Moved!

A week ago today we closed on the purchase of Squashblossom Farm!

The next morning we enjoyed our first breakfast at the farm, dining on the patio. We got up at a respectable farm time of 6 a.m. and I assembled the new patio furniture while Rog made coffee and assembled a beautiful breakfast platter. The gorgeous challah bread was made for us by Kelly, the new mistress of our old house!

TOP TEN Highlights of our first week at Squashblossom Farm:
1. There are lots of toads of all sizes! And we hear coyotes and wild turkeys.
2. I mowed the lawn Sunday with our new (used)Husqvarna lawn mower. It was my first time using a riding mower and I read all the instructions and was very cautious on the slopes. The yard is about an acre in size and it took an hour and a half.
3. We got the washer and dryer delivered and hooked up the vent and wiring. We have already washed several loads.
4. Katherine and Greg came over with a bottle of wine, to celebrate!
5. Cocoa and Nutmeg scared up 6 deer in the pasture. I don't know who was more startled, the deer or the dogs. It was total pandemonium for a few minutes with deer and dogs running every which way!
6. Rog rode his bike to (or from) work every day - a mile on the gravel to the Douglas Trail, then several miles through the woods on the trail, then a crummy stretch along an industrial street, then through town. On Wednesday he blew out a tire on the industrial street. Last night he installed puncture-resistant tires and tubes.
7. Cabinet Girls meeting was here on Tuesday night, featuring Sharons scrumptious raspberry-cheesecake-chocoalte dessert in honor of Barb's birthday. Cocoa found it scrumptious, too, and ate the piece we were saving for Larry. Sorry, Larry. Barb brought us a stunning yellow orchid as a housewarming gift. Thanks, Barb.
8. Rog sorted out and re-wired the mysterious technological spaghetti under my office desk and in the basement so we could connect a phone on the main floor.
9. Today the fuel oil guy filled our fuel oil tank, so now when winter hits we'll be ready. Or at least warm. We don't have a snowblower or snowplow yet.
10.All our major living areas are pretty much unpacked and looking rather civilized!

A Moving Story

We have been scavenging boxes and packing for weeks. By last Friday our garage was full of packed boxes. The disconcerting thing was that if you walked into our house it didn't really look any different. That was just all the stuff that had been hidden in closets and drawers. We still had a long way to go...

Saturday noon we picked up the 24-foot moving truck from Kuehn Rental. When we saw how massive and long it was, both Rog and I were a bit intimidated by it. I was the lucky one who ended up driving it. Actually, it felt pretty safe (for me!) being up so high and protected by so much truck, but I was a bit worried about inadvertantly taking out other traffic. The biggest challenge was refueling at SuperAmerica--navigating through the lanes of pumps and around cars- twice, because this truck has tanks on both sides.


We hired Power Movers to move part of our stuff, a small company we learned of through the postcard they send to people whose houses are listed for sale. Over the course of three hours, four strapping young men moved the big, heavy and awkward furniture, the piano and dozens of boxes of books--helping to save our middle-aged backs. They packed the truck tightly to the roof. Then I drove it to the farm and they unpacked everything into the assigned rooms of our new house.

In the meanwhile, our friend Bob Sanborn brought his horse trailer and he and Rog moved the contents of our storage shed (where all the objects of our decluttering while selling our house were tucked away) and our friends Cindy and Jim Uhl carefully hauled all my paintings in their van.

We had additional help Sunday- my buddy Anne Morse and her family's German exchange student, Felix, helped us move a second truckload. And tonight, our wonderful neighbors Chris and Mara moved most of our plants in their van. We cannot thank all these kind friends enough for so generously helping us move!

But the person to whom we owe the most gratitude is our daughter Cadence. Without her muscle power and organizational skills we would still be muddling through this move, and I am sure we would not be in nearly such good humor. Thanks, sweetie.
Here are Cadence and Rog, taking a breather from hauling boxes in the hot sun.

Now we are rattling around our empty house. We are camped out with the bare necessities: a mattress, couple of changes of clothes, computer and guitar, until the closing at 10 a.m. Friday, when our life as farmers begins.

Our First Farm Equipment Purchase

Meet the newest member of our farm family - the lawn/garden tractor. For anyone interested in the technical details, it's a Husqvarna YTH2454, with a Briggs & Stratton engine and a 54-inch mowing deck. It even has a built-in cup holder.

We purchased it from the people selling us the farm, who bought it just last year. It has about 100 hours on it, so it already knows the ropes. I can hardly wait to mow the lawn!

Tying Up Loose Ends

The past week we have been tying up loose ends, both literally and figuratively.

Cadence is threading ceramic beads onto cords and tying 2 adjustable knots to make 1000 bracelets. This has been an ambitious project. Sara and Cadence hand-formed the beads from clay. Then Sara underglazed and imprinted each with a leaf, fired the beads, overglazed, and fired again. Then Cadence lettered the word "RE-fest" on the back of each bead before stringing onto the cord. The bracelets will be sold at RE-fest and the proceeds used to plant trees in Austin, MN. (Six finished bracelets are stacked on Cadence's wrist in this photo.)

Rog and I have been busy every spare moment working on the figurative loose ends that go with selling our house and buying a farm. This week we accomplished all the things needed to satisfy our buyers after the inspection: installed a railing along the basement stairs, a deadbolt lock on the balcony door, and had the plumbing & heating guys put in a new water heater, metal dryer vent, new gas line valves and inspect the boiler. There has been a mountain of assorted forms to sign with the bank and realtor. And, of course, we have been gathering boxes, purging and packing, lining up moving trucks, arranging for disconnection and re-connection of utilities, figuring out internet provider, etc.

Oh my gosh --In two short weekends we move!

Gold Medal Tomato

This morning at the Farmer's Market we came across a beautiful, huge tomato for sale. It was a heritage variety called Gold Medal. When the farmer described how tasty it was on a grilled cheese sandwich, we succumbed.

When he weighed it, however, we were shocked at the price: $10.70! Rog bought it for me as an anniversary present and I cradled it carefully on the walk home. Cadence had an excellent idea: to save the seeds and grow them next spring. If I could grow and sell $10 tomatoes, that would surely help support Squash Blossom Farm.

Oh, the grilled cheese sandwich (with provolone, fresh basil and sourdough bread) was fabulous.

Sold! Sign

The dogs and I just returned from the dog park to see the SOLD sign had been installed in front of our house. Now that there is no turning back on selling our house, I have tears in my eyes. I hope, hope, hope this is the right decision... I am afraid I may be kind of emotionally fragile for a while.

Garage Sale

Cadence has been working very hard on our garage sale. I realize she doesn't look so industrious in this photo, but all the really hard work--sorting through shelves, closets and drawers, pricing, hauling stuff outside, setting up the sale, making and posting signs-- was done yesterday.

Now she is just waiting for the customers to flock in. And waiting. It hasn't been a very prosperous day--even though it is a gorgeous day for garage-saling. Thursday must be a tough day unless you have done newspaper advertising to alert the serious garage salers. We, being last-minute types, didn't do that. As you can see, she did do a lovely job setting up the sale.

We also don't really have that much especially desirable stuff left to sell, thanks to my past year of serious purging in anticipation of a possible move. I had concluded that garage sales are not worth all the effort- and now I just donate to my favorite thrift stores. But I was happy to let Cadence try to make a few bucks.

Once all our stuff was spread out on tables in the garage it looked a bit shabby and disjointed--which will make it all the easier to just donate it all to the Salvation Army. And just now Cadence came in and announced the sale is over (30 minutes early!)--and asked, can we start loading the leftovers into the car? Yes! So, I am outta here.