Home life 1

Our first week was dedicated to my frantic need to unpack, organize, and get to a state of feeling "home". My feet were so sore every night from an entire day of running around in circles. My first goal was the kitchen and Julia's room. After that I unpacked all the random boxes. Several trips were made to buy long lists of random things like hangers and plugs and ant repellent and spray bottles and furniture felt pads. I hung art. LOTS of art. I shopped for food, and cooked my first meal in the new kitchen. it was a simple pasta, but there was lots of opening drawers looking for this or that that I just saw somewhere. I made bread. I put away clothes and sorted all the bathroom odds and ends. I bought a saw to remove a branch or two overhanging the porch and then went nuts trimming dead and excessive growth from the lilacs circling the yard. Two giant car-sized piles of branches later and I'm done with that for the moment. Our yard looks considerably bigger. We went to farmer's markets. There's pretty much one each day of the week around here. We got a chest freezer so we could fit more than berries in the house freezer. Dave started going to work. Julia alternates between being happy and content and whiny and clingy. I bought a drying rack and started hanging clothes to dry in the 90 plus degree days. I did dishes and changed toilet paper rolls and blissed out on the joy I felt doing it. It felt like playing house. Nobody should feel that excited about changing toilet paper rolls. May the feeling last a long time! I found a chicken coop on freecycle and we hauled it home. We debated where it would go and I found someone giving away chickens. We made a snap decision, placed it and whipped up a fence, as tomorrow, Julia and I go to pick up four chickens.

we eat lots of meals out on the porch

Julia plays in her pool. I soak my feet in it. 

We walked down to see the shore of the Columbia, and followed a path to a little beach.  

I thank the inventor of the BOB stroller. You are a genius! I get another flat from thorns and try out the magic tire repairing green goo. Whoever invented that is a genius too. 

We can't believe how beautiful it is

I looove my drying rack. 

Julia loves her little chairs, and her "buggy" blanket.

There's a quilt made by my Grandma Helen hanging in the stairwell

Julia's got an orderly closet!

She's got her books and table and chairs all set up. 

and her bed and a rocking chair for me to nurse her in. 

she likes her room 

She asks me about her friends, Celia and Cruze. I have to tell her that they are far away and she gets angry with me.
 We go to story hour at the library and hope that friendships will happen soon. 

Dave is starting to shape some landscaping and gardening plans. He plants more lavender. 

We go a mile up the road and pick beautiful peaches at a u-pick orchard. Cherries are over now, but we'll get them next year. 

We have wonderful guests, the Vegdahl-Crowell's. Julia latches on to the girls and cries to go with them when they leave. 

The table that my dad made when I was a kid is now in my dining room. 

despite my attempts to clean the house up for photos, Julia leaves a constant trail of litter. I can't catch up. 

Dave assembled the ikea couch that turns into a double bed, and it has been tested and approved. A rocking chair from my past and a rocking chair that Grandpa Dave made for me are in the living room. 

the kitchen is home already. 

the porch door stays open all day so Julia and I can come and go. There is lots of sun. 

I can peaches in 99 degree heat. It feels both insane and very necessary. I need more canning jars!  Pickles, tomatoes, salsa, relish, ketchup. I need to can it all!!!! (I may be a tad possessed.)  Dave calles me "Momma Dawn version 2.0"

Upstairs, we still need to get a bed frame.  

and a desk. The last remaining pile of boxes needs a desk to get organized on. We bought a  door at a resale shop to use for the desk top, but need something to stand it on. One end will be a file cabinet. The other is waiting to be discovered. 

My cedar chest is stuffed with quilts made by loved ones. More are still in totes! We can keep a lot of people warm at night, so feel free to come visit in groups. 

Julia fed her fish tortilla scraps sometime today. Lucky fish. 

Soon I'll introduce you to our new chickens!

Week the first.

