moving

Party Centrale

/ Quilly / 47 Comments

Now that we have a great house, we plan on having some great parties.  I told Amoeba that I thought our first party should be a house warming.  We could tell everyone to bring furniture as gifts and send them all to the local furniture store to see our wish list.  He told me no.   Spoil sport.

However, the house is almost adjacent to the ball field and I understand the Lab fields a team, so Amoeba is envisioning Summer Barbecues and weenie roasts around our built-in fire pit, so I am looking for ideas.

Still, we would like to host a housewarming and invite those folks who have made our transition to Friday Harbor so easy. Anybody got any cute, cool ideas for a motif? And how do we handle that present thing since Amoeba won’t allow me to solicit furniture?

Call Off Search & Rescue

/ Quilly / 35 Comments

We’ve not been missing.  Just busy!

We have arrived safely in Friday Harbor. We’ve caught up on our sleep, checked into staff housing, mostly unpacked, purchased new rain gear, visited our new home, registered at the city office so we’ll have water, sewer & garbage service, purchased a ton of groceries, visited 0ne of our favorite restaurants TWICE, had our satellite dish installed, gotten to know two of the local cab drivers, and right now Amoeba is out picking up the car our new landlords are loaning us (yes, you read that correctly) until ours arrives.  After he gets the car, he plans to attend choir practice at church.

My blog reader lists almost 200 unread posts.  I am never going to be able to catch up.  However, I’ll be  around to visit, soon. If I don’t read all of your back posts, please understand there is only one of me and 89 of you.

The fact that I can come and visit you at all is courtesy of Thom.  He gave me his Acer Aspire One laptop.  He did it so he wouldn’t have to miss me, and you all benefit, too.  No one could ask for a kinder or more generous & loving friend.

Thom, I miss you and I wish you were here.  Of course, if you were, you’d likely be bitching about all the wind and the rain and the gray, but so far I am appreciating the fact that for the first time in 28 months, I am not sweating!

Tilden: peep.

Anticipation

/ Quilly / 19 Comments

This is the back of our new house. You will note that there are two decks. An open deck off the living room and a covered deck off the dining room. Even if it is raining, I can sit outside. Since it is likely to rain often in the area, I am anticipating frequent episodes of enjoying the view from my covered deck.

When I heard the stove was a JennAir, I immediately began dreaming of built in gas grills . Then the landlady (you can see her in the pic) said the stove was electric, but the covered patio has a propane feed for a gas grill. You know I have one of those on my wishlist now.

In the meantime, that little path you see at the end of the steps leads to here. A propane fire pit. I am thinking that it will make a great place for a marshmallow roast. But probably not until at least spring. Still, I’m dreaming ….

It is almost time. I bought two new suitcases today. The one I took this summer didn’t survive the trip. It wasn’t very old, but I stored it for 3 years in a metal shed sans air conditioning and that must have weakened the plastics. At any rate, until we finally hit Friday Harbor I will continue to post and I’ll visit when I can, but you might be seeing less of me as things crank into action.

Making Your Move Easier

/ Quilly / 15 Comments

If you don’t already know for yourself, the logistics of moving are a nightmare — especially when moving great distances. There are moving companies that can make things a lot easier. There are also moving companies that can make things a lot harder.

When Amoeba and I first started putting all of our ducks in a row, I contacted at least a dozen companies. Most of them said we’ll take you this far, then you’ll have to transfer to another company. The potential for things going wrong seriously escalates with that scenario. Plus, that’s extra people, extra handling, extra fees.

When I stumbled across MoveBuilder.com, I was really excited to learn that they handle complete moves from beginning to end. I filled out the forms and it wasn’t until I got to a live person that I discovered they only facilitate moves on the mainland. Luckily, the lovely person on the phone gave me some pointers and helped me contact someone who can get us from our old door, to our new door. Easy peasy.

The Final Week

/ Quilly / 52 Comments

I don’t know how much you’ll see of me this week. There is much to do!

We have 7 days until the movers arrive. Between now and then I have three closets to sort and cleaning to do — fans to clean, windows to wash, etc. I also have to do some dismantling.

When we arrived on this island the first piece of furniture we bought was a dining room set. Amoeba knew just what he wanted and we trekked all over the island to find it. We looked at dozens of contemporary dining sets, but couldn’t find one that suited both our price and our pocket book.

I wanted something with a “country” look. Amoeba wanted a bistro-type set with long-legged chairs. We actually found a wonderful compromise. Our dining set is made of wood (a must for me) and has a natural wood top and seats, while the frame of the table and chairs is a high gloss black.

It was perfect in our condo — especially in front of that huge sliding glass door overlooking the ocean. It looks great in this stark white, beach house because it adds a bit of color and dramatic flair. I imagine it will look wonderful in the dining room of our new home, too. Even so, this week I don’t like it.

In order to move it we —I — have to dismantle it. Again. And when it arrives in Friday Harbor I will have to put it together. Again. Do you have any idea how many nuts and bolts and screws it takes to put together a set of table and chairs! My hand hurts just thinking about how long I’ll be holding a screwdriver or wrench.