We are in (sort of)!

Settlement went off without a hitch.  The girls are all moved in, except for Max's dorm stuff, which I refuse to move twice.  She moves into the dorm on Saturday so her room at the old house should be mostly empty next weekend.  My husband spent last Saturday night here and I have spent the last 3 nights.  It's sooo quiet here!  I didn't realize how much we heard the highway at our old house, even though it is about a mile away.

Still dealing with lots of boxes and unpacking.  And we have to work out all the details in moving the animals over.  I will be happy when we can bring them to the new house.  Still so much work to do!  Can't wait for the washer as well.  But we now have phone and internet.  We didn't want to have phone but our cell reception is poor here and the only internet we could get required phone service as well, thank you Verizon.

Pictures will be coming, as soon as my computer, camera, and camera cable are in the same place!

Realtors can be so cruel!

We are still on the auto send for new listings from our realtor.  So of course, a day and a half from closing, what do we get but the notification of a great house for sale!  14 acres, stone/stucco house, barn, garage.  No pictures were with the listing but I can see from the internet that it is a cute little house.   So I had to look for reasons to feel good about not being able to buy it:
1. 10 minutes farther to work for both of us, and that's with good traffic.
2. The main road to the house has HORRIBLE traffic!
3. The house is right up to the road (but that just means more land out the back).
4. Being sold "as is" so what's wrong with it?
OK, so now I feel better about the house we are buying, oh but a small stone barn!!!  Maybe I'll become a stone mason and build my own, yeah right.

Packing is ongoing.   This weekend we found 3 boxes of pewter I forgot I had packed away years ago.  It was like Christmas in August!  But I really don't have room for all that pewter.  A friend had come from out of state to help and she took 8 pewters mugs and a plate for the historical society she works for, I made up another box of pewter to sell next year at Fort Fred's Market Fair, and I organized the remaining pewter.  Anyone want to have a tea party?

I also have been looking at this photo I must have taken in Colonial Williamsburg.  I have loved this scarecrow for years and must make one in the spring. One of my first tasks on Wednesday evening is planting my fall vegetable garden.  I have lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts ready to go in the ground.  But the scarecrow will have to wait for spring.

Just 7 more days (minus a few hours)!

Things seem to be going along well with the purchase of the new house.  Settlement is 7 days minus 3 hours away and is coming up quickly.  All the finances are in order and everyone has all the paperwork they want/need.

I still have more things to take to the charity store, probably 5 more boxes, and I always seem to find more as I am packing.  I'm also taking 8 boxes of books to the newly opened used book store in Kutztown this afternoon.  What could be better than getting store credit in a book store for later while getting rid of books we no longer want now?

As I walk around outside I keep seeing plants I want to bring to the new house.  Even though there are tons of plantings and the current owners have done an amazing job with all the gardens, some of my favorite perennials are missing.  Like the dahlia's above.  While not really a perennial, I have had them in my backyard for years. They will be easy to transport as their tubers need to be dug up every fall after the first frost.

I have had purple coneflower (echinacea) for more years than I can remember, so a clump definitely needs to get dug up and transported.

Years ago I dug up a Rose of Sharon shrub/tree from my in-laws and it has made multiple offspring.  I definitely need to bring along a white one.

I can't recall if there are any phlox at the new place.  Mine are doing very well this year.  And had a cool visitor this morning.

And of course the goats are saying "please bring some of our rocks along!"

Thought I would update on how the chicks and turkeys are growing. I'm pretty sure we have one tom turkey and one hen, but the other turkey looks like a tom some days and a hen on others.  Looks like we'll just need to wait a little longer to figure out the sex of the third turkey.

Our older chicks, born early May, are getting big.  We definitely have  a rooster among that bunch.  If he makes himself useful protecting the hens he may get to stick around.  My husband heard him crow a few days ago, but I haven't heard anything yet.

The littlest chicks I got for our broody hen are also getting bigger.  Now all the chicks, and mama hen, sleep in a big heap.  And the turkeys are starting to roost at night in a tree.  Now I just have to get some new pens set up at the new place and move their houses.

13 days!!! (Or how the chickens can help with the move)

Time is going by so quickly now.  Between work, packing, painting, and working on the outside of our old house we are keeping very busy.  And still the requests for paper work keep coming from the mortgage company.  Really, you want a paper trail from the deposit from May 17th?  Well, I didn't think I would need a copy of my income tax refund check, and, by the way, you have a copy of our 2011 income tax return with the refund amount.  Isn't that enough??? No, they want a copy of the check, and documentation of the cash as well and where it came from!!!  Can I say how much I hate banks right now?

Packing, packing and more packing.  And another pile of boxes of things to donate.  But it is finally getting to the fun part where you start to see a difference.  My youngest and I stripped wallpaper from the walk-in closet in the master bedroom (long story how  it ended up with wallpaper) then I painted that closet and the other one in the master bedroom.  Looks so much better.  My brain is churning with designs for closet organizers.

