Not Going Back to School Breakfast

 I recently hosted a celebratory “We’re Not Going Back to School Breakfast” for a group of retired teacher friends. We usually go to breakfast at Stars in Hingham about once a month. This time I invited the group instead to my new home as each of these ladies had helped me make the move, and I wanted my friends to see my new home.

Folks ask if I miss my former home and my response is, “Heck no. I brought it all with me. :-)”  That includes this beautiful china which had belonged to my maternal grandmother, and which had been stored in the basement for many, many, many years. The mark on the bottom is “Theodore Haviland Limoge France.” I fully intend to use all of my pretty china, and Lord knows I have plenty of it. 

Here are the happy retirees, all former Weymouth teachers. We all loved being teachers, but retirement is also great fun. 

My former home is going on the market on Wednesday.  I will admit that the “Coming Soon” sign on the front lawn did make me teary eyed. I truly loved that house, but this one level home is perfect for me. 

I am happy to note that I have made significant progress in my quilt studio. It’s not totally done, but I have unearthed my machine and cleared off my cutting table. I’m hoping to finish two quilts for an upcoming quild show. One just needs binding, a sleeve, and a label while the other may not be done in time.

Hope all is going well in your life. Have a wonderful week.

CELLARbration!!!

 Yes, that’s not a typo, I’m CELLARbrating because my basement is finally empty!!! If you have been following this blog, you will know that the move to my dream home happened very, very quickly. I had had no interest in moving to a new home, but then a friend dragged me to an Open House on a rainy, dreary Saturday in April. Three hours later I was speaking to a realtor. No one could believe it. It was the only house that I had looked at, but I knew immediately that this was the house for me, and it definitely is!!!

On June 17, the movers brought all of my furniture here, but I had not had enough time to pack up everything. My family had been in our home for seventy years.  With the help of friends, I have been making progress, and today it is absolutely, totally, unequivocally DONE!!!!!! The guys who  have taken care of my lawn for years, hauled the last of the boxes up here, and the house will go on the market in two weeks.

Speaking of celebrations. . . fans around the world are celebrating the engagement of pop princess Taylor Swift and her prince charming Travis Kelce. It seems like a perfect match.

In my previous post, I mentioned having a dearth of blooms on the overgrown hydrangeas in my side yard. Well, these in the front yard sure make up for them. ;-)

Serendipity Sunday

This morning I was looking at some of the very out of control bushes in my side yard. One bush is at least seven or eight feet tall. I’m not sure whether I will have them severely pruned or completely taken out. Near those bushes are also three very large hydrangeas only one of which has blooms, and it has only five. As I was checking to see if there were any signs of more blossoms forming, I spotted this lovely little creature and was able to grab these images.

The photos don’t capture the way the wings glistened in the sunlight.

Now, I won’t bore you with too much information about dragonflies, but did you know that dragonfly-like winged insects were among the first to evolve about 300 million years ago!!!!!!!!! There are 3,000 known species of dragonflies . Okay, one or perhaps two more bits of info. According to an article on the Smithsonian magazine site, dragonflies are able to fly in any direction and also hover. Finally, it is said that dragonflies can reach speeds of thirty-five mph. Wow!

There you have it. Keep your eyes out for these gossamer winged little beauties and have a wonderful week. 

Emma and an Amazing Thrifting Fine

 I cannot believe it has been over a month since my last post, but I know you will understand as moving is very hard!!!

I moved in on June 17, and my new home is all set with the exception of a few boxes here and there. I have been spending lots of time emptying the cellar in my old home. With the help of friends, it is now about ninety percent empty. [Buying this house happened so fast that I didn’t have time to get the cellar packed before the moving date occurred.]

 I had been able to get rid of my dad, my grandad, and my brother’s tools fairly quickly. No one who came into my house was allowed to leave without selecting at least one tool. :-) There was a lot of china and glassware; some of which was donated and quite a bit of which came here with me. As you know if you follow this blog, I have many hobbies/crafts so that was a large portion of what still needed to be packed. Also, I have many bins of decorations for every season and every reason. (This new home has a massive cellar for storage though I do plan to donate items as we approach each holiday.)  Perhaps I’m being overly optimistic, but I think that I will be finally be done packing by tomorrow. Then the two men who take care of my lawn will fill their truck and haul the boxes up here. 

Here’s Miss Emma after a trip to the groomer this morning. I’ve been working on this small perennial garden. In my old home, try as I would I could never attract hummingbirds;  not so here as they are constant visitors. 

While I was waiting to pick up Emma, I dropped off some final bags at Savers, but I didn’t go in. Instead I popped in to the Salvation Army store where I found this incredible find.

 

This wooden chest was filled with lovely lavender bath items: bath foam, bath salts, a ceramic pump, a ceramic soap dish, a shell shaped pumice stone, and a bath scrub. The packing holding the items in place on the shelves was impressive. So, what did I pay for this? It was marked $14.00, but when I brought it to the counter, the woman told me that because of the color of the sticker, it was half priced!!! $7.00!!! Amazing!!!

