The Muddle of Moving

I have been trying to avoid the nostalgia of "I"m doing this for the last time here," yet it seems inevitable.  The last batch of bread baked in my beautiful kitchen.

I seem to have been sorting and packing for weeks now, yet no one room is cleared.  Empty boxes are stacked in the living room with more in reserve in the garage.  Charlie and his tribe are enamoured of the boxes and crash in and out of them, playing hide and seek.

J. is nearly done with the renovation of the attic into an extra bedroom and bath. The bedroom is finished, an appealing space, rustic in nature, a quiet little retreat--which we will not get to enjoy.  He painted the bathroom this evening and has the floor to finish while our son-in-law, the plumber, finishes installing the fixtures.

Raisin, who has a rather neurotic nature, has decided in the midst of the muddle that she needs more attention.  Eggnog and Mrs. Beasley tend to stay out of the way, Eggnog in the comparative peace of the master bedroom, Mrs. B. under the bed.

Teasel is distressed by the confusion of the house.  She is Head Cat in Training [Raisin has held the dominant position for many years] and has to keep track of what goes on in her domain. She appears suddenly to twine about my ankles if I sit down, patrols anxiously and has rather more to say than usual.

Our quilt group is making a quilt to donate to a Habitat for Humanity house in town.  The woman who suggested the project chose blue and cream for the colors and star-themed blocks which we can make in 3-6-9 or 12 inch blocks. I discovered these scraps of dark blue and cream prints lurking on my sewing desk, although my fabric collection and all my quilting tools were among the first belongings I packed.

I took my scraps to the quilt shop and enjoyed the company there while I cut these pieces, then spent a pleasant evening hour making the blocks.  I could almost imagine that it was a "normal" past time--that is until I looked around at the curtainless windows, empty bookshelves, and the stark disorder of the room.  Hopefully I will see an e-mailed photo of the finished quilt some weeks from now.

It began to snow [again!] on Wednesday night and has continued at intervals--heavy wet stuff that clings to the roof and the trees.  The roads were horrid on Thursday morning when we had errands in town early and I had a mid-morning appointment to keep.  The ABS brakes on our Toyota Rav 4 are very touchy and I don't enjoy driving it in snow.  I was content to be delivered to my appointment and retrieved by the professional driver of the household.

I followed J. into town Friday morning on slightly better roads.  "Snort'n Nort'n" the 92 Dodge, went for a new windowshield and I puttered along behind in the red Dodge to pick up J. at the glass shop.

I very laboriously scrubbed all the kitchen dining area tile floor on Wednesday--bucket and brush, hands and knees method.  It was one of those jobs which has "wanted done" and I've been putting it off with token moppings.  I have made a trail of cardboard squares for us to walk in and out in the vain hope of leaving the floor clean for the buyers.

The plan is that the furniture will go into the van tomorrow.  Oh joy!