Giving Thanks

Finally!

 Checked back this morning to find this notice posted on the front door of my house.

In case you missed the fine print over there, "this building is safe for re-entry on 11-27-13 after 2:00pm."

My advice, if you ever need to have your house fumigated, is move out first if you can.  Otherwise, you'll need a crew as dedicated as mine to help you get everything made safe.

So, to bring you up to date on affairs here, the house has definitely been sold, and most of the papers have been signed.  Once the paperwork is filed and recorded, I will no longer own this house. After 42 years it's kind of surreal.

The other side of that is that the paperwork is also done for my new place. I keep calling it the condo, mostly for convenience, but it's not really a condo.

Tented

 The literalist in me knows that first of all, a condominium is not a type of building, but a form of ownership. Most condos are townhouses, or apartment-house-style buildings; I won't go into the difference between a condominium and other forms of ownership, like cooperatives. You're welcome.

So my new place is actually a PUD, a Planned Urban Development, with a homeowners' association and communally maintained outside areas. The inside space is what will belong to me. At this stage of my life, that's perfect!

They managed to put the tent around the big pot!

The building style is what I'd describe as ranch-style duplex, what the Brits call semi-detached. It's all one story and there are no steps. It's even got an inside laundry room!  I think I'm going to like it there. In fact, I know I will.

That's what's keeping me moving ahead as the hurdles are leapt, one after the other. If you've ever bought or sold a house, and especially if you've been selling while buying, you know what I'm talking about!  Just getting the house ready to list and show took huge efforts--not on my part, since I'm still pretty much forbidden to do any heavy lifting. If I try to move something that's out of my range, my body lets me know in no uncetain terms! So I'm floating on the energy and dedication of my darling daughters and their families. Not sure how I got so lucky in the offspring department, but I'm very grateful!

That's one humongous tent!

View from the hotel

 Is that the biggest tent you've ever seen? I like that it's all blue. A circus tent effect wouldn't suit a dignified dowager like this house.

Distracted again, but oh well. Par for the course after the last few months. I mean, who puts their house on the market and then leaves for France for 3 weeks?

In case you wondered, the cats have once again been exiled to the vet's for boarding. I don't think they would have been happy in a hotel, and I certainly think they'll be happier settled into a comfortable situation for the duration of the moving madness. Poor Shyla was freaked out enough by losing the beds--no place left to hide! Well, she did find herself a little cubby and was concealed enough to make me feel very panicky about finding her in time! But once she was crated, she calmed right down, and she was a total lovey at the vet's. HiHi was his usual cool calm self, but I think both of them have charmed their temporary caregivers and will be getting lots of attention and love while they're there. One less worry for me! And they'll come home to their new digs after it's safe for them!

Tea cups feel so grown up!

 So, while the guys were setting up the tent on the house, I was off playing Elegant Ladies with the birthday girls at the Huntington Gardens' Tea Room.  This has become an annual tradition for Courtney and the girls and me. 

The girls have now reached a great age to take to tea. Audrey even associated "the coffee place" with her birthday.

Apple juice in a tea cup. Quite grown up, while Mom and Grandma have real tea.

Looks good!

 The Tea Room service is buffet style, with a wonderful spread of crustless sandwiches, salads, fruits, cheese, crackers, cookies and tea breads and little pretty one-bite (if you have a big enough mouth) cakes and tarts. Oh, and little chocolate cups filled with whipped chocolate mousse or lemon filling.

After tea, we took the girls over to the Children's Garden, which they remembered very well. One disappointment was the fountain which normally holds lots of big koi. It's being renovated, the basin is dry and there was a man on a scaffold patching the statues.

Pumpkin bread is tasty!

So enjoy the rest of the pictures. There are more on my Flickr page, lots more. Blogging may be a bit scattered in the next couple of weeks as I'll be doing a lot of packing and arranging. 

Small girl, big strawberry!

Taste testing

Mom and the girls

A giant leaf--it's this big!

Hand rails make great gymnastic equipment!

Pitcher Plant in the Conservatory