new house!

Photo by my friend Walter.

(Today's Blatherpics were all taken at our new house. Click on any image for a larger version as well as comments. )

So the house is officially ours!

As petals from the crab apple tree branches above fell softly all around us, we had our last meeting with the previous owner on the back deck of the house, chatting about last-minute details.

And then she gave us the key.

Jeff sweeping our front walk.

While Jeff drove her to where she was staying with a friend, I found myself alone in our new house for the first time. I wandered from room to room, ecstatic in the luxury of being able to explore as much as I wanted to and for as long as I desired. When Jeff got back, it felt so strange (and wonderful) to greet him at the front door.

Jeff's dad and my sister and her family came to visit later in the day. we told our nieces that they were allowed to explore anywhere in the house, open any drawer and closet, and they didn't have to take their shoes off since messy renovations start Monday anyway. They were quite delighted.

On our back deck(!). Photo by Walter.

We ended up meeting almost ALL of our neighbors that first day because several happened to be around when we dropped off our note (introducing ourselves, letting them know about the upcoming renovations), or they came to visit us in our new house to welcome us, or saw us chatting on the street with other neighbours and came over to say hi. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

Jeff and I slept over on an air mattress in our new bedroom that first evening, hanging some blankets over the window to block out the light. It was pretty comfy, at least until the air leaked out through a small hole sometime during the night and we found ourselves sleeping on the hard floor. We were too excited to care.

Forgot to mention: Jeff carried me across the threshold of our new house. It's the very first house we've owned, after all.

:-)

Walter and Jeff.

Quite a few friends came to visit on Saturday to offer their congrats, check out our new place, help out with some of the reno prep. It was heartwarming to see Walter start to hammer stuff down in my office right away, and also helped Jeff carry our washer and dryer from an upstairs cupboard to the basement. We're going to turn that upstairs space into a closet instead.

Seeing so many friends and family in our house made it seem far less empty. :-) Received some phonecalls and text messages of congrats from family and friends including my Dad, Dave Clement and Mark Osier (from Marcon). And we got our first piece of snailmail (!), a card from my mom-in-law.

Went out for dinner with Luisa and Reid.

Going back today, just for the day. Jeff's pulling up carpet (possibly with Walter's help) and I want to water some of the plants. Found out yesterday that we have a white lilac tree! (Karin told me) And lily of the valley! (Luisa told me, and warned me they spread like crazy)

I suspect the first year is going to be a year of discovery in the garden for me.

:-)

It's going to be SOOOOOO hard, not being able to move in right away, I can tell already. But at least it's ours, and we can drop by whenever we'd like. I plan on going at least several times a week, to check on mail and on the garden.

More new house pics and blather next week. You can see photos from this weekend in this Flickr photo set; I'll be adding to it later today, I'm sure.


YAY, WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!


Photo by Jeff.

May 2005 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal comments