Back in the Saddle

I am very full of heart tonight. How could I not be? Really, sitting here in the cricketing evening (yes there are crickets in our part of the small city we've moved to) listening to the wind in the maples behind our house I feel so many shades of "good" that its preposterous to be trying to enumerate really. The keyboard is just as springy as I remember, the lovely, zippy Internet so full of inspiration, friends and brilliance and the house, this lovely, dreamy house...every inch my hopes come to life. Its true that there's no bathroom on the whole first floor, and yes there's some amazing acoustic tile and faux wood paneling and heaven knows the master bedroom entry floor could hardly be creakier....but I do love it. There are wood floors, there's a fireplace, windows everywhere you turn, a clotheline pulley, an old apple tree, some glass door knobs, radiators, and all kinds of fabulous little bits that I'm still discovering.

Can you believe this cool window crank on my kitchen sink window?

And check out this cool old clock they left....am swoony over it.

A nun from next door (there are nuns next door!) stopped by to beam at the children and greet us energetically and made sure that we knew were were welcome to come over anytime. The neighbor lent us forks for our first meal at the house, we've had three plates of welcoming cookies and two deliveries of homegrown tomatoes and something like 10-12 visits with people from the surrounding houses, all grinning away and telling us to knock on their doors if we needed anything. The garbage men have been past and taken away the first load of packing paper and boxes, we've found the flour and the canned peaches and our collection of silverware although admittedly we have no silverware tray at the moment. I have cooked real food for three days running now and we're starting to think about finding some of the laundry baskets and hoping one of the dressers I keep trolling Craigslist for will materialize so we can start putting clean clothes away again and stop living out of our suitcases.

This is just about how great life is at the moment.

It is a bit absurdly chaotic still but, really...every time another neighbor rings our doorbell or we're pulling our hair out over all the boxes and we go outdoors and watch the kids tumbling around in the grass of our very own, generous lawn....I feel painfully, stunningly lucky. I can't believe this is me! I feel like I'm living in a movie script or like I've wandered into an episode from Mr. Rogers. How in the world does this sort of thing really happen to people, least of all me! I feel a little dizzy from the fabulousness.

The Big Rock in our backyard. (with a load of cousins on it)

There are so many thousands of little delicious bits about our new house to share with you all that I am sure the introduction will stretch out for some time but, tonight I especially want to share with you the lovely wood floors we uncovered when we took off the amazingly nasty blue carpet that was EVERYWHERE in many of the rooms.

The men who ripped it out for me said that that guessed it was at least 30 years old. My shots somehow look a lot more rosy than it really did.

 There were dark grey trails where the main traffic patterns had been. It was positively delirious to see the beautiful wood emerge from under all of that and watch as it became more and more alive as it was swept and then washed.

I knew it was going to be stunning.

Our tree hydrangea....so pretty!

The basement door.

Of course the rooms are mostly a jumble of boxes and assorted homeless items with the occasional bushy haired child thrown wildly in for good measure but, eventually here I will be able to do a more personal introduction to the particular spaces we're living in these days. I am already dreaming of paint!

Busy Lizzy

 Cherries ripened so fast that we missed the picking season window! Oops! On to blueberries and peaches!

Here I am late at night, finally blogging for the first time this week. We've had a real doozy of a week beginning so far. Nothing terrible. In fact, nothing bad at all...just a whirlwind of activity. We've had home inspections, I had a visit from a friend, I've been painting with my Tuesday art group, the boys have been to the park and every night when we drive A home from work he's on a constant stream of phone calls. "Hello, this is A calling, I'm: looking for a stone mason, checking on the results of the radon test, wondering what paperwork you still need form us, wondering if we can arrange a walk-through, returning your call, trying to see if we can get a reference, hoping you can meet at 4, wondering why the document never showed up, and leaving you my fax number." Etc.

Whew.

Yeah. And that's pretty much what it feels like around here. Panic, rush, run, dash...and yet somehow, things are remarkably cheery. We all wish that Dee would take notes from the baby on sleep habits and work through this latest round of nightmares he's cultivated but, otherwise, life is pretty great. A bit over manic but great.

The boys, unimpressed with the endless stream of phone calls in the car

on the way home.

Today the landlord did that walk-through of our apartment with his realtor that I was stressing about and the house is frighteningly clean and orderly. Mostly orderly, don't look too closely at the mirrors or the cupboard doors and please don't inspect under any of the beds but, hey...it looks a whole lot better than it did. We haven't heard anything from him so we're hoping we passed muster and that things continue to move on well. The home inspection on our prospective white colonial went very well so from our end of things we're chugging right along on the moving process. Just before I let the landlord into our place he told A on the phone that he wants to start setting up showings with hopeful residents so, that means he's planning on our August move being real too. And I am saying over and over to myself..."I can keep this house orderly enough for impromptu showings non-stop from now until the end of August. I can." (Tell me you all believe in me...even if you know me well enough to know better.)

Our prospective home!

Planning big urns of annuals on those from steps in front of the pillars, a flag in the 

flag holder and a big excavation of those tired crew-cut yews!

