Moving in and moving out (03-13-10)

We moved today, with much help from friends and family. Thanks to all!

Moving in and working out (03-10-10)

The house is already full, but I'm moving more boxes over today.

Every time I walk by the fireplace in the living room, and see the hearth filled with a foot of the finest light powdery ashes, it makes me think of the box of ashes we found in the laundry room a few days ago. I now regret returning it; I think the yard would have been a great place to disperse them.

I decided to clean out the hearth. I swept the ashes up carefully and filled two paper grocery bags. I set aside a few small things that haven't burned all the way: part of the header to a legal document, a torn piece of photograph, a negative...

In the middle front of the fireplace, there is a spot of hardened glue. The previous owner ripped out a plaque that used to be glued there, one of her "Home Sweet Home" or "My Heart Belongs Here" like she had everywhere in the house.

Mysteries and unanswered questions abound. Why so many ashes? Why not dispose of one's private papers by shredding them the old-fashioned way? Why rip out a stupid plaque and leave the fireplace damaged? This is too weird.

Cleaning Out the Shed (03-09-10)

I thought that a good cleanup of the shed would make a world of difference. But a closer look reveals that all the shelving and ramshackle built-ins will have to go.

Junk! Out!

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Moving in and bugging out (03-09-10)

I take a truckload of garden plants and miscellaneous things over to the house with Julia. We take the black and white cat with us. He does not look very happy; he promptly finds a hiding place behind the furnace and refuses to come out. I leave the cat to his own devices to take Julia to school.

I then rush back to the house to meet the pest control guy. This guy whose pickup truck is embellished with violent cartoons suggesting mob-like dedication to the task, is all smiles. I tell him about hearing that there were big spiders around, and I think we may have carpenter ants in the shed... No worries. He's gonna take a look and tell me all about the problems. He does in fact spend a good amount of time in the crawlspaces under the house and under the shed. When he emerges, there is a look of concern on his face. There are bad news, indeed: the insulation is installed upside down and rats are nesting in it; there may be wood boring beetle damage; there is carpenter ant damage in the shed; and, not to frighten me in any way, there is an "amazing" amount of spider eggs under the house…and they will soon hatch, by the thousands. The cost for treatment may seem high, but bugs get throughout a house by crawling up the walls and wherever there is an opening, -such as a heat register-, there is a way for them to get in. All said with a greasy smile and assurances, his company's services are guaranteed to the tee. There will be spraying, dousing, drilling holes and fumi-gating. Total eradication, no more, no less.
I am not sure I can trust this guy.

Moving in and sweeping out (03-08-10)

Gary rents a bigger truck and we load it up. He decides to take the black and white cat with him for the trip. A couple of people from church come by to help along. Things get taken out of the rental house that shouldn't, such as food and pots and pans...

When Gary gets to the house, immediately runs upstairs to hide in the room that will become my closet and stays there the entire time.

I start cleaning the shed out. I see a what appears to be a large sinister spider by one of the windows and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't pounce on me unexpectedly.

Sweeping takes me a couple of hours. There is so much crap in the shed, all I can do is dump everything out the door: old rusty tools, boxes of nails, floor tiles, pieces of lumber. A dumpy looking dresser with drawers has been nailed to the walls and is attached to a hollow core door supported by wobbly feet, meant to be used as a makeshift workshop space. I start removing the drawers and notice a very sizable amount of sawdust. I suspect there may be carpenter ants in there...

There are so many boxes, they get taken in anywhere in the house, willy-nilly. I never realized we had so much stuff... I am overwhelmed by how much we need to get rid of.

Moving in and cleaning out (03-07-10)

I take a carload of stuff over to the house by myself. I decide to get organized and to clean this grimy house from top to bottom before the bulk of our things get moved in. I decide to focus on the floors in the laundry room, but before even getting started, I get distracted by the hallucinatory checkerboard pattern in the laundry room closet and start ripping it out.

The seller's agent shows up at the door to pick up the seller's mother's ashes. She hands me the check for the seller's one day of rent and congratulates me for "making a great deal." I want to laugh at her; I only foresee problems ahead.

We make another trip with my car and Gary's truck in the evening. Gary gets there before I do ans tells me he saw the greenhouse taken away in one piece on a truck; all the garden pots are gone.

I bought a beautiful fragrant Daphne yesterday to plant at the new house; I am still on the lookout for a self-pollinating semi-dwarf cherry tree :)