Moving moving moving..... and more....

Trips # 13 and 14 were made from Shute-ho to Amherst yesterday. Not only that, but I went up there to pack/move stuff and the inspection was in progress. I had been told it was Fri AM. So...now we wait to see what stuff the inspector found and if the buyers want stuff done.... I hope not. There is not much time and not much $ either. Correction..no time and no money...would be more accurate.

Today is is pouring out. So no garden job this AM. We are currently waiting for the gas plumber to come and do our stove and drier work. Aaron needs to move in next week. Must get drier and washer out of the room that is to be his bedroom. Later on, Athena, Kristin and I will go with Jess to move her stuff into her new classroom in W. Sfld. It is her first classroom !! She has only this afternoon to get it ready and decorate it b/f school begins. She will add things as she goes, of course, but it would be nice to have it looking pleasant when the students arrive.

Athena's Here!!

Athena arrived tonight from NYC. At 8PM Baird and I walked from our house to the bus stop to meet her and walked her back to our home. We introduced her to all the pets, showed her around the house and then about 9 PM we set out for Amherst Chinese (which is just on the other side of the Sweetser Park from our house). We ordered up an array of things made with fresh organic vegetables from the owner's local Chinese gardens and had a feast. Afterwards we were walking around town and Jess and Ben spotted us, parked their car and we all hung out talking near Antonio's Pizza (but Aaron was not working tonight). Ahhhhhh..... what a great place to live.

Welcome Athena!

PS - I made trip #10 to Shutesbury for another load of stuff today. Back up there in the AM with Jess.

Six Loads Down - ??? To Go

This weekend we focused on trying to get stuff out of the cellar and 2 sheds up in Shutesbury. Big project. You collect a lot after 12 years, lots of renovation projects and raising 2 kids.

We borrowed our friend Glen's big truck for the weekend and filled it 3X with bulky items and items that we prefer not be in our cars (like yard furniture, cans of paint and lumber). I also filled my car 3X. We made a dent in the project, but it still has a ways to go. I'm off to Shutesbury again tomorrow afternoon, after I garden for Deb in the AM.

On a brighter note: Athena comes Tuesday! AND -- Jess goes to her new teacher orientation in W. Springfield on Tuesday!

Buyers at Last

We have buyers for the Shutesbury house. Yeah!!

After further reducing the price to reflect the current (sad) market, a family moving here from Ohio came for a viewing. They made an offer the same evening and after a day of back and forth, we settled on a price. I met them breifly in the driveway when they came to see the place. They have 2 kids who I would say are about the age Jess and Aaron were when we moved there. We moved there largely for Jess and Aaron's sakes and much of the house was designed with them in mind. It is really designed to be enjoyed by kids, elementary thru high school. It is just a really fun and somewhat magical place, with it's lofts and ladders and spiral staircase, fire pit and the tree house on top of the woodsy hill, 16' up in an oak tree. And then there are all the trails and the bog nearby and the lake 2 miles away. I think they will also love it and I am happy a family is buying it with younger kids to enjoy it.

There is a home inspection there this week (Weds??). It is imperative that it goes well. We have no reason to expect otherwise, but, it isn't done until it is over.

AND: The family wants to rent the house from Labor Day wekend until the final closing so they can get their kids into school at the beginning of the year. That means we have 2 weeks to get all the rest of our stuff out of the cellar, attic, and 2 sheds! YIKES!

At the same time, Aaron is moving into Sweetside (our new house) before Sept 1 and his rooms in the basement need to be livable. They are extrmemely far from that right now! Should be a very interesting 2 weeks. Stay tuned.

Pray for Mr. King the Christmas Tree Man

Gordon King is a famed arborist, one of international renown I am told. A retired Umass professor. A local man, a neighbor of sorts, who owns the tree farm in Leverett where we have cut our wonderful trees for the past several years. A few years back his wife had died. It was a sad Christmas season for him. Then, perhaps it was the following year, he told us of a wonderful woman friend from his younger days, as I recall, that he had reconnected with. He was happy again; they were to be wed. They would spend some time at his place in Leverett and some at her place in Amherst.

