Friday May 25, 2012

Another busy week.  It started on Sunday with the eclipse.  Branwen's teacher sent out an email that she would be at a park nearby with a telescope for viewing.  Other teachers from the school brought devices that could be viewed by a larger group.  Lots of people were at the top of this park.  We were triple parked!  After the kids saw the sun with the bite out of it, they ran around in the field having a wonderful time with their friends.

I not only have cute demolistion guys, I have a cute contractor.  His name is Lee.

The kitchen ceiling is gone.  Good news - the underside of the roof is in really good shape and there were no signs of little critters.

Construction guys do weird things like draw things and make notes on the walls.  This was done by our former plumber.  He retired and moved to Oregon, but comes to visit.  He was giving his expertise on recirculating hot water.

The pile of rubble is gone.  Too bad if I decided that I wanted something.

 My garage will finally have a small entry door.

 The main bathroom is gone.  (Except for the toilet.  That still works, but they carry buckets of water in to flush it.  Everyone agrees that the toilet will stay as long as possible.  It is sooooo much nicer than the porta-potty.)

This is where the heater used to be.  I will now have central heat and air-conditioning!   Woo Woo!

Needless to say - I moved out when this whole thing started.  If Chuck was still here, we would have either gone away for a semester or moved into an apartment.  Since it is just me, I have become a gypsy moving from one house to another.  Practically everyone I know who goes on vacation this summer is having me as a housesitter.  Even those people who normally don't have anyone stay in their house.

My first abode was at my friend Marie's.  She and her husband Bill are in Paris right now.  Her youngest son  Matt is a chef.  He made duck confit with roasted potatoes and spinach for our dinner one night.  Très bien.  

This was a great first place.  I know where everything is; I have no responsibilities; and I am halfway between my house and Alec's house.

But now I have moved on.  Marie and Bill are returning home on Saturday and Matt was having dinner guests.  Patti, a friend from knitting, offered her house for 2 weeks.  She has an outside cat that needs to be fed and watered and lots and lots and lots and lots of plants.  Luckily she is very organized and has printed out a watering schedule.  I am harvesting blue berries and strawberries (both white and red.)

Branwen and Calder can't understand why I haven't moved in with them.  How to explain - house to myself : house filled with kids, bathroom to myself : shared bathroom, queen sized bed : bottom bunk.  I have assured them that I will be staying with them sometimes, just not ALL the time.

Sunday, 5/20/12

Things continue.  This is taken with me standing about at the fireplace.  You can see through the kitchen area to the back door.  The demolished wall in the foreground is my living room wall (which will have niches for Native American pottery)  The blue in the middle is across the middle of the dining room to protect the books and other cupboards from most of the dust.

I have 2 cute guys  hauling furniture and demolishing. They are Chris & Ted and they are both about 6'5". 

 Today was the awards ceremony and picnic for baseball.  Branwen did Tee Ball.

Calder did 5 Pitch and all of his team wore pirate patches today.  They said Aargh a lot.

Alec coached both of their teams.  Calder will be in another league next year, so it was a little bitter sweet for them.

Getting started again May 16, 2012

A lot has happened since my last post.  Calder turned 8.

Branwen turned 6.

And I stayed 39.  Whoops, that is how old Alec is!  We went to a Yale dinner party at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West for his present. 

But, the biggest news is:  WE ARE FINALLY REDOING MY HOUSE.  We have been talking about it for years and years and it is finally happening.

I have weeded out tons of the junk that we have accumulated in 37 years. 

 I made trips to Goodwill everyday.  I packed until I thought my back would break. 

 This weekend was very busy which took time away from my packing.  First we had Children's Day at the elementary school.  Branwen performed in her Japanese Dance and her Kindergarten dance routine.

 Calder was in his class' song and dance, the whole school playing instruments and Taiko drumming.

Then. Sunday was Mother's Day.  We went to a Mommy & Me Tea.  The ladies could choose hats.

We all had tea stuff, and then I went home to pack some more.

Monday was the day that the moving out started.   The POD is parked beside the house and the garage is taking the overflow. 

Notice that the contractor has set up a little office in the garage.  The guys sit around to eat their lunch.  It is very civilized.  On Monday almost everything had been carried out, but I still could have changed my mind.

 Tuesday was the beginning of DEMOLITION!  My bedroom was trashed.

The kitchen was started.

 There is no turning back.