Time flies when you are moving into a place....

It is Tuesday.... and I hope tomorrow is Wednesday.  I do not want to lose another day like I did last week.

My Sunday went well.  I continued going through boxes.  I found the rest of my bedding that had been taken off my bed when they packed.  So I fired up the washer and washed all of the blankets, stripped my bed and by the time it was bedtime, I had fresh sheets and blankets and I slept under all of my preferred bedding.  And the dogs were happy, as they got their lightweight blanket back.  I had stolen it from them since I could not find my original blanket until today.  They have each taken turns sleeping on the blanket pile.

Rob came over around 5 PM.  Kate was going to knitting.  Rob is fighting a cold, so he prefers to just sit and do something easy.  He did help me make some decisions about the craft room, but for the most part he just wadded up newsprint and burned in in the wood stove.  For those of you who might be concerned, we are aware of warnings to not do that for fear of setting the chimney stack on fire, the stack is new, so there is no coating in it to catch fire.  The previous owners of the house were here 22 years and they never used the wood stove.  And I am grateful as my movers packed each box with lots and lots of paper.  Plus, they buried little items in some boxes, so Rob going through each piece of paper insures that we are not throwing out something small that we will be needing later.

Kate returned after some time with her knitting friend.  After she and Rob left, I relaxed, watching some TV before bed.

Monday I had to set an alarm.  Rob and I were going to the Borough building to check on how we are going to deal with the available exemptions for property taxes.  So, I set the alarm for 7:30 AM.  I woke up to what I assumed was the alarm.  I kept yelling at Alexa, but it seemed to take forever for the alarm to shut off for a snooze.  Then it went off again and again, it took forever to stop.  

I turned on the lights and struggled to move.  Then I looked at the clock.  It was not even 6 AM.  What the heck???  What was wrong with Alexa??  So I set the alarm for 8:30 AM and went back to sleep.  Then the alarm went off and I realized that the sound was different.  Here, it was my phone going off at 5:30 AM... several times, from people on the East coast... which was 9:30 AM.  I am going to either change my ringtone to something really different from the lovely ringtone it has now OR I am going to have to turn my phone off at night.  Or leave my phone in another room at night.

Rob and I went to the North Star Borough office and the staff there was quite helpful.  Rob has several options and will have to decide what direction he will go and then get the calls made so we can have it done by the end of December.  But we did find out that he may not have to lose an exemption on their current home to get the exemption here.  And we are talking a significant amount.

Rob dropped me off here and I dug out my pot to make some chicken broth for some chicken soup.  I continued going through boxes in the dining room while the pot was on the stove.  I found roasting pans, more cooking spoons and items from that drawer in Parkesburg.  I found dish towels.  I found nut choppers and other little tools.  

Rob and Kate stopped by.  They were staying in town after work to do Tai Chi, so they came here to relax and Rob got to burn more paper.  Then they headed out and I got to finish off my soup.  I am not happy with the flavor yet as I have not found all of my spices yet.  I found the ones I do not use as much, but have not found the ones I rely on for the majority of my cooking.  But it was still warm and satisfying.  

Rob and Kate reappeared.  They are in the process of getting rid of their two old cars.  They needed to get some numbers for a possible buyer.  Rob ran around to get the numbers.  Kate spent time in the lower level with Miles.  Miles has really bonded with Kate.  He knows when she has come into the house and just whimpers and whines until he can get to her and give her some Miles snuggles and snorts.  And Kate just laughs and rubs his fur.  It is adorable.

After they left, I had some dessert and TV before heading to bed.  I took a few minutes to set up a soundbar for the TV in my bedroom.  It beats having an amplifier with wires to speakers.  I have been watching replays of various current TV shows on HULU.  On of my favorites is The Masked Singer.  It sounded really good on the soundbar.

I am already into the afternoon here today.  The darkness that is ever lengthening allowed me to sleep until 9:30 AM.  It is one of the features of the longer days and nights here that I am enjoying.  I will let you know if I like it when it is 24/7.

I wanted to share some pictures with you all.  Many of you know that I sold my Parkesburg house to my neighbor, John Russel and his wife Addie.  John owns Artisan Restorations where he restores old buildings.  He has been buying up homes in the area and rehabbing them for rentals or for family.  His original plan was to turn my house into the office for his business, but he found out that an Aunt of his was having some financial issues, so she is going to me making my old house her home.  John and Addie are very warm and caring folks and I am so sorry I did not have a chance to get to know them better while we were neighbors.

I have been getting messages from a few of you on the renovations that you have observed.  I texted John and within 30 minutes I had pictures of a lovely, new house that seems to have replaced my tired, little home.  I thought I should share them with you who may never have occasion to drive by but know how my home was when I left.

Here is the house from the front.  He has obviously painted everything.  The weed covered front gardens have been tamed.  He has added a little fun trim to the eve of the porch.  He has painted all of the trim white or cream.  And the shutters appear to be black.  And the front door is now red and the ugly storm door is gone,  And the asphalt for the entire driveway has been replaced or covered with a new layer.  I think it looks lovely.

Here is a look down the driveway.  The new asphalt is really evident.  He took it closer to the house.  He looks to have stuccoed and/or painted the garage to make it look like a better match for the house.  He also added the same little trim detail to the eve of the garage.  And they trimmed the overgrown lilac bush.  It really needed that badly.

A wider shot from the south.  Doesn't it look wonderful?

This is the view from the north.  They added shutters to the windows there.  Again, they extended the asphalt all the way to the house.  And look at the depth of that asphalt.  They did it right.  The only thing I am sad about is they took out the lilac bush on that side.  Rudy and I planted the two bushes in remembrance of my mother when she died.  Also, in the garden on that side there were Lilly of the Valley bulbs that were originally from the Illinois family farm... now long gone.  And now they are really gone.  But it is no longer my house, so John and Addie can do whatever they want to do.  I think what they have done is beautiful.

Do you agree??