to get everything done before returning to Florida.
We scheduled a one-day sale for July 2. A few more items went to new homes. Unfortunately, there was still quite a bit left. Glo Ann offered to take some things to her booth in Farmer City, IL and try to sell them there for me.
The movers came on July 5th and picked up the items that were going back to Florida. They said they would arrive in Florida on the 13th. Now I had a firm deadline to meet. I had to get home before the moving van got there! Dave had no idea that big cabinet was coming! Our anniversary was July 10th and I wanted to be home for that, too!
Finally Done at The Pizzeria
The next several days were spent trying to sort thru the family papers and finish at the pizzeria. I finally (again with a lot of help from Glo Ann and one of the strong young guys) finished getting everything out of the back rooms of the pizzeria the evening of July 10th. Yes, I missed our anniversary!
We moved the remaining items that were flower shop related to the farm and stored them in the glass house. The glass house is a building my Mom had built for me when I first started my herb business. You can read more about it here
Finally on the Road to Florida
After being in Illinois 41 days, I headed home to Florida at Noon on July 11! Remember, I originally thought I would be back in Florida by June 13th!
read
It is not for the faint of heart. We just did a similar 3 state move.
It is a lot of hard work, isn’t it? And emotionally draining. I left out the part where I was sobbing at the kitchen table