Moving Was Humbling

 Moving this time was a humbling experience in several respects.

• We had been in our Westminster house for 16+ years.  It was amazing how much we had acquired during that time.  Maybe dismaying is a better word.  We had stuff crammed into almost all the available spaces.
• At some point, I had not stayed on top of the cleaning.  It had likely started when my right foot got bad, and then just snowballed.  But, the dust in places was really bad.
• I needed help weeding through my clothes and gathering items for donations.
• We needed help packing--there weren't enough hours in the day for how much stuff we had.

On the other hand, I'm extremely grateful for my friend Sue coming over and helping me sort through all my clothes.  And, I'm extremely grateful for my friend Carol coming over and helping with the dogs the day of the move and then coming back multiple times to help haul things from one house to another after the movers were done.

Carol keeping the dogs calm during the move

Smokey helping Geff with a short break

Several lessons learned through this move:

• If I am going to hire people to help pack, I need to be better organized so that things go to the correct places.
• We need to do a serious spring cleaning--at least once a year, if not twice a year, going forward.
• If I fall behind on the cleaning, I need to consider hiring help to get caught up.
• Friends are invaluable.  The next time a friend moves, I need to be much more available to them to help.

While we were still in the process of moving, we discovered we had COVID.  If it isn't one thing, it is definitely another!

Packing Is Painful

We're in the middle of packing.  We did get the house that we applied for and have started moving some things already.  The movers arrive on Monday.  The packers arrive tomorrow.  I'm having second thoughts on hiring people to help us pack, but time is going by so fast and we still have to work our day jobs.

Ruckus and Smokey are both stressed, even though Ruckus looks relatively relaxed here:

Once we get this house cleaned out, the realtor's concierge service will paint it and install new carpet.  And, then we can get it on the market.  The target listing date is May 20th.,

A Busy Two Weeks

 The past two weeks have been really busy.  We signed with a realtor, and then realized that we--and the dogs--will be better off if we move before our current house is listed.  Geff was able to get us a 10'x30' storage unit:

It is bare now, but likely not for long

We have also applied to rent a house near where we are building. We first looked at apartments, but fortunately realized that a house is more our lifestyle.

And, we will be close enough to watch as this empty lot turns into our new home.

The lot looks so large now!

We'll also be close enough to spend more time with Marge.

The Houses Are Gone!

 Last Monday, we received an email from the builder with a photo showing that the buildings were down.  I didn't have a chance until yesterday to visit the site.  It is exciting to see the progress, even as we ran into our next hurdle.  For now, here are the photos of the site as it looked yesterday.

A large hole in the front of the property--likely where the sewer/water pipes are capped

There used to be a house blocking this view.

They made fast work of the buildings

The foundation of the big house was really thick

Just to give you a better idea of the size of the concrete chunks

I thought the hole from the big house would be larger...

Next steps:

1. Finish the clean up.
2. Start the permitting process.
3. Sell our current house.
4. Move.

We were hoping to be able to wait until after the new house was built before selling our current home, but between the rising costs, the rising interest rates, and getting real about the space we will need, we are going to have to sell before we can finalize our building loan.

With this in mind, we have started packing up the things that we have accumulated since we moved into this house in 2006.  And, I may try to finish part of a quilt top.

The current quilt with packed boxes in the background

Another Step Forward

 It turns out that fixing a fence after someone runs into it is expensive.

On the plus side, the electricity was finally turned off yesterday.  I took this photo today:

The electrical boxes are no longer active

Here are a few other photos from today:

View of the stumps left over from the bushes that used to be in the front yard

View between the two houses

This is on the siding of the little house--I wonder where it was manufactured

And, the Next Issue Is....

 Yesterday, someone hit the fence:

The damage to the fence

Geff's brother sent the photo (along with several others).  Hopefully, this will be an isolated event.

The Demo Is Getting Closer

 We were optimistic when the fence went up and the demo crew was scheduled, but there was another delay with getting the electricity turned off. Last Sunday, I took this photo at the site;

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Tonight, there is a little more progress:

Friday, March 18, 2022 - no more shrubs!

The shrubs have been pulled out and numerous holes have been dug:

I'm so excited that I had to post another view

While the crews were there yesterday, they found the well.

The well is about 40' deep with about 15' of water

We're still waiting to find out what that means.