The front porch is almost done.  We just need to wash the ceiling and see if it needs a touch up paint job.    The back porch/breezeway is done as well.  Although, we do want to paint the steps there but that won't be done until we move out as they will stay nicer it we aren't using them all the time to go out to the animals.

I am starting to finalize moving plans for the animals.  I need a temporary pen for the chickens and realized I can build that where I want to expand the vegetable garden next spring. The chickens will do a nice job digging up all the grass and tilling the soil a little.  And the manure they will leave won't hurt either.  I am considering leaving my oldest hens at the old house to till up the current vegetable garden once the harvest is over.  They already sleep in a different, and smaller, hen house from the other hens and aren't laying many eggs any more.  This can be their last job before the stew pot.

Well, off to the bank to get the "paper trail."

20 days and counting

Whirlwind here of packing, purging, yard sales, donating, etc.  We were fortunate to spend 4 hours last Saturday evening with the current owners of our new house.  They wanted to get together to talk about gardens and house information, give us the book with all the info on the maintenance and gardens, and ask us about a few things they thought we might like them to leave behind.  Yes, of course I want the frame for the cage that covers the blueberries and keeps the birds away!  They are the nicest people and have taken such great care of the property for the last 27 years.  I only hope we can do the same.

Our youngest was happy she finally got to see inside the house and was able to walk the grounds.  She loves the little bridge over the stream.  I was hoping there was an area where I would be able to plant milkweed for a butterfly habitat; but I don't need to.  The upper end of the stream has a nice stand of milkweed and other plants for butterflies!  The soil in the current veggie garden is beautiful black loam.  But I need to remove/move some raspberry bushes.  I already have a barter arrangement to get some elderberries for some fall gold raspberries.

We met the neighbors across the street also.  The wife was born in our new house before it was moved to its current location in 1939.  She confirmed that the front room with the corner cupboard was the original cabin that was moved from down the road.  She was 8 years old when it was moved so I am hoping she knows where it stood before the move.  The neighbors built their house across the street from her parents.  And when her parents died the house was sold to the current owners.  We will only be the third owners since 1939.

The paperwork is progressing as well.  Insurances have been confirmed, appointments made, and forms getting faxed and emailed.  So much paperwork to buy a house.  Things sure have changed in 29 years!

36 days and counting

We've been waiting and waiting for word on the appraisal.  With home prices falling the way they have been we were worried that the appraisal would come in lower than the sale price.  But, thankfully, the appraisal came in $1000 higher than the sales price.

I think the bank has every piece of information on us, the new house, our old house, our jobs, our bank accounts, our homeowner's insurance, etc.  I'm not sure there is anything left they don't know, well maybe the size of my underwear.

And the packing continues.  The yard sale pile keeps growing.  And the old house is starting to look emptier.  I pulled my peas in the garden and I think I will just plant a cover crop.  It's starting to feel like this may really happen!

Purging and cleaning

Wow, how much stuff can one family of 6 accumulate in 29 years?  TONS!!!  I feel like I have been going through stuff for ages.  We have already donated a bunch and taken a van load to our friends' barn, where we will be having a yard sale.  And I have another pile of boxes and multiple chairs to take over as well, with more to go through.  This month we'll be going to an 18th century event and I will be bringing along 10 boxes and 3 large bags of 18th c. clothing, asst fabric, books, magazines, etc of interest to the 18th c. crowd.  I go through an area and box up a bunch of things to get rid of then go back again in a few days and whittle the remaining items down even further.  I am starting to see some progress.  Just don't come over and expect to see the living room floor.

We need to look for a realtor (anyone know a good one or have tips on how to find a good one?) so I need to get some order to this chaos.  In the midst of going through all our stuff cleaning has taken a back seat, not that I cared that much about cleaning anyway ;)  But I figure I should at least clean the bathrooms.  The downstairs bathroom was disgusting!  My husband and son are the only ones who use that bathroom and I think they are both shedding!  There was hair everywhere!  This bathroom has a tub/shower unit that I hate to clean.  The floor has a rough finish that is impossible to keep clean.  I have used many different products in an attempt to clean it all to no avail.  But I've finally found something that works great.  Vinegar and baking soda!  I infused my white vinegar with orange peels so the smell is quite pleasant, not vinegary at all.  A stiff scrub brush and I have removed scum and stains that have resisted my attempts for years.  And everything is so white!  And I don't need ventilation to clean the bathroom.  I put my infused vinegar in a spray bottle and baking soda in an old parmesan cheese container.  After the area to be cleaned is wet I sprinkle baking soda on it and go away for a few minutes.  Then I spray the area with vinegar and scrub with the brush.  It works especially well on the hard water deposits on my faucets.  It even works in the toilet, if it's not too dirty.  I wish I had known about this when my kids were little and they wanted to help clean, no harsh chemicals/fumes to harm them.

So now I keep my containers of baking soda and vinegar, along with an assortment of brushes in various sizes, in an old shower caddy and I'm ready to go.