Moving Day has come and gone:

Boxes piled high in the old library

Many of our friends from out of town are wishing they could help with the move and one friend, Alice O, even said to thank the ‘locals’ for helping out and helping to keep me healthy.   So here is a great big  personal thank you to Jeanne Moo, Cindy W, Dale and JoAnn P, Tamara, Emily H (she cleaned up all the blood from Bill’s head), for all the packing help and even meals.   We are packed and ready to move on.  This has been very emotional at times but we are ready to settle in to the new place.  

Other Side of Library, before move

One box for each sink in the new house 

We didn’t have any luck with Habitat for Humanity or two other recycling companies, this was too small a job to bother with, and so we went to the apps on our phone; Offer Up, and Nextdoor.  We are giving everything away for free to anyone who will take it out.  Almost all my outside plants have gone to new homes.  We have even driven by their new homes and admired them all nicely planted in new places.  We have family lined up to take the play set in the backyard of the new house,  but there are people coming to take out the kitchen counters and cabinets, bathroom cabinets windows, lighting fixtures and whatever else they can use.  We have put a great deal of effort into this because it was so sad to watch the developer crunch the houses near us that had clothes, dishes, food, books, furniture, cabinets and counters.   Bill calls this type of developer the ‘scorch and burn’ verses a green developer like the ones who built the cottages behind us.  We made the decision to leave but we still have respect and value for the house that has kept us safe and warm for so many years.

After - Kitchen in old house

Before - kitchen in old house 

Bill had a drill fall on his head while he was taking something down outside and he has 5 new staples in his head.  We are past the 400 number in boxes packed and close to 30 rolls of tape.  I like the 10 pound packages of paper better at public Storage but Home Depot definitely has the best prices on boxes and it is worth it to stop at Costco for packing tape (even when they move it from school supplies to Christmas department and you have to look all over and then ask someone because I bought some yesterday.)   One night in the middle of everything we took a break to have dinner and listen to some music with friends, thanks to Priscilla and Jeff who got us together even though they were in New York.  Tamara came over Saturday morning with groceries and worked all day, feeding and helping us.  Sunday I didn’t pack anything while the Seahawks were playing, they lost anyway.  Barb and Steve came over for sandwiches and we walked all over the development site.  From a distance, it is easy to see that we are ‘in the way’ and looking a bit misplaced but I still think we had a cute little house.

Cute Little house in Cute Little Forest
Soon to be Demolished  :- (

A lot has happened:  we are in the new house.  All 400 boxes are unpacked and have gone to the families that are moving next,  see we are even recycling the boxes and paper.  We had our open house/housewarming this past Sunday afternoon.  Bill says a house isn’t a home until you start making memories and that having the open house was an important thing to do to start making memories.   We had about 75 people make it now they know where we are and can start to think of us in this new place.   We have met a lot of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac and are looking forward to spring and summer and getting to know everyone better.  Our next door neighbor “Kat and Carmichael” says that we have tipped the scale towards more owners than renters in the neighborhood and that is a good thing according to them, owners care more. 

Bingo card by Alice O

The highlight of the party was the “Self-guided tour” that each guest got to make as they played BINGO with cards that had photos from around the house, and a few trick photos included to fool people.  The game had people talking to others they didn’t know.  Many of the neighbors had never even been in the house and since the neighborhood was built in the early 70’s, people were really interested in what others had done with practically the same house.  

Of course, I cooked.  I had chocolate brownies with fudge icing, lemon cheesecake bars and mini pecan pies.  I had fresh baked rolls, smoked brisket, BBQ chicken and cole slaw also and fruit and veggie plates in different spaces.   I totally forgot to get out the Seahawks cookies I bought at the bakery, now I have to eat they all myself, Bill helps but he scrapes off the icing first….. 

We choose this house for many reasons but one was the potential for projects which will keep Bill happy.  Today I am listening to noises as we are having air conditioning installed.  I know it is November but it is on the list and we are definitely beating the rush before summer.  The installers told us we are in the perfect lull as the first frost has not come yet and when it does they are always swamped with calls about all the furnaces that don’t start up the first time.   We still need to hang more stuff on the walls but I am thinking about where they feel like they need to be.  I have not really been knitting……..   Shocking I know.  I have made a couple of hats and added a few squares to my “cozy memory blanket” but other than that not so much.   I have actually put away most of my projects as my current projects have more to do with settling in to a new place.  

The party was good for breaking in the kitchen and seeing how things work.   I didn’t notice any big bottle necks in traffic like in the old house,  people could spread out and visit too,  so far no big flaws.

Just a note:  the old house is still standing but they dropped the power and internet lines the day after we moved out,  I think that was costing the developer extra money every day.   

Kitchen in New House

What you see as you come in the front door.