We're largely settled into the new house, save for the task of sorting, and organizing the library. I thought we were downsizing, but upon moving in, we realised there's more useable space than we had previously. I also realised, on my first night here, that we are living in my childhood home. The outside may look different, but the floor plan is identical-right down to the placement of closets. I knew there was a reason I felt comfortable here! No wonder all those pieces of my parent's furniture look like they belong...they were purchased for this house. There never really was any question where to put the piano...
I went grocery shopping this morning; three minutes-I timed it. I think I could get it down to two if I used Burt Street rather than Dodge. It took ten minutes to the comic book store, but we hit lights on Center. The last dozen years in the country required an hour drive to and from town, so getting home before my dishes dried in pretty impressive.
I haven't been to the library yet, and after moving 12,000 pounds of books ( I shit you not, we weighed a few boxes, then did the maths) I don't think I'll be bringing in any more books for a bit. We decided to move the books ourselves, leaving the furniture we cared about to movers-that turned out to be quite a savings, though we're going to be sore for some time. We had some help loading from friends, which helped tremendously.
There's a gigantic maple tree outside the back that reaches to the top of the house. It provides shade to the patio and upper deck, and keeps our bedroom cool and dark. Danny's room faces the street, but it is so quiet here, it hasn't been an issue. For the heart of the city, we have a beautiful, tree-filled neighbourhood. The only trees we had in the country were in windbreaks.
For the first time in over twenty years I don't feel like I'm roughing it. Central air, a dishwasher, city water (yay, I can drink from the tap! No more lugging gallons of water home from the store.) someone else to do the lawn care, and snow removal-I didn't realise how difficult our day-to-day life was on the farm, until I left it. I am very, very happy( fingers crossed as I don't want to jinx it) . I'm also happy I don't need to shop for two weeks at a time, and can run back if I forget something.
We haven't been in the pool yet, as we've been in a heatwave and air conditioning beats a pool any day. This week should be cooler, so as soon as I find where I packed our swimsuits, you know where we'll be.
I'm going to have Danny film a little video tour for a later post.
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3 comments:
Your home sounds just perfect. Now, those childhood memories are going to come flooding in as you wander your familiar floors. This story sounds so similar to our new home (August 2012) and the ghosts of my youth lurking on the squeaky floor boards. I want to know about the kitchen....cupboards, pantry, windows... Happy for your family!
The memory that really sticks out is my parents putting in a second phone line so they wouldn't have to climb the stairs to yell at their children (They'd *call* and yell at us). I sort of get that now.
For the first time in years, I have enough cabinet space. I moved an old sideboard into the kitchen to use as a work surface, and a bookcase for bowls, pans, appliances, etc. In the absence of a proper larder, I moved a large, heavy, industrial shelving unit to the bottom of the basement stairs (off the kitchen). That's my pantry now. The spices, flours, things I use all the time are in cabinets, or canisters on the sideboard. I've never been this organized.
Lots, and lots of windows (two sets of sliding glass doors, double bedroom windows) though neither bathroom has a window. They do however have working fans-something I've not encountered in any house I've ever resided in. I got out of the shower this morning and the mirror wasn't fogged-up. Incredible!
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