I looked the items up online and saw a similar collection in a basket from the same company, and the price was $99. Now, I didn’t buy this for the lavender items; I simply loved the wood cabinet. Next question: where would I put it? 

Can you believe how perfectly this cabinet matches my jelly cabinet? I see this new cabinet filled with crossed stitched pillows or other fun items. In case you are wondering, this jelly cabinet houses my DMC floss and a lovely collection of assorted charms, jewels, and geegaws.

My former house is going on the market, I believe, the second week in September. That will be a relief.

I’ll have time to finish arranging my quilting studio and actually have time to do some work. I cannot wait!!!

Unpacking, Packing, and Planting

 

The hibiscus that I showed in a previous post is now in full bloom. Our heat wave finally broke, and so this morning I decided to work on the plants in my front yard. I know that I should have been unpacking some of the final boxes, but I had the urge to garden, and so I did. Actually, I spent a few hours working adding some slips of variegated hostas and some Autumn Joy sedum that I had brought from home. There are a few small, sad red geraniums that I believe the realtor planted. I moved a few into a large pot and plan to try to encourage them with a drink of Miracle Grow when I get a chance. I also pruned the dead wood from two red roses and treated them for some issues that they have. I gave all the plants some water and then it was after 1:00. After a quick lunch, I headed to my other estate. :-) 

Yes, I’m still working on clearing out the basement there. Lord help me. There is still quite a bit to do. I’m going through things and packing things up. I’m trying to go through all sorts of boxes; you know how basements are. I have a ton of Christmas decorations that I fully intend to bring to my new house. (I have a very large basement in my new house, so storage will not be an issue.) The basement will be my focus for the coming week as I would like to get my home on the market as soon as I am able. With the two heat waves we have had, it has been impossible to get much done. Fortunately, the temperatures should be more moderate for the next few days. (I was just rereading this post and saw that auto correct had written “modern” instead of “moderate” which must have confused earlier readers of this post. ;-)

Now, my original plan for this afternoon had been to paint some wrought iron shepherd hooks and decorative items before taking them to my new estate. :-) But, I didn’t have the necessary black rustoleum on the shelf. I worked a while in the cellar then headed to Lowes. Now if you follow this blog, you know that a trip to Lowes always means first checking out the half  priced flowers at the back of the garden center. Today was a jackpot. 

Honestly, these plants for the most part are as nice as the ones up front for full price. A few just need a bit of tlc. I know just where I will plant them, but that will not happen for a few days as I really intend to focus on the basement. (Let’s see how that goes ;-).

Keep cool wherever you are and enjoy the weekend.

Unpacking Continues

 

It has been a bit since my last post because I continue to be busy unpacking box after box after box, but most rooms except the quilting studio are done. Truly, I cannot believe I’m lucky enough to live here. My furniture looks great and my newly cleaned oriental which is probably thirty years old looks brand new.  The built-in bookcases sold me at the open house as I could envision my books, photos, and stitched pieces filling the shelves. 

Here’s a closer look. I’m having so much fun tweaking and rearranging items on the shelves. I had a large patriotic display which I intended to keep up for the entire month, but I couldn’t wait to switch out a few shelves and so I did. 

I’m still trying to find two items for the mantel, and I’m running out of boxes. Maybe I’ll come across them today???

My favorite flower by far for impact is a hibiscus. I’ve always had two or three on my previous deck, and that continues here.

Just look at all the buds on this one. It will be spectacular.

For Emma fans … 

She keeps me company in the sunroom when I take a break from unpacking to do a bit of stitching. :-)

We had 7.4 inches of rain the other day, the highest total in the state. Fortunately, my cellar remained dry. There were flash floods but nothing like the devastation seen in other parts of the country. Today it is bright and sunny. Whatever weather you are enjoying or facing, stay safe and have a good week.

Enough time slacking off . . . I have more unpacking to do!!!

My Favorite Room

 

It will be two weeks tomorrow since I moved into my dream home. While I will love my quilt studio, this four season sunroom is something extra special! 

I’m still posting on my iPhone, but thankfully, xFinity is scheduled to come on Thursday morning to get me all connected.

My friends Kathy L. and Annmarie have forbidden me to buy even one more fat quarter, cross stitch pattern, or piece of wool. They will call for an immediate intervention should any quilting, cross stitching, or wool appliqué purchasing take place. And, yes, they are absolutely right!!! I suggested that I could easily store extra material in the guest room’s bathtub, but they felt that was a terrible idea. So, I promise to be good. :-)

Each room still has boxes, but thanks to my friends and family things have been moving right along. It has taken a village to make this move happen, and I cannot thank everyone enough for all they have done.

Time to go unpack another box or two. . .