On Tuesday we picked up the truck and began loading. about 1/4 of the way in, we got a call telling us that our "approved" loan was no longer approved, since the house was on a lot that had been zoned commercial. we had thought this was fine, that we were grandfathered in, but should the house be torn down, we couldn't rebuild it as residential. but no, turns out our loan can't be associated with commercial zoning in any way. I kept loading the truck as Dave fielded many calls from the sellers and the mortgage broker. We were in a pretty tense state, as we didn't know if this was a deal breaker or not. Ultimately we decided to work out a short term rental agreement with the sellers until we could get the property re-zoned. We're hopeful that we can get that taken care of this month, but until we do, it feels a little dangerous to relax fully.  I pity anyone who has to enter the mortgage/home-buying scene without a couple suitcases full of cash to bypass the beastly process.

the mountain of stuff in Grandpa Dave's garage

loading was rather like stacking a kiln. Everything had a little niche, you just had to find it. I liked it. 

Julia composed a few letters, then headed off to hang with Grandma Gini and her cousin Sierra. Seeing the truck being loaded made her pretty anxious, so we were pretty grateful that she could go have some fun while we worked. 

Wednesday morning we caravanned down. Dave in the truck, Julia and I in the subaru and Grandma Gini and cousin Sierra in a third car.

We took a long break at Ikea to relax and shop! We bought a couch, a kitchen island and tons of little odds and ends. Then we hopped on the light rail into Portland to go to Powell's bookstore. I got the 1975 version of Joy of Cooking, which I consider to be the best version. 

Grandma Gini and Sierra. They were worth a million for all the help they gave us with Julia. She ADORED Sierra and this made it possible for me to accomplish 90% more than if I had to care for her and manage moving.

Outside Powell's

Julia was very impressed with the light rail. 

that evening we drove a couple miles passed Mosier to Memaloose state park where we pitched a tent in incredible wind and settled down for the night. This was Gini's first time ever sleeping in a tent! Julia was so excited/strung out on change that it took her forever to settle down and go to sleep.  

the next morning we were up early! moving day!!!! 

but first some breakfast. 

and a beautiful morning on the Columbia.  

We had agreed to arrive at 10 am, so with a full two hours to kill we toured the school

and let Julia frolic at the playground, got coffee at the local coffee shop and generally killed time. 

the school has these great picnic tables, inlaid with glass tiles that the kids made.

Dave got his official keys to everything. 

Finally! 10 am arrived, and we scooted over to the house. After getting the truck backed in, we ran around the house checking things out again.  

yep, that's the potty

and surprise! tomatoes!

And then the unloading began. We emptied the truck in 3 hours. Then we looked around and had to decide what on earth to do first! Dave's priority? Getting his books on the shelves. My priority? The kitchen! Julia's priority? Nunnies! 

Sierra kept Julia occupied, Gini washed mountains of dishes numerous other details were attended to and we worked until our feet ached.  

That first night's sleep was a pretty wonderful feeling. I woke up to a minor disaster though. Ants! We left the kitchen something of a mess overnight and boy was that a bad idea. Little tiny sugar ants were EVERYWHERE! I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, bought ant bait, and now things are looking much better. Still a few here and there, but they are eating the bait and that means the colonies are getting wiped out. I've gotten a bit obsessive about keeping the kitchen clean too, since I want nothing to encourage them to stay. 

the next day we had to say goodbye to Gini and Sierra, and the next 3 days were a whirlwind of unpacking,  cleaning,  shopping, and assembling. 

And in the middle of all that, We had to find nice clothes, decent shoes, the wedding gift and the car keys and get ourselves down to Portland for a wedding! Dave's good friend Chris Burtch got married to a lovely Mia, and we had to be there to mark the occasion. It was a great wedding, on a farm in west Portland. There were even week-old baby goats frolicking on the lawn. NOTHING is cuter than two week-old goats. 

except maybe Dave teaching Julia the finer points of Croquet. 

Julia and another little girl spent the whole dinner dancing out on the stage

and there was a little pond to divert the kids

Julia was WAY into dancing. She got out there and rocked the floor. She didn't want anyone holding her hands  or picking her up. She was busy doing her own thing. In between songs she'd yell "more dansen" It was under much duress that we got her into the car and she resisted for a full 10 minutes of chatter about "dansen" before, whap, sleep took over.  Now we are back at the house, unpacking yet in the upper 90 degree heat. Pictures soon to come of the progress.