Very Busy Two Weeks!

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Almost everything is unpacked and where it belongs. Before I get into the house I want to show the meadow and how it looked yesterday walking over toward the gym to see the Indian Mound.

Now inside….First view is the foyer..all Australia.

Opposite wall…more and the scrap cardboard piece started at Lake Mungo with good friend, Mary Crehan.

Then down toward living room with the view to the garden…..

Dining area..

kitchen… with almost all my foundry molds hung or placed…..

The wall to the right of windows into the garden,,,,

The start on the den where I am sitting at the desk now….

More pictures to come of the den when I finish the shelves around the television.

Now the hall to the laundry room outside the den…

Laundry room…

Washer and dryer are opposite the shelves..formerly from my studio.

And the good woman over my broom rack.

And a new pantry spice rack inside the door that really helped with “where do I put these?”

Heading down hall to bedroom…

The bedroom….

Across from my bed….

The glass doors are being put on the shower/tub areas right now. When I can I will post pictures of the bathrooms…more artwork there of course…

This is enough for today.

Except here are the very happy cats at my old house. Their owners are very happy as well.

And Marla and Patrick also very happy to have gotten so much done!

Til later…

I Am Here

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Then the unpacking with help from Amy and Ben while Eddie works magic through the windows.

And by this morning shortly after Amy and ben went home…It looks more like this.

I am in that chair facing the monitor in the de. A new and smaller TV fits perfectly between the mostly filled back up bookcases opposite that love seat to the left in the picture.

Patrick and Marla arrive tomorrow to work on the placement of artworks and helping unpack anything else that goes inside the house. I am ready as you can see!

I will do another blog in three days to show you how it is looking. Once all the empty boxes are gone, it is quite roomy. Now I am looking for a new rug for the living room….something like a mud cloth pattern in subtle beige and brown would be nice…but not too thin. But still unpacking and looking for things. The printing studio in the garage will wait for a bit. Now off to fry an egg for dinner.

Til later…..

Almost In!!

Posted on by Sandy Webster

No turning around now! The builder says I can follow my things right into the house on Monday! Amy and Ben will be here on Sunday to lend a hand. The cats trip to the vets to be boarded is canceled because they can come with me and help with the boxes…they so want to see them all emptied and waiting for their inspection.

So here are some changes these past few days at the house.

And today, this little beauty is in place!

Then while the cleaners and touch up painters were busy, my landscaper and I went to our favorite nursery…..and bought all the right things!

While we were gone his helper worked on the sculpting of top soil.

Here are some of the plants for along those mounds and water pond.

The opposite side of the house is filled in with camelias and azaleas we picked out this morning. I will take a picture tomorrow. Next week we will select some large rocks and have a pallet of smaller rock delivered. Those will be placed in areas where the mulch will not be put down. The landscaper will also pick up the Japanese lace leaf maple and lovely drooping Blue Atlas cedar that will be in the front yard with an Asian sculpture and large rocks.

The selection of plantings and mounds will afford a degree of privacy in a subdivision where the houses are only twenty feet apart. Because of the floor plan there are only two windows that look toward another house to the side. And you can see from the triple windows in the living room, if I keep my shades half way down, all I see is my small Japanese garden.

And this morning when I dropped in to see the men and have coffee, this was sitting on the table.

It is a glass cake plate! One of the men shoved it toward me and the one who brought it in for me said it was because I always brought them donuts and he thought I should have it. Before thinking, I blurted out, “Do you know how many cake plates I have given away?” Undaunted by my rudeness by not adhering to the stop sign visualization rule to stop and think before speaking, he went on to point out the merits of this particular cake plate! If you put the top on the plate as it looks now, then you have sort of a fruits and dip arrangement that keeps the flies off.  BUT, turn the bottom part upside down and you have elevated the cake to a degree of enhancement and still keep the flies off.

I offered it to the other men there and received no takers….most of them said they already had one. So I stared at the cake plate. Tried lifting it up whole and decided it was too heavy. So out to the car it went to be safely packed for delivery to the new house.

His cake plate gift was the very first thing moved into the new house.

Sadie and Dilly have taken to perching on the porch things that they sense are going with us.

There are a couple of things about the house that might take a bit longer…the glass shower doors are hung up somewhere. I asked for some pullout shelf/drawers under the bathroom vanity.

But all in all I am very pleased to be moving in and getting the feel of the place.

Next you hear from me it will be from there or maybe the library because the internet may not be hooked up.

Til later….

More Progress

Posted on by Sandy Webster

The building is quickening. Now the garage lights and door have been installed. And this morning when I went over, the screen porch has been finished.

The landscaper will get on the job later this week. This morning the builder told me that the shower grab bars, glass doors, towel bars and the mirrors I took over will all be put in.

Not much more to go as far as I can see. The beautiful gas double oven is still in the box….maybe tomorrow.

I have been so busy here with the last of the packing. There is nothing left for me to do downstairs.

I have one more rug upstairs to clean with baking soda but will wait until the cats are dropped off at the vets. So much cat hair!! There are just a few things in the pantry and cupboard to pack up. Most of my clothes from the closet went into garbage bags to haul over. Two small weekender suitcases will hold the rest of the things I will need to stay in a friend’s apartment until I have been given the okay to move in with my things at the new house.

This morning I called the movers to make sure we were still on for a week from today. They told me that anything I don’t already have in boxes they will carry out to the truck. They also will unhook my TV, pack it and place it where it goes in the den. They would even hook it up if I wanted. And the big thing is they plug in the refrigerator and connect the water line. They also will install the washer and dryer. Such a relief to have that all taken care of. For the twenty minute drive over, I can take the food from the refrigerator and not have to toss it out. They will roll the rugs and make sure they are placed first in the house before furniture is taken in. And best of all, they arrive at 8 0’clock in the morning! The whole day to get it all sorted.

This week I received a call asking if I would like one of my late student’s pieces of art work. She is the one who did so many pieces based on the Old Testament. Rather than go for one of them, I was given my favorite piece she did of the many anti war works.  We shared that as artists, making work about the futility of war. This is her piece titled, Cope. Two left feet from dolls attached to an old military pouch that looks like the innocence of a child in breeches, standing in a pile of spent bullet casings…several holding rolled up pages from the old testament. The small book sits below with a metal cover that says, “Cope”. I love it and am thrilled to own it.

Lin had the best things to work with.  The feet straddle a small foundry mold placed into an old wooden box. Dirt from where she sourced the casings settles into the bottom when the bag of spent bullets are poured around the feet. And just the word, cope, is so powerful as I adjust to changes in my own life.  I have always kept a picture up on the wall of Lin working in my studio. I think I will fold it tight and slip it into the back of the book, Cope.

Speaking of books, I am trying to keep up with all the additions to the new house.

The past couple of days I have been watching home makeovers programs on Netflix. At first they looked nice, fresh, clean. And then after a while all the makeovers looked similar…soft blue or grey hues against white walls. Then on every shelf or surface of any kind the decorator carefully placed things from her own warehouse of endless objects. It occurred to me that none of these homeowners appeared to have belongings of their own. There were no “stories” on the walls, sitting on shelves, or put within arms reach on a coffee table. It was all picture perfect…ready to be photographed for a magazine I suppose.

Anyway I did not pick up any tips except I think I would covet some of those ever so fluffed up pillows on the bed. I will check on Amazon once I get settled.

Til later…..