Move in Weekend
After over 2 years of work, we finally moved in. There is still work to be done but the that work is minor. Move in day coincided with Holly visiting from NYC, Adam done with finals, and Jessica home from medical school. Susan's sister, Donna, and her husband, John, also joined us so our newly occupied house was completely full. Over the 4 days we were in the house, the temperature went from blistering (97 F) to the normal summer heat (80 F).
Move in day started with a truck rental in Oakland. Although we didn't move much existing furniture up, we did have a lot of stuff we had stockpiled in Oakland. (Until I saw it, I wouldn't have believed how much space bed linens, pillows, and quilts for 4 beds would take up.) Although the truck worked very well, my Escape hybrid died 5 miles into the trip. Since I was driving the truck, I had the good fortune of hearing of the hassles via cell phone. After having the disabled car towed to the dealer and swapping cars, Holly and Susan left for the house only 3 hours late.
The rest of us arrived at the house about 2:30 PM and, with some strong help our contractor brought in, the truck was unloaded in about 1/2 an hour. Over the next couple hours, some of us got the rugs down and furniture placed in while others worked on the kitchen.
By 8 PM we were all exhausted so we retired to the pool area and finished off 3 bottles of wine.
Friday found us doing more cleaning, organization, and moving in. I debugged the satellite TV connection and got the new tv mounted in the library/media room. The rest of the media electronics will have to wait until next weekend. The internet connection is due within 2 weeks. Throughout this day and the next 2, everyone felt free to take a break and have a swim whenever they were overtaken by the urge.
Saturday continued the pattern although the crew spent the afternoon in Mendocino and made stops for wine tasting on the return drive. As a father's day present, they let me stay home and work on assembling my new woodworking machines. Although I made progress, I still have a long way to go before my new shop is up and running.
Sunday's departure was hard but we have even more to look forward to when we return on Thursday. The landscaping should be nearing completion with the upper garden done and the driveway ready for planting. The garden prep work stirred up so much dirt that keeping things clean has been a real challenge. We look forward to the last of the dirt work.
The courtyard garden has taken off and the plants are growing at an amazing rate. In the lower garden we already have tomatoes, peaches, and pears. They are small but the plants seem to be very happy.
Move in day started with a truck rental in Oakland. Although we didn't move much existing furniture up, we did have a lot of stuff we had stockpiled in Oakland. (Until I saw it, I wouldn't have believed how much space bed linens, pillows, and quilts for 4 beds would take up.) Although the truck worked very well, my Escape hybrid died 5 miles into the trip. Since I was driving the truck, I had the good fortune of hearing of the hassles via cell phone. After having the disabled car towed to the dealer and swapping cars, Holly and Susan left for the house only 3 hours late.
The rest of us arrived at the house about 2:30 PM and, with some strong help our contractor brought in, the truck was unloaded in about 1/2 an hour. Over the next couple hours, some of us got the rugs down and furniture placed in while others worked on the kitchen.
Covered patio
Kitchen
Living room area
Living room area
Master bedroom
By 8 PM we were all exhausted so we retired to the pool area and finished off 3 bottles of wine.
Friday found us doing more cleaning, organization, and moving in. I debugged the satellite TV connection and got the new tv mounted in the library/media room. The rest of the media electronics will have to wait until next weekend. The internet connection is due within 2 weeks. Throughout this day and the next 2, everyone felt free to take a break and have a swim whenever they were overtaken by the urge.
Pool
Saturday continued the pattern although the crew spent the afternoon in Mendocino and made stops for wine tasting on the return drive. As a father's day present, they let me stay home and work on assembling my new woodworking machines. Although I made progress, I still have a long way to go before my new shop is up and running.
Sunday's departure was hard but we have even more to look forward to when we return on Thursday. The landscaping should be nearing completion with the upper garden done and the driveway ready for planting. The garden prep work stirred up so much dirt that keeping things clean has been a real challenge. We look forward to the last of the dirt work.
Garden
The courtyard garden has taken off and the plants are growing at an amazing rate. In the lower garden we already have tomatoes, peaches, and pears. They are small but the plants seem to be very happy.
posted by Jim Barstow at
10:09 PM
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