A bit of advice - if you decide to move into a charming 100 year old cottage that's less than half the size of your old house, get rid of your excess stuff before you move! In my case it just wasn't possible. With the condition of Jim's health and my surgery next month, it was imperative that I get us moved and settled as quickly as possible into a smaller place.
We put our old house on the market last Wednesday and it sold full price the same day. Guess the universe is supporting this move in more ways than one.
It's been a couple of weeks, and boxes and furniture and much needed kitchen and other items are buried so deep in the two garages that I would have to empty the garages fully to find most of them! The movers put my full freezer in the back of one of the garages and then loaded the garage to the rafter with boxes and other things. The only good thing is that they said they did plug it in. Time will tell is that was the case.
They put kilns, slab rollers and big glaze materials bins in the wrong places, so we will have to hire a bunch of guys in a few weeks to move a lot of that stuff again.
I've been giving away clothes, furniture, kitchen items, etc. My cleaning lady and our son and daughter-in-law are benefiting very well from our lifestyle change. Simplifying is hard work!
Today I've been dealing with the Larry the tile guy who is laying tile in what will be the new, small but efficient, combo laundry/powder room. The gardener was here with two other guys for a few hours doing a major cleanup, tree pruning, some tree cutting, etc. Hopefully they will rototill what will be my little, planned secret garden soon. Today one of the guys cleared a short area enough to plant the four raspberry plants I came home with yesterday.
All my potted plants from the old house are scattered in the back and side yard and hopefully in another month most of them will be planted. They'd better be because of July 23 I go in for my second hip replacement surgery.
The new range is in but I still have to order the vent and cover. The second air conditioning company was here yesterday and promised an email bid today, which still isn't here. It will take at least 2 more weeks once we select which company will do that job. Meantime, one of the subs furnished us with a lender portable air conditioner for our bedroom. We had a couple of those 100 degree days without one and are so grateful to be able to sleep in some comfort.
The deer are still coming around, even with all this activity. One of the does looks like she is going to go into labor any second. Two days ago she was within a couple of feet of our bedroom window munching happily on some shrubs. I won't try to keep our resident deer out of the property, except for my secret garden which is going to be for veggies, flowers and herbs that deer would love to dine on. We do love seeing them in the yard. One of the males now has a rack that seems to get bigger with each day. He and Bodhi got in a bit of a scuffle a few days ago when Bodhi lunged at him. I pulled him back right away, and I'm sure he'll think twice about doing that again!
Well, that's a bit of update on the Perry, scaling down, lifestyle change move. Even with the mess and all the work ahead of me, we are feeling very good about being back in Ashland again. There are a lot more and better shopping choices and a many more services as well as very good restaurants that deliver and have take out menus. That is going to be particularly useful when I'm recuperating from my hip replacement surgery late July and August.
Hope everyone is enjoying some lovely summer weather and making lots of pots! Right now I'm off to get the car washed and pick up a couple of fill in groceries. With no garages free to park the car, living under the huge evergreen tree next to the driveway makes for a very dirty, messy car.
We put our old house on the market last Wednesday and it sold full price the same day. Guess the universe is supporting this move in more ways than one.
It's been a couple of weeks, and boxes and furniture and much needed kitchen and other items are buried so deep in the two garages that I would have to empty the garages fully to find most of them! The movers put my full freezer in the back of one of the garages and then loaded the garage to the rafter with boxes and other things. The only good thing is that they said they did plug it in. Time will tell is that was the case.
They put kilns, slab rollers and big glaze materials bins in the wrong places, so we will have to hire a bunch of guys in a few weeks to move a lot of that stuff again.
I've been giving away clothes, furniture, kitchen items, etc. My cleaning lady and our son and daughter-in-law are benefiting very well from our lifestyle change. Simplifying is hard work!
Today I've been dealing with the Larry the tile guy who is laying tile in what will be the new, small but efficient, combo laundry/powder room. The gardener was here with two other guys for a few hours doing a major cleanup, tree pruning, some tree cutting, etc. Hopefully they will rototill what will be my little, planned secret garden soon. Today one of the guys cleared a short area enough to plant the four raspberry plants I came home with yesterday.
All my potted plants from the old house are scattered in the back and side yard and hopefully in another month most of them will be planted. They'd better be because of July 23 I go in for my second hip replacement surgery.
The new range is in but I still have to order the vent and cover. The second air conditioning company was here yesterday and promised an email bid today, which still isn't here. It will take at least 2 more weeks once we select which company will do that job. Meantime, one of the subs furnished us with a lender portable air conditioner for our bedroom. We had a couple of those 100 degree days without one and are so grateful to be able to sleep in some comfort.
The deer are still coming around, even with all this activity. One of the does looks like she is going to go into labor any second. Two days ago she was within a couple of feet of our bedroom window munching happily on some shrubs. I won't try to keep our resident deer out of the property, except for my secret garden which is going to be for veggies, flowers and herbs that deer would love to dine on. We do love seeing them in the yard. One of the males now has a rack that seems to get bigger with each day. He and Bodhi got in a bit of a scuffle a few days ago when Bodhi lunged at him. I pulled him back right away, and I'm sure he'll think twice about doing that again!
Well, that's a bit of update on the Perry, scaling down, lifestyle change move. Even with the mess and all the work ahead of me, we are feeling very good about being back in Ashland again. There are a lot more and better shopping choices and a many more services as well as very good restaurants that deliver and have take out menus. That is going to be particularly useful when I'm recuperating from my hip replacement surgery late July and August.
Hope everyone is enjoying some lovely summer weather and making lots of pots! Right now I'm off to get the car washed and pick up a couple of fill in groceries. With no garages free to park the car, living under the huge evergreen tree next to the driveway makes for a very dirty, messy car.
Congrats on the quick sale of your house! Moving is so overwhelming. I am anxious for ours to be complete.
ReplyDeleteSympathies on the boxes: there is still a box under the stairs unopened from when we moved, and that was 18 years ago! I also had a similar experience with the car. The past two weekends have been Open Studios so the garage was converted to a temporary display space. I found a parking space in a side street nearby. Now I know why that space was vacant: it's under a tree where the pigeons like to roost. I hope you unearth the freezer in time for when you are less mobile and need the easy food supplies. Restaurant food is all well and good but there's nothing like knowing what went into what you're eating.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have found a wonderful house in Ashland. If not too much trouble, I would like to stop by your new home, briefly, this week to talk to you about your move to Oregon, some time ago, from Asheville.
ReplyDeleteWe also lived in Asheville, our stay was 12 or so years, making pots, supplying the wonderful shops, Grovewood Gallery, Southern Highland, Miya Gallery, and others. Almost three years ago we sold our house in order to move to So California to help care with my wife's mother, who as it turned out, died before we could be much help. And now, we're still in CA, in the SF Bay to be near our son and family. We can't stay here, however, as it's too expensive; and life in these parts is hectic and psychotic, at least to an Easterner. So our eye is on Oregon, somewhere, though probably Portland. My wife and I are intrigued by Ashland, however, and a bit by your own recent move. So who, you ask, are we trying to impose ourselves? Our paths never crossed in Asheville though we probably supplied the same shops. We have a blog which does include some of our earlier work, nothing recent, as we've been mostly dead in the water out here in CA Paradise:
mrymikpo.blogspot.com
I have been a reader of your wonderful blogs. I wish I had the same easy writing style.
We promise not to take up much of your time if you can find time for a visit.
Henry Pope & Mary Mikkelsen