Post Nineteen: Settling In

OK.  So, things like address changes, mailbox setup, BBQ with the neighbors.....  I think this all means we can be called permanent residents of Nevada County.  Not to mention the fact the house in Novato is completely empty and in the final stages of escrow, and will no longer be ours.

We have been doing a LOT of driving back and forth.  We knew this was going to be the case, but I think we are ready to be done with the moving part.  My question is, how the heck do people move when the distance travelled is a plane ride or even more, away?  I am in awe......  And, as much as we are pretty tired of doing the Highway 80 drive, I still love to be behind the wheel, having the chance to view things like this amazing sunset to the west of my eastbound travels last week.

And, we are not off the roads by any means.  Now that we are fully located in the foothills, we are trying out the "drive to Marin for the Day" thing for work --and yes, it's more complicated then we thought.  The weekday commute traffic is unpredictable at best, and often just plain unjustifiably slow or stopped.  But, we are driving for work, and done with the moving.  

Now it's just the unpacking.

Which is going fairly well.  Two straight days of effort last weekend have left the garage at least half empty, and with most things inside the house in a reasonable state of semi-order.  There are still random acts of furniture, many pictures leaning on tables waiting to be properly hung up, bags of personal effects still piled in the cabinets in the laundry room.  But things are very livable.  I'm enjoying the kitchen more now that we have more than one sharp knife to work with.  

The daily routine is a pleasant blend of work, house chores, errands in town, wildlife sightings.  No one commuting anywhere means we are lounging in bed later than normal on workdays, coffee on the deck getting organized for the day, retreating to our respective offices for rounds of conference calls, document editing, corporate whatever-doing, usually sharing lunchtime, more work, winding down by 5:30 or so to change shoes

and walk "the bench" as the neighbors call the NID road that winds through our property parallel to Pasquale Road.  The evenings as always, are my favorite time of the day, me in the kitchen playing around with dinner, Barry checking his bee traps, watering trees, playing music or on the computer researching stuff.  Dinner and cleanup, reading or watching something, then retiring to the huge and still mostly empty master bedroom where we can hear and sometimes see the beautiful night in the forest.

There are also the things that set each day apart; Marin Sierra is close enough I am able to drop by for lunch with Mr. Dybeck while camp is going on,
  other

lunchtimes spent at Lefty's Grill along Deer Creek just down the road, and a real real live rock concert  at the Miner's Foundry, where we saw an amazing Neil Young Tribute band, Tribe of the Red Horse.  

I wonder -- often aloud -- how long we will feel this sense of awe in what we have here.  I'm sure that the reality of the challenges of the property will slowly gnaw away at the amazement, but my hope is that coming back an re-reading this blog in the future will remind us of this time, and keep us thankful for what we have here.

Post Eighteen: A Moving Experience

A day after I wrote the last entry, we received an offer on our house.  About one percent below our asking price.  We countered with an offer of a half percent below, and the deal was done.

Having recently experienced the purchasing of a house, we are familiar with the process.  And, this time was infinitely easier than 20+ years ago when we were selling our house on Tampa Drive in San Rafael.  Suffice to say, it was not a seller's market at the time.  I know we are not done yet, but it's clear that this transaction will be significantly simpler to conclude.

So, now the reality of our situation begins to become clearer.  Assuming this transaction goes through as planned (and we have no reason to believe it will not) we have just over two weeks from now to have vacated the home we have been in for almost exactly 19 years.  Luckily (conveniently? thankfully?) we had scheduled to have the last large pieces of furniture moved up to Madrone Haus just after the Fourth of July, and we took advantage of that to pack up and move almost all the rest of our personal belongings as well.  The timing was actually motivated by the end of my time off work, which concluded.....  this morning. 

Our experience with Tana Movers last winter when we transported the Music Box and other treasures from Ray's old house to Nevada City made them the natural choice for this move as well.  I got things arranged with "Eric", mostly over email. 

Loading up at Carnoustie

A break in the unusually long heat wave was most welcome.  A long and bit chaotic Friday the Fifth packing boxes and loading the truck, was compounded by our buyer and her agent being there with their Home Inspector and a Sewer inspector, in addition to two gentlemen buying our bedroom dressers and a visit from our good friend Dan Hixenbaugh.  I was relieved when everyone was gone, and treated myself to a mani-pedi and mini-massage at Crystal Nails before cleaning up the house as much as possible and then sleeping on the couch.

Navigating the driveway at Madrone Haus

Next morning, I drove to Nevada City for an uneventful Saturday the Sixth - Eric and George arrived with the truck at the new house around 2:30, and unpacked in 1.5 hours what it had taken four of them over 8 hours to load up the day before, leaving a tidy but daunting collection of small furniture, boxes and bags. 


