A good news day

This is the kitchen in our new, little Craftsman cottage. I was very happily surprised to see this size kitchen in an  1,100 plus, square foot house. Even the painters remarked that the house appears much larger than it's actual square footage.

Yesterday was a great day! Felt terrific after 8 hrs sleep as opposed to 3 the night before.Unfortunately, I'll be dragging today after only 3 1/2 hrs last night; but what can you do!

They're  continuing with the huge cleanup pruning/clean up at the house and after the first day of trimming yesterday, I discovered a hidden wiseria vine on an arbor. It was being shrouded by an ancient evergreen; but they trimmed the tree up and there it was. I was also happy to see a beautiful, big, healthy peony bush near the front, right corner of the house.

There was good news from Matt the contractor that he will not only be able to put a combo laundry room/powder room and that he has one of his team that he may be able to get on it right away. I love that!
A bit of not so good news - we can't put a drain in the basement; but since I'll only be washing clay water down the sink, he said he could just break through the concrete and let it drain there. Glaze material cleanup will be relegated to large buckets.

Another good news of the day, was that the ugly area in the rear garden, filled with dirty looking gravel isn't a  septic of anything I have to deal with. It's an old, make shift  fire pit! So I will be making that area a small patio for either our outdoor table and chairs or our two loungers and our portable fire pit. It will be great for watching those late August meteor showers. He said they'll just fill it with sand as part of the prep before laying a flagstone patio.

This morning I have a meeting with the mover. Since we want them to pack, I'm readying myself for a case of sticker shock. After an early lunch, then I'll be driving to Ashland to finish the measuring I didn't get to yesterday. The contractor checked a lot of things for me and made some excellent suggestions.

Bodhi and I got a huge surprise from an unexpected visitor. As I was walking Bodhi toward the back yard, he turned the corner before me and pulled so hard on the chain that I thought he might have spotted a bunny; but when I turned the corner, there stood a full grown doe. When she saw me she jumped the 6 foot fence. Bodhi was so excited. It just made his day and got me thinking I have to rethink what I plant at that house. Looks like a lot of irises and hostas, or a bigger fence!

When I told the gardener, he said there are two deer to come and sleep inside the property every night. Oh joy!

Since I've been up since a bit before 4am, I gathered some of the treasured pots from my collection and layered them with kitchen towels and pot holders. I'll be taking them over to the new house with the other box of bisqued pots I packed yesterday, and whatever delicate things I can get in the car. I figure I'll load up the center island with them and go then switch to kitchen things I won't need for the next 12 days and get them into the cupboards at the new house.   One the painters are done I can start bringing in pictures and paintings. I met with them yesterday and they'll be coming in to start painting Saturday morning instead of the late afternoon which was their initial projected start time.

If I didn't have to show the gardener the things he has to remove from the basement, I'd be staying home and trying to nap later; but I need to stop at Lowe's for flagstone tiles to create a new hearth and get some locks for the basement and garage doors, and a lot of packing tape. This kind of busyness is going to be the norm for the next month or more.