Today, Mr. King and his wife, Barbara Hamilton (ages 87 and 82 respectively) are in intensive care in the burn unit at Mass General. Yesterday, their condominium in Amherst (just up the street from my office) exploded. The place was instantly and completley destroyed. They were apparently blown outside by the force of the blast but sustained extensive severe burns. Both were transported to Mass General in Boston. Barbara was flown by a Life Flight helicopter from the high school parking lot near our home. I was up in Shutesbury at the time, for a showing, but Baird and Aaron and our friend Julian witnessed the air evacuation. Today Baird and I went by the scene. Incredible. Four townhouse condo units were destroyed by fire within minutes. Eight others are damaged. The cause of the explosion appears to be gas related, but specifics are not yet known.

I plan to send Mr. King a copy of this photo taken at his tree farm December 2005. I don't know when he will be alert enough to see it but his family is likely there with him and maybe it will be meaningful to them. It is only a small gesture but it is something I can do, at a time when there is little anyone can do. Please pray for Mr. King and his wife, Barbara.

Rock-pedition

Back in May, for Mother's Day, Aaron, Jess & Ben gave me the gift of retrieving some larger rocks from our home in Shutesbury to use at our new home. Jess organized the carrying out of the feat before leaving town for her teacher education trip this week and last evening Aaron, Ben and Glen loaded up some of the larger rocks that I had set aside up in Shutesbury. Early this AM Ben and Glen delivered them here. They are for landscaping at our new house, Sweetside, (Lessey St). Most of them will be used in the water feature I am building. It will be located on the south side hill facing Sweetser Park and is a 35' winding stream with a little pond (4X6' wide, & 2' deep) at the base. The gardens surrounding the stream area have been planted since early May and I dug out the stream bed and pond over Memorial Day weekend. Not sure about the next stage...but getting the rocks here is major progress. THANKS!!

She's Come and Gone

Janet arrived here in Amherst late Friday evening and stayed until today, Sunday around noon. She became the first overnight guest in Baird's Studio at Lessey St. (not including our friends who pet / house sat when we went to Chattanooga, of course).

It was a most enjoyable visit for us.

We had a full day Saturday. A quick run down:
Breakfast at Rao's (they have vegan baked goods!), a walk around town and thru Farmer's market, a stop at Hasting's (Baird got Janet her first Micron pen) and a stop at Antonio's (hi to Aaron at work), then we zipped over the NoHo with Jess for lunch at Paul and Elizabeth's, a bit of Tax Free Day shopping, a mini tour of Green Street (couldn't make out which shop Janet's friend used to run), a drive thru Smith College, and back to Amherst. We stopped at Atkins for old time's sake (no cider this time of year tho) and walked around Hampshire College (Janet's old stomping grounds..she taught there 1972-80 as Janet Tallperson). We even found her old apartment ( a mod in a donut) and her peaceful woods. We took a quick buzz by Aaron's current digs (he was still at work) for a drive by show and tell of his house and skate ramp and then back home to rest a bit. The evening included a cookout with all the family. Quickly, before dark, we took a drive to the Renaissance Center and walked to J & B's wedding tree (6/20/04). We came back home to desert and time to chill together before bed. A late night trip to Antonio's got scraped as we were tired and not hungry. Next time.

Sunday AM we took Janet up to see our Shutesbury House (still on the market unfortunately) and then drove up Sugarloaf for the fab view as we escorted her to the Rt 91 North access in Deerfield. She was headed for Williamstown last we saw, then to Goddard on Monday, Portsmouth on Thursday, and back to Dale and their home in Seattle on Saturday.

Merci Bouquet

Here is our little Merci. We still have not said she's staying... but... she's working her way into the family, me thinks. She sure is cute! Just yesterday she and Surely had their first play time. Merci has stopped hissing at the other cats, for the most part. This is a stylized picture by Baird.

Trudging Along

That pretty much describes how this week has gone. One thing after another has gone awry. I really hate weeks like this. Feels like a little man with a pitchfork is following me around (or heading me off at the pass, as the case may be). Basically, it really stinks.