Eric and all the people working for Tana Movers were so great to work with, working hard but in good spirits,  impressing us mere mortals with their ability to pack and organize and lift and maneuver.




Backing up in time just a bit, on the actual day of July 4th, we helped Neil move his furniture into his new place in Sausalito.  His studio apartment is in a quiet part of the south end of town, a 10 minute walk along the waterfront from the ferry and downtown.

As is happening at Madrone Haus, furniture, artwork and other belongings all seem to fall into place.  We sat and read the Declaration of Independence, had some beer and pizza, and then watched the fireworks from the Sausalito shoreline.

Even though in both new residences, there are still unpacked boxes and empty walls, Carnoustie is now all but empty, and certainly now does not feel like "home."  On Sunday, I got to really set up my new office, and boldly declared on Facebook that "home is where the iMac is" and that the setup of my trusty computer meant that Madrone Haus was now truly my home base.

One more weekend of packing and cleaning up and a few more Craigslist scores, and we should be nearly set.

Post Seventeen: Halfway Home

For the first time, I used the Pasquale address earlier this afternoon as the Shipping Address for an online purchase. Because, in less than two weeks from now, we will be primarily residing at Madrone Haus, versus Carnoustie Drive.

We are sort of kind of half way between here and there. The ability to make our move over a long period of time has been very welcome. We quickly made the new house livable, and then incrementally, each visit, improved the sophistication of the accommodations to the point that now, each abode has relatively equal domestic infrastructure. But now, I am frequently looking for something in Novato, only to realize it's already been moved to Nevada City.

The reality is that our Novato house is now on the market and most likely will have offers being reviewed in the next few days. Which means that in the next month or so, that property will need to be devoid of all our belongings, and we will have established ourselves solely here in Nevada City.

We have a short list of the final furniture items to be moved, and along with a bunch of boxes of personal stuff, to be transported here on July 6th. We have assembled a list of the rest of the significant items to be posted on Craigslist. Personally, at least half my clothes are here, and are most of the truly important and treasured belongings, including kitchen items, pictures, mementoes. Which means that half are still to be moved, and although there is still work to be done, having had my sabbatical the last month has given me a great chance to be ahead of having a huge, stressful, all-at-once move on my hands.

I do need to establish a Post Office address and mail box here and begin the change of address process. We have been joking lately that we are moving from "Novato" to "Nevada City"; too many times in the past where those names have been confused. Not to mention the fact our zip code changes from 94949 to 95959. Seriously.

We started our annual Hat Creek camping and fishing vacation from Madrone Haus, and returned here yesterday at the conclusion of the 20th Anniversary trip to that same great place with our same great family and friends. On our own 29th wedding anniversary, June 23rd. Somehow, making Madrone Haus our launch and return point for that trip signaled a significant change. We spent today- an uncharacteristically rainy day-unloading clothes and gear, doing laundry (tradeoff: older washer and dryer here, but *much* nicer laundry area), catching up on email and social media, napping, reading. Although it's not particularly cold out, we built a fire in the woodstove. Sitting here at the kitchen bar, getting ready to prepare some dinner and enjoy the rest of the evening before heading back to Novato tomorrow to attend to the various responsibilities we have there. But somewhat reluctantly, as I feel like I would be very content staying right here. It's truly beginning to be not just "the Haus", but ..... Home.

Post Sixteen: Open for Business

It always seemed to me that Barry's birthday, June 8th, would be a great time to have his family up to the new house for a "party." I love it when a plan comes together.

We have had visitors here before; Mom and Dad coming by for lunch from Truckee, Clint spending a couple weekends helping out with remodeling chores, my friend Meryl spending the night with me last weekend and doing dinner downtown at Matteo's.

But this was more serious. We have spent the last four days in the company of varying numbers of family members, culminating with nine of us here last night joining us in an evening of great food and drinks, songs around the campfire, sleeping under the stars. All right here in our "backyard."
It was a pleasure touring each group of newcomers around the house, describing the current and potential uses of the spaces, the changes we have made, the decorating we planned to do. Explaining the before and after of the grounds around the house. Without exception, the reaction was genuine affection for the house, the trees, the space. And that gave me such a sense of pride, satisfaction, a renewal of the appreciation I have for our new home.

All that being said, the core of the long weekend was as much on the brothers and sisters (in-law) coming together again, sharing stories, memories, talking about the past, the present and the future. A running joke was my insistence that Barry was turning 52; not 53, as was correct. Another, that each expression of gratitude for our hospitality was responded to with a price tag of $29.99 for the particular good or service. The high point perhaps being last night around the campfire, Neil and Bridget taking turns with the guitar providing the musical backdrop for group singalongs and giving us the soundtrack for a long evening of family bonding.

