The house that we've been building for a year and a half was finally ready for us, and over our April vacation, we began to move furniture to the new house. We moved the bedroom furniture first because I'd bought a brand new mattress and I had it delivered to the new house. We slept on the 20 year old mattress on the floor for about 10 days in an empty bedroom while we waited for the phone company and the satellite TV people to come work their magic. Meanwhile, every day I'd fill assorted bins and boxes with our belongings, move them to the new house, unpack them, and then return for another load. We made the official move here exactly 2 weeks ago. However, we're still lugging boxes daily. It's hard to empty a house where you've lived for 30 years! Yesterday we brought the last of the furniture that we're keeping to the new house, and we took a huge load to the dump. We had 2 couches that had been absolutely shredded by our cats that I was thrilled to bid adieu! I've emptied all but one kitchen cabinet, and I have to empty a hutch in the dining room. We have a coat closet yet to deal with, and a floor to ceiling built in book shelf to empty. We have an old, permanently out-of-tune piano to rid ourselves of. We have a double bed, 2 dressers, and a couple of assorted chairs up for either adoption, sale, or donation. And then there are a multitude of collections --- assorted Nippon, assorted stacked teapots, some pewter, copper, and ceramic Guernsey milk jugs, and tons more books. Our plan is to gather all these items and furniture into a couple of rooms downstairs and hold a gigantic moving sale sometime in the next month. We had been shooting for Memorial Day weekend, but we'll be getting ready to head west to the big event of the year --- Younger Son's wedding!
One of the perks of the way we're handling the moving process is that we're unpacking as the boxes and bins arrive here at the new house. That way things are put away immediately. We have run into a few problems ---- such as I have a set of glasses that I definitely want to keep but they don't fit into any of the cabinets I'd planned to put them in. I have a small collection of glass blown by a local artist but I don't have mantel space or shelf space -- yet. We hope to add some floating shelves for display items. Our biggest problem though is our bodies! Neither my husband nor I are prime physical specimans, and each of us is dealing with some version of issues like uncooperative backs, knees, or hips. Plus, it's just plain physically exhausting, not to mention mentally exhausting with all the decisions that have to be made.
Another glitch is that some of the furniture I am deeply attached to doesn't appear to "work" in our new living space. I'm not sure that the coffee table I love will be able to be used, and I have a small side table that just doesn't seem to have found its place yet. And a much-loved antique chair is too big for the space I'd earmarked for it. All of these things will work out, but it's added stress.
People have asked if I've found it hard to leave our beloved home of 30 years. So far, I'm finding it much easier than you might expect. I think that's because we've looked forward so long to moving into the new home, we've had some time to grieve the change. And it helped that we've been focusing on all the benefits of a new, energy-efficient, easy-to-care space and all the downsides of living in a 100+ year old ark. I will miss our gorgeous shrubs, perennials, and fruit trees. One of the joys of an old house are the well-established stands of rhododendron, azaleas, lilacs, and forsythia, the ground cover of vinca in all the garden beds, the magnificent magnolia and crabapple tree in the front yard, the hundreds of bulbs I've planted, and the daylily beds all over the yard. We have pear trees that delighted us, the deer, the bear, and the wasps. All of these things can be planted here, but it takes years for these to reach their glory.
I am loving our decks here at the new house. We have 2 -- one off the main living area and a smaller one off our bedroom. Both face the south and because they are 2nd story decks we have lots of open sky. They are not screened which I'm a little concerned about -- how buggy will they be once the mosquitos arrive? So far, however, we've always had a breeze and although we are in the midst of blackfly season, and we have 10 acres of woods and wetlands behind us, we haven't been bothered. I've seen turkeys and deer from my deck so far, as I've sat there with my coffee early in the morning. My husband got a wildlife camera for his birthday, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more visitors once we get that set up!
I haven't had time to get many pics yet ---once I do, I'll get them posted.
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