Movin' On UP

...to the Southside, where all the kool kids live!
Today is moving day and to say I have been busy is a massive understatement. I don't pack. I bring. It's different. Today I put all my crystal beverage glasses in socks and then into my hamper. At 5am I brought my clothes and curtains here, had a shower, got gas, stopped at Hardee's for takeout breakfast and got back to the old house by 7:30.
My pots and pans have been here for days, then dishes, glasses and food, but the very first thing we did was plant the garden. Yes. First things first. It was so hot that I only did the small bed and quit. Later after 5, we returned and finished the other bed.

Half of our hosta is here, acting as a living guardrail on the porch.

 We had planned to rent a small truck to bring our trees and bigger hosta, but in a blast of enthusiasm we wrapped the bigger coral bark with handy wrap and got it into the car without breaking anything. Buoyed by that success we next wedged in the smaller maple and voila, here they are. The big hosta will be next. 

Once the garden was in, I could relax and have my first guests. My sister and niece came over after church (so fun to have the whole family attending together) and had our first meal with the new dishes!

 I love that white counter top...my dreams realized.

 The whiteness...pre Dawgs. We did bring them and then experienced muddy paw prints everywhere, GASP, but guess what? The floor cleans up in a flash and the proof is in the pudding. Why even try to hide the dirt? If I can see, I can clean it.

My studio-to-be and the doors to the screened porch, (doggie house) which is where I am sitting now, with the pugs. A ceiling fan was installed and I am gratefully enjoying the breeze while I wait for Dave and the movers to arrive. So glad I am an old woman and won't have any heavy lifting to do ever again. Until I decide to rearrange the furniture...O well.

The hall bath which I set up immediately.  It's your standard issue, but it does match the kitchen cabinets.

It's been three month since we listed our other house and while we've had lots of viewings, no nibbles. So our real estate guy decided we should lower the asking price. This resulted in immediate calls for showings, which we postponed as the house is a wreck during the move. Grrr. But I am glad to have the renewed interest, and once it's empty, we won't have that awful routine of frantic cleaning, leaving with the dogs, and holding our breath.
We've met our young neighbors and Dave has already suggested sharing our lawn mower with them. The amount of grass we have is minuscule, but they have a front yard, so sharing has saved them from getting a mower.
Did I mention that I got a bike? Dave has two, so I am catching his enthusiasm.  The streets are flat here, and bike lanes are everywhere. I can't wait to visit my pal Mary, on my bike!
  
It matches my petunias!

Garden Dreams Come True

The current garden is flourishing, but my thoughts have been directed to the new house garden which I designed, marked out and hoped would look like my plan. The idea was an integrated set of beds which would not look like an afterthought. 

I am WELL PLEASED. Over the moon, ecstatic, thrilled, and delighted! The new beds are level and fit the curves of the sidewalk. The interior was cemented and drain holes were added at the ground course, and trimmed out on top with half bricks for a finished look. 

The grade of the yard is sloped but the genius bricklayers dug down and started the bricks so that the top would be level, just what I had hoped. At the moment, in these pictures taken last night, there remains globs of wet cement sitting in the middle of the bed, but I am certain that will be removed before we add garden soil.

Around the perimeter I have about 18" of walkway, which will be first mulched and then my cobalt blue flower pots will be ensconced. 

The long bed is tapered and narrows on the south end. The other bed is pretty square, and wider.

 Our neighbor's house has normal landscaping, and it looks lovely. Boxwood, arborvitae, gardenias and Annabelle hydrangeas. 

Between the houses, where it is quite shaded all day, the builder has spread river rock. I must say I detest covering the earth with more rock, but you can bet I will have pots of shade loving hostas sitting happily in that spot.

+++++
I didn't sleep a wink last night, so excited over the prospect of moving in this weekend. Friday we close, and Saturday at the crack of dawn I will have the refrigerator delivered and phone and internet installed.
We have the movers scheduled for June 2nd, and in the meantime we are moving the soft things, like clothes, kitchen items and such. And we are renting a truck to bring in the pots of hostas, trees, and new plants I just bought, half price of course, at Lowe's.

The Countdown Begins

We were informed that closing was bumped up four days earlier to May 27th . Weeeeee! Everything is happening all at once.