The idea of continuing to have many guests here is a welcome one. Touring around our historic and charming little town. Taking the Blue Boat out on the big lake, or our Watermasters out on the little lake. Stream fishing on the Yuba. Maybe even skiing and snow sports in the winter. Warm summer evenings on the deck and around our campfire, and cold weather nights in front of the wood stove looking out at the Madrones lit up from the living room window.

The first of many great get togethers at Madrone Haus..... and, with the Novato house going on the market in about a week, another big step in making this our home.

Post Fifteen: Open Space

We ventured up to Madrone Haus on Wednesday, ostensibly so we could meet with the folks we were lining up to do the clearing of the land around the house.

Thursday morning, we convened with Manuel Martinez and Scott a bit later than planned, but the end result of a walk around the property ended with a conversation about what time the next morning they would start, and can we pay by check or cash.

What happened the next morning was amazing. I greeted the "foreman" and told them to let me know they had any questions. Barry unfortunately had conference calls from 7 to 10, but I set up my "office" on the deck, and watched as the crew of 10 or so men began the process of clearing our forest.

They worked from 7:30 to almost 5 PM, taking only a short break right a noon to have lunch. They labored tirelessly, chain saws humming, up and down the slopes, hauling hugh piles of brush and small trees down on their backs, stopping only to refill their machinery with gasoline. The huge chipper located centrally and backed into a flat area in the lower grove, worked endlessly chewing up everything dumped into it, spraying sweet smelling wood nuggets into the air and down into piles to be later spread all over the ground.
When they began to gather up to end the day, Barry asked Manuel if we could offer them all a cold beer. That went over well.

After they had left, the wood dust literally began to settle, and a new feeling began to fall over the place. I finished my last conference call of the day, and Barry toured me around.



It was astonishing how much usable land we now had. As much as I wrote earlier about seeing the forest through the trees, in one day, we had gone from having a small area of cleared dirt around the house to at least an acre of land with numerous trails and roads connecting knolls and draws and small groves; seasonal creeks and places to pitch a tent or have a picnic, set up a hammock and read a book, take a walk. And, clearly with potential to expand all this to more of the ten acres.




It's actually pretty overwhelming. The fact we have been able to acquire not only a great house that is increasingly becoming more homey, but all this amazing land. As Barry says.... "It's like our own park." Indeed it is. Shurtz Family Open Space.

Post Fourteen: Community

The weather is getting warmer, and Madrone Haus beckons.  Barry decided to test out the "work remote" thing, and spent a full nine nights, from Friday to Sunday, on location.  Having not yet extricated myself from a number of commitments here in Marin (none work related, mind you), I was only able to join him for Wednesday to early Saturday morning.

But that is still a nice chunk of time, and the pace of our time there is becoming more relaxed.  The inside of the house is about in shape to start bringing more furniture, pictures, purchase the rugs, the bar stools, and so on.  I have the go ahead to buy new towels.

Thursday morning  when I was up there,  I ventured out to check out a grocery store Barry had found while looking for a place to buy his chain saw.  He told me he thought I would like it; it had a butcher shop and was very nice.  Before I left, in order to make sure I would not get lost on the way there, I visited their website.  I thought of Neil as I read about the history of the business, feeling good that this was more than just a big Save Mart or Safeway, it was a part of the local history, with a story and people attached to it. 
However,  I was not prepared for the huge establishment that sold a wide range of goods - produce, deli, fish, meat, groceries, auto parts, housewares, hardware.  Dozens of magazines.  Sleds.  Three aisles of wines.  There was a post office location.  But it was mostly the people that struck me.  Most people there were older than myself by a bit, but all with an active, almost hippie vibe to them. The notable exception was a group of perhaps a dozen very cute kindergarten age kids, holding hands in pairs, under the guidance of two young ladies.  The store staff were friendly and attentive in that typical Nevada County way....  as I stood at the fish counter pondering my purchase, I was greeted with "you look like you would like some of that Coho."  "Thank you, yes, that sounds great." No waiting to check out.  We love that.

As is becoming a custom, Mom and Dad came down the mountain for lunch.  We enjoyed sandwiches and conversation on the deck, pondering all that this new property can hold in store for our future.  It's always good to take a step back and talk to others; when you hear your own story being told, it can give you a better appreciation of things.  Answering simple questions.  Helping make things real.