Anywho.... as for our updates:
1. No home for the little kitty, Merci, yet. Three "for sures" have all fallen through. No rush I guess....
2. Baird's van failed inspection. Yahoo.
3. Since the 3 hour power outage the other night, our freezer is not functioning correctly. It is about as cold as the fridge... .but no colder. This is the decent, large fridge unit that came with the house which we were planning to sell once we install our newer, thinner, Kitchen Aid. Jeeeez Louise....well....I shake my head....and...toss out the food I just bought. Whatever!
4. Speaking of the power outage....later that night a fire erupted in the street. It was discovered that the arching power line had damaged an undergorund gas line causing 2 leaks and thus the fire at one leak site. Two houses, less than 2 blocks from us, were evacuated. No one was hurt...but... the gas co. and fire dept were there until 2AM. Sweet dreams dear.........
5. The plumber finally got me the figures on the work we still need done. He wants $2300 to hook up our gas stove and re-locate the washer and drier. Yeah, right!! I laugh somewhat hyterically as I bang my head against the wall. This is a small house-- we are talking extending the gas and water lines a few feet, not some great distances. I am looking for some more realistic options and popping some more Tylenol. Darn, my head aches for some reason.
6. Aaron's been coming and working on the basement area...opening up the room with the bay window and sealing the cement floor, etc. It's beginning to look better each day. This is one unmitigated positive thing on my list. Yipee!
7. The Shutebury house will be shown Monday afternoon again. Baird and I have been exploring options of how to better market it and what to do if it doesn't sell very, very soon. No great revelation has come through all our explorations so far but, as we keep turing over stones we try to stay hopeful that something will become clear to us. I told a friend today that we just need to win a small lottery, but since we don't buy tickets this will take a real miracle.
8. Today the weather finally broke and it was "only" in the mid 80's with lower humidity this afternon. Now that is really good news.
9. I applied for a school based job this week that I think I would really find challenging and rewarding. Something I could become personally invested in. I have not heard anything back yet. Maybe I won't. In some ways I am an unlikely candidate... not a racial minority, not bi-lingual, etc but it fits with my life purposes. Well, at any rate, somehow finding out about it and applying gave me some renewed energy in this tough week. That alone is worth something.

Stay tuned.... it can only get better.... right???

Follow-up

A post script to the Panera post below....makes more sense if read in sequence...

Ok... 9 PM came and Panera was closing. A quick call to one of our neighborhood pizza places let us know the power was back on. We jetted home, turned on the AC and..... you guessed it.....nothing.... the system did not get cold. Oh bletch. One more thing to deal with.... add it to the list that has been accumulating this week. Looks like it will be another hot, restless night. If it wasn't so late I think I would pack my bags and rent myself a room at the Holiday Inn down the road....the one with a pool.

From My Seat in Panera

It is now 8 PM, Wednesday, August 2, 2006. Baird and I are at Panera, eating and exercising our fingers. At home, the power is out. Not sure why. The big lightening storm had already passed....and then...suddenly....there was no power. That is really bad news right now. It is over 100 degrees. Yesterday was also over 100 degrees. The day before was not much better. In fact, it has been pretty darn hot for as long as I can recall. Ok, admittedly my memory is rather short. It was cold here once, probably not all that long ago, but truthfully, I am just too hot to recall when that was. They say the "real feel" temp yeterday and today was 111. No, that is not a typo. One-hundred and eleven degrees farenheit is what they said. It felt at least it to me. Now, please recall I am writing from rural western Massachusetts, New England, the North East of the United States of Amercia ---- not from Texas or Mississippi or anywhere remotely close to the Equator. Our part of the world is not prepared for this. So far we have only been utilizing small fans to make our home bearable. Today we decided enough was enough -- time to get the central air in our new house up and running. We spent most of the day dripping sweat, cleaning out the clogged air vents so we could fire up the system. Then, just as Baird was ready to flip the switch the power in our part of town went out. We waited around almost an hour. Still no power. Some of the restaurants near us were also out. Chefs and pizza makers could be seen pacing in the streets. The entire Lord Jeffrey Inn was in a black out -- ugh! imagine the heat in those rooms. Enough! We fled to Hadley, to the strip mall and here we sit, full bellies, drinking our iced tea, tapping on our keyboards, enjoying Panera.... not knowing when it will be "safe" to return home. Only the kitties know for sure and we have not yet equipped them with cell phones.