But yes, life ticks on. The baby is one month old already...two days ago. I can't believe it. I am planning to take his one month portraits tomorrow...acne or no, my conscience wouldn't let me rest if I didn't give him his photographic due. And um...I'm getting some of the birth announcements all addressed and am hoping to mail them right soon. After I take said one month portraits I will share with you all the newborn portraits that I never did get around to posting because I was hoping to get the birth announcements (on which a few are featured) out first so as not to spoil the effect but, we're about to get quite behind if I don't just share. So, yes...I will.

Smiling for Daddy at his Father's Day meal

 

And also...the baby is smiling. Really, responsively, gurglingly smiling...(first daddy-grins were on Father's Day, no less!) And he's grown out of newborn clothes and I really, really need to figure out what I'm going to call him here. Need inspiration.

Listening to the rain dribbling blackly outside my bedroom window and feeling very cozy and as it is now the very late hour of 9:38 in the evening, I think I will retire. "The early bird....etc!"

Savoring Minutia

Sometimes you just have to stop and appreciate the tiny things. Stunning little bits that you miss if you're always dashing around with the diaper bag falling off your shoulder shouting, "I really mean it! One more time young man and you will have a time-out!" You know.

Last night A took the boys outdoors for me after he got home from work (as is his fairly frequent habit now, bless the man) and I took the camera to the back yard where I enjoyed the blessed quiet. Mmm....nothing like you, the camera and a little natural minutia to take your breath away.

Look at that dew! Stunning, I tell you!

And here I am, putting my John Hancock on the official paperwork to seal the acceptance of our offer on the big white colonial. (which will need much cooler name if we end up living there) Tonight we went over with the inspector and he gave the whole place the once over. And the long and short of it is that its a very sound old house. I was delighted. The very friendly neighbors came over the hedge to cheer with us and let their pug dog lick the boys faces and then we meandered around the yard and dreamed about which shrubs to tear out and how to prune the apple tree and which spot was best for the vegetable garden. The neighbor gardens. *grin grin grin* Am very happy.

Last Jam

Happy Strawberry Season!

Today the boys  and I started smooshing and stirring and ladling out our annual batch of strawberry freezer jam. We picked berries together this past weekend and it has taken me until today to be able to finally get the pectin out and haul the boxes of half-pint jars out of the attic.

We've been busy because we've been working on pulling together bids and comps and forms and heaven knows what else in paperwork and last night it all culminated in our offer on a lovely three story colonial being accepted. We are really excited and I'm daydreaming pretty constantly about where I'll put the vegetable garden and the bee hives and which rugs will go in which rooms.

This berry jam will likely be the last big project I'll ever  do in our boiling hot, gray kitchen. I hope I'll be canning my August peaches in my new kitchen....looking out the window at the lilies in the backyard. I'll miss the sunshine in this space, all my plants crowded into our story corner under the solarium windows and the cool of the marble floor not to mention the marvelous way it hides all cooking spills and drips. But, we are moving on to greener pastures folks. Literally. There is a wide green lawn, front back and side of the house where boys will tumble happily, an apple tree of our own to love, a big one car garage where bikes can live and a beautiful sunroom where I'll paint and sew and make emerald with green growing things.

So, here's to jam! The last ruby product of our little condo. Grey eighties place, you have been a good home but, not our real one, we hope, hope, hope (pending inspections and mortgage stuff and appraisals and all manner of other processes) you will be a piece of our past by the end of July!

House Option #3!

So, intially...way back in spring of '09 there was this house. Remember that anyone? I still drive by from time to time, watching how the new owners are slowly sprucing up the place. I'm a creepy house-stalker person. I can't help it. I got all attached...and I'm living vicariously.

And then there was a long break, a lot more looking and eventually...a few minutes ago....this house. We put in a knowingly low offer and the seller's agent scoffed in our general direction and we waved goodbye.

Take three and my current dream.

 We toured this house on Saturday and have been mulling it over, looking through our pictures and piling up comps to examine since then. The neighbors are incredibly kind and friendly, the sidewalks broad, the street green and leafy, there's an apple tree in the yard and the doorknobs are glass...it sounds good.

Whaddya think? We're hoping to put in an offer this week. I can see myself canning in this house.

Coffee Tree Very Pretty....

Well, they want too friggin' much for the house. Blast. Oh well. We're leaving our names and numbers and letting it all go for now...there are other houses on the market and other yards to dream of landscaping. Who knows what will come of even this house though...its a great place and they've been trying to sell it for a year now with no luck so, maybe they'll call us back yet. One thing I feel for sure is that if its meant to be our house, we won't have to sweat it. Providence will guide us on this one and we'll know what to do when...things will happen.

But in the meantime! There's all kinds of lovely things to enjoy, right here in the yard of our silly condo....

And in my kitchen....the coffee tree is blooming! First time ever!

Coffee blossoms smell a lot like jasmine or orange blossoms. Super yummy and that familiar starry white. I could imagine tucking them into the upswept hair of some Columbian bride. Pretty food crops are nice. This particular tree isn't actually ours...we're only long-term babysitting. It belongs to A's brother Miq and his wife Penny who are currently overseas with military assignments and needed a home for their glossy leaved plant while they country hopped for a few years. We take care of Planty (his official name) and are happy to report that he's doing well enough that he's been repotted several times, routinely shoots out new leaves and yes, now is having his first round of blooms. I feel like a good steward.