The new floors are in need of some coverings.  That afternoon, we quit work a bit early in the day to go downtown Nevada City to check out a local rug store Barry had seen in past wanderings.  The shop was under "new management", and the proprietor was a relaxed, friendly man maybe in his late thirties, and it was a pleasure to wander the two sections of his new business, pondering the differences between a $3000 rug and a $300 one.  We found designs we liked, and the owner gave us information on how to go online and pick something out we could come to the store to see in person later.

In no hurry to get back to our work, we decided to check out a few of the antique stores in the main old downtown area.  Only a few were open (apparently, antique stores close at 4 PM during the week?), but the one in particular we found was stocked with some nice and interesting furniture pieces that seemed to be reasonably priced.  But it's giving us an idea of being able to continue to furnish the house with simple, but old pieces.  One store that was closed, we peeked into, and saw a serious inventory of lamps, some similar to the one we have in the house now from Jackson Street, and others that were similar without the shade.  We will come back during mid day very soon.

As intriguing as the antique stores (and the few gift shops we went into in search of cards to leave with greetings to our neighbors) were, a number of "watering holes" beckoned.  We decided to have a beer at the place Barry had gone to for dinner a few weeks ago, Matteo's Public, a bit off the main street.  With what seems to be the recurring theme up here, it was the best balance of local, rustic, but hip and welcoming.  We sat at the bar, and watched the evening unfold as the staff prepared for the upcoming influx of hungry and thirsty patrons.  Since we all know there is no such thing as "a beer", we had a second round and talked of strategies for trailers, boats, campers, trucks.  We discussed the ongoing question of when to make this our primary residence.  A conversation the week prior, with our Marin realtor, Mary Kay, revealed that the market there was hot, we probably didn't have to do much to make the Carnoustie property sellable, and her estimate of what we should put the house on the market for was significantly higher than what we thought.  Boldened by our second Pilsner, Barry declared "let's do it", and promised to contact Mary Kay when we got back to Novato.  Stay tuned....

Post Thirteen: Dust to Dust

We had finished with the new hardwood floors.  Beautiful.  Dark, warm, wood.  And, maybe I am sentimental, but, a bit more special as the creation of people I have come to respect and admire as fellow Scouters and friends, as well as their talents as craftsmen and their professionalism.  And, I knew that they enjoyed their time working on Madrone Haus, taking a full week and a half to install the wood floors in the living room, dining room and hallway of the new house. (See Post Ten)

 They left very little "dust".  And in the time in between that effort and the installation of the new tile in other areas of the house, we optimistically cleaned it away.

Enter the next round of flooring renovation.  For the kitchen, pantry, office and bathroom areas, we had selected some stone tile; a warm tan for the kitchen and a wonderful mix of grey, tan and almost dark green shades for the bath.  A scouting colleague of our hardwood floor master came with his wife to the house and without a second bid from anyone else, was given the go ahead to do the work.

Because we needed to relocate the kitchen appliances and move the roll-top desk from the office, remove toilets and tear out the old flooring, they could not start until after Easter, several weeks from our decision to go forward.  (See Post Eleven) But they assured us they could do the job in a day and a half, and when the date came, Barry was there to witness the quick and (apparently) efficient team at work.

Kitchen, pantry BEFORE

AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

They indeed got the floors in on a Friday, and returned the next morning to set the fancy epoxy grout we were convinced would be an investment we would be happy we made, for it's durability and ease of maintenance.  Barry emailed pictures back to Novato, and it indeed looked beautifully done.

The next morning, Barry was supposed to be able to have full access to the new floors, and proceeded to go into the kitchen to do the usual morning routine.... but a light epoxy residue was evident on the floors.  Boo.  He came back to Novato that night, but not after letting the tile folks know they had some more work to do.  But, a return trip by one of the tile team from Petaluma to Nevada City a few days later, and the problem was solved.

Master Bath AFTER

Powder Room AFTER

The next weekend, Clint and I went with Barry to replace the appliances and generally put things back together.  All went very well, until on Sunday morning, when Barry went to replace the heater vent register in the office that he realized.... uh.....  where did the vent go?  Bah, they had tiled over it!  Another message to the tile team, and another trip back up there....

But in the mean time, I got to get out my microfiber cloths and dusters and repeat the dusting exercise to remove the evidence of the construction that had gone on.  Who knew that tile installation would generate more dust than hardwood floor installation!  But, there it was.

As it is now, I still have some cleaning to do, and have a plan in mind that involves steam cleaners and other tools from the mother ship. Put the dust to rest.  It's all been very worth it, as the wood and stone are helping make Madrone Haus take on a persona more in connection with the great outdoors it is surrounded by.