We're here - and mosty unpacked!

The move went pretty well on Wednesday. I managed to stay away from the office the whole day, which earned me some points at home. The movers did a pretty good job, and they were fast. Of course, I discovered stuff that we hadn't packed well back when we moved out originally, had never unpacked, and had broken somewhere along the line. Not too much damage so far - a few bowls and a piece of "art glass." I haven't had the nerve to unpack the framed photos, but will probably undertake that tomorrow, time permitting.

The house is great. It really does have the open feel of a loft, but at the same time, various spaces are really private. The acoustics will take some getting used to - but that will improve when we put rugs down in the living and dining rooms.

The moon is approaching full, and each night we get to see it travel across the south-facing exposure. Last night an owl woke me up with its call. Haven't seen too much other wildlife, but the woods/undergrowth are thick enough now that the deer are pretty well-hidden.

We've cooked a few dinners, and now that we actually have stools, we can sit comfortably at the island to eat until our new dining room table and chairs arrive. We had our first official visitor yesterday (official visitor being someone to whom we haven't paid a sum of money or who wasn't in service to us to deliver something). A nice chat on the deck with a glass of wine while the birds sent out their evening calls - gratefully the mosquitoes were not around. We're looking forward to more friends and family visiting - will probably need to start thinking about some sort of party.

"My" deck is truly a respite - high up and with a great view into the woods to watch the birds fly through the treetops. I hope tomorrow morning's coffee and newspaper will be delivered to me there!














Our punch list is an interesting mix of things. Most importantly is finding out how to silence the alarm that sounds when there's a power outage - which happens often enough around here to be a nuisance. If we recall correctly, the alarm has something to do with either the well pump or some other mechanical system. Anyway, it went off somewhere around midnight our first night in - causing me to blindly stumble down the stairs and randomly hit buttons on the control panel til it silenced. Then about 2:30 it went off again, just to announce that the power was back on - requiring another stumble down the stairs and more random button hitting.

It took us a few days to realize that we hadn't used our great Phantom Screen yet. Yee-ha! Down comes the screen, open up the big folding door, and it's like the living room is a screened porch. So far it is the only screen that the cats have not climbed. They (the cats) have adapted quite well to the house. It took less than a day for them to decide that it's really cool to hang out on the cap to the cable rail, like a feline Olga Corbett on a very high balance beam. The drop from the top of the rail is probably 13+ feet, which makes us more than a little nervous. The new trick - as of 30 minutes ago, is for Ping to skitter down the banister overlooking a particularly nasty drop - or to jump up onto that same banister from the stairs. Yikes.














Next on our agenda - settle in, get some basic landscaping underway, plan the real plantings, and enjoy being here. Stella's already figured it out, watching from the catbird seat.