I've called the movers and we have begun condensing the stuff we intend to move ourselves, and stacking it all in the garage. Two men and a truck are coming June 2nd but we'll make several trips before and after they move the heavy things. I will not be doing any serious lifting. Just pointing at where things go.

No bids yet on our current house, which means that we can empty it, and scrub everything down and it will stay clean once we are out. 

The pantry shelves are in and the floor is getting its second coat of whiteness. Then two coats of polyurethane will finish the job. 

Dave stands in the alley, admiring the concrete patio extension, which says PARTY!! and  he is already dreaming of pumping up the stereo, full blast. Don't worry, I am still the sheriff. Because of the placement of our house on the curved street, we are the only ones with such a large apron off the garage, so we'll gladly host. It looks like we may be the first house finished.

My front garden has shrunk considerably since the sidewalks are now in. I've discussed my plans with the designer and asked to have the rubble and clay removed and the grade leveled, and then I will come and mark out the proposed garden walls. We'll use the same brick and each side will be separated from the house by a narrow space, so I can work all sides without stepping in the interior. The house faces east, morning sun, and shade in the afternoon. These photos were taken at 4pm, so the plants can rest from the intense heat this summer. My hostas will have a spot on the porch and out back on the patio, in the cool shade.

Please excuse my gushing

Some girls dream of falling in love with Prince Charming. I have fallen in love with my quartz countertop...and my sink and my cabinets. O geesh. I am crazy in love with the whole kitchen. We got into the house yesterday and I got to run my hands along the shiny white surface, which was icy cold, due to dropping temps overnight, and I luxuriated over the smooth clean beauty of this material. Only weeks left til I can move my stuff in and begin cooking and serving on this counter. Heaven!

The kitchen sink is a single long deep rectangle, with disposal and will have a single faucet. All the drawers and doors have that silent close feature, and I am praying I can get Dave to close them after he uses them. The larger cabinet (opposite side) next to the oven has pull out shelves for my pots and pans and that makes me even happier. La dee dah! It's not too late to have my girlhood dreams come true.
 The hall bath has the same counter, with an undermounted rectangular sink. The floor  tile is grouted in white. That'll be fun to keep clean.

This part was a big surprise to us. They were pouring the aprons in front of the garages yesterday, and for some unknown reason, ours is way wide and deep. I could park my ol' PT Cruiser on it and still not be in the alley. The house behind us is a two storey and they have planned ahead, big time, and made an apartment on the second floor of the garage, which will pay their mortgage and make someone happy to have such a nice spot downtown to live.

And O Happy Day, they have provide wonderful house numbers for us, and mounted them already. I have been shopping for something like this, and lo and behold, they come with the house!

On the negative side...I am not thrilled to see that pile of brick, mortar and clay piled up next to the foundation.We'll have to discuss the master plan again and get this junk removed.

We have had lots of viewings and have another open house to do on Tuesday. So keeping the place tip top is our everyday job. Boring.
But, last night we did manage to squeeze in a small birthday party for my niece Glory, who will turn 21 while she is on a university choral trip to Ireland and Scotland this coming week. 21 years old! Yipes. Where has the time gone?

Back to Myself

It's been a long dry period, but at last I kicked myself in the butt and got back to work. This Diamond Panel Jacket was almost finished for MONTHS, but somehow I just couldn't settle myself into a place to focus on knitting. After our garage sale was over, I felt that something broke free and I could get back on track. 

 

  It's made from Tangier: Aran: 47% Silk, 19% Acrylic, 17% Cotton, 17% Rayon combined with Berroco Weekend, 25% cotton, 75% acrylic. Spoken for by Judith W, who will no doubt faint at the knowledge that I finally got this done! 

 In other news, I made a black, red and white quilt for my new house. Most of the fabrics are prints, with some solids and a hand painted section.


 
In a burst of enthusiasm, I ordered a bunch of Dick Blick's wood panels to mount some old paintings from 2006. I had to paint the panels a glossy white to match the other ones in my collection. Now that I will have white walls, the paintings will look more like AHRT in a gallery. Ha!

 These are all acrylic, ink, and colored pencil, on watercolor paper, mounted on